I Did My First Nib Adjustment Today And I'm Feeling Proud :)

[YonathanZ]

Hi,

 

So this is a super minor thing but I'm still proud of doing it well.

I picked up a late 1980s Pelikan M800 today and realized it wouldn't write with normal pressure at all - I had to press to get a very faint, skippy line.

So I started thinking what I "need" to buy at the local FP store so that I could have the store owner fix it for me (he already fixed the flow on 2 pens for me).

He never charges me for it, so I just buy a fancy $30-40 bottle of ink because his service is very valuable to me (he's the only one in this country who can fix FPs and shipping a pen abroad would end up costing $60 or so for basic tuning).

 

Anyway, I just got impatient and wanted to write with the pen, as I noticed how it's smoother than most of my other pens (all but a Medium Parker Sonnet), except it wasn't putting any ink down so that's even more remarkable as ink is also a lubricant.

I did some Googling and soon enough realized the tines are super tight - no visible gap at all, whereas I could definitely see some on my other pens.

I followed this article's last section on pulling on the shoulders of the nib and, after three attempts, my pen works!

 

Now, it's a Medium M800 and writes drier and in similar thickness to my Fine MB146, and it should be the opposite because it's clear that the M800 has a larger tipping, so I'm a bit afraid to do the adjustment again as I heard it can be over-done to the point where the pen wouldn't write so I'll keep it as is for now, unless I'd rather feel bothered by it... or you'd convince me otherwise.

 

That's it, just wanted to share my little nib adjustment success story.

Edited October 17, 2019 by YonathanZ

[ardene]

I would say congratulations on making it write! I have no advice to offer on whether it is a good idea to continue the treatment or not, but indeed you should be proud of your achievement!

[txomsy]

If it works, I would leave it as is.

 

It is not a problem that it writes thicker or thinner, it was when it didn't write. If you like to use it now, just keep using it and enjoy.

[lurcho]

You should be proud of yourself. But, as others have already suggested, it's your call whether to do any more tweaking.

 

Personally, I would. I have worked on a lot of nibs and feeds over theb last few years, and like anything else you learn by lots of doing. But I mainly mess about with steel nibs. Gold nibs are much more vulnerable to ruination, but you already know the dangers.

 

A couple of years ago I had a dry Vanishing Point and decided to throw caution to the wolves. The nib is tiny and quite fiddly to slide off the feed. After careful slit-widening (using a shim), I thought I'd wrecked it. But the good thong about gold is that it will forgive a little distortion. In the end it came right and wrote wonderfully.

 

It's up to you, but if the worse came to the worse you'd definitey be able to get it fixed by a nibmeister.

 

Be careful, but give it a go. That's my opinion.

 

Legal disclaimer: See your physician or mental-health specialist before taking my advice.