Misaligned Tines... Worth Mucking With?

[EDR1633]

As I foray into European pens, every single one I've gotten has had misaligned or even sprung tines.

 

Pelikan M805 just arrived... tines JUST out of misalignment such that a sharp edge digs into the paper if at the right angle.

 

If I run my fingernail from the lower tine to the upper tine, you feel a slight catch, as would be expected.

 

Am I supposed to get every single pen I get with this issue exchanged? So far I am 0 for 3 on Euro-pens. I have returned one and am going to have to exchange the sprung Visconti. This Pelikan is only slightly off.

 

Am I going to get some form of misalignment every time I buy/exchange? I am buying from reputable American pen vendors.

[Bluey]

Well that's a shock.

 

Unfortunately it's the sign of the times for European pens. If you really want to probe further into them, I would seek out vintage pens for a much better standard of writing quality.

Edited March 22, 2018 by Bluey

[siamackz]

I collect mostly vintage but have a few modern pens too - MBs, Sailor, Platinum, Nakaya, etc. the only different between my modern and vintage is that with vintage I expect to adjust the tines becaus these Pens have been used for decades, etc. whereas I expect a factory fresh pen to come perfectly aligned (but they dont).

 

My conclusion - if youre in this hobby, you should learn at least the basics of nib tuning or youll never really be able to enjoy your pens unless you are super lucky and get that perfectly tuned nib - a fluke in my experience. Maybe 5 out of the 80 Pens I have came in such condition that I didnt need to touch the nib even.

[EDR1633]

Another thing I noticed... When viewing the nib/feed face on with the feed oriented on the horizontal plane, the nib seems angled/slanted to the right by a noticeable degree. What does this mean?

 

Edit...

 

Well now I see the problem even clearer... I removed the nib unit and can clearly see that in fact the feed is rotated out of alignment while the nib is right where it should be.

 

I can tell this because on the top and bottom of the unit are notches at the entry point into the housing... A notch that is aligned with the center of the nib, and a notch which SHOULD be aligned with the feed, but is not.

 

Can also see on the back of the housing a similar notch... This nib unit is interesting in that it seems more like a collar around the center. The feed seems to have a back part and a front part. Easy to see along the whole length that the feed is not aligned with the collar and nib.

 

Fearful to try twisting this around to fix. Has anyone seen this before?

 

Edit...

 

Finding some topics to look at here on the FPN. Sorry didn't realize the collar could be removed in the way these methods describe.

 

Edit...

 

Looked like this isn't worth me trying. Hoping for exchange.

Edited March 22, 2018 by EDR1633

[gibbs]

I think you've been more unlucky than anything I've had a fair number of European pens and all of them have written fine occasionally I have had to flush them with a bit if soapy water but that's been it

[Chrissy]

I've never had any problems with twisting the nib or feed so they both line up perfectly. Also tines are quite easy to press together very carefully with a thumbnail, pushing one up slightly or one down slightly until they are perfect.

[Bo Bo Olson]

You do need a good glass 10 X loupe or a cheap "40X" Chinese one...to see which is the up tine on a misaligned nib.

 

Place your thumbnail at the breather hole or end of slit of the up tine and press down so the 'up' tip is under the other tip....do that 2-3 times and check with your loupe. Do it to they are even.

 

Yes you need a loupe.....in you will be doing this often....unless you buy in a shop.....between the robots and the mailmen playing overtime soccer with your package....tines get banged out of alignment....in pens are not packed good enough for modern day post offices.

The pen packages were perfected in the '50-60's back when they had mailmen that cared.....

Sometime in the '60's some large American university did a test with an analog gauge to see how much a package got kicked around.....the gauge broke.

So sometimes nothing changes....but back then pens were not mailed individually in small box/cases but were packed inside their case in sturdy packing boxes or pallets depending on how big an order it was.

Today you have small individual boxes being crunched by big robot belt delivery systems, dropping big heavy boxes on them....

