Pens and Inks, Continued
Pen care
Pen nibs and reservoir pens must be kept clean. Crusted ink will ruin a
drawing in progress and permanently freeze a technical pen. Pen nibs should
be cleaned in warm water with mild detergent. Use water and ammonia to
remove stubborn ink. Do not leave reservoir pen parts in an ultrasonic
cleanser for more than 10 minutes. Heat from the vibrating cycles will melt
the plastic parts of the pen. Before you clean a reservoir pen, consider the
following guidelines:
thoroughly clean pens before periods of nonuse, an idle pen floods with
ink that coagulates, preventing the needle weight from moving freely to
distribute ink into the nib,
disassemble the pen only for thorough cleaning to prevent damage to the
fine wire needle in the nib, and
handle all parts carefully.
To clean a reservoir pen, follow this table:
Step
Action
Remove the holder, clamp ring, and reservoir.
2
Empty cartridge, rinse, and set aside to dry.
3
Remove the cap, rinse, and set aside to dry.
4
Loosen point section before soaking:
do not force pen section loose, instead
allow to soak and renew attempt to loosen.
5
Soak pen in water and ammonia or mild detergent.
6
Rinse well.
7
Thoroughly dry pen parts before reassembly.
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