Dear All,

I would request all of your's expert opinions, comments, experiences and suggestions (for rectification) for a skipping and starting problem I have with my Waterman Charleston...

It is a brand new and I have only been using it for a couple of days...after trying almost half a dozen nibs and replacing twice the problem (if i may call it) persisits.... the nib seems to have a mood of its own....It skips some times and then write smooth and then would never draw straight at start (moving from top down mostly and down up also) it would mos of the time not start off imediately a small skip and then it starts....however would keep on wrting somooth as long as u continue without stoping...if i stop and start...it SKIPS again.....

This is very IRRITATING

having said that...i also noticed that soemtimes it just writes GOOD from start and keeps on going not stop and then writes again.....howevr, these occasions are FEW and FAR BETWEEN....

I am wondering is there a inherent NIB problem or Paper or INK ](I changed from PElikan 4000 to Waterman)or WRITING ANGLE[/b ar all of them

PLEASE suggest how can I get a NON SKIPPING smooth nib...Do I need to give it a WASH or something.... replacing again may not be a good idea as I have tried almost all the charlestons in the shop and most of them work ust fine at the store...but starts MOOD swings afterwards....

I am really fond of the pen (and it is not cheap) and would like to solve the problem ASAP and enjoy a good smooth nib....

what bothers me most is that my wife's Waterman APOSTROPHE writes SMOOTH, Starts immediately and is completely reliable and all that with a STEEL NIB....

[b]PLEASE HELP GUYS!!!!!! Thanks in Advance

I have a very similar problem with my Conklin Mark Twain Signature pen (F nib). It doesn't like to start up (I usually end up using a bit of water or paper towel to get it going) and it will skip on the first stroke if it leaves the paper long enough to continue a sentence on the next line. I love the look of the pen and the feel of it when it writes. But the hard start and skipping is so frustrating, I've pretty much stopped using it.

I've cleaned it several times. It works better after having just been cleaned, but then will revert to its annoying ways within a page or two.

If it makes a difference, I've used PR Black Cherry and PR Tanzanite in the pen, both with the same result.

Always a nice soapy rinse helps out skipping problems. Dunk the nib in slightly soapy water for a few hours, rinse, and try again. If it's still bad, see if the feed has been inked properly. That's often the reason when my pens skip.

By the way, did you see if the nibs are alined correctly with a loupe?

Does the pen behave better if you press down with a bit of force when starting, versus when you use a light touch?

After experiencing, and hearing about, the baby-bottom problem on many nice new pens, this is the first issue I'd suspect... though haven't heard of it on a Waterman in particular.

An examination of the nib point with a loupe will also easily reveal if the problem might be tine misalignment (as suggested by kuno), or baby-bottom, or similar.