Very Disappointed At Kaweco Nib Quality

[benay148]

I recently purchased a new Kaweco AC sport from jetpens. What a stunning pen. It has fantastic build quality and well worth the $120 price tag. Along with the pen (which came with a Kaweco EF) I purchased a kaweco fine and 1.1 nib.

 

When I recieved the pen I immediately inked it up and attempted to write, after having to vigorously shake the pen to get ink to come into the nib, it wrote extremely dry and constantly had skips and hard starts. I removed the nib to examine it and it appeared to have a poor gap set, no light was shining through starting about a mm from the breather hole to the tip.

 

After using brass shims to correct the issue, and made sure that just enough light was passing through, the pen still writes horribly. It refuses to flow when writing up and away from itself, it constantly has hard starts and skips. The tines are aligned properly, the feed is set properly, i cleaned everything thoroughly and nothing i do will correct this.

 

I figured i'll just try the fine nib instead, This nib had the exact same issue, however after fixing the poor gap set, the nib writes fine, however it is just a little bit too medium for me.

 

I feel that when purchasing a $120 pen it should write properly out of the box. My questions are first, is this normal for Kaweco nibs? Does any 3rd party make nibs that fit kaweco pens? Could it be the Kaweco cartridges (i've tried 3 different colors all with the same results)?

[dan in montreal]

I've had dry / skippy Kaweco nibs in the past. What usually works is a good washing with water and a little dish soap and a thorough water rince after that. That usually does the trick, at least it worked well with all of my Sport nibs (F, M, and 1.1). I do not think there are any 3rd party manufacturers - as far as I know, you can only buy Kaweco nibs with the sections and feeds assembled, not just the nibs.

Hope this helps.

Edited January 27, 2014 by dan in montreal

[UK Mike]

Kaweco are known for their reasonably priced and smooth nibs, manufactured to Kaweco specification by Bock. You may have rogue nibs (unlikely) but they should probably "break-in" with use or a little easing of the tines. Try the rinse technique and perhaps some "Stephen Brown instant flow increase" motions.

 

Keep in mind that the $120 buys you a fancy barrel and cap, but the nib is the same as the one in the $23.50 pen.

[Flounder]

In the same situation, new pens and domestic shipping, I would just have returned both brand new nibs. I reserve any kind of fettling for second hand and vintage nibs.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Are you holding behind the big knuckle or writing with it like a ball point?

[benay148]

First thing i did was clean both of the nibs thoroughly with the dishsoap and water technique, i soaked the nib and the feed

 

And I believe i'm holding it properly, I have an EF Parker 45 and 2 EF Lamy safaris and i have no issues with those

[HandLikeAFist]

That's no fun at all. I have three Kaweco Sport Classics. My first, fine nib, was OK, perhaps a bit dry and slow to respond. I misplaced it and liked it enough to replace it, and the replacement is fantastic, perfectly smooth and responsive, laying down the perfect line and coping with my lousy handwriting techniques. When I found my original, after a comparison, I just retired it, happily.

 

I also have a silver Sport Classic I don't remember buying. It writes well and is a total keeper, but it doesn't approach the perfection of my EDC black baby.

 

I only use one ink, J. Herbin Violette Pensee, and I think that this wonderful ink might be a perfect match for my Kawecos.

 

Sorry that you haven't had a similar experience. Was it just luck of the draw that I found a Kaweco nib that is so perfect? If so, I can only wish that your luck changes for the better soon. My writing life would be very different and nowhere near as fun without my star Kaweco.

[Bill Wood]

I don't think there's anything worse than a bad nib. Sounds like you've inspected it. Maybe one more thing. Make an eye dropper if it isn't yet to make sure you're getting good flow. If that fails I'd contact Jet Pens and beg a new one.

