Fountain Pen in Moleskine - Not Working So Well

[gtd2003]

Following suggestions I received here, I purchased a Lamy Safari pen,
and I purchased some Parker Quink and Noodler's black and midnight blue
ink. I've really been enjoying the pen, writing with it whenever I get
a chance. I've written on all kinds of paper, and I've had no problems
with it except in my Moleskine. I've tried all three inks in my
Moleskine, and all three gave me the same results: after the ink sits
for a couple of seconds, it spreads out in very tiny threads from the
writing. It's almost as if the ink is traveling down individual fibers
in the paper. I'm also seeing some almost bleed through in some places.
Anyone have any suggestions on fixing these problems? Thanks!

Ken

[Chris Lott]

I use a Lamy Safari with Quink all the time. But I only use F and XF
nibs. Are you using a M or larger? The almost bleed through is common
enough-- Moleskine paper is thin. Even many gel pens and rollerballs
are almost visible on the other side. Happily, due to a strange quirk
in my psyche, I only write on the right-hand/fronts of pages in any
notebook, the other is only for use in an emergency/notes/additions.

c

[gtd2003]

> I use a Lamy Safari with Quink all the time. But I only use F and
> XF nibs. Are you using a M or larger?

Nope. I'm using a fine nib.

Ken

[argonic]

I use the Moleskine Pocket Weekly Diary with a Safari F (and Rotring
Freeway M, which is comparable) with Waterman ink (purple and havana).
I don't get the feathery bleeding you are referring to. I do have to
wait before I turn the page or I get smudging and the writing is
plainly visible on the other side of the page (but not bled-through).

I also use Volant notebooks and the paper in them seems more porous. I
do get occasionally feathering and bleed through, but mainly this
occurs where I've touched the paper with my not-really-that-sweaty
hands.

Graeme

[Hanni Ross]

I use a Rotring, and like Graeme have no trouble with it. It's a joy to use.

[Bryan Ewbank]

As a hack for the "smudging", add a piece of tissue paper between the
pages you are writing on - this will absorb the minute quantity of ink
that is still wet, and also gives you a placeholder of sorts.

[Jeffrey Windsor]

Just a guess, but try lightening up with your pen hand; literally, use
less pressure. I might be entirely off, but I'm trying to discover how
you're experiencing bleed into your moleskine and I have virtually
none in mine.

A quick test with a Parker Sonnet (medium nib) and some Schaeffer ink.
It's my wettest pen, and I can replicate your experience when I am
putting too much pressure with my writing hand. What I'm seeing is a
fibrous bleeding only occasionally, not uniformly over the whole
letterform. On the reverse of the page, I have spots where the ink
does indeed almost show through, though only at the ends of strokes or
where I've crossed lines. If I really, really put some pressure down,
I mean spread my nib point visibly and put down so much ink it's still
wet over a full minute later, I can get bleed through on about 30% of
each letterform, in little dots.

There's two simple solutions:
1. As I mentioned, use less pressure. See how lightly you can push and
still write. With a fountain it's almost shocking how light you can go
(especially compared with a goopy ballpoint).

2. Don't use a Moleskine. A Rhodia pad is less expensive and has much,
much better paper quality. The same test (visible nib-spreading
pressure) results in NO feathering and no bleed through. None. It is
absolutely smooth and beautiful paper. Plus, it comes in cool
orange/yellow covers and it's French. Oh la la.

For the record, I use Moleskines as notebooks and think they're great.
But I also acknowledge that their paper quality is slightly worse than
average (or even three-hole-punched college-ruled binder paper). The
quality design is enough for me, semi-crappy paper is the unavoidable
room for improvement.

--jw

(Before anyone writes in and says that I have a bad sample: I have
done the same thing on many Moleskines which have been purchased over
the past few years. And even if it wasn't the case, the lack of
consistency is nevertheless damning.)

