Nib question

[chuancao]

I know that the tines need to be lined up correctly for the pen to function correctly, but is it necessary for the black "triangle" behind the tines (is that the feed area?) to line up dead center between the split of the tines?

 

Just curious because my MB has that "triangle" sort of off center.

 

Thanks!

Edited February 22, 2008 by chuancao

[DrPJM1]

Mine are on all my pens. How does your pen write?

[chuancao]

Mine are on all my pens. How does your pen write?

 

It writes fine I think with very occasional hard starts (i just got it the other day). I see that my Aurora nib is also slightly off center.

 

What do you mean by they are on all your pens? Mine are on my pens, too. But it's just that the little feed doesn't line up perpendicular... if you know what I mean.

 

Thanks...

[DrPJM1]

My feeds are correctly centered. Return your MontBlanc at once and get a better pen. No, just kidding with you. Flush your pen with water and a little bit of plain detergent, dry and re-fill. Sometimes, oils from the manufacturing process will cause problems. If all else fails, take sentence #2 seriously.

[Toulouse]

I know that the tines need to be lined up correctly for the pen to function correctly, but is it necessary for the black "triangle" behind the tines (is that the feed area?) to line up dead center between the split of the tines?

 

Just curious because my MB has that "triangle" sort of off center.

 

Thanks!

 

My experience has been that the feeds are often very slightly off center and that isn't a problem. Some of my pens (like my Sailors) tend to be better aligned than others, including my MB. However, my MB starts up great, even after sitting for days without having been used. The type of ink you use can also be a factor.

 

Todd

 

 

[AKAGodSent]

I've also noticed some of my pens have that part off center, but it hasn't really impacted how they write.

[Ondina]

Some of my pens have a slight off centered feed and it does not seem to affect performance. But is really slight. Skipping and dry nibs in my case had always had been related to poor ink flow from the converter, or misaligned tines. Good luck with the pen, nice one.

[Greg]

Almost all my pens (all old) have some 'off-centredness' about their feed/nib contact. The centrality is less important than the full contact between the feed and the gap between the tines. Sometimes, perhaps with heavy use, the nib can become slightly separated from the feed which disrupts the caplliary action and gives hard starting, even skipping.

 

On my old pens the feed is hard rubber and so may be softened with hot water and correct contact made with the back of the nib. This may, or may not, be perfectly central.

 

Extracting, cleaning and replacing the nib may be enough to place the nib/feed contact area back in its correct relationship.

 

My daily workhorse, a bhr Conway Stewart 45, now more than 60 years old, always starts immediatlely, never skips nor blobs and is perfectly reliable - it also holds loads of ink!. I also regularly use a bchr CS200, made some 80 years ago, which is the same. I never underestimate old technology and sometimes wonder where progress has been made when modern pens work poorly.

 

 

Greg

[chuancao]

Thanks all again for your insightful comments! You guys rock!

 

That offcenter was bothering me a bit yesterday. While you can't say that it's BLATANTLY obvious that the feed is off center, if you look very closely you can still see it from your naked eye. But I am just more anal by nature (aren't we all? LOL)

 

I also noticed that with MB's iridium nib, the attached iridium tip is bigger on the left side than on the right side, even though the tines align. I don't think that matters as I was told all MB nibs are hand crafted so it lacks that machine precision.

 

Thanks again.

Edited February 22, 2008 by chuancao

[psfred]

The slit is off-center in the nib, but if it writes well, this is not a problem. In fact, I have Hero 616 where the slit is off-center, and it write smoother than my others, although I cannot use it upside-down.

 

The feed doesn't have to be perfectly centered to work well, but I'd be tempted to send that pen back -- given what one pays for a MB, I'd expect a perfect pen in every way!

 

Peter

[Greg]

I thought MB used nibs made by Bock. Nothing wrong with that, the nibs used by the modern Conway Stewart are from there and are supreme. However I wouldn't regard them as 'hand-made' although there are clearly hand processes invoved. There is a link to an article about a visit to the Bock factory here:

 

http://www.caprafico.com/de/pens-88/visit-...ock-factory-298

 

I too would expect perfection for that sort of money (I know, after all the advertising has been paid for!) if there is any problem with the writing I'd take it back. It may just need re-aligning. Otherwise its just another personal little element of an entirely personal object.

 

 

Greg

 

[chuancao]

I thought MB used nibs made by Bock. Nothing wrong with that, the nibs used by the modern Conway Stewart are from there and are supreme. However I wouldn't regard them as 'hand-made' although there are clearly hand processes invoved. There is a link to an article about a visit to the Bock factory here:

 

http://www.caprafico.com/de/pens-88/visit-...ock-factory-298

 

I too would expect perfection for that sort of money (I know, after all the advertising has been paid for!) if there is any problem with the writing I'd take it back. It may just need re-aligning. Otherwise its just another personal little element of an entirely personal object.

 

 

Greg

 

Thanks Greg

 

I am still new to this but I seriously thought MB has their nibs made in house. There's a whole slew of posts about who made their own nibs, and I definitely remember people confirming that Aurora and MB had their own nibs. I believe Visconti uses Bock. And I agree, Visconti's Bock nibs are lovely. Of my Aurora 88, MB 146 and Visconti Opera Club, the Opera Club writes the smoothest.

[fpfanatic5]

I thought MB used nibs made by Bock. Nothing wrong with that, the nibs used by the modern Conway Stewart are from there and are supreme. However I wouldn't regard them as 'hand-made' although there are clearly hand processes invoved. There is a link to an article about a visit to the Bock factory here:

 

http://www.caprafico.com/de/pens-88/visit-...ock-factory-298

 

I too would expect perfection for that sort of money (I know, after all the advertising has been paid for!) if there is any problem with the writing I'd take it back. It may just need re-aligning. Otherwise its just another personal little element of an entirely personal object.

 

 

Greg

 

Thanks Greg

 

I am still new to this but I seriously thought MB has their nibs made in house. There's a whole slew of posts about who made their own nibs, and I definitely remember people confirming that Aurora and MB had their own nibs. I believe Visconti uses Bock. And I agree, Visconti's Bock nibs are lovely. Of my Aurora 88, MB 146 and Visconti Opera Club, the Opera Club writes the smoothest.

Yeah, I don't think MontBlanc was on the list of manufacturers that uses Bock nibs. I though they made them in house as well.

 

[Thornton]

Both of my Lamys have slightly off center nibs but they are two of my best writers. I never even noticed this until this topic came up. Not a big deal for me as long as they write.

[Robert Hughes]

Huh. I've got a 70 year old Majestic fountain pen with off-center nib, and the slit is off center, too. It doesn't write worth a darn! All this talk about off-centeredness being OK must be from eccentric posters justifying their hobby!

 

Hey, I just passed 100 posts. I've moved from "mint" to "rare". double huh.

Edited February 22, 2008 by Robert Hughes