New Nib: Strange "Clicking" Sound?

I purchased a new pen with a flexible "fine" nib, and while there is no
problem with the ink flow, the nib makes an occasional "clicking" noise
when applied to the paper. Is this something I should be concerned
about? The pen was not well-packed when it was shipped to me -- the cap
came off the pen during shipping, and thus the nib was exposed as the
pen rattled around in its box -- so I wonder if the nib may have been
damaged en route. Yet it does seem to write well, the annoyng clicking
notwithstanding.

Any advice would be appreciated -- I wonder if I should send it back
for repair?

Mike

in all likelihood, there is a small burr on the inner edge of one of the
tines. sometimes this will wear off with time, other times a person
comfortable with nib adjustment needs to fix it. You said this is a "new"
pen, do you mean new as in recently produced and under warranty or new to
you. if it is under warranty, i'd contact the manufacturer customer
service. if it's a true flex nib of vintage type and you can't abide by the
clicking, get a nibmeister to take a look at it. sometimes the tines are
just too tight at the tip and rubbing together and there may not actually be
a burr - especially given you said this is a flexible nib. i suppose the
latter *might* happen during shipment, but i've not heard of that.

my .02 - intermediate nib adjuster so only take my advice with that in mind.
I'm not an expert but i have had burrs before on semi-flex nibs.

--

KCat

For Pen Talk, Images, Trading and Reviews: The Fountain Pen Network
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com

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

"Mike" wrote in message
ups.com...
I purchased a new pen with a flexible "fine" nib, and while there is no
problem with the ink flow, the nib makes an occasional "clicking" noise
when applied to the paper. Is this something I should be concerned
about? The pen was not well-packed when it was shipped to me -- the cap
came off the pen during shipping, and thus the nib was exposed as the
pen rattled around in its box -- so I wonder if the nib may have been
damaged en route. Yet it does seem to write well, the annoyng clicking
notwithstanding.

Any advice would be appreciated -- I wonder if I should send it back
for repair?

Mike

Thanks for the advice. It's a new pen by Ancora, and while I used the
term "flexible," I may have meant "springy" -- it's a lot more elastic
than my other pens. Is there anything I might try on my own to correct
the condition prior to sending it back? Given the way it was shipped to
me, I'm reluctant to return it to the same people. On the other hand, I
have no experience whatsoever in fixing pens. (But I do have dental
floss, if that's the tool of choice for a burr...)

Mike

I would bet money (if I had any) that the clicking is from the tines being
too tightly in contact with one another. I have fixed many of my pens
when they had this problem, but I'm reluctant to advise you to do it since
you state you have no experience; you could easily make things worse.

If you have a jeweler's loupe or even a fairly powerful little hand
magnifier, you can watch the tines as you write and see what's going on.
They probably just need the TINIEST bit of separation and everything would
be dandy (providing the pen writes pretty well already). But if they get
out of horizontal alignment during the process of fixing the "click,"
you're into territory where you can really damage the nib if you're not
careful, trying to spring them back to where they present a smooth profile
for writing. I think it would be best to find an experienced person,
preferably locally, to fix this--it's probably very simple, but all the
same it presents an opportunity to ruin your investment.

Wish I could be more helpful.



On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 10:46:10 -0700, Mike wrote:

Thanks for the advice. It's a new pen by Ancora, and while I used the
term "flexible," I may have meant "springy" -- it's a lot more elastic
than my other pens. Is there anything I might try on my own to correct
the condition prior to sending it back? Given the way it was shipped to
me, I'm reluctant to return it to the same people. On the other hand, I
have no experience whatsoever in fixing pens. (But I do have dental
floss, if that's the tool of choice for a burr...)

Mike

I have to echo Jon on this - it's a simple fix - usually - whether it's
tines too tight or a burr, but this isn't a cheap pen and such things should
be learned on cheap pens before trying them on a more expensive pen. I have
heard of folks who will ship a pen to customer service or the like and
requested better packaging upon return. So...

either contact one of the experts or contact Ancora (or their
representative) the problem and state your concerns about the packaging
issue.

i usually would say go with customer service first because there should be a
warranty for such things and as others often say, if there's a problem, the
company needs to know for their quality control.

--

KCat

For Pen Talk, Images, Trading and Reviews: The Fountain Pen Network
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com

For Lupus Support and Info
http://www.ghg.net/schwerpt/ASLFAQ/

"Mike" wrote in message
oups.com...
Thanks for the advice. It's a new pen by Ancora, and while I used the
term "flexible," I may have meant "springy" -- it's a lot more elastic
than my other pens. Is there anything I might try on my own to correct
the condition prior to sending it back? Given the way it was shipped to
me, I'm reluctant to return it to the same people. On the other hand, I
have no experience whatsoever in fixing pens. (But I do have dental
floss, if that's the tool of choice for a burr...)

Mike

Thanks, Jon and KCat -- very helpful (and hopeful) advice! I'll let the
experts work on it, since I'm prone to damage even things I do know
about.

Mike