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Kaweco Sport - Alternative Nib?


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Hi guys,

I am not happy with the nibs of my two Kaweco Sports despite I love the pen, and I would like to ask you if there is a way to replace them with other brand nibs? Maybe Twsbi as they are Bock too?. Thank you.

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Well.

 

 

 

Although TWSBI has changed manufacturers (Schmidt for the early 530s, later Bock and now JoWo) all these nibs are interchangeable. -The Writing Desk.

But that is for Twsbi, and their grip sections. For your Sport, you would have to pull the nib and feed. After that it's "maybe".

 

What's the problem? The usual stingy or outright non-existing flow?

You do not have a right to post. You do not have a right to a lawyer. Do you understands these rights you do not have?

 

Kaweco Supra (titanium B), Al-Sport (steel BB).

Parker: Sonnet (dimonite); Frontier GT; 51 (gray); Vacumatic (amber).

Pelikan: m600 (BB); Rotring ArtPen (1,9mm); Rotring Rive; Cult Pens Mini (the original silver version), Waterman Carene (ultramarine F)

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the problems are the usual_ hard starts in one (Fine nib) and dryness in the other (extra-fine). I would want to preserve the feed and only changing the nib.

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I have a sport with a bock titanium nib, however you can't close the lid completely. It doesn't trouble me as I only bought the pen to play with the nib. But worth noting if you intend to take the pen out and about.

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Why not try and adjust the nib? There are ways to increase flow, smoothen, etc. If you're not going to use the nib anyway, what harm? Do some homework - videos, articles, etc. and then go for it. I actually enjoy this aspect of the hobby the most - repair/restoration! This way I can make almost any nib write exactly how I like.

All the best!

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

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You could always buy the Kaweco gold nib. :)

 

Haha which costs twice as much as the pen itself :)

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

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the problems are the usual_ hard starts in one (Fine nib) and dryness in the other (extra-fine). I would want to preserve the feed and only changing the nib.

 

Dryness and hard starts are always an issue with the kawecos.

 

I've tried to adjust the nib to increase flow but didn't help.

 

The problem is actually the feed. It provides an inadequate supply of ink to the nib.

 

The nibs from Kaweco are actually quite superb. I use them now in other pens and they perform very nicely.

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Hi guys,

 

I am not happy with the nibs of my two Kaweco Sports despite I love the pen, and I would like to ask you if there is a way to replace them with other brand nibs? Maybe Twsbi as they are Bock too?. Thank you.

Kaweco uses Bock nibs. They have been branded/stamped with the Kaweco logo.

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The problem is actually the feed. It provides an inadequate supply of ink to the nib.

 

 

My new Kaweco Sport faces this problem - super wet and super smooth, but skips and hard starts. No baby's bottom. So, I can't really think of any other reason but the feed performing poorly!

My Vintage Montblanc Website--> link

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Hi, The feed in the Kaweco 'Sport' (and maybe some others too) is a very simple one.

Just run a thin piece of plastic sheet along the ink channel to make sure there is nothing there to block the flow.

Give the feed a wash with water plus a very small amount of detergent in a cup. Wash off with water.

Check the nib has a small amount of gap between the 2 sides, about 3 thou of an inch. (0.003 inch)

Check the tines are level, looking from the front.

That should be enough to write well, assuming no other strange faults.

I carry mine around in my coat all the time, it always writes well, no problems at all.

post-70376-0-39051200-1501680520.jpg

Edited by Mike 59
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I had the nib of my Sport adjusted, and it still does not perform very well, not even as well as either of my two Dollar pens.

 

It is interesting to read the theory that the feed is the source of the problems that so many of us have had.

 

Has anyone on this thread actually tried the Kaweco gold nib, and is it really much better than the nib that comes on the Sport by default? I read elsewhere on this forum that it is about the same.

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I had the nib of my Sport adjusted, and it still does not perform very well, not even as well as either of my two Dollar pens.

 

It is interesting to read the theory that the feed is the source of the problems that so many of us have had.