[Jeffrey Windsor]

I have on my desk an old blotter which I inherited from my
great-grandmother. You used "blotting paper" and rolled it across your
writing to, as you described so well, "absorb the minute quantity of
ink that it still wet." It's just a paperweight to me, but it shows
that everything old is new again, indeed.

Good tip.

--jw

[gandoe]

Hmm....

Well, I've been following the precursor thread, being both a pen and
moleskine fan....I surfed over to PenCity, and got myself a Safari M (I
like the broader points) and two bottles of Noodlers ink (Walnut and
Royal Blue).

First...I really like the Safari - it definitely seems to be a well
constructed pen, and the tip is firm yet responsive (yuck! I hate it
when I sound like marketing bs). I'm currently trying the walnut
Noodlers ink with the refill converter - converter was easy and clean
to use, and the ink seems to flow and cover well.

After writing a page or two in my moleskine notebook....I haven't
really seen any bleeding. I expected a little, although I haven't tried
any of my other fountain pens in the moleskine yet.

I would agree that maybe the first culprit is too heavy tip
pressure....one of the reasons I'm a pen fan, especially for big
barreled pens with gel inks (Pilot G2) and fountain pens, is that
writing is actually quite pleasant with those tools...smooth and light.

[ajt]

As a user solely of fountain pens, I can confirm that I get bleed too.

*But*... Only on certain Moleskins. Which I think is probably key here.


I find the ruled reporters notebooks fine, as are the diaries (although
I really hate the new week to view format : each day isn't wide enough
to write in a single word!), but the A5 size plain paper ones (really
really thin paper) are just rubbish with a fountain pen, or anything
that uses properly liquid ink, e.g. a pilot or such like. Pencils and
biros, fine.

[Hanni Ross]

Just to add to that, the squared notebooks are fine too.

[argonic]

While I don't get bleed through in the plain notebooks (volant
notebooks, actually), the text shows through more clearly than on the
squared paper.

[Barnett Dawson]

My experience jibes well with the previous posts. Squared notebooks
large and small don't feather noticeably with my fountain pens -- from
the very fine nibbed Japanese Namiki and Sailor pens -- to the real
gushers with stub nibs. The ink doesn't seem to be a factor, either
-- I use all kinds of different inks. The notebooks themselves seem
to be the culprit. When I get one that feathers -- usually the
straight lined small notebooks -- I find a worthy soul who is not
addicted to fountain pens and give them away.

It might be interesting to ask the Moleskine marketing department if
Hemingway and Van Gogh and the other luminaries wrote in pencil only.
Or maybe, was the paper better?

Again, I'd repeat the recommendation to check out Rhodia pads (their
approximately 3/5" flip-top with the microperforation is terrific), or
Clairefontaine's spiral and/or clothbound notebooks. No bleeding, no
feathering, and incredibly smooth paper. Available at lots of places,
including:

<http://www.vickerey.com/rhodia.html>
<http://www.thedailyplanner.com/clairfontaine-notebooks-clairefontiane-basics-notebooks-c-116_21_265.html>

[mark_g]

I am also a Moleskine and fountain pen fan. I did have this problem
from time to time and performed some experiments. I collect fountain
pens and have a number of inks so tried various permutations. I write
quite firmly and found that the main culprit was the ink rather than
the pen. In the end I have been using a Parker Sonnet with medium nib
and Mont Blanc blue/black ink with good results on the larger sized
Moleskine with squared paper. No problems.
I've also heard good reports of Noodler's Ink (available in the US, but
haven't seen it here in the UK) but haven't tried it myself.

[Pjk]

Barnett Dawson wrote:
>
> It might be interesting to ask the Moleskine marketing department if
> Hemingway and Van Gogh and the other luminaries wrote in pencil only.
> Or maybe, was the paper better?
>

FWIW Hemingway states in A Moveable Feast that he wrote with a pencil.
He carried a small pocket knife which he used to sharpen it. This would
have been in Paris in the early 20's.

Pjk