Attack of the Nib Eater!



by Tony Thomas

I was going through some of my infrequently used pens and found a Wality eyedropper with a Knox nib that I had filled with Rohrer and Kligner Scabiosa ink quite a while ago. Some of the ink had evaporated so I decided to clean out the pen. As could be expected, it took a quite a bit of effort to clean out a pen containing iron gall ink.

When I attempted to remove the nib and feed from the section, I noticed that it was stuck. After applying a bit of elbow-grease, I was able to dislodge them. I was not surprised to see that the steel nib was pitted and corroded due to prolonged contact with the ink.

What did surprise me is that, upon closer examination with a loupe, the ink had actually eaten a hole in the nib!

As a result, I would advise everyone to use any iron gall ink with extreme caution in any pen with steel nib. In my case, I only use iron gall inks in inexpensive pens with easily replaceable nibs. In the future, I will not leave iron gall inks in any of my pens for more than a few days.

You have been warned!
 






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