Smoothing Inner Tine Edges

[lurcho]

Hiya guys.

 

Sorry if this has been covered. I have looked.

 

I've tried following Richard Binder's instruction sheet on this, but I just haven't got it right in practice, and nowhere near.

 

Can anyone point me towards any other resources (tutorials, really) that I might have missed on FPN or elsewhere, please?

 

It's specificallly the inner tine work. I've got the old Micromesh and lapping films, and have already improved or buggered-up several nibs, with a bias towards ruination, havoc and bloodshed, but the inner-tine area is sort-of neutral. I'm not even sure how to get at those pesky surfaces. I feel like I need four arms. (Loupe-weilding, pen-holding, tine-pronging, film-bearing).

 

I know someone will save me....

[tryphon]

Smoothing nibs is a risky business and smoothing the inner portion of the tines is a last resort for squeaking nibs. Even those nibs can usually be fixed without using abrasives!

I have been collecting pens for many decades and a few years back I was the exclusive distributor in the US for several Brands, including Platinum of Japan. Back then I used to carry out all the warranty repairs on the pens I sold: many, way too many pens came back with nibs that had been irretrievably damaged by attempts at smoothing them! The how-to explanation online push people into abrading nibs that would be fine if adjusted! Usually, the new nib worker finds that the nib can be made smooth...only to find that the smoothness is a sign of a flat spot that deprives the nib of any character.... it becomes a dull brush. Believe me, do not smoothen a nib! Try to adjust it first! I published an article on another board. Email me or send me a PM if you would like the link. 90% of all nib problems are solved by carefully adjusting the nib! I know, I have seen way too many good nibs unnecessarily ruined by would-ne nibmeisters...

Giovanni

[mhosea]

I don't know what mistakes people usually make, but I would imagine the gist of it would be trying to smooth the nib with normal writing strokes instead of evaluating the shape of the nib and trying to make it more closely approximate an ideal shape. Even a rough nib tip will write respectably if it has the right shape. Where smoothing the inner edges comes in is when you've taken off enough material that there is a sharp edge leading into the slit. You should not always need to do this, I don't think. If this is your main problem, you may be grinding instead of smoothing, taking off too much material by being too aggressive. When you do need to do it, you won't be able to use a handheld loupe. I use a monacle type for this (cheap plastic, but it works). You also need to cultivate the skill of lifting one tine at a time with one hand. It can be done.

 

I do want to add here, in oblique agreement with tryphon, that if you do not know exactly why a nib feels scratchy, I don't really think you should try to smooth it. It follows that if an adjustment of the tines would suffice, then that is all you should do. I can get by with a loupe to check the adjustment of the nib, but if that doesn't do it, I use a USB microscope to see exactly what the problem with the tipping is and then try to fix that problem. This is especially important with vintage pens, because they may have anomalies in the tipping material that are best left alone.

Edited October 16, 2014 by mhosea

[lurcho]

Thank you both. And - Giovanni - I've sent a PM.