(Update 03/23/22: I was asked another question related to the Avery labels I use. See * below)
I’m absolutely thrilled to see some wonderful feedback and comments about my art adventures and my blog. It’s always wonderful to share experiences and insights as well as ask questions.
I thought I would spend a few minutes answering a few questions that came up within the last week or so.
I received a question about removing the nib unit from a Maiora Posillipo fountain pen. I pulled out my pen and tried to unscrew the nib unit from the section, but it would not budge. I answered the question with a “no” and then realized that I might be wrong. I went back through my blog to find out that the answer should have been a “yes” and here’s the result:
I used a piece of my grippy rubber liner (shelves) and gently unscrewed the nib unit from the section.
Another question that came up was about the labels I use for my TWSBI GO fountain pens. I use the Avery 5408 – 3/4″ round white labels. Besides identifying the ink in my GOs, I’ve also used the stickers on the lids of my ink sample vials. I’ve also used the stickers to label the tops of my ink boxes (e.g. Van Dieman’s Inks).
*An additional label question came up related to how do I keep the labels on my pens. Here’s a tip. Once I apply the label to my pen, I place my thumb over the label for about 30-60 seconds. This heats the adhesive on the label a bit and the label adheres to the pen.
The next question is related to issues with pen/nib drying out or having hard starts. The questions I received were related to Maiora Impronte and I want to add I have had issues with another pen brand model.
Let me begin by saying I hardly ever have any issues with a pen drying out or having hard starts. If I do, it’s more than likely because of a cap problem. That’s based on my personal experience and a consistent pattern I’ve seen.
My Maiora Impronte Posillipo had an issue with hard starts within an hour of receiving the new pen. I wrote with it for a few days and I documented the issues I was having. I provided writing samples and pictures of my cap: a rubber disc inside was not secured and there was a hole where the clip goes into the cap. Yafa Brands was able to resolve it by replacing the cap with a new one. You can read about this on my blog by looking for “Category” on the right side of my blog and click on the drop down menu and look for “Maiora” or you can click here to get the same information: https://susiegstudio.com/category/maiora/ .
The other cap issue I have is with one of my Conklin All American pens. I have several of them, but one of them always has a hard start. I’m sure it has to do with air going into the area where the clip connects into the cap. When I use a different colored cap on the pen, the pen writes fine. I found a work around.
For those of you who have pens with hard starts, the problem may or may not be with your nib. I would check your cap first to see if there are any openings or holes. Do you see daylight or feel any air when you blow into the cap? That’s where I would start before touching the nib.
Before I go, I thought I would add this picture from this morning. I cleaned out 12 fountain pens I had inked from last year’s workshop. I placed some paper towels in a jam jar and placed the nearly clean nib units on the paper towel to draw out the remaining ink.
A lovely tie-dye pattern from Robert Oster Thunderstorm ink.
I enjoy turquoise and teal ink colors. It reminds me of the beautiful waters in the Caribbean. I also enjoy intense pink, bright coral, and eucalyptus/olive green colors.
When I saw the label color on the bottle I knew this was going to be another favorite color.
Diamine says this ink is a standard ink. It shows quite a bit of shading on my paper. My swatch card shows some interesting inky goodness.
So I had a funny thing happen to me. I picked up my Maiora fountain pen and proceeded to fill it with this ink. Uh-oh. I could not get the nib/feed/section into the bottle. My pen’s section was a bit thicker than the bottle’s opening. I had a “you’ve got to be kidding” moment with my pen. I untwisted my converter from the pen and dunked my converter into the bottle and filled it with ink. Mission accomplished. 😊
Okay, let’s get back to my inky observations.
There’s a bit of pinky sheen showing up on my swatch card. I’m trying to figure out if this ink is a teal or a turquoise color.
Here’s a close up of my writing sample. Did I mention the lovely shading on my paper?
In the following picture I have my Subzero swatch from a few days ago next to Yuletide. I can see Yuletide is leaning a bit towards green.
I’m now thinking Yuletide is closer to a teal color. I pull out my Diamine Aurora Borealis and Robert Oster Deep Sea swatches and compare the colors (base and underlying). I can see it’s in the similar range of colors.
There is still something unique about this ink. My brain is telling me there’s more than one underlying color. Besides green I also see some blue. I have to say my swatch card came out brilliantly with the ink dispersing in an unusual pattern.
I added too much water to my inky sketch and so the sheen migrated to the edge of my sketch. I can still see some greens and blues in my sketch.
Yuletide is a gorgeous dark teal ink color with some medium pink sheen. Depending on the lighting there is also has some green and blue underlying colors. I would definitely use this ink in my artwork and for journaling. Another color on my wish list.
Slap the side of my head moment: I’ve been using Yuletide in a few of my sketches. There was something very familiar about this color. Yes! Of course! I have another favorite ink color I’m currently using in my lovely Lamy 2000 called Devil’s Kitchen! Here’s another swatch comparison.
