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I Bought My First Flex Nib, But The Feed Is Extremely Inconsistent. Solutions?


Cosmo_D

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So I bought a random NOS German button-filler fountain pen with a new sac from a seller on eBay. The nib is certainly flexible, but some of the time it railroads immediately. Occasionally it will write fairly consistently and I can produce multiple flexed lines. Other times it will skip and hard start just in normal use. The tines look like they are little far apart. I tried moving them closer together, but to no avail. The pen is pretty old, but I have no idea if it has an ebonite or plastic feed. When the pen feels like writing it is quite wet.

 

Are there any solutions I can try at home with minimal chance of destroying the pen? I would rather not take it apart. I hope this is the right forum for this question.

Edited by Cosmo_D
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What inks are you using?

 

Could be you are flexing your nib too much.

Please look up Mauricio in advanced search, he has a com, for flexible nibs.

http://www.vintagepe...-flex-nibs.html

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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What inks are you using?

 

Could be you are flexing your nib too much.

Please look up Mauricio in advanced search, he has a com, for flexible nibs.

http://www.vintagepe...-flex-nibs.html

I am using Sailor Oku-Yama, which is a pretty free flowing ink. The pen skips and hard starts with no flexing however. The pen is unusable as just a normal pen in its current state. I also tried adjusting my writing angle as per the site. It didn't seem to do anything.

Edited by Cosmo_D
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Are you storing your pen nib-down? If not, try that so that the feed may always be fully saturated with ink. I found this simple adjustment in behavior helped my FPR Triveni JR flex a good deal.

 

Even though you are an admirer of the ink, you could try another ink and see if that makes a difference. I'd start with a well-know, good quality 'baseline' ink like Pelikan, but whatever have you would be fine.

 

I wonder if trying to heat set your pen will be detrimental if the feed is plastic and not ebonite. It might not matter -read either it works, or nothing happens- but I'm not at all clear on this. So don't take my word on this please.

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The heat setting may have slightly improved it or done nothing. I can't really tell. It hasn't made it worse I can say that much. I will try it with Diamine Oxblood, as it is the wettest ink I own. When the pen does deign to write it is quite wet. I may have to contact the seller.

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I tried it with Diamine Oxblood. It is still inconsistent and skippy. It will write almost most of the time if I hold the pen at a 90 degree angle. It will also write upside down. Is the problem baby's bottom? I examined it under a loupe and the nib didn't appear terribly deformed. I however have never actually seen a nib in real life with baby's bottom, so I could very well be mistaken.

Edited by Cosmo_D
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I was initially going to suggest you've got a sprung nib.

 

However, If a flush makes things better, I'd start doing multiple flushes with a drop of washing up liquid and a sprinkle of ammonia added to the water. Flush with clean water after.

 

Sounds like there's some dried up ink crud in there restricting flow. Might be worth having a look at the state of the sac too.

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I was initially going to suggest you've got a sprung nib.

 

However, If a flush makes things better, I'd start doing multiple flushes with a drop of washing up liquid and a sprinkle of ammonia added to the water. Flush with clean water after.

 

Sounds like there's some dried up ink crud in there restricting flow. Might be worth having a look at the state of the sac too.

The pen is NOS and was never inked prior to me receiving it. It also had a new sac installed. I have sent it back to seller who is attempting to repair it. If he can't get it working he has graciously offered to replace the nib.

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Are you storing your pen nib-down? If not, try that so that the feed may always be fully saturated with ink. I found this simple adjustment in behavior helped my FPR Triveni JR flex a good deal.

 

Even though you are an admirer of the ink, you could try another ink and see if that makes a difference. I'd start with a well-know, good quality 'baseline' ink like Pelikan, but whatever have you would be fine.

 

I wonder if trying to heat set your pen will be detrimental if the feed is plastic and not ebonite. It might not matter -read either it works, or nothing happens- but I'm not at all clear on this. So don't take my word on this please.

Could you post a Triveni Jr sample writing?

 

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