Graf Von Faber Castell Fountain Pen Not Writing Well Enough, Erratic Ink Flow

February 22, 2019

Big knuckle...with it's middle you hit someone....not something, or it hurts.

Behind it....towards the wrist. Toward the web of the thumb. Not towards the finger's second joint.

45 degrees = right right after the big fat knuckle. (not even with it....much less in front of it....toward your arm.)

40 degrees well after the big index finger knuckle at the start of the web of the thumb.

35 degrees for very long, or very heavy pens, is at the pit of the web of the thumb.

And as said, let the pen rest where it feels comfortable..(behind the big knuckle)...forcing it to be at 45 degrees takes pressure and leads to the Death Grip.

Look up Tripod grip.

This is not the Tripod grip, but the Forefinger Up. The way I and a few others hold a fountain pen.

An automatic light grip, so hand fatigue and pain is eliminated.

Help! How Do You Hold Your Fountain Pen?

Try the tripod first that will get your pen behind your big knuckle.

Edited February 22, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

February 22, 2019

Ahhh.. You're talking about the _back_ of the pen, where it rests against your _hand_. I was understanding you to be talking about your _finger_ positioning on the pen.

For me, I have a nice big callus at the joint closest to my nail, and that's where the fingers meet. (roughly). I pull back or push out depending on the pen type, and the back of the pen goes from not touching the hand at all, to touching the webbing. It's always between the first finger large knuckle and thumb, no matter what the grip.

This has always been the most comfortable writing position for me -for 40 years. I can also fill up a number of pages in a notebook in a day, and it's not my fingers that get tired.

February 25, 2019

How do you guys store the pen at night?

Filled, unfilled? Upright?

February 25, 2019

Filled, ready for next day.

Horizontally, in that beatiful GvFC box.

Flushed and dry when out of rotation.

Good to see your silver writing good now!

Probably just some air pockets were trapped in the converter, which you sorted with filling-emptying-refilling.

Enjoy!

February 25, 2019

Filled, ready for next day.
Horizontally, in that beatiful GvFC box.
Flushed and dry when out of rotation.

Good to see your silver writing good now!
Probably just some air pockets were trapped in the converter, which you sorted with filling-emptying-refilling.
Enjoy!

I was not happy with it, I sent the Silver classic to GvFC.

February 25, 2019

I was not happy with it, I sent the Silver classic to GvFC.

Hope all will work good (whether you sent it for repair or refund), their customer service has very good reputation.

Maccasar still writing well?

March 3, 2019

Hi,

I was writing with my Graf von Faber Castell Macassar, and the nib keeps twisting out,

I attached an image of the nib, as you can see, the entire nib plus the feed has a screw thread and can very easily be unscrewed from the pens body,

because it was loose, I twisted it in a bit tighter and I noticed the breather hole was not aligned with the nib, I unscrewed it and now the breather hole is aligned with the nib again, I screwed the piece back in the body of the pen only not as tight as the first try and now the breather hole is nicely aligned with the nib, I am thinking, by screwing it in too tight, could I have damaged anyting, because the breather hole was not aligned, it was slightly to the right.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FGemL_QLhihVjgfmGDjH7pmZ1DG5oF7s/view?usp=sharing

March 4, 2019

Hi,
I was writing with my Graf von Faber Castell Macassar, and the nib keeps twisting out,
I attached an image of the nib, as you can see, the entire nib plus the feed has a screw thread and can very easily be unscrewed from the pens body,
because it was loose, I twisted it in a bit tighter and I noticed the breather hole was not aligned with the nib, I unscrewed it and now the breather hole is aligned with the nib again, I screwed the piece back in the body of the pen only not as tight as the first try and now the breather hole is nicely aligned with the nib, I am thinking, by screwing it in too tight, could I have damaged anyting, because the breather hole was not aligned, it was slightly to the right.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FGemL_QLhihVjgfmGDjH7pmZ1DG5oF7s/view?usp=sharing

The misnamed "Breather Hole" really has very little to do with how a pen writes; it is there for stress relief for the nib tines. It is similar to drilling a hole in a windshield to stop a crack from extending and has no "Breathing" functions.

March 4, 2019

But the small slit of the breather hole has to be aligned with the slit of the nib right? The slit of the breather hole was to the right, the slit of the air channel did not lign up with the slit of the tines.

March 4, 2019

I'm wondering if there is a mix-up in terms here...

To the majority, the NIB is the metal piece, the FEED is the plastic or hard-rubber piece under the nib. What many tend to call a "breather hole" is a strain relief drilled through the nib at the end of the slit making up the tines. There is no way this "breather hole" can be misaligned with the nib slit as they are part of the same piece of metal.

Depending upon the make/model, there may or may not be a channel cut in the bottom of the feed near the point where it meets the section (if there is such a channel, IT could qualify as a "breather hole" as it facilitates filling the pen, otherwise filling requires pulling ink up via the collector fins [if any] and through the thin capillary slit in the top of the feed that lies against the nib). If the feed uses a single capillary slit, it is often aligned with the nib slit and would be visible in the relief hole (but may not need to be -- an offset capillary slit would still carry ink to the bottom of the nib, where it would then spread [again by capillary action] into the space between feed and nib, and thence to the nib slit and down to the tip).

If you have significant offset, you have a feed that is out of alignment with the nib, and that is usually visible from the bottom, since the feed would be exposing one side of the nib more than the other -- and may even be exposed when looking down from the top. Correcting this requires pulling the nib and feed out and realigning them before pushing them back into the section -- just trying to twist one relative to the other won't correct the base where the most pressure exists.

The linked photo doesn't really help -- it doesn't show the details of misalignment you speak of...

Edited March 4, 2019 by BaronWulfraed

March 4, 2019

But the small slit of the breather hole has to be aligned with the slit of the nib right? The slit of the breather hole was to the right, the slit of the air channel did not lign up with the slit of the tines.

Nope. In fact the hole does not even have to be there. BUT it is possible that when the nib and feed are not lined up the space between the nib and feed is not uniform and so capillary action suffers, but it has nothing to do with the hole in the nib. That exists only as an aesthetic affectation these days.

March 4, 2019

No, I mean the part of the feed that is visible through the breather hole, there is a slit(so air can run back into the reservoir or something), this was not alinged with the slit of the nib(metal part)

https://www.google.nl/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwixk5G6uungAhWDZ1AKHf-TCDkQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.quora.com%2FWhy-is-the-tip-of-the-nib-of-a-pen-split&psig=AOvVaw0wUazrzSKMpkz6yZyE-HmA&ust=1551822171799440

March 5, 2019

if the store told you to write with more pressure, don't even bother dealing with those jokers. A pen shouldn't NEED pressure to write. Ever. return it to the manufacturer for repair or replacement.

I have to agree. It might be a couple of things:

- Residual machining oils : A thorough cleaning should fix that and the fact that the problem seems gone after the second fill points in that direction.

- Problem with keeping the capillary action: Either the slit is parallel instead of going from wider to tighter towards the nib or the bottom part of the slit is wider than the top part (doing an upside down "V" when looking at the tip directly).

P.S.: Eat a little, you sound hungry.

Edited March 5, 2019 by flipper_gv