Can You Use 50 % Alcohol To Clean Nibs

So….you've got your pen holder, a few nibs, a bottle of ink and some newspaper…at present what?

What you will demand:

• beak with a reservoir
• canteen of ink
• a piece of flake newspaper
• dropper or modest, round sable brush
• mild lather (dish washing detergent) and water
• ammonia (window cleaner) or commercial pen cleaner
• soft cloth rag or paper towels
• an old, soft toothbrush

Nib Anatomy and Preparation

First, let'southward take a await at the parts of the nib:

Parts of a Nib

Check the tines of your beak – sometimes onetime, used nibs will take the tines splayed out from the dissever (usually by heavy mitt pressure) which will cause bug with ink menstruum and lettering.  If you tin can see light backside the divide, it is probably time to "retire" the nib and replace it rather than trying to fix information technology.

Preparing New Nibs

If your nibs are new, they will need to take the factory-applied lacquer removed (this is used to prevent rust.)  I normally make clean them with a bit of warm water, dish washing liquid and scrub them with an old, soft toothbrush.

Other sources have suggested dipping the nib in gum standard arabic or hot water – whatever method y'all employ, only make sure that yous wipe off any excess water and dry the nib thoroughly or it will rust!

Nib Reservoir

Next, take a look at the reservoir for your pen nib.  The reservoir is what holds the ink and feeds it to your nib.  Depending on what blazon of nib you prefer, the reservoir will either be on top of the nib or underneath the neb.

The almost common dip pen nibs volition have the reservoir fastened past a couple of metal tabs.  The reservoir should be attached firmly.  If it is too loose (e.g. slides hands off the beak), only press the tabs in a bit then that the reservoir holds tight simply can however be moved a niggling up and downward the pecker.

Speedball nibs have the reservoir attached and so you don't need to do anything – just check to brand sure the lower section of the reservoir is centered and lies apartment confronting the nib.

Multifariousness of Pen Reservoirs and Side View of Speedball Neb

Mitchell nibs use a slip-on reservoir underneath the nib, while the Brause, TO and Tape nibs have the reservoir on the top.  As with the Speedball nib, reservoirs on the peak of the nib should be centered and have the tip touching the nib.

The Mitchell reservoir  has a bend in the centre and can easily be gently adjusted to ensure the tip of the reservoir touches the back of the nib.

The position of the reservoir is important as to how the ink volition flow – besides high up and the ink won't reach the cease of the nib; too far down and the ink will just blot.

More often than not, adjusting the reservoir so that it is almost ane/xvi″ from the terminate of the beak should work fine as a starting point.  A little adjustment might exist necessary for long nibs.

Loading the Nib

Before you tin can start creating beautiful lettering, y'all have to go some ink into the pen nib.

Yous weren't just going to douse the pen into the ink, were you?

I must confess that when I start started calligraphy (and didn't know any better) I would only dunk the pen nib in the ink and make quite a mess.  This was back in the days when calligraphy wasn't very popular and there were no courses or workshops available.

Many years later, I was fortunate enough to nourish a workshop with an expert calligrapher who demonstrated the proper way to load a pen using a dropper or a castor.

Dunking can exist done, however the downside to dunking is that the pen holder volition pick up ink from around the inside edge of the ink bottle and this will inevitably find its way to your fingers.  Dunking also feeds an excessive amount of ink to the reservoir and pecker, causing the dreaded blots.

Loading the pen using a dropper or a small, round sable brush is non simply cleaner, but gives you greater control as to the amount of ink held by the reservoir.  Some inks, such as Higgins, have an dropper built in to the hat.

Loading a Mitchell reservoir

Loading a Brause reservoir

One time you have loaded the reservoir, examination the pen past drawing a few strokes on a scrap slice of newspaper.  If the strokes have make clean, abrupt edges and the ink is feeding evenly, you lot are ready.

If the ink is blotting or the pen strokes wait dry, try adjusting the position of the reservoir, and make sure that the tip is touching the pen pecker.

Cleaning Pen Nibs

It is skilful practice to get into the habit of cleaning your pen nibs, reservoirs and holders after every lettering session.  Dried ink, especially waterproof ink, can exist difficult to remove and little dried $.25 of ink stuck between the tines or in the reservoir tin inhibit ink period.

Cleaning solutions will depend on what type of ink was used – most non-waterproof calligraphy inks volition clean up well with mild soap and water.  Some inks, especially waterproof inks, will require a cleaning fluid such every bit ammonia (window cleaner works well) or a commercial pen cleaning solution.

If possible, detach the pen (remove the reservoir from the nib) and clean each piece separately using your cleaning solution and an sometime, soft toothbrush.  A toothbrush is also very handy for cleaning pen nibs that accept a built-in reservoir or a reservoir difficult to remove.

Pen holders tin can exist cleaned with mild soap and water or employ the pen cleaning solution to remove stubborn, dried ink.  Be cautious about using pen cleaning solutions on holders that are made of wood and have cork finger grips – some of the solutions might harm these materials – e'er read the labels!

Make certain that the pen nibs, reservoirs and pen holders are dry.  Pen nibs, reservoirs and pen holders with metallic grips will rust.  I wipe them down with a soft cotton fiber rag or an absorbant paper towel to make sure all the wet is removed before putting them back in the box.

Dip Pen Problems

If you're having bug with a dip pen refer to the Troubleshooting a Calligraphy Dip Pen post.

Can You Use 50 % Alcohol To Clean Nibs,

Source: https://calligraphypen.wordpress.com/2009/01/14/care-and-feeding-of-the-calligraphy-dip-pen/

Posted by: mcdermottacque1994.blogspot.com

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