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Does anybody know places from which micromesh can be bought for reasonable price? I have searched online in the usual locations but it is either not available or it is being sold for ludicrous prices. @K Singh

Greetings everyone , This is my first post in this forum and I need your help. I want to learn hot to properly smooth a nib, without creating any flatspots, sharp edges etc. My issue is that most of the tutorials online recommend methods such as drawing figure 8's which often lead to flatspots. My goal is to learn how to remove material, in a way that the nib gets a well rounded shape. I did refer to Mr. Wim Geeraets's which was excelent and very informative. However no matter how smooth the nib turned out there was, always a spot that was scratchy and when i managed to smooth that spot another one (scratchy) appeared. If anyone would be kind enough to share any information or methods of smoothing nibs in way that no flatspots or edges corners appear, It would really help me and perhaps other members of this forum. Thanks in advance, Nestor

I was smoothing a few nibs today, some from modern fountain pens and some from vintage. I did notice that the final result favored the modern fountain pens and not the vintage ones, despite the fact that the same polishing method was used. Specifically I got much more buttery effect out of a plain parker IM fountain pen with a steel nib, compared to a parker 51 with a gold nib. This got me thinking whether this had to do with the tipping of the nibs and the slit cut. I imagine that modern pens take advantage of new technology which has provided better methods to apply tipping at the nib and to cut open slits for the ink to flow. Is this something that may explain the difference between the smoothness of the nibs? Meaning the parker 51 having a more "rough" (with air pockets) tipping or inner tines, due to inferior manufacturing process, compared to the one we use today.

I've seen a couple of videos on YouTube (The Pen Habit) where they only use the ink of the pen for lubrication when using micromesh, and videos (by SBREBrown) where he uses an eyedropper to put water on the micromesh before putting the nib to the micromesh. Which way is more correct/better?

First of all, this is just a show and tell, not instructions per se. If you broke your pen, I will laugh at you and tell you to bugger off. But, someone has requested this, and I have time to spare, so yea. Okay, here's the step by step cap ring scratches removal on a Pelikan. Let's start this off with showing what the [first world] problem is. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2822/9796054335_7c8cae5e70.jpg Multiple ring scratches where the cap ring sits on the barrel. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3730/9796089576_0b59e136f0.jpg Heavy scratches demand heavy grit (caution! Start off with a softer grit and gradually find the roughest grit needed.. in my case, 1000 wet and dry, etc.) Then after the deep scratches are gone, then let's remove the "cloud".. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7300/9796060745_850733d9b1.jpg Gradual micromeshes applied parallel to the pen. From teal to grey. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7301/9796079514_f16bd9019b_z.jpg Moving on to liquid solutions. Novus #3 applied perpendicular to the barrel. Skip the official instructions, because you'll save money with plastic/cellophane instead of cloth applicator here, only very little amount needed. http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2875/9796096446_d7448fd638.jpg Now it's time to use microfibre cloth for the Novus #2. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7304/9796144193_3697743dc0.jpg Novus #1, looking good already. And yes, I reckon it's worth to buy #1. http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3743/9796073765_717b26e00c.jpg Voila. Tools used: Wet&dry sandpaper 1K-2K, Micromesh 4K-12K, Novus 1 to 3 (2 oz bottles should be right for most), Turtle Wax scratch repair, scotch tape, and microfibre cloth. And it took me a good two hours to do it. Ask away and lemme know if something's unclear etc. Hth. Tony PS: By the way, the pen was Pelikan MC110 with Iroshizuku Yama-guri.