Nibs

Hi:

Has anyone looked at nibs under a stereoscope/ microscope or even an eye
loupe? The two tines on my most nibs are not precisely together. Is this
normal?

From: "sbsawler"

Hi:

Has anyone looked at nibs under a stereoscope/ microscope or even an eye
loupe? The two tines on my most nibs are not precisely together. Is this
normal?

It is normal to look at nibs with an loupe, and if not precisely aligned, to
re-align them. Frank Dubiel often spoke of the "fingernail" method of
re-aligning nibs.

"sbsawler" wrote in message
lkaboutcollecting.com...
Hi:

Has anyone looked at nibs under a stereoscope/ microscope or even an eye
loupe?

It's almost a requirement if you're going to have and regularly use fountain
pens.

The two tines on my most nibs are not precisely together. Is this
normal?

Common, but not necessarily normal. Is the nib writing smoothly? is the
flow okay? then I'd not worry about it. But if you're having problems with
the write, then they are probably misaligned.

Here's an interesting microscopic view of nibs...

http://pagesperso.laposte.net/fpnet/...?showtopic=953

I'm sure there is more out there on alignment and what to look for - but i'm
not awake enough to track it down apparently.

KCat

For Pen Talk, Images, Trading and Reviews: The Fountain Pen Network
http://pagesperso.laposte.net/fpnet

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http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/ASLFAQ/

kcat: You're always a wealth of information! Thanks.

I've inked only one of these pens and it writes well; on par. It's an
M800; it doesn't always start writing on a downstroke and it isn't as
smooth as my parker centennial or my international when I begin writing.
Both parker nibs seem to be perfectly aligned and all the waterman's I've
looked at seem to be very well aligned. It's just the Pelikans that I've
noticed don't seem to be well aligned.

However, with that being said, when the M800 gets going, it's really
smooth and a pleasure to write with.

Anyone else notice anomalies with the tines?

"sbsawler" wrote in message
lkaboutcollecting.com...
kcat: You're always a wealth of information! Thanks.

some would just say I'm a know-it-all-wannabe.

looked at seem to be very well aligned. It's just the Pelikans that I've
noticed don't seem to be well aligned.

However, with that being said, when the M800 gets going, it's really
smooth and a pleasure to write with.

well, my take on this - is that a pen of the quality and price of an 800 -
should write flawlessly. For that matter, a pen of the quality and price of
a 200 should as well. Sounds like perhaps it might be a bit baby-bottomed.
I've not had any problems with Pelikan gold nibs other than they are broader
than I like so I usually go with a F or XF - this seems to reduce the amount
of baby-bottoming. If you are not comfortable with adjusting this yourself,
then you have a few options of course:

1) Contact Chartpak for nib repair or replacement. Depending on the age of
the pen, it might be under warranty and therefore your cost would be limited
to shipping.
2) Send it to someone you trust to check the nib and make sure it's properly
aligned and doesn't hesitate on you.
3) practice on a couple of cheapo pens to strengthen your nib tweaking
skills (my personal favorite)
4) live with the hard-starting and enjoy the otherwise smooth write.

I think that tipping has become way too generous on pens these days - in an
effort to please the "glassy smooth" nib requirements, companies make very
rounded nibs that skip and are hard-starting. Fortunately, it's usually an
easy fix.

HTH,
k

"sbsawler" writes:

kcat: You're always a wealth of information! Thanks.

I've inked only one of these pens and it writes well; on par. It's
an M800; it doesn't always start writing on a downstroke and it
isn't as smooth as my parker centennial or my international when I
begin writing. Both parker nibs seem to be perfectly aligned and
all the waterman's I've looked at seem to be very well aligned. It's
just the Pelikans that I've noticed don't seem to be well aligned.

However, with that being said, when the M800 gets going, it's really
smooth and a pleasure to write with.

Anyone else notice anomalies with the tines?

It's amazing how people's mileage varies. I have been unhappy with
Parker nibs in general, both vintage and recent, as well as the shape
and comfort of the pens when writing. And yet their broad success in
the market over, what 90 years or so, indicates that the vast majority
of people who buy them are happy with them. Maybe it's like a Ford vs
Chevy or Mac vs Windows thing- I much prefer vintage Sheaffer to
vintage or new Parker to write with. Parker, though, really had the
aesthetic thing down and made many really nice looking pens.

I've been very happy with all the Pelikan nibs I have tried. They
never skip, write immediately and will do so if left for weeks
unused. I've never used an 800, though, as it's a bigger and heavier
pen than I generally like. I've only found a couple of Waterman pens
I really like (IIRC an Expert II and a Carene Deluxe, although the
latter is somehow just not quite right in terms of ink flow. That
seems to be in part probelms with ink wetting of the inside of the
convertor- the ink just hangs in the convertor and is loath to flow
down to the nib).