Measuring the space between feed and nib?

[pathobby]

Is there a standard way of measuring/establishing the optimum clearance between nib and feed.

 

Does this gap have anything to do with how 'wet' a line a pen lays down?

 

I am experimenting with Pelikano steel nibs from the Model 65 in a Pelikan Silvexa pen which had a damaged nib.

 

The pen lays down a very wet line. Could this be because the gap is too big?

 

What is the correct procedure if the gap is too big?

 

Any help gratefully received!

 

PH

Edited March 6, 2010 by pathobby

[ZeissIkon]

If you can slip a piece of copier paper in there, the gap is too big. And yes, this can cause a nib to run too wet or, when it gets a little wider, to skip or be hard to start.

 

If the pen has a hard rubber (aka ebonite) feed, the simplest method to correct it is to hold the feed, just barely short of the edge of the section, in a cup of water just off the boil for about fifteen seconds, then apply pressure under the feed pressing against the nib until the feed cools (fifteen to thirty seconds); repeat one or two additional times if needed. If the feed isn't ebonite, or you aren't sure, it's probably preferable to pull or knock out the nib and feed and adjust the nib (I've done this by applying pressure with the bare nib against a table top and rubbing the metal where I wanted the bed to remain with the butt end of a bamboo skewer in lieu of a proper burnisher). A very small change in the nib profile beyond the breather hole can change the clearance from the feed.

[pathobby]

If you can slip a piece of copier paper in there, the gap is too big. And yes, this can cause a nib to run too wet or, when it gets a little wider, to skip or be hard to start.

 

If the pen has a hard rubber (aka ebonite) feed, the simplest method to correct it is to hold the feed, just barely short of the edge of the section, in a cup of water just off the boil for about fifteen seconds, then apply pressure under the feed pressing against the nib until the feed cools (fifteen to thirty seconds); repeat one or two additional times if needed. If the feed isn't ebonite, or you aren't sure, it's probably preferable to pull or knock out the nib and feed and adjust the nib (I've done this by applying pressure with the bare nib against a table top and rubbing the metal where I wanted the bed to remain with the butt end of a bamboo skewer in lieu of a proper burnisher). A very small change in the nib profile beyond the breather hole can change the clearance from the feed.

 

 

I CAN get a piece of copier paper in there but after the first 1mm. I have to force it, which I will only do once, so I reckon the clearance must be about right.

 

The Pelikano nib is probably a bit 'wetter' than a more expensive nib as they were produced for youngsters. I have a feeling that they would need a somewhat wetter writer than an adult.

 

Does this make sense?

 

 

I only have one (working!)Pelikano and it is a fairly wet writer.

 

Any comments/help would be much appreciated.

 

PH

[significantpass]

The gap's too big. I don't think the feeds on the pens you mentioned are made of ebonite.

[pathobby]

The gap's too big. I don't think the feeds on the pens you mentioned are made of ebonite.

 

 

No I don't think they are ebonite either. I suspect they are simple plastic moulded pieces.

 

What does that mean? Do I have to take out the nib and 'bend' it to shape? To make it fit closer to the feed?

 

PH

[ZeissIkon]

No I don't think they are ebonite either. I suspect they are simple plastic moulded pieces.

 

What does that mean? Do I have to take out the nib and 'bend' it to shape? To make it fit closer to the feed?

 

PH

 

You're probably correct, a Pelikano most likely has an injection molded feed -- and yes, if the paper will slip in even 1 mm, the gap (at least at the tip) is too large. Copier paper is around .003" thick, and the feed gap shouldn't normally exceed about .002" -- same as the tip gap, which ought to run .001" to .002".

 

I won't say there's no other way to reduce the gap in your situation, but removing the nib and feed and rebending the nib is the only method I've found -- and there's some hazard there, in that it's possible to break a feed trying to get it out, or to damage a nib while rebending it. Stainless nibs, also, tend to work harden when bent, so overshooting and then bending back gets more difficult with each bend and the metal will get brittle after a certain amount of work. Just last week, I had a stainless nib that had gotten dropped break when I tried to straighten it (admittedly an extreme case, but the same could happen with a more gradual bend that got cycled back and forth a few times).

[pathobby]

No I don't think they are ebonite either. I suspect they are simple plastic moulded pieces.

 

What does that mean? Do I have to take out the nib and 'bend' it to shape? To make it fit closer to the feed?

 

PH

 

You're probably correct, a Pelikano most likely has an injection molded feed -- and yes, if the paper will slip in even 1 mm, the gap (at least at the tip) is too large. Copier paper is around .003" thick, and the feed gap shouldn't normally exceed about .002" -- same as the tip gap, which ought to run .001" to .002".

 

I won't say there's no other way to reduce the gap in your situation, but removing the nib and feed and rebending the nib is the only method I've found -- and there's some hazard there, in that it's possible to break a feed trying to get it out, or to damage a nib while rebending it. Stainless nibs, also, tend to work harden when bent, so overshooting and then bending back gets more difficult with each bend and the metal will get brittle after a certain amount of work. Just last week, I had a stainless nib that had gotten dropped break when I tried to straighten it (admittedly an extreme case, but the same could happen with a more gradual bend that got cycled back and forth a few times).

 

 

Thanks for the tip on the 'work hardening'. I shall bear that in mind when working on the nib.

 

The pen is not a Pelikano it's a Silvexa into which I have fitted a Pelikano model 65 nib. These nibs are getting very hard to find so they are worth being careful with I think!

 

Having said that I think the Silvexa feed is probably still an injection molded plastic.

 

PH

[ZeissIkon]

The pen is not a Pelikano it's a Silvexa into which I have fitted a Pelikano model 65 nib.

 

Ah, I'd forgotten that detail. Before you attempt any rebending, you should check whether the nib and feed are seated to the correct relative depth. Generally, you want the feed as far out as it can be and not show from the top of the nib -- most nibs have a little downward curve in the last 3-4 mm before the tip, and most feeds are curved to match, but if the feed was originally for a wider nib you might well have seated it further in and thus have the curves not matched up.