Posted 05 June 2014 - 03:03

My question is whether the combination of ink and paper have an effect on how the nibs, especially the really wide ones, perform?

I am relatively new to the world of Montblanc oblique nibs. My OBBB in the 149 is my newest acquisition. After it returned from the nib swap, I filled it with what I had in the office, which was a single bottle of Organic Studios Join or Die sepia. It performed beautifully. I had absolutely no problems and the pen would write at the drop of a hat. Yes I had to make sure I held it at the right angle but it was not particularly finicky, and would write easily. I use Rhodia for my nice pens, primarily to enjoy the performance of the pen and also a little bit of nice writing.

My second fill I tried Iroshizuku inks, both Yamaguri and Fuyugaki. Wow, the pen now has completely transformed. It just refuses to write on Rhodia. It would just glide along the paper, almost like there is little to no resistance. No ink would come out of the nib. I really have to struggle with the right angle to get the pen to write if at all. If it does, the ink appears very watered down, and diluted. Almost like it had sat in the sun for too long. At this point, I thought maybe I somehow damaged the nib during the cleaning process. Except the nib would write at the drop of a hat with more absorbent paper, like Moleskine with the same ink.

I had the same problem with my OB nib on my Boheme. I originally thought I did not quite know how to use an oblique nib. Except that now the Boheme is filled with Noodlers Golder Brown, and it writes easily.

Any one experience the same situation? Do these wider nibs require a much more saturated ink in order to operate optimally, so that there is resistance on very smooth paper?