Strange Montegrappa Nib Problem

[markh]

I recently got a Montegrappa Heartwood fp. Pen is wood (in my case walnut) and the steel nib is colored tan or brown. I think the colored nib has been my problem.

 

This pen had endless ink flow problems, all but one of which I have fixed/adjusted. I know I could have returned it to where I purchased it, but I'm quite practiced with tuning/adjusting/shaping nibs, and usually I can to a better job than the factory replacement would be.

 

I will skip the steps that I took, which included replacing the defective feed. When I was done, the pen finally wrote to my satisfaction. Except that it would dry out after a few hours, or overnight, and be very hard to get started.

 

My assumption was that the cap wasn't sealed. The cap isn't built with an inner cap.

 

What I finally did was replace the Montegrappa nib with a generic steel nib (#6) I tied a few different nibs - they all worked perfectly, and didn't dry out overnight. When I took off the MG brown nib, it was coated with some type of "sludge", as if the coating somehow interacted with the ink. Since the pen works fine with a white metal steel nib, and doesn't with the MG nib, I have to come to the conclusion that its the coating on the nib. I have no idea how the nib is colored. I don't think it's heat treated to brown it - the color is perfectly even, both sides.

 

Anyone ever seen anything like this??

 

 

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[Uncial]

Yes, but never on a new pen. The black Lamy and black treated Sailor nibs can get an appearance somewhat like peeling as the coating begins to wear off, which can crumble over time and block the channel and alter ink flow.