Recently purchased a 145 with an Extra Fine nib and need the advise of some long time MB users. The pen lays down the type of line I like. I make notes on reports and documents so Fine or Extra Fine is the prefered nib for me at the office. The only problem is that the nib catches on the paper pretty bad when going from left to right. So now I am unsure of what to do. Have the nib smoothed or have it exchanged for a Fine. I have a 146 with a Fine nib and it is excellent. So I guess I am wanting to know if there is enough material on the nib of an Extra Fine to have it smoothed out or should I just have it exchanged for a Fine.

well as some people have mentioned on the forum regarding XF nibs, you have to have a very light touch when you right. Limited pressure should help reduce the problem. If you move to a Fine nib, then the line won't be the same as the XF.
nikolaos

If the nib catches only from left to right and not from right to left, the tines may be misaligned. In that case it needs to be fixed by a nibmeister or replaced by MB (which could cost a hefty fee if you have no receipt with the date of the purchase from an authorized dealer). They charged 255$ to replace a scratchy F nib for a OM on my wife's brand new Garbo (off ebay). They said that the F nib wasn't good enough to be taken back, so they sold us a new OM nib. When I told them the pen was new, they requested a receipt. Oh well, the pen does write nicely and was well worth the nib swap, although the 255$ fee brought it to the same price as in a MB boutique.

There are articles on Richard's website, and on Nibs.com on how to check for tine misalignment. Please read first!

The nib probably only needs a touch of smoothing - literally one or two gentle strokes across a piece of mylar nib-smoothing film. For this reason it would be a shame to have to send it back to MB.
(There will be plenty of tipping for smoothing etc, btw.)

If you are concerned about waiting time for smoothing/alignment, contact Deb Kinney or Greg Minuskin or one of the other "less famous" nibmeisters who do excellent work.

Dearest Laura, the nib seems to catch on the paper pretty good when going left to right. When going right to left it catches but not as bad.

I have decided to send it in for an exchange. They have told me $40 US to swap, about the same as sending it to Mr. Binder. If they want $200+ I'll just ask them to return it as it and I'll have it smoothed out.

Before you send it away (along with your $$$) for a nib exchange, if you are anywhere near a MB Boutique, go there and test the F nib (they have a full compliment of test pens in every nib width that are available for you to try). You may find that the F may be too wide for you. The reason I say that is that I have a 147 with an F nib and because MB nibs tend to run a bit wide, my F nib was more like the Medium nibs from other brands. I had it ground and smoothed to a width that's between a true F and XF by Richard Binder and now it's perfect. Any XF nib, no matter how smooth, is going to be somewhat catchy due to its size and if you're using a toothy paper, it just makes it worse. Using a smoother more fountain pen friendly paper (such as G. Lalo, Rhodia or Clairefontaine) will really help with your XF.