Lamy Blue Ink

Smell The Glove

Smell The Glove

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Enabled by this forum, I got myself a Lamy Al Star fountain pen, which came supplied with a blue ink cartridge.

The pen didn't write well at all. Dry starting and skipping, generally a scratchy writing experience. As I intended to write in black anyway, I popped in a black cart and the problem was solved. The pen writes like a dream with black ink.

Now I work on a ship, and black is the accepted colour used in log books, documents etc. However being a bit of a rebel I wanted to add a little individuality. Along with the black carts, I also ordered a pack of blue/black ink cartridges. Once I changed over to the blue/black cart the skipping and the scratchiness returned. So I'm guessing that Lamy blue isn't that great in a Lamy pen?

When I get home I'll probably end up getting a convertor, and am thinking about using cult pens deep dark brown ink instead.
 
It might just be me getting used to a new way of writing, but I'm sure the black wrote better.

I'm probably just looking for an excuse to buy more stuff! The blue black is a little too blue for work use and that cultpens.com is an awfully good site.
 
I only find scratchy and skipping if I don't have the pen at a good angle which means I have to change my grip from how I use a biro.
Being left handed as well makes it more fun no quick scrawl of writing it all has to be methodically written down
 
Bought a Lamy Safari (lime green(;-( about 6 months ago . Came with the Blue ink.
Had the same problem. Very scratchy. Wrote with it on some very high grit paper to smooth it out. Kind of worked. I should have sent it back. For the money, I don't think I'll buy another Lamy. I say send her back! Poor workmanship.
 
Unless you're misaligning the nib by rotating it so that the tines aren't contacting the paper correctly, there's a chance that you've got a dodgy nib.

First step is to use a magnifying glass, loupe or similar to examine the nib from the front so that it's pointing directly at you. If one of the tines is higher than the other, examine the nib from each side to check whether the higher of the two tines has been bent up away from the feed, or whether the lower one has been bent down. Careful but firm pressure with a thumbnail can realign whichever needs adjusting. If that isn't the problem or doesn't cure the scratchiness, you'll need to get yourself a 10,000 grit micromesh sheet or pad. Put a few drops of water on the micromesh and (with the pen inked-up) draw some small "8" and infinity signs on the pad/sheet. After 3-4 seconds, check again on a sheet of paper - if it's still scratchy, do another 3-4 seconds of the same scribbles on the micromesh. You need to keep checking the nib on paper as too much smoothing can cause "babies' bottom syndrome" which, unlike our BBS, is a bad thing - it rounds the inside shoulders of the tines (where they meet) and thereby prevents ink from getting to the paper.
 
Question? I bought my pen off EBay. It was from a vender in Indonesia or somewhere there . Even though these are new pens, could they be 2nds; and how would you know??
 
Lamy are great pens and offer excellent value for money. However, their nibs can be inconsistent. Some write perfectly right out of the box, other don't and they'll need attention as described above by chrisbell. Wetter, easier-flowing inks definitely seem to work better in my Lamy pens for what it's worth.
 
But... I had the Micro Mesh at home because of having old Str8's. how many people that buy a fountain pen would have it??
It reminds me of buying a brand new Hone and having to Lap it with another hone that you have to buy!! If you're going to make a hone; can't you make it flat. If you're going to make a pen; make it so it writes!!
 
Johnus said:
But... I had the Micro Mesh at home because of having old Str8's. how many people that buy a fountain pen would have it??
It reminds me of buying a brand new Hone and having to Lap it with another hone that you have to buy!! If you're going to make a hone; can't you make it flat. If you're going to make a pen; make it so it writes!!
Click to expand...

You'd think so, but people who collect them often have micromesh and brass shim for nib adjusting/smoothing, and for good reason.
 
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