List Of Vendors Who Tune Nibs

[cadfael_tex]

I got spoiled from buying pens from Richard Binder and having all my nibs Binderized. Since he's retired I've been looking for vendors who offer the same service - buying a new pen and having it tuned to my liking. I've had good luck with nibs.com and John Mottishaw. I bought an Edison from Tim Girdler when he sold them and understand that Indy-pen-dance carries on the Binderizing tradition. Anyone else?

 

So the list is:

Nibs.com (many brands)

Indy-pen-dance (Pelikan, Pilot, Gate City, and others)

Tim Girdler (Conklin and Monteverde)

Edited July 22, 2016 by cadfael_tex

[Arkanabar]

hisnibs.com checks all nibs for alignment before shipping. From the site:

 

Important note about OUR SERVICE: Every nib that ships from His Nibs is closely examined under high magnification and tuned or adjusted if needed. About 85% of modern nibs need some adjustment out-of-the-box from the manufacturer for an optimal writing experience. Most commonly, the tines of the nib are misaligned -- which would cause scratchiness at the minimum; the slit between the tines is partially or fully closed -- which would starve the nib of ink and at best cause skipping; or the slit between the tines is too wide -- which will either again cause skipping, or conversely, flooding. There are other factors -- such as separation of the nib from the feed -- that are inspected and repaired before any pen leaves the Palace.

The only 100% guarantee of course comes when the pen is actually filled with ink and written with for the first time, but our pre-shipping inspections and tunings have eliminated 99.99999 (my finger is getting tired) of the frustrations that a customer experiences when first using a new fountain pen. Although this can be time-consuming on occasion, it affords our customers a much more pleasant experience when receiving a fountain pen from His Nibs -- and saves us the frustration of dealing with returns!

[Vintagepens]

If you are including vintage pens, a number of sellers adjust and tune the nibs of the pens they sell. In fact, there are quite a few veteran vintage sellers who have been quietly tuning nibs for decades, and who are as good at it as anyone in the business, even if they don't toot their own horns about it.

[corgicoupe]

Teri Morris at Peyton Street Pens checks the nibs of all the pens she sells.

[cadfael_tex]

Teri Morris at Peyton Street Pens checks the nibs of all the pens she sells.

I've checked her site from time to time. I assume if when she checks that she tunes the to write well.

[jimhughes]

Mike Matsuyama mikeitwork@gmail.com>,

 

Minuskin

Mike Smukula mikesvintagepens@gmail.com,

 

Most of the Pen fabricators, Chris Hughes, Shawn Newton, Brian Grey, John Brady (JEB's Pens), C.E.Levi, Dr. Goretex.

[sandy101]

The Writing Desk check the nibs on their pricier pens tomake sure they are OK before sending them out.

 

Mr Pen at italix looks after the nibs on the Italix range too.

[tinta]

I don't know to what level of expertise, but the folks at Franklin-Christoph do inspect, tune, smooth & test write their regular F-C branded JoWo nibs.

These are not the Masuyama ground & tuned nib-units (which Mike does himself), but their "stock" nibs. I've had a couple of excellent factory nibs from F-C.

 

[corgicoupe]

I've checked her site from time to time. I assume if when she checks that she tunes the to write well.

That's what she told me when I purchased a Sheaffer Feather Touch for my Conna[o]sseur.

[mmg122]

...and don't forget Mr. Butterline Stub, himself, Mr. Pendleton Brown!

[tinta]

Is Pendleton a vendor too? (He's done number of super edged nibs for me. Terrific work.)

I didn't realize this even though I have one nib he's working on now & another on the way to be stubbed.

What does he sell?

Edited July 25, 2016 by tinta

[Ron Z]

Any pen mechanic worth their salt should be able to make a pen write smoothly. If they can't, what's the point of restoring the pen?

 

I do quite a bit of nib work, I just don't advertise it because of the volume of the more advanced repairs that I do.

[mmg122]

Is Pendleton a vendor too? (He's done number of super edged nibs for me. Terrific work.)

I didn't realize this even though I have one nib he's working on now & another on the way to be stubbed.

What does he sell?

I've purchased several TWSBIs from him and he occassionally has Levenger True Writers and Franklin Christoph pens that he has modified on his site. Is a reseller a vendor...I think it qualifies.

[jhataway]

I have had excellent results from Richard Binder pre retirement, Linda Kennedy, and Pendleton Brown. The last two were for custom grinds, and all three were excellent.

[FOUR X FOUR]

my 2 picks would be Ron Zorn of Main Street pens and Terry Wiederlight of Fountain Pen Hospital

[cadfael_tex]

Never ordered from FP Hospital. Do they check/adjust pens before shipping them? I'm Talking about new pens is why I haven't mentioned Main Street pens.

[tinta]

I've purchased several TWSBIs from him and he occassionally has Levenger True Writers and Franklin Christoph pens that he has modified on his site. Is a reseller a vendor...I think it qualifies.

Yupp, if Pendleton sells it, he must be a considered a vendor. I suppose I've never checked his web-site, but communicated with him directly. Now I will check.