Question On Abrasive Grit

[farisromzy]

Hi FPN people,

 

I'm very new to nib adjustment, and now I'm encountering a problem. I tried to smooth out some nibs. I started with a 1500 grit micro mesh, which turned out really well; no scratchiness.

 

But as I went up through the grit, suddenly my nibs got scratchy again, though not as bad as previously.

 

Have anyone encountered the same problem? Is there any particular ways to work up the grit?

 

Btw, I also also have 9mic to 0.05mic lapping film

[pen lady]

Have you checked the alignment of the prongs to see if it is correct? No sense in smoothing the tipping material if not. They should be exactly side-by-side without one being even a hair up or down.

[farisromzy]

Have you checked the alignment of the prongs to see if it is correct? No sense in smoothing the tipping material if not. They should be exactly side-by-side without one being even a hair up or down.

Yes I did. I flossed the tines with a brass sheet and got myself a nice opening. Then I aligned the tines, spending a lot of time thereat. It was a very cheap pen, and I noticed the shape of the whole tip was funny.

 

As I mentioned, I started working on the nib with a 1500 grit micro mesh, which knocked off all the scratchiness. But as I moved up the grit to polish it further, I noticed at some strokes it went scratchy again.

 

I don't know whether this is normal or not. Right now I'm thinking that I might've actually messed up with the pressure I was using and the time spent on each grit

[ac12]

Check the alignment at the angle that the nib contacts the paper.

It does little good to align the pen looking down the nib. Because that is not how the nib contacts the paper.

 

Did you round off and polish any edges?

Are you rolling/rotating the pen?

 

Light pressure.

There is no set time/duration to polish.

What is required is constant checking of the nib. Because if you remove too much tipping, you CANNOT put it back.

 

Are you using a 10x loupe to inspect the tipping?

 

Flossing the nib is to clean the slit, not to widen the slit.

You can damage the tipping by forcing a wedge into the slit to widen it.

The nib slit gap is not a defined amount. You have to adjust the slit based on the flow of the ink. Some inks need a wide slit, some inks need a narrow slit.

[FarmBoy]

Flossing a nib is like flossing your teeth. You are trying to remove debris not create a spitting gap.

[PaulS]

an outside chance that having formed your 'nice opening' what you have done is to create a situation where the inside edges of the tip/point are now too sharp and thus scratching on the paper, for the very reason that they are 'too open' ......... even on flex nibs, generally the tines are closed prior to writing. The tipping material, whatever it may be, is obviously much harder than the gold alloy of the nib, and inside the slit it isn't always easy to create the same smoothness as on the outer edges of the tip, where it's a lot easier to grind/polish and see the result.

Drawing circles is a good way to evaluate smoothness of the nib.

 

Since as you say this is a very cheap pen - take it that you do actually have tipping material on the nib? Assume also you do have a 14 k nib?

Edited June 23, 2017 by PaulS

[siamackz]

1500 grit is pretty intense. I start with 8000 and quickly move to 12000. You might have created sharp inside edges because Of the 'nice opening' followed by the high grit of 1500.

Check under a loupe to see if the inside edges are sharp if they are, then you need to carefully smoothen them (but with finer grit, not 1500, or you might develop 'baby bottom')

See close up pics of nib tipping and then look at yours for comparison. Or look at other pens you have and like v/s this one now.

[3rdlakerobert]

Also consider the shape of the nib's tip at the point of contact with paper. It should be round. I have seen some tips that have been polished flat so that the edges of the flat create a scratchy sensation.

[farisromzy]

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU!! I've followed all the guidance, and had solved the problem.

 

First of all, sorry for the late reply; I went back to my folks for Eid, and did not bring any of my pens.

 

I worked on the nib again as soon as I got home few days ago, and after a more careful inspection I found many mistakes I did on the pen:

 

1. I created a super flat spot; the bottom part, the tip, the sides were so sharp I could kill people with that pen.
2. Indeed the inner edges were also to sharp I could grate cheese with it.
3. I almost grinded the whole tipping off.
4. And I realised that I was using too much force, too much speed, and too much abrasive.

So firstly I tried rounding off the whole nib, and yes I did not use the 1500 grit, I used a much finer mesh, and went really slowly. Then I took a 3 microns mylar to round off the inner edge slightly. After that I polished the whole nib with 12000 grit mesh, 1m and 0.3m mylar, again, really lightly and slowly.

 

The result, that cheap pen writes better than even my more expensive pens.

 

P.S. - That was the first pen I tried to adjust, and it has been a really great learning experience for me. I don't dare yet to do anything on my more expensive pens, be it with a steel or gold nib. I shall keep practicing on really cheap pens.

 

Thank you again to all of you!!

Edited July 3, 2017 by farisromzy