Nib Smoothing

[fatfinger]

I have a woman's nail polishing/buffing stick to improve inexpensive pen nibs.

 

Use the polishing side (NOT the rougher side) of the stick.

 

A figure-8 motion while rocking the pen side-to-side while polishing works well...A very light touch with a dry, empty pen works well.

 

I wouldn't try this on an expensive pen, but it did turn some "$5 eBay cheapies" into very smooth writers. These pens had so much "tooth" when purchased, they were almost impossible to use.

 

They turned out very smooth with this method...

 

Such a nail buffer may be had for under $2 at any drugstore. They are not waterproof, so don't get them wet...

 

 

[Pablo]

I have a woman's nail polishing/buffing stick to improve inexpensive pen nibs.

 

Use the polishing side (NOT the rougher side) of the stick.

 

A figure-8 motion while rocking the pen side-to-side while polishing works well...A very light touch with a dry, empty pen works well.

 

I wouldn't try this on an expensive pen, but it did turn some "$5 eBay cheapies" into very smooth writers. These pens had so much "tooth" when purchased, they were almost impossible to use.

 

They turned out very smooth with this method...

 

Such a nail buffer may be had for under $2 at any drugstore. They are not waterproof, so don't get them wet...

 

Gents:

 

Please, don't.

 

After two years hacking my own pens, I've learnt (the hard way) several things about nib smoothing:

 

1) Nearly 90% of the tooth in any out-of-the-wild nib is due to misaligned tines. You MUST align the nib points before even thinking about smoothing.

 

2) Even the finest abrasive (the 0.3 micron optical fiber lapping film, sold by several of the dealers you can find around in this site) can take out tipping material with frightening speed if used carelessly. Nowadays, I do all my smoothing with the 0.3 stuff; the coarser grades (1 micron and up) I use only when I'm grinding a broken nib to a stub, and only in the initial stage, when I'm taking out material fast.

 

3) Check with a loupe. You'll be surprised how fast a nib flat-spots with just a bit of over-enthusiastic use of abbrasives. 10x is not powerful enough; 15x is just barely enough for understanding what's happening at the nib. Check frequently. Work just a bit, have a look, work a bit more, have a look. Look cafefully from all angles. Check alignment, again.

 

4) Dry-try the nib regularly on a paper on which you know a good nib writes smoothly, and, thus, any tooth is due to the nib. Use always the same kind of paper (or, even better, the same lot of the same kind of paper). That way you have a reliable indicator of the real toothiness at the nib, and you won't be misled by a bad paper into flat-spotting the nib.

 

5) Understand what you are doing. Gents like Richard Binder or Ron Zorn have published, at their web sites and in the forums, a goodly amount of information about nibs and how to deal with them. Search and read as much as possible. That way, you'll learn to recognize when the smoothness in a nib is for real, and when it is just a nib flat-spotted into oblivion. You'll learn also how to recognize when and how you should mitigate the slit, to avoid flat-spotting a nib using the 8-figure method trying to remove tooth from inside the slit.

 

6) Don't dismiss nibs from cheapo e-bay finds as throw-away cannon-fodder. Properly tuned and smoothed, even humble untipped nibs can turn into real nice and smooth writers, and sometimes the pens holding them are also pretty, once cleaned from all the dirt and grime which usually covers them.

 

7) Finally, with no offense intended, using coarse abrasives as el-cheapo nib smoothing kits is senseless; the lapping film (mylar-backed sub-micron abrasives) sold by several of the dealers before mentioned cost $8 to $15, and properly used a single sheet will last almost forever. So, spending $2 in a coarse abrasive which is sure to flat-spot a nib at the drop of a hat is not exactly a good investment.

 

Sorry for having jumped on the soapbox.

 

Regards.

 

Pablo

 

(Note: Edited to add the bit about test paper).

Edited November 22, 2007 by Pablo

[extrafine]

Pablo,

 

I couldn't agree more. My own experience (see previous threads), has been that once properly aligned, almost all problems go away on their own and when they don't, a total nib-on-12000-grit-paper length of about 3" is enough, at light pressure. One or two figure 8s, minor hand work around the edges of the tines, and that's about it. Any more than that, and the initial problem was something else.

