Hero 616: A Second Life

[k3eax]

As an advocate of a minimal approach to many things in life, my choice of fountain pens is the Hero 616. When my "near at hand" 616 suddenly began goudge paper rather than glide over it, My loop quickly revealed a nib with one of its tines devoid of the "iridium" that had been welded to it.

 

Now, I just couldn't chuck it out and draw another from my vast reserve colection of 616's. What to do? Well, I nipped-off the remaining so-called iridium tip and went to work on what remained. A very fine stone followed by micro-mesh was used to render a nicely perfroming broad nib.

 

There is some question in my mind about the service life of such a nib devoid of its hardened tip. Has anyone experince with such?

[Yehuwdiy]

Yes, in fact with the exact pen of with you speak After couple of years I still use it and the is no appreciable wear. Having said that I only use it every couple of weeks, it's not an EDC for me.

 

One issue I have encountered is the nib's tendency to collect 'the fuzz' = requiring regular flossing if used extensively.

 

It also tends to like a lubricative ink, Noodler's X-Feather does well.

 

I believe Doc Brown did the same modification in one of his YouTube posts. Once again with the same pen!

[tmenyc]

Well, all of the Esterbrook 1xxx series nibs are free of any added tipping, and they seem to have lasted oh, 50 times longer than a couple of years...

 

Tim