I have this Lamy Safari that I've been having ink-flow problems with. Following the example of some people on the forums I cut a piece from a plastic bottle and stuck it between the tines, but now they seem to be too far apart. The pen isn't totally unusuable or anything but it's just a bit wet, though I do have Noodler's Polar Black in it right now which seems to flow a bit too easily (as evidenced by nib creep). The space between the tines has made the line it writes a little bit thicker too.

I think I probably picked plastic that was too thick (milk jug) or maybe left it there too long or pushed it too far in. Anyway, it's not a super-expensive pen so I don't mind messing with it or further risking destruction of it if anyone has any ideas for me.

Yes it can be fixed pretty easily but I can't explain it without drawing a picture or showing you. But I know there are pages on the net that show pictures how to do it. Maybe someone here knows what I'm talking about. It might be on Richard's site but I don't remember.

(Big help I am, huh?)


EDIT: I looked around on Richard's site but didn't find it. Somewhere out there on the net, somebody scanned the pages from an old FP repair book and put them on line, but I'd have to do some serious searching to find it and I can't right now because I'm working. It's been about a year since I needed to look something up.

Absolute worst thing to do....
If you do not want to purchase a nib flossing kit from someone like Tryphon, then use something like an old piece of 35mm film... nothing thicker...
What you want to do know is try to push them back toward center with your thumb nail... when you get close then push toward the center on each half separately and downward so that they cross under the other half.. but not too far. When this is all said and done then take a close look at the tines from the front with a magnifyer and see if they are aligned... if not it is time to tweak them until the ends of the nib are aligned with each other...
This all sounds a lot harder than it is... but go slow.

Ok, thanks! I'll give that a shot. So just my thumbnail, no needle nose pliers or anything?

EDIT: Ok, did that and it worked. No real alignment problems either. I actually have a 10x loupe that I bought a long time ago for something else, so that came in handy.

After pushing the tines back together, I was pretty much back where I started. Not feeling like this pen justifies buying any special junk for flossing, I cut a bit of 35mm film and inserted it rather briefly between the tines. I think it's better now, but I'll need to do a little more writing with it to get a sense of whether that was sufficient.

If I need to widen the gap between the tines a little more, should I put the film back between them and leave it there longer or what?

One of the tricks, which is spreading the shoulders of the nib, is best done with your thumbnails.

The most important tool, however, is patience. Make a tiny adjustment, then check with a 10X magnifier, then another tiny adjustment. It can't be rushed. But it's worth the effort. When you get down to the final adjustments you won't even be able to see any difference with the magnifier but the nib will feel very different on the paper.

No, don't leave it longer, but just move it in and out one or more times, until it is right.

BTW, overhead transparancies are also great for adjusting ink flow.

Warm regards, Wim

Below is the website with some photos on how to spread the nib. I found it in the Repair Reference Information forum.

http://www.nibs.com/Article6SmoothingAdjusting.htm

Spreading the shoulders of the nib increases ink flow because it widens the gap between the tines. This may not be what the original poster wants to do.