Nib Or Feed Issue?

[elippman]

Hey all,

 

I just got a Nemosine Singularity after waiting a few months for their .6mm nibs to be back in stock and seem to have a problem with it. I suppose this is going to show my inexperience, but I would appreciate it if anyone could identify the problem from the writing sample I'm posting. I will say that I tried writing "out of the box" with this one, and it didn't go well. All the reviews I've seen on this pen talk about how wet and smooth it is. My .6mm nib was dry and about the scratchiest nib I've ever experienced, and then, all of a sudden, this happened. Xfountainpens has graciously agreed to send me a new .6mm nib, but please tell me if this looks more like a nib or feed issue. If it helps, the ink is Diamine Terracotta, which has performed brilliantly in all of the other pens I've inked it with.

 

For comparative purposes, I'll post an image of the same ink in my Conklin Duragraph with a 1.1mm stub. If you know what to look for, you can see where the Nemosine nib scratched the [Rhodia] paper in both pictures.

[jar]

Major air leak. Likely nib and feed not fully inserted.

[elippman]

I have taken them both out and replaced them a couple times. Maybe that is the problem, but I've been fiddling with it and it seems that everything is in place. I guess we'll see how they behave when the new nib arrives.

[ac12]

Looks like what my Noodler's nib creeper and Konrad do

[jar]

I have taken them both out and replaced them a couple times. Maybe that is the problem, but I've been fiddling with it and it seems that everything is in place. I guess we'll see how they behave when the new nib arrives.

Once you get something working, stop taking it apart.

[TheRealMikeDr]

I've seen something similar to that when something (threads from the paper) gets wedged between the tines in the nib.

[elippman]

consistent flow without scratching up the paper, I'll "let sleeping dogs lie" for a bit.The thing is, these are billed as being easy to change, and in general, it seems pretty straight forward. They sell replacement nibs for that reason, and I ordered at .6mm and an EF, since it was cheap I don't really have any experience with EFs. I'm starting see this in the same light as my Noodler pens, none of which I use as much as I used to specifically for this reason--both the nib creaper and the konrad do tend to blop out ink unexpectedly. I've been told that's a piston-filler issue though, something about the difference in temperature between the air and your finger tips causing the ink to expand when you hold the pen (?). This Singularity is a converter pen, so it shouldn't have that problem, in theory at least.

 

This last point is a good one--since the nib has been collecting paper threads as it goes along scratching, that could have created the problem.

[Arkanabar]

Have you looked at the nib tip under magnification, to ensure it's properly aligned?

[elippman]

I did look at the nib and it seemed aligned, as closely as I could see under magnification. I got the new one in the mail and it does seem to be considerably less scratchy. It's not smooth as silk, but that's OK, it doesn't destroy my paper. Also got the EF nib and it's very smooth for an EF.

 

The remaining quirk is that the pen is still acting as it did with the earlier nib--initially very wet with great ink flow, but then seems to dry up as I write. I wrote a letter last night and had to switch pens midway through the letter because I was getting to little ink flow. The scratchy .6mm nib did this, too. So I'm assuming something must be clogging the feed? Maybe I just need to clean it well. I have some of the Goulet flush on the way, as well as some brass sheets for "flossing."

[Bo Bo Olson]

What is a 0.6 nib, F or M?

[elippman]

.6mm stub.