 

Has anyone on this thread actually tried the Kaweco gold nib, and is it really much better than the nib that comes on the Sport by default? I read elsewhere on this forum that it is about the same.

Well its expensive and not widely available so not everyone on fpn or youtube or reddit and etc. has tried it i did not try it nor going to because i have read that they are quite wet and broad so i would love to use it but i cant because being a student who uses cheap paper? I guess that would be a no for it. And it is only a nib with feed and it screws on to the higher than the plastice sport level pens like the al,ac,art sport where you can just simply unscrew the nib. For the plastic sport you have to pull it out .

i think its not worth it but i have not even seen a sport in person so im not really sure. So its your choice of what you think.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a Brass Sport, Raw AL Sport and Liliput Brass Wave. I have had all of the usual problems with the Kaweco Sport and Liliput nibs (the pens use the same nibs.) - relucttant to non-existent flow, hard starts, skipping, lacking in smoothness. I have the steel B and BB nibs, steel F & M nibs and BB Gold nib. All of them were this way right out of the box; the gold nib was no exception.

 

I have adjusted the steel nibs to my liking so that I can write with them happily - they have great flow now and are nice and smooth, a pleasure to write with. The gold nib has been put away for a nibmeister to work on it. As has been mentioned in this thread, the gold nibs costs more than the pen itself and I can't afford to replace it if I screw up its adjustment somehow. (I plan to have it stubbed, too.)

 

Note that I made no changes to the feeds for any of these steel nibs, I just adjusted the tines on the nibs to increase the flow and did some minor smoothing. The feeds keep up with the now-corrected flow without any difficulties, so, IMHO, the feed on Kaweco's nibs is not the problem. I have done a lot of research/reading about Kaweco's modern nibs because I was so disappointed with them; it seems almost everyone else is disappointed with them, too. The pens are lovely, but what is the point of having a pen if you can't stand to write with it? At least one end user has stated that Kaweco deliberately has the nibs for their pocket pens adjusted so that they starve the paper of ink in order to conserve the ink. I guess when you throw the pen into a ditch out of disgust about of the way it DOESN'T write, that does indeed conserve ink because you will never use that pen again, lol.

 

I don't understand why Kaweco doesn't seem to care about how their end-users feel about the lousy way their nibs write, but that is the way it is. (Maybe if we stopped buying their pens they would get the hint and do something about it.) If you buy a Kaweco fountain pen, at least as far as the modern offerings are concerned, expect that, 9 times out of 10, it is not going to write the way you want when you receive it and that you will need to spend more money to get the nib adjusted, or spend time and effort to adjust the nib yourself.

 

I was actually coming to FPN to praise one of Kaweco's nibs, believe it or not. I finally tried the steel 1.5 Kaweco stub in my Brass Sport. I bought it at the beginning of the year with the other nibs but after all of the problems with the other nibs, I was discouraged and never even checked it out. Lo and behold, it wrote first thing write out of the "tube" it came in, lol, great flow, smooth. I was very surprised. Could it be the tipping material causing the problem on all of the other nibs?!? j/k, but that is the only difference between the stubs and the regular nibs, no tipping material... Hopefully my experience with one of Kaweco's stubs is not unique so, if you like stubs, perhaps you should give one of them a try.

 

Holly

Edited by OakIris
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I don't understand why Kaweco doesn't seem to care about how their end-users feel about the lousy way their nibs write, but that is the way it is. (Maybe if we stopped buying their pens they would get the hint and do something about it.) If you buy a Kaweco fountain pen, at least as far as the modern offerings are concerned, expect that, 9 times out of 10, it is not going to write the way you want when you receive it and that you will need to spend more money to get the nib adjusted, or spend time and effort to adjust the nib yourself.

 

I was actually coming to FPN to praise one of Kaweco's nibs, believe it or not. I finally tried the steel 1.5 Kaweco stub in my Brass Sport. I bought it at the beginning of the year with the other nibs but after all of the problems with the other nibs, I was discouraged and never even checked it out. Lo and behold, it wrote first thing write out of the "tube" it came in, lol, great flow, smooth. I was very surprised. Could it be the tipping material causing the problem on all of the other nibs?!? j/k, but that is the only difference between the stubs and the regular nibs, no tipping material... Hopefully my experience with one of Kaweco's stubs is not unique so, if you like stubs, perhaps you should give one of them a try.