That's what you wanted, so have it....online ordering.......cheaply mailed...........you do know overworked and underpaid postmen have some very, very nice and comfortable steel toed safety shoes?

Remember time is money.....in the postman or routing machine somewhere didn't have any time....you have to have money....to buy a loupe.

 

Hit the table a tad with your nib and it can/will be knocked out of alignment.

[Christopher Godfrey]

EDR, there is also something which you mentioned that needs addressing: a "sprung" nib is not the same as a misaligned one! Once a flexible nib has been abused beyond its elastic capabilities, it is "sprung" and you will not revive it. A nib with slightly crossed tines only means that one of them requires a little coaxing back into position -- <OR> you may need to adjust the overall cross-section curvature of said nib. Both are easy-peasy fixes, once you know what you are trying to achieve (see Richard Binder's notes on his website: they are great!)

 

It can be, sometimes, that that cross-section curvature is exactly what is causing the fighting between the tines, which will force them out of alignment. See what Bo Bo says about getting a decent loupe: Mr. Binder recommends assessing the nib from the underside, held at c.45 degrees from your straight-ahead viewpoint (your wrist held low, IOW, so you are looking across the top of the nib, straight at the tips)

 

Does this help at all?

[lurcho]

I concur with Bo Bo Olson, though he knows much more than I do.

 

If you buy fountain pens, regardless of make, you need a 10X loupe and the basic know-how of tine alignment and tine-gapping (to augment stingy flow).

 

I bought what I thought would be a reliable, no-adjustment-likely, Faber-Castell recently. Adjustment was needed because it didn't emit much ink, an important requirement for a pen. So I sent it back.

 

That is the last time I will ever spend more than a few pounds on a pen, because the pens I have have cobbled together from Jinhao bodies and JoWo and Bock nibs, tuned, gapped, and smoothed, have been better writers than any expensive pen I've ever bought, including Montblanc, OMAS, and even Pelikan.

[Patrick L]

Well that's a shock.

 

Unfortunately it's the sign of the times for European pens. If you really want to probe further into them, I would seek out vintage pens for a much better standard of writing quality.

 

Hi Bluey ,

Just a short message to tell you that you have a beautiful avatar ! Did you draw this picture ? Did you use fountain pen inks ?

Take care

Patrick

[minddance]

Exchange or refund the pen.

 

I won't touch the nib abit.

[Bo Bo Olson]

For a dry pen use wetter ink or a slicker paper. A good excuse to have more inks and papers.

I think I've only widened the gap of times three times. But it is something one should know how to do.

I did have a tad of baby bottom problem on a BB 600....now a 1.0 stub as always intended. The original M nib was just fine; but didn't know how much of a CI or Stub I'd put on the nib and exchanged it for the largest. With nails or semi-nails like the modern 400/600 one must stub or CI the nib to have any character.

If you have your wide nib made CI do send a picture of the exact angle you hold the fountain pen.

There were no problems with the three 200's I bought....and the 20 vintage and semi-vintage Pelikans I bought.

 

If one holds the pen and nib before the big index knuckle.....problems are common with a ball point hold.

I wonder how it is certain people always have nothing but problems....others none, and a seldom, but occasional problem would be 'normal'.

 

Buying in a B&M is best. If there is none in the area, there are certain sellers who go the step further and check and adjust a nib before selling. One should not cheap out.

 

In I live in Germany and have a B&M, don't know online sellers who are nibmeisters or can tune a nib. Besides which by old used cheap pens....vintage and semi-vintage....where all problems were solved decades ago.

If one reads here enough, one could copy who tunes the nibs they sell.

[jekostas]

It's not difficult to learn how to do basic nib adjustment and IMO something worth learning if you use fountain pens regularly. I am constantly surprised how many people on here say that you should never touch your nibs. It just requires practice, patience and a decent loupe.

[siamackz]

It's not difficult to learn how to do basic nib adjustment and IMO something worth learning if you use fountain pens regularly. I am constantly surprised how many people on here say that you should never touch your nibs. It just requires practice, patience and a decent loupe.

+1 whole hearterdly