The only differences I can see is Yuletide has more sheen and is slightly lighter in color. Other than that both ink swatches look very close.
Ink: Diamine Yuletide (sheen)
Pens: Maiora Impronte OS Posilippo with Fine nib. Automatic pen.
Yesterday, I received a package from Yafa. It was my replacement cap for my Maiora Impronte OS Posillipo. My pen was headless for almost three weeks.
I took the cap out of the package and immediately examined the inside of the cap. I took a picture to send back to the online pen shop and to also document this experience.
At first, I wasn’t sure if they fixed or repaired my original defective cap. Then I looked at the resin pattern on the cap and noticed it was different than the original. Good thing I took lots of pictures. Here’s a look at my original defective cap:
There is definitely a difference between the two. I am extremely happy to have this issue resolved.
I had intentions of filling my pen with Diamine Aqua Lagoon ink. Too bad I could not get the girthy section of my pen into the narrow opening of the small Diamine bottle of ink. That was a first for me!
I shifted gears and flipped through my recent ink cards I just swatched and came up with Birmingham Pen Company’s Glassmith ink. It turned out to be a perfect match.
Glassmith is a beautiful turquoise ink with lots of shading and a tiny bit of pink sheen. It’s listed as a “Crisp” ink on Birmingham’s website and suppose to minimize feathering and bleeding on most papers. When I read that I assumed it would lean towards a dry ink. It is not. It’s a nice wet ink which I enjoy using.
I spent some quality time with my lovely pen and enjoyed this pen and ink combination.
The replacement cap fits nicely on my pen and the tip of the nib is not rubbing against anything inside the cap. One of the major issues I had with my original defective cap was a hole where the clip was attached. The air was getting inside the cap and drying out the nib and feed. The next morning I would have hard starts while trying to write with the pen. The replacement cap appears to be well sealed. I left the pen on my desk overnight and did not have any issues this morning.
All is good in my fountain pen world.
Pen: Maiora Impronte OS Posillipo with JoWo #6 Fine nib
Ink: Birmingham Pen Company Smithglass
Paper: GLP Creations journal with Tomoe River Paper (68gsm)
I received a package from Yafa. I was so excited when I opened the package to see a new replacement cap. Then came the disappointment. They sent me the wrong cap and it appears to be the regular size cap for their smaller Maiora Impronte pen. Unbelievable!
The new cap (right) is smaller
It’s quite evident the new cap does not fit
I contacted the online pen shop and the solution was to return both (my defective OS cap and their regular replacement cap) to Yafa along with a nice letter. It looks like it will be sometime in June when I’ll get to use my pen again. Not a happy camper right now.
Both caps in the plastic case: sent back to Yafa
For now, my Maiora looks a bit naked without her cap. I placed her safely in one of my unused Levenger pen cases. I’m documenting this here because when I finally receive the correct replacement cap, it’s a guarantee that I will forget where I put my pen for safe keeping. Hahaha!
Update (05/24): I have received a package from Yafa. They sent me the wrong cap and it appears to be the regular size cap for their smaller Maiora Impronte pen. Unbelievable! I contacted the online pen shop and the solution is to return both (my defective OS cap and their regular replacement cap) to Yafa along with a nice letter. It looks like it will be sometime in June when I’ll get to use my pen again. Not a happy camper right now.
Update (05/22): In a few days I will be receiving a new cap from Yafa Brands. I cleaned my pen and have been patiently waiting to use it again. I can’t wait to see what this new cap looks like. Stay tuned!
Maiora is an Italian fountain pen manufacturer based in Naples, Italy and is managed by former co-founder and president of Delta Pen Company, Nino Marino. Maiora also produces fountain pens under the Netunno brand. I have to mention here that the other former co-founder of Delta was Ciro Matrone. Ciro and Salvatore Matrone (Ciro’s son) are the brain child behind Leonardo Officina Italiano Pens. To me, the Maiora pens remind me of my Leonardos and look a bit similar, but are quite different.
I saw a few Maiora Impronte OS pens on my social media feed. Someone had posted a picture of their Posillipo pen and the colors reminded me of the Caribbean waters. Yes, I’m a sucker for island and water related colors.
My Maiora Impronte OS in Posillipo
I did a bit of research to find out the meaning behind this color’s name. Posillipo is a town located near the coastal region of Naples. This pens’s blue and green flecks represent the surrounding waters and the rolling hills of this coastal town in Italy.
I’ve had this Posillipo for a couple of weeks and I wanted to share what I love about this pen, the good and the bad.
The Good:
The pen is made from hand turned solid resin bars and the pen’s clip is machined from solid brass and then hand polished. The pen has a curved grip/section which is made from the same matching resin as the barrel and cap. It has a really nice feel and my fingers rest comfortably in the curved section. I’m starting to prefer this kind of grip.