 

I don't have the ability to grind to a different shape, so that's something I haven't tried. I *did* try (on a hopelessly bent steel nib, as an experiment) some aggressive "action" against 12000 grit, and it was SCARY how fast the nib disappeared. I've also seen the results in an eBay purchase once: the seller had done a lovely job of restoring the pens, other than having COMPLETELY ruined the nibs by "smoothing" them into oblivion (it all ended well, he took them back) - totally a shame.

[Maja]

7) Finally, with no offense intended, using coarse abrasives as el-cheapo nib smoothing kits is senseless; the lapping film (mylar-backed sub-micron abrasives) sold by several of the dealers before mentioned cost $8 to $15, and properly used a single sheet will last almost forever. So, spending $2 in a coarse abrasive which is sure to flat-spot a nib at the drop of a hat is not exactly a good investment.

The $2 nail buffer sticks at my local dollar store look and feel exactly like the sanding/polishing sticks with 12000/4500/1500 grit sold by a well-known pen repair supplier. The only problem I had with them when I used them to smooth some cheap steel nibs in the early days of my nib-smoothing (note: I only used the 12000 grit side!) was the fact that they were not a hard surface. I could have cut the polishing surface from the stick, now that I think of it.... I now buy Micro-Mesh sheets from this same supplier, but in a pinch, the $2 sanding sticks from my dollar store worked quite well for simple smoothing.

 

Just my 2 cents

Edited November 22, 2007 by Maja

[Gerry]

Pablo,

 

Thank you for an excellent post. Maja - your experience is also very helpful. I would like to add mine as well - perhaps just from an alternative point of view...

 

I support unreservedly Pablo's points with the exception of #'s 2 and #7.

 

While I recognize and support the position of starting with a fine abrasive initially and being cautious - I feel it is necessary to point out that there are situations where it is obvious that one must use coarser grades. Considering that an Iridium tipped nib is a very hard metal, if the nib wear is the result of much wear from a single user, and the pen has been bought by another, I suggest that the required tip regrinding necessary to make the nib smooth for another user is likely significant, and would take an inordinate amount of time if approached with a 12,000 grit Micromesh product.

 

Just my .02

 

Regards,

 

Gerry

[Maja]

Hi Gerry,

 

Good point. I think there is a distinction that has to be made between nib smoothing and nib shaping/grinding. For the former, I've found that 8,000 and 12,000 Micromesh sheets seem to do the trick for most of my pens. For nib shaping, I've had to use coarser paper, no doubt about it.

 

Pablo, I forgot to say "thanks" for posting your list of tips. Good stuff!

 

 

[sskaysee]

I have a woman's nail polishing/buffing stick to improve inexpensive pen nibs.

 

Use the polishing side (NOT the rougher side) of the stick.

 

A figure-8 motion while rocking the pen side-to-side while polishing works well...A very light touch with a dry, empty pen works well.

 

I wouldn't try this on an expensive pen, but it did turn some "$5 eBay cheapies" into very smooth writers. These pens had so much "tooth" when purchased, they were almost impossible to use.

 

They turned out very smooth with this method...

 

Such a nail buffer may be had for under $2 at any drugstore. They are not waterproof, so don't get them wet...

 

Kinda interesting where you find repair/tuning materials...Sally's Beauty Supply...12000 grit paper on one side. 4000 and I think 1200 on the other. 3.99 ea. ;o)

[psfred]

The only nibs I've seen with really significant flat spots are 50-60 year old Parkers -- nearly everything else is either OK or totally shot.

 

It is also not usually necessary to grind much to relieve the flat enough to make using the pen acceptable, and a really flat tip isn't going to be repairable without making it somewhat finer anyway -- not a problem with a medium, perhaps, but when it's a fine to start with, you don't have much to work with.

 

I have never used anything coarser than 4000 grit waterstones for nib work -- I suspect the tipping would be gone very quickly, it's nowhere near as hard as the grid!

 

Peter

[Basset]

I wonder if anyone goes above 12k for the grit, especially with stainless nibs. With straight razors, you can use a news paper to add a nice polish to an edge after a 12k stone.

[karmakoda]

A good quality material is micro mesh polishing cloth, available in a variety of fine grades, from 1500 to 12000.

