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Twsbi Mini Drying Out After Writing A Couple Pages


btb01

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I recently picked up a TWSBI Mini (Medium nib) and I'm having some trouble with it. After writing a page or two (A5 notebook), the pen starts to feel noticeably drier and the ink begins to look lighter in color. Shortly after that, the pen starts to skip and have hard starts (even when only pausing for a couple seconds).

 

I've used two inks in this pen so far (Diamine Red Dragon and Private Reserve Ebony Purple), and have experienced the problem with both. With the Red Dragon, the change (even before the pen started skipping) was very noticeable, as the ink went from dark red to a more faded color. With the Ebony Purple, the color change is less noticeable, but you can feel that it's getting drier, and then the skipping eventually starts.

 

I flushed the pen before using it for the first time, and flushed it with both water and water with a drop of dish soap between inks. I've repeated the whole flushing process multiple times now, each time more thorough than the last. It doesn't make a difference, same thing happens when I start writing again.

 

Once the pen starts to get dry and the ink starts to skip, nothing short of extending the piston a little to flood the feed with ink will get it back to writing again. If I do it just enough that ink gets in the feed but doesn't drip out of the nib, the improved writing lasts a very short time, less than a page. If I extend the piston enough to get a drop of ink to fall out of the nib, the improved writing will last a page or two, like it did when it was first inked up, but then it dries out and starts to skip.

 

This morning, while flushing the pen yet again, I noticed that the channel on top of the feed (as viewed through the breather hole) was just slightly off center from the gap in between the tines. So I removed that nib and feed (that was no fun, and I ended up bending a couple of the fins on the bottom side of the feed; not sure how you could get it out without that happening; they went back easy enough but now those fins bend very easily), lined them up perfectly and fit them back into the sleeve. Ink the pen up, started writing, and after a couple pages, same issue.

 

I've looked at the nib under magnification and can't see anything wrong with it. The tines seem to be even, it doesn't look like there's any baby's bottom, nothing looks out of the ordinary as far as I can tell.

 

So is there anything else I can do, short of contacting TWSBI and hoping they'll fix it or just replace the feed and nib?

 

Here's a quick sample showing the difference in writing after a few pages.

 

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h369/btbrwn/806B0A70-A557-4608-8CF1-1C958CE8EE5D.jpg

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I'll also add that I have one other TWSBI, a 580, also in Medium. Not even a hint of the same kind of problem with that pen. I've used at least half a dozen inks in it and have written with it a lot, using up all the ink it will hold (which is a lot) without a single skip or hard start or any hint of drying out.

 

I did notice when I first got the Mini that the Medium nib did not write quite the same as the Medium on the 580. The Mini Medium writes more like my Lamy Safari Fine. Not sure if that's any indication of what might be going on with this nib/feed that's causing the problem I've having, just adding it to the details. Here's a comparison (albeit with different inks) between the 580 Medium and the Mini Medium. (This was with the Mini's feed fully saturated, having just pushed a drop of ink out of the nib.)

 

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h369/btbrwn/2F08D18B-DCEB-41A9-ACB1-F1374BD19BF6.jpg

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I've had that happen with a few differ pens in the past. I flossed the nib with a brass sheet and each time it fixed it. Just one swipe. Best $0.10 I've ever spent on pen tuning supplies. Have used the same little brass sheet for at least 30 pens. It's only about the size of a US quarter, but I think it will last me a lifetime or two.

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I've had that happen with a few differ pens in the past. I flossed the nib with a brass sheet and each time it fixed it. Just one swipe. Best $0.10 I've ever spent on pen tuning supplies. Have used the same little brass sheet for at least 30 pens. It's only about the size of a US quarter, but I think it will last me a lifetime or two.

 

+1 My Eco wrote very dry when I first got it. Flossed with a .002 inch brass sheet from Goulet Pens https://www.gouletpens.com/goulet-brass-sheets/p/GP-10012 now it writes great.

Edited by Tasmith
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I have had the same problem with my Mini since I got it, whereas my 580s have been great. I don't have any helpful tips, but I'm glad to see I wasn't alone. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

So I ended up contacting TWSBI and sending the Medium nib section in so they could have look at it. I got it back today. Although I haven't heard anything from them since before sending it in, I'm guessing they just replaced the whole thing. I know, at the very least, that they replaced the feed, because the fins that I bent taking the nib and feed out were no longer like that.

 

The good news is that the problem seems to have been resolved. I filled three A5 pages writing/doodling with the pen (using the same ink I had been using before -- Private Reserve Ebony Purple) and didn't notice any skipping or drying out.