My Posillipo with silver clip and ring trim
I was happy to see the Maiora uses a threaded converter which is my favorite type of converter. This one is designed beautifully and well made. I had a lovely experience filling the converter with ink. That says a lot about the quality. Similar to my Leonardo Momento Zeros, there’s blind cap at the end of the barrel that allows quick access to the converter knob. The blind cap threads are metal.
Maiora uses JoWo #6 nibs. Swappable nib units? Yes! That means Franklin-Christoph, Esterbrook, Edison, Opus 88, Retro 51 and other pen manufacturers who use JoWo #6 nib units are swappable in my Maiora Impronte pen.
I took a picture of my pen disassembled. Notice the curved grip, the nib unit unscrewed and sitting in its section, the blind cap, and the lovely converter.
The nib is engraved with the Maiora logo and the converter has the etched name
Another nice feature of my Maiora pen is it can use the short or long standard international ink cartridges. I mentioned before I have a few boxes of the Jacques Herbin, Pelikan, and Waterman long ink cartridges that I like to use.
My Fine nib needed a slight adjustment as the tines appeared to be a bit off and I could feel the nib drag a bit on the paper (scratchy). After I realigned the tines, the nib wrote smoothly with just a tad bit of feedback. A lovely feeling for a Fine nib. It writes slightly wet and I filled my pen with Diamine Enchanted Ocean to show off all the shimmers.
The Bad:
Yes, there is a big issue with my Maiora Impronte OS. It’s with the cap. There’s a small opening where the clip attaches to the cap. That means air is flowing inside the cap. My beautiful Fine nib dries out in between writing sessions and overnight.
Picture of the opening where the clip is attached
There is also a floating rubber disk sitting inside at the end of the cap. It’s not secured and I’m not sure if it’s suppose to be there. When I twist my pen into the cap, the tip of the nib rubs against this rubber disk. After the first night when my pen sat on my desk, the tip of the nib (iridium) had developed some crust and the nib was covered with ink. It wrote for a bit and then I decided to clean off the gunk. It took several attempts to wipe it off and then I ended up dipping the nib into some water. I did the dipping into the water about three times before I could remove the ink completely from the nib and the iridium tipping was shiny again.
I sent this picture of the inside cap to the pen shop
After spending some quality time writing with my Maiora, I sent an email to the online pen shop and included a few pictures of my pen and my sample writing where I documented the issues. I received a response that included some options: request a new nib and a new cap. I provided additional pictures of the cap include a gap/opening where the clip joins the cap. I actually blew some air into the cap and sure enough the air came out of the cap.
I went ahead and requested a new cap. I did not request a new nib as my Fine nib writes beautifully and I have no issues with the nib. As a few of my pen friends know, when a beautiful writing nib is in my possession there is no letting go. My only problem with the pen was the cap and its two apparent issues. The pen shop is waiting to hear back from the distributor, Yafa Brands.
Why didn’t I return the whole pen? There were too many positive and feel good qualities I was experiencing with this particular pen. Besides checking off all of my pen requirement boxes, this nib writes beautifully. Plus the pen feels comfortable in my hand after several long writing sessions. I’ve become one with this pen minus the cap. Hahaha!
I will be back to post additional updates and the solution to this major cap problem.
Pen Comparisons:
I wanted to include a picture that shows my Esterbrook Estie OS and my lovely Maiora together. They are both “over sized” pens and look somewhat girthy, but they are extremely comfy pens to write with.
My Esterbrook Estie OS in Dreamer Purple and my Maiora Impronte OS in Posillipo
Since I’m displaying my current favorite pens, I thought I would add another favorite to the mix from Franklin-Christoph.
For comparison: Franklin-Christoph 31 (Candystone), Esterbrook Estie OS, and Maiora Impronte OS
After looking at this picture, I realize that my Candystone pen contains my favorite colors and it also incorporates the colors from the other two pens.
Tips/Additional Comments:
My Leonardo Momento Zero pens have friction fit Bock nibs. Leonardo included the Bock #6 nibs with their pens until earlier this year (2021) when they switched to JoWo #6 nibs. The JoWo nibs in the Leonardo pens are also friction fit meaning you can pull the nib and feed out to change the nib. The nib collar unit is still secured into the section. No unscrewing of the nib unit/collar on the Leonardo Momento Zeros.
I have no issues with using shimmering inks with a Fine nib as long as the feed and nib can handle it. Most of my JoWo nibs (Extra Fine, Fine, and wider nibs) do well with shimmering inks. If I can see daylight between the tines and through the tip of the nib, I know the shimmering ink will flow. I mostly use my Diamine Shimmertastic and Jacques Herbin shimmering inks with my Extra Fine and Fine nibs.
SusieG Studio 