I have a vintage Pelikan 140 with a musical nib. No, not a Music nib, but rather one that tends to sing, often off-key, while I write with it. Is there anything that can be done to silence it?

Other than the noise, it's a wonderful pen - in great condition and a reliable and solid performer. But I can't handle the incessant chatter, so it has remained out of rotation for a while.

Danke!

James P.

Is it a squeaking sort of sound? I think my friend told me that one of his vintage 400s had a squeak but otherwise functioned well. If I recall correctly, he took it (along with several other pens) to Richard Binder at the Philly Pen Show and had it fixed. My recollection is that it's still not totally silent (you can hear the sound of the nib on paper; it's not as noiseless as some modern nibs), but the squeaking is gone. I don't know what was done to it, but my understanding is that it was not a big undertaking. I'm sure someone else with more knowledge will chime in with a more definitive answer, but I can ask my friend some details about it, if you want.

What is it with Pels? I have two older M400s that talk back and I tend to think of them as my teenagers. One has a slight nib alignment issue and the other has a stingy flow. The former needs correction but the latter is good for Moleskines so no remediation necessary.

Is there a nib issue with your Pel, James? If not and you don't like the chatter, I might be interested in taking that noisy pen off your hands.

Thanks for the information, Theresa -- oops, BlueIris .

Margana, there's absolutely no issue with the nib other than the noise, well, not entirely true - it does have a little bit of "tooth." But nothing out of the realm of ordinary or acceptability. The pen writes a wet medium-fine line without skipping, hesitation and starts the first time every time. I just wish it would mind its manners!

There is even a name engraved on the cap, I forget the imprint, as I don't have the pen handy, but I think that, with vintage pens, personalization adds elements of charm and mystery.

James P.

Hi, James! I'm afraid I don't have much to add here in follow-up. I did ask my friend about it, and he didn't have any more detail than what I already posted. All he knows is that Mr. Binder did "something" to the nib so that the squeak is gone. To clarify, by squeak, I mean that my friend's pen had the sound similar to a Magic Marker used with a lot of pressure, especially when changing directions on the page. My friend also says that he has a few other squeakers, but he's content to keep them as is. But if it bothers you, a good nib specialist will probably know how to pinpoint the origin of the squeak and fix it for you. I suppose it's worth an inquiry (unless Margana ends up adopting the pen, that is).

James, I remember reading somewhere that Noodler's have manufactured ink especially for piston filler pens such as your Peli. There is obviously some form of lubricating agent introduced to the ink. The name of their ink range escapes me, something like eel or some other long fishy creature; it may be worth trying to beg a pen full from a user and try it out. Hopefully it may well stop or modulate your singing bird.
Best of luck

A thread regarding nib smoothing suggested lightly drawing the nib over the back of a penny (specifically over the pillars of the Lincoln Memorial). It had to be an old penny, although I forget what year, because of the higher copper content of old pennies. It was suggested to make a number of vertical strokes, pulling down the pillars like a ladder, then a number of horizontal strokes.

I think the explanation was that a very fine layer of copper was left on the iridium, but I could be wrong. While this was intended for smoothing a scratchy nib, I suppose it could silence your pen's singing.

It might not, either, but it was the first thought that came to mind. It certainly did help smooth one of my scratchy nibs.

--Mike

Hi,

A lot of times, this results from a not very polished nib point.

Dillon

Does squeaking happen more often with fine or extra fine nibs?

Hi,

I really don't know, but I've seen more broad squeaky nibs.

Dillon

I know this is a bit off-topic, but I tried the penny technique on a Parker Vacumatic and a Conway-Stewart 28 that were both suffering from extremely scratchy nibs. After four or five strokes in each direction, they are writing much more smoothly.

Thank you to whomever came up with this idea.