 

The bad news is that I'm afraid I just don't like the Medium nib on the Mini. I love my 580 Medium; it's fairly wet, puts down a nice bold line (I don't have enough experience with different fountain pens to say that it's a broad-leaning Medium, but I feel like it probably is), and writes very smoothly. The Mini, even without the drying out problem, writes very differently; dry, a little scratchy, noticeably thinner line (similar to a Lamy Safari Fine that I have), and I get a less saturated color while using the same ink.

 

I'd love to get some feedback/opinions from anyone with a Broad nib on their Mini (I'm particularly curious about how wet it writes, and how it might compare to a 580 Medium); I'm considering picking up a Broad nib because I just don't think I'll use the Medium.

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Here's a better comparison shot of the 580 Medium and Mini Medium using the same ink (Private Reserve Ebony Purple) on Maruman Mnemosyne paper.

 

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h369/btbrwn/DDE792A6-2E86-4688-AEAD-1CF979A93692.jpg

 

Seems like quite a stretch for the same company to call those both Medium.

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See the replacement nib for TWSBI thread. I highly suggest a Faber nib instead of getting another TWSBI. They are known for their nib quality. My TWSBI nibs have been hit and miss and after replacing my 580s with Faber nibs, I am much happier with the performance of the pen.

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See the replacement nib for TWSBI thread. I highly suggest a Faber nib instead of getting another TWSBI. They are known for their nib quality. My TWSBI nibs have been hit and miss and after replacing my 580s with Faber nibs, I am much happier with the performance of the pen.

 

 

I'll have to read up on that a little more when I get the time, but my initial question is: I see the thread about replacing the nib on a 580 with the Faber nib, but will it work for the Mini? The units on the 580 and Mini are different, are they not?

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From Apurva's original post on the topic:

 

"All except my twsbi mini al has original ef nib, rest of all TWSBIs (580, 580al, mini classic and mini vac) shining in faber castell steel nibs"

 

I guess double check with him but it sounds like it should work for the mini as well.

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Here's a better comparison shot of the 580 Medium and Mini Medium using the same ink (Private Reserve Ebony Purple) on Maruman Mnemosyne paper.

 

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h369/btbrwn/DDE792A6-2E86-4688-AEAD-1CF979A93692.jpg

 

Seems like quite a stretch for the same company to call those both Medium.

I have tended to find that the Diamond Mini nib assemblies run drier than the 580 - though it's possible to improve ink flow by flossing / widening the gap between tines. Might be worth doing some judicious tampering of your own before you splash out on a replacement?

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Hello all. I've had my TWSBI Mini for about a month now and I am seeing similar issues here, but it might be an ink problem for me. I was using regular Noodler Blue-Black and it wrote well. Except that ink becomes unreadable if a drop of water manages to land on it! I decided to try Noodlers 54th Massachusetts, which is a Bulletproof Blue-Black ink. That wrote well at first and it is truly waterproof. However after two days it wouldn’t flow when starting. I had to advance the plunger a little into a paper towel to get the ink flowing through the nib. (Fine nib). Even then if I stopped for an hour and started again, same problem. Flushing with water and refilling didn't help so now I'm back to using non-Bulletproof inks, since I have read that they can tend to flow less freely than regular inks.

 

After reading this thread maybe I should try a different nib? I'm afraid I don’t know enough to do some of the nib mods I see in other posts here.

 

Jim

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I have tended to find that the Diamond Mini nib assemblies run drier than the 580 - though it's possible to improve ink flow by flossing / widening the gap between tines. Might be worth doing some judicious tampering of your own before you splash out on a replacement?

 

 

Someone earlier had mentioned flossing with a brass sheet, which I tried yesterday afternoon. I ran it through several times, and even tried leaving it between the tines for a while, but it didn't seem to make much difference. I have, however, managed to find a solution that has improved Mini significantly. I followed the instructions in SBREBrown's video here:

 

 

And here is the result:

 

http://i1106.photobucket.com/albums/h369/btbrwn/D274D25F-29DB-4492-BEF6-203937D4970D.jpg

 

My experience was pretty similar to what's shown in the video: I tried it on my thumbnail at first, and there was some improvement, but not enough, and the nib was starting to dig into my nail, so I tried it on a harder surface (I used the flat side of a Lamy Safari, rather than the rounded cap of the TWSBI). It didn't take much more to get it where it is now.

 

I'm quite happy with the result. At first it was a little scratchy, and a closer look at the tines showed that they were a little uneven, so I remedied that. It's still not quite as smooth as the 580, and I've had little trouble with hard starts, but it's much better than it was. Looking at the nib from the side, you can't really tell that I've done anything (it isn't curving upwards or anything like that), but the small adjustment made a big difference in the width of the line and wetness of the pen.

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