Greetings fellow Sheaffer fans,

I recently purchased a new old stock Sheaffer Balance in hunter green with a 14kt "feather touch oversize" stub nib off of eBay. The nib is really scratchy and seems to grab the paper. Is this normal for this model?

I have two other Sheaffer factory stub nibs, both 18kt in Legacy pens, from the same seller are they are smooth as glass.

Any suggestions on how to proceed from here would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Kate

I don't know what is "normal", but I have a Balance of this model with a stub nib. It is also very scratchy. I have not tried to smooth it. I find that when I rotate the pen just a bit it writes very well --- but I will need to have it looked at someday.

You may need to align the tines, or to round corners, Read here step 6:
http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/nibs.html

Don't shine or smooth or re-shape the nib unless you've done this before. Home nib repairs should always be tried on a junk pen first. If you don't have a junk pen, and you have no experience, then stay far away from anything even slightly abrasive. If you can see that the tines are mis-aligned, you may be able to fix that more easily. But if the tines are not perfectly aligned, and you smooth the nib, you will only be making it worse.

My advice is first to check alignment and adjust if necessary. Then write with the pen. You may find you like it as is. If not, writing with it for awhile will give you a better idea of how you might like it modified.

I have a few Sheaffer stubs. One I had Richard slim and smooth eliminating sharper edges. Richard repaired it the first time I dropped it. Later Dennis repaired that same pen. Some of you may remember my tale of woe. I've twice dropped this pen on its nib.

I recently acquired a dark green Balance II with a factory stub. I will probably have it modified, too. It is wider that I generally like. However, by writing with it I have learned that it gives great line variation but that I need to hold it in a more upright position than is usually comfortable for me. That means that in adddition to narrowing, I will probably want its sweet spot changed. I would not have learned that if I had not used the pen for a time before sending it out.

Thanks all for the excellent advice. I think, having written with it as much as I can stand, the bigger problem may be that it's just not releasing enough ink. I've had this problem with a few of my preludes too. I think it's a nib issue, but perhaps I need to start another thread on how to resolve it?

My Sheaffer Balance II with a stub nib is very smooth.

Your pen should still be under warranty. Send it to Sheaffer's facility in Fort Madison, Iowa. They don't have many people there any more but what few are there know their business.