Sprung Tines :(

[Dr_Jekyll]

I have some very unfortunate news.

 

I've managed to spring the tines of my Hero H718 fountain pen. The nib is very springy (it could honestly be considered a really soft nib, but not flexible) and I was seeing how much line variation would come out of it. Alas, I pushed the nib too far and now, hard starts and railroading break my heart every time I try to use it.

 

The nib is usable, but will can no longer provide any reliable line variation. In order for the pen to start writing, it has to be held at a very upright angle (not quite 90 degrees, but relatively close). It can then write at lower angles, but once any pressure (light to moderate) is put on the nib, the pen begins to railroad. After any railroading, writing at a high angle or dipping The pen is necessary for it to start up again. The hero H718 has a 10k gold nib.

 

This pen was a gift from my family and I love writing with it, so I would hate to not ever be able to write with it again. Is there anything I can do to help bring the nib back to where it was, or is this something that should be sent directly to a nibmeister? If the latter is the better option, are there any nibmeisters that one could recommend? I know of Richard Binder, Mike Masuyama, Dan from FPgeeks, and John Mottishaw, but they are all in the US (I am located in Canada). Are there any reputable nibmeisters in Canada?

 

Thank you all in advance.

Edited October 30, 2018 by Dr_Jekyll

[jekostas]

The nib can be bent back in to proper writing shape without too much difficulty.

 

Now, this part is very important, so it's getting bolded -

 

Once you've sprung a nib do not put pressure on it while writing. Do not try and induce line variation while writing. You will ruin your nib if you keep doing so.

 

You've permanently changed the mechanical properties of your nib, and it will be significantly easier to spring in the future due to metal fatigue. Do it too much and it's entirely possible to snap off a tine completely, something which I have absolutely seen in person.

 

As far as I know there's no way to "fix" this issue short of re-tempering the nib, and I don't know of any nibmeisters who are able to do that.

 

May I ask where you are in Canada?

[woleizihan]

It's almost certainly cheaper to buy a new one than to find someone to repair it.

[Erik Dalton]

I have no experience with this Hero pen, but I feel your pain. Same thing happened to me with a brand new Conklin all American. With that pen I ended up picking up a Jowo nib from Goulet and solved the problem.

I took a quick look at your pen. There are some YouTube vids showing how to break it down. Now all you need is a replacement nib. Do some research. You may be able to fix this guy for a fraction of the cost of sending it out.

Good luck.

[Honeybadgers]

as long as you didn't crease or crack the metal (you'd have to have tried to kill something or someone with it to do that) you can just bend it back carefully.

 

Jekostas is right and not right. no common metal work hardens that fast unless it was pushed way beyond where it should have been and you've induced structural damage to the grain of the metal. yes, some atoms have shifted, but a nib sprung once is only a little worse for wear.

Edited October 31, 2018 by Honeybadgers

[Mech-for-i]

Only 1 sprung tine is not yet enough to cause catastrophic result , and its perfectly fine if you ( gently ) bend the tine back to its original position. That said, take caution and do it slow and not applying force to a single line area, but the wide area around the bend to work it into position, not forcing it. it will take some time but it can be done. The Hero 10K nib can be at time mislead people to over work itself , that I do know I had quite a number of them. Its worth the effort to try to work this out.

[Dr_Jekyll]

Hi everyone!

 

I took a leap of faith and did some tuning myself (after an embarrassing amount of reading about pen repair) and the pen works fine now! All I had to do was push down on the nib while the feed was facing up. I did not spring the tines terribly, they were just pushed a hair further than comfortable. I will be very careful when using this pen as to not push down on the nib (don't worry @jekostas, I take your bold text very seriously).

 

Thank you all for your help!