Note: I only use the 8000 and 12000 on my nibs and have had excellent results. You can find this material on eBay or from Wood Bin in Canada.

http://www.woodbin.ca/MicroMeshProducts.html

[Basset]

A good quality material is micro mesh polishing cloth, available in a variety of fine grades, from 1500 to 12000.

Note: I only use the 8000 and 12000 on my nibs and have had excellent results. You can find this material on eBay or from Wood Bin in Canada.

http://www.woodbin.ca/MicroMeshProducts.html

 

I looked in my office closet and found some unused 3m lapping film: started with 1 micron (8k grit) and the went to 0.3 micron (18,000 grit, with sheets on a stack newspaper. Worked quite well.

 

Sheets were $3.50 each (8.5 x 11) at Japan Woodworker. Had picked these up for honing straight razors. Maybe I will try out micromesh when / if these sheets wear out. I don't know that I've seen micro-mesh in 18k grit. David Nishimura had sold me an even higher grit (I think) mylar disc at the LA Show many years ago. It was fab, but I misplaced it when I moved from Cali.

[Bart]

When used properly, with regard to the rules mentioned, ultra-fine polish nail buff sticks should not be underestimated. For me they've been the most successful method. I thought they really *are* micromesh... my favorite are the 4-sided ones, and then only use "Step 4: Polish."

Edited June 30, 2010 by Bart

[Dr.X]

Interesting discussion. It seems that most advise very few strokes on the smoothing disc/surface or you risk removing the tip material.

 

If you look on YouTube, look for a video entitled "Nakaya's YoshidaSan Adjusting a Nib". As you can see, YoshidaSan is going to town on that nib! Not sure what surface he is using. Looks like he has blue ink on top of the surface (not sure why it is not drying out rapidly) - maybe it's something else - some gel perhaps?

 

What sayeth you all?

 

NoobNick

[wjellybelly]

By the way in that video its a grind stone. Isn't it strange how it says "adjusting"?

[Bo Bo Olson]

I buy mostly vintage pens that have a bit of micro-corrosion of the 'iridium' from setting in the back of a desk drawer for a generation.

 

For the least abrasive way of 'smoothing' I push the brown paper bag trick; a cardboard box or the back of the yellow legal pads works too from what I read.

 

Thanks again for the warnings of the dangers of micro-mesh.

How ever some times one needs a bit of micro-mesh. I've finally reached that point, for one nib perhaps two.

[fenriz]

First, it's not my intention to contradict good advice coming from folks who have more experience than I, but I would like to share my recent experience with this stuff.

 

Maybe I'm overly cautious in my approach, but I'm surprised at how aggressive one can be with abrasives and get away with it. I'm using a 20x loupe, and I bought one of the micromesh kits which includes from 1500-12000 grit surfaces, and also using a new Dremel which my wife got me for xmas. I've only experimented on Lamy nibs for Safari &c., and I used the sandy looking grinding wheels that came with the Dremel to shape, then followed up with 2400 grit mmesh, the 3600, 6k, 8k, and 12k. The XF I tried to grind out of a Lamy "XF" turned out ok (see thisthread), but still needs some smoothing. I had wild success making a stub out of a Lamy B last night using the same smoothing method.

 

I checked my progress frequently on paper and with the loupe, and I did smooth with ink in the pen. I've seen Steve Pustilnick in Houston use a Dremel and use mmesh with an inked pen, both with excellent results.

 

Of course, any abrasive (especially a Dremel tool!!) must be handled with *great* care when approaching a nib, but if you look with a loupe and good light, you can see exactly what's happening to it, and how much tipping is removed.

 

Now a question for the experts: how different is one of these cheap Lamy nibs from the tipping on, say, a modern 18k Pelikan nib?

[Nimmireth]

So say some moron smoothed a big, old flat spot on the nib of your too-expensive-to-mention fountain pen. The nib unit can't be swapped out. The F nib now writes like a B. Is the pen a total loss?

 

P.S. The moron is much smarter now.

[Inky.Fingers]

If there is enough or any tipping left, there is a chance for reshaping. If no more tipping left then retip it.

[Ron Z]

Is the pen a total loss?

 

Only if said moron tries to do it themselves. (one well known person got a note from a client who screwed up their nib again, trying to smooth it that said "I am an idiot!")

 

Otherwise InkyFingers is correct. If it comes to it, retipping is likely to be significantly less than replacing the nib.