Hello!

I've been reading back posts and feel almost confident to start taking my new/old estie to bits. However I've fallen at the first fence... the nib seems totally stuck. I've been soaking the nib up to just over the start of the section but it doesn't seem to have helped much. Plus, when I tried to twist it out, I think I maybe just twisted the metal nib bit and not the dark plastic (feed?) bit behind it. I really don't want to knacker it completely but I don't know what else to do.

Any advice from you veterans?

Thanks in advance.

Remove the section from the pen body. Soak the section with nib overnight, in slightly soapy water. It's usually just a matter of getting old dried ink wetted again.

Thanks Robert! That's helpful - I wasn't really sure what might be sticking it. I will persevere.

B

Hi again...

I tried soaking overnight, but when I unscrewed the nib, the feed and metal nib bit came out but the screw setting stayed firmly in place! I've pushed them back in, but do I just have to make my peace with this nib or is there some way of getting the bit out?

B

I like that

Pictures might help but when you removed the nib from the pen/barrel did it look like the attached picture (black or green threads don't matter) or do you have the metal nib itself and the comb (picture) in your hand? If it's variation #2 (pieces in hand) there could be a problem. If you have pieces in hand my first guess is that some one glued the whole nib into the barrel/section.

Edit - Pictures courtesy of Richard Binders web site.

Soak again, and then use a little heat on the section before trying to unscrew the nib. If the nib and feed rotate without the collar coming out with them, then there's a good chance that the collar itself has a crack in it. With the crack, the fit would not be tight enough to hold it all together. In which case, you may have to catch the front edge of the collar with an Xacto knife and unscrew it. 1000 and 2000 series nibs are fairly cheap. 9000 series nibs cost a bit more, but are relatively inexpensive.

Alas it's variation #2...

Someone would glue the nib in place??? Yikes. I think I'll ink it up and see how it writes before doing anything more drastic. Then it's on to the soaking/heating/sharp knives option.

Thanks for the advice.

Yep, afraid so. I had a pen once that the nib was glued in (unbeknownst to me) and after a little to much force I ended up with the metal nib "piece" and the comb itself in two seperate pieces. Long story short, said two parts and the section (what you attach the sac to) was put in by "possible spare parts drawer" and I waited until I could get another section and nib.