[msolok]

How long did you leave the Kaweco to sit after installing the ink cartridge? When new the Kaweco feeds can take a long time to fully prime and get wet with ink. Until this happens the nibs can feel stingy and dry. When I get a new Kaweco I usually put the ink cart in, cap the pen and leave it with the nib facing down over night. By the next day the feed is fully saturated and they write fantastically.

[haldane3]

Put Waterman Serenity or Mysterious blue in it, let it sit overnight, and try again. Trust me.

[wastelanded]

Dan in Montreal is right, a good flush before use does wonders. When I got the BB nib for my Dia2, I flushed it and a black oily slick came out. Thats the same nib unit as your AC Sport. A good idea for any new nib.

[andymcc]

I have a few Kaweco nibs and have found them all to be pretty good. I found my 1.1mm a little dry too but the 2.3mm is fantastic, the 1.1mm was a slightly fussy nib and to get it to work well you had to hold it at exactly the right angle to the paper, I'm not sure why only the 1.1mm is fussy

[benay148]

So some good news, i gave up on the EF nib for now, when i looked at it under higher magnification, it seemed to have a slight baby bottom which i think is the cause of my problem. I threw the fine nib back on, let the pen sit overnight, and this morning it writes very wet and smooth, although it has some hard starts occasionally. Thanks for all the help guys, when this fine nib gets going, it is sooooo good

[Newjelan]

I have several Kawecos, find all of them have great nibs and good flow...Unfortunately, I think you've been unlucky

[Buttersoft1]

This sounds like a common problem. when i got my sport it was a hard starter and skipped almost at the start of every second letter.

i flushed it inked it let it sit for a day or so and still no luck finally i looked it up and found quite a few people with the same probs

I spread the tines a bit and presto all working great after that

[GG917]

Just to had some informations on this thread: I have recently acquired a dia II in fine. I flushed the nib unit, let it dry and then inked it with the kaweco blue-black cartridge that came along with the pen.

When I tested it the pen did almost not lay down any ink... But that was not a surprise since when I inspected the nib after having flushed it I saw that the tines were touching.

 

So some brass shim widening of the tine was in order. Not so easy, this nib is quite stiff! I may have overdone it a bit as now the pen is a bit too wet for my taste. I did clse the gap a bit since but haven't tested it yet. On the other hand the nib is very smooth.

 

I have fitted the pen since with another Kaweco nib unit also in fine, which write very well out of the box... Very smooth but a little bit on the dry side...

[MattSee]

I have a Kaweco Allrounder and I was less than impressed when I started writing with it. The inkflow wasn't reliable and the medium nib felt "chalky" but I couldn't see anything wrong with it. I decided to keep going and wrote with it until I emptied the original cartridge. It got better the longer I wrote but when I switched to another ink (Diamine Woodland Green) the pen finally felt like something worth keeping. In retrospect, I probably should have flushed the pen before I inked it the first time.

[sotto2]

In general, this is one of many reasons why fountain pens can be so frustrating at times, and why they are not for everyone. There obviously are many reasons for poor performance, including not snapping in the ink cartridge (if there is one) solidly and completely. I had a Schrade Tactical pen that was performing poorly until I realized it was totally due to not seating the ink cartridge completely. I'm so glad I didn't start attacking the nib but addressed the simple things first.

[odd_soul]

I'm somewhat glad to see I'm not the only one who's had issues with Kaweco nibs. From all the glowing reviews, I thought maybe it was just me. I bought a medium and a broad nib for my Special AL and both were terrible. At the time, though, I was not as good at fixing flow, so I'll have to give them another shot. I did flush and thoroughly wash the pen when trying out both nibs, but still had no luck in getting it to write properly. I'm glad to see the OP has gotten the pen working with the F nib though! Hopefully I can have the same experience with a little more effort.

[ericthered2004]

I'm fascinated to read this after receiving a skippy Special AL this morning. I gave it a flushing and it improved, but it still does the odd skip. Other techniques, it seems, may be called for. It's a shame, because when the nib works it works very well.

Regards, eric.