 

Holly

Sadly that will never work. All the shouting and bawling at them won't change a thing and also won't change their sales. In the Western world people are going to buy pretty things as gifts, and in most cases they won't even be written with or will be used once or twice. The people who care to write with them won't even show up on their accountants books except as an amoeba.

 

The feeds are slightly different on the stubs to account for greater flow, so i hear. Don't speak to soon though - if you journal you may find that it occasionally and suddenly stops writing for no reason, which then requires some priming to get it started again, and then later it will stop. Repeat ad infinitum.

Edited by Bluey
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Sadly that will never work. All the shouting and bawling at them won't change a thing and also won't change their sales. In the Western world people are going to buy pretty things as gifts, and in most cases they won't even be written with or will be used once or twice. The people who care to write with them won't even show up on their accountants books except as an amoeba.

 

The feeds are slightly different on the stubs to account for greater flow, so i hear. Don't speak to soon though - if you journal you may find that it occasionally and suddenly stops writing for no reason, which then requires some priming to get it started again, and then later it will stop. Repeat ad infinitum.

 

lol - never thought that Kaweco accountants would consider me an amoeba - and wonder what that means in accountant-speak? I guess being a one-celled animal has its perks; you don't have to work for corporate America, for instance.

 

I know how you feel about Western pens vs Asian pens, Bluey, but disagree a bit. I really think that there are Western manufactures that give a darn about the writing instruments they design and make and that they also give a darn about their end users and that they are responsive to the feedback from their end users. Kaweco does not appear to be one of these concerned pen makers, which is a pity, on the other hand I think they genuinely expect their pens to be written with. A MontBlanc or another pen with bling may be a status symbol, but I can't really see an executive whipping out a Kaweco Sport to impress their colleagues...

 

A quick visual inspection shows no difference between the feeds of the stub and non-stub nibs, but I didn't do any measurements, etc. I really don't think the stub nib will suddenly quit writing unless the pen runs out of ink. It really does seem to have a consistently nice flow.

 

I don't really care about the manufacturers motivations I guess. I am a westerner, I write with fountain pens, and I expect fountain pen makers to make pens that can be written with. Period. At least Kawecos are well made and meant to last; the nibs aren't deformed or ill-made, they just need a bit of adjustment. I do like my Jinhaos, but my Kawecos and Lamys are keepers, too. (Most of my Western pens are vintage pens, a whole 'nother story!)

 

Holly

Edited by OakIris
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lol - never thought that Kaweco accountants would consider me an amoeba - and wonder what that means in accountant-speak?

 

Don't worry, I didn't mean that nastily in any way. Just that complains of their nibs are not worth considering on their books.

 

 

I really think that there are Western manufactures that give a darn about the writing instruments they design and make and that they also give a darn about their end users and that they are responsive to the feedback from their end users.

 

Well, they do 'care', but only in a PR and business sense. They don't care about the writing experience, because that doesn't sell their pens. Like all businesses, they only care about making money and making sure the customer is happy for the purpose of PR. If you complained on social media where others can see, they will definitely 'care' what you think about the nibs that you've received.

 

In some ways the vintage pens write better, but they were made to write well as part of the manufacturing process, in the same way as for many Asian pens are now. For Kewaco and others, they're just generic nibs. Some may write well but be prepared for many many lemons. But bear in mind that QC is MUCH better now than it was then.

Edited by Bluey
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  • 1 year later...

I bought the lilliput just a few days ago with a F nib. The same problems as mentioned above. Went to the FP store and bought two EF nibs... same problems. So disappointed. I've never did some adjusting of any of my other FP nibs. So I watched some YouTubes, and tried to make it wetter with very poor results. What else can I do ? Buy the gold one ?

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