Tines Misaligned?

[hagane1015]

Hello, Denizens of the FPN,

 

I'm fairly new into fountain pens, it being only about 6 months since I got into them, and as my third pen, I purchased a Monteverde Artista Crystal. I inked it up with some of J.Herbin's Les Subtitles ink and it's been working well. But I've noticed that while the downstroke, upstroke and left stroke are smooth, the right stroke suffers from varying degrees of scratchiness. I checked the nib and discovered the tines to be somewhat misaligned, and in fact, the whole nib seems to be "crooked" in relation to the feed. But I can't adjust the nib or take it apart since it's almost impossible to disassemble, unlike the feed and nib on my pilot metropolitan. Putting pressure on the nib or trying to bend it back with my fingers seems to work for about 5 or 6 letters before it becomes scratchy again. Other then sending the pen back for repair, what do you suggest I try to do?

 

Thanks in advance.

P.S. Sorry about the wall of text.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Push the up tine down from the breather hole,not just the tip.... some 2-3 seconds two or three times....hold it below the other tine. Lifting 'up' is the hard way....shifting the nib up off the feed....causing you to dry up.

 

Often a nib can be shifted by pressure on the edge and shoulder in the direction you need. Do that first.

[hagane1015]

Push the up tine down from the breather hole,not just the tip.... some 2-3 seconds two or three times....hold it below the other tine. Lifting 'up' is the hard way....shifting the nib up off the feed....causing you to dry up.

 

Often a nib can be shifted by pressure on the edge and shoulder in the direction you need. Do that first.

Thanks for the tip, Bo Bo Olson. I tried aligning the tines with my fingers before posting this, and tried it again after you posted your reply. Now, the scratchiness seems to be mostly gone, but now, I seems to be experiencing a lot of hard starts and railroading. Do you think this is a problem with the nib itself or the ink I'm using (J. Herbin Les Subtitles in Violet, which I noticed leaves a lot of "stringed" residue when cleaning out)? Do you have any tips on reducing railroading and hard starts?

 

**EDIT**

I just cleaned it out and inked it up with a different ink, and that seems to be a problem. Thanks for the reply.

Edited February 21, 2015 by hagane1015

[TheRealScubaSteve]

That pen does suffer hard starts with a variety of inks. It should not be too difficult to yank the nib and feed out, though. A piece of rubber (rubber band or the like) or even a damp paper towel should make this task easier if it's too snug by hand.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't know the Monteverde Artista Crystal, but I think it is a modern pen with out much built in flex....therefore,

I think you are pressing much too hard to get any railroading at all.

 

A fountain pen requires no pressure....being held as lightly as you'd hold a featherless baby bird.

You appear to be making baby bird paste....

 

I don't know J. Herbin Les Subtitles, just regular Herbin and the new 1670 gray with sparkles.

 

I don't know where you are from....if in Europe get De Atramentis Royal Blue...that is wetter than Waterman blue...if in the States....look for a Noodler ink.

Once Waterman use to be considered a wet ink....Noodler users consider it dry.

[TheRealScubaSteve]

DA Steel Blue was one ink I recall the pen really liked.

[gweimer1]

I have a question related to this thread, and I think the OP touches on this. I have a wonderful little Wahl pen that writes nice and smooth, but it runs pretty wet. The nib and tines are just as they should be, but the nib is slightly rotated on the axis of the feed. This makes me wonder if that's contributing to the wet feed. I've started paying more attention to this part of the pen, and I have learned that this does impact the rest of the pen, in my growing experience.

 

I'm thinking that we need to set pens in their designed orientation, from all angles, and THEN (only when needed) start tweeking for performance. Adjusting one aspect, while another is out of line, would likely only result in failure.