Nibs For Twsbi

[mholve]

$280 for a TWSBI? LE or not - pass.

[Ebarbaric]

Hi all,

 

I didn't want to start a new thread, so sorry for the revival...

 

I was wondering if anyone tried pilot nibs on a TWSBI? Would a Prera nib fit?? I'm just wondering what some ways may be to get a finer line??

 

Cheers and thank you,

 

Ernest.

[Lince]

TWSBI ebay told me they are going to sell nibs through ebay in one-two weeks.

So you can experiment with different widths.

[saskia_madding]

The "m625" that I bought off ebay was definitely an m425. I emailed the guy and told him, and he said he had an m625 pen in his hands straight from Pelikan and that he would give me that nib. He sent it to me and it is ALSO an m425. GAH.

 

So right now my TWSBI has an m425 nib in it and I needed to heat set the TWSBI feed to get it to work. But after doing so it writes like a dream. Unfortunately, I'm still bugged by the fact that the nib is a tad too small for the pen. It annoys me every time I open the cap.

 

So today I have given up trying to find one cheaply and have gone crawling back to my reliable fountain pen dealer (Louis at The Ink Flow, who is INCREDIBLE to work with!), who has agreed to buy my an m625 nib straight from Pelikan. It's $200, but considering my TWSBI is my daily user, I think it's worth it.

Edited March 4, 2011 by simonerodrigue

[Lince]

I tired to do some heat fiting (seting, siting) but kind of was heat melting the feed. How do you do it.

The Pel M200 is small on the TWSBI and moves arround.

[saskia_madding]

To heat set the feed I boiled a kettle, put the feed in a mug, waited about 20 seconds after the kettle boiled and then poured the water into the mug and over the feed. Left it in there for about 30 seconds, then pulled it out, put the room temperature nib onto the feed and seated it properly, pressed them together gently but firmly, and then I ran them under cold water from the tap.

 

I repeated this process three times in succession, and now the nib works perfectly.

 

ETA: I would also like to mention that there is absolutely nothing wrong with the stock nib that comes with the TWSBI. Mine wrote perfectly out of the box. But I have always hated steel nibs - I find them too stiff form my liking - and so I very much wanted a gold nib on my TWSBI.

 

I feel that way about all the steels nibs I've ever tried, though I can deal with some better than others. But I've never had a steel nib be a pen I use every day, and that is what I wanted out of the TWSBI - a daily user pen.

Edited March 6, 2011 by simonerodrigue

[ABMaranzano]

I tried to install a Sheaffer Feather Touch #5 nib from an old TD I never got to restore on my TWSBI, the nib had the same width, however it was bout 1/8 on an inch too short on the feed. Look pretty nice though! I have a Reform set coming in with 3 stubs, maybe I'll try to swap one since I believe that they are the same size as the Pel 200 :hmm1: . Still love the oringinal nib, it has worked great out of the box, whish I could have said the same about my Delta Titanio, out of the box I had to adjust the tines.

Edited March 17, 2011 by ABMaranzano

[penmanila]

that's exactly what i did, after trying out several nibs, with varying degrees of success, on my twsbi; the best and easiest alternative was a vacumatic nib, which was of practically the same size and shape as the twsbi nib.

 

on an impulse, however, i thought to directly address the problem that had made me look for alternatives in the first place--the twsbi was a dry writer--so i widened the slit between the tines a bit with a very thin piece of plastic film, and now the twsbi medium nib writes a smooth, broad, wet line. that done, i think i'll stick with the original nib, also to preserve (not that anyone has to) the integrity of the whole pen.

 

 

 

Ya know all these posts of swapping out the TWSBI nibs doesn't say much for the stock nib that comes with it....and it's not all that bad once you adjust the flow/feed channel.

[krandallkraus]

Wow! This is exhausting. Now I kind of wish Speedy et al had just waited and announced the finished product.

 

I've been checking in every couple months for the past year expecting to be able to buy the new opaque TWSBI and it never appears. By the time it's available I will have spent all my available pen $$$.

[centennial]

Will Visconti's palladium nib fit on the TWSBI

[LaserExplosion]

This thread is years old but for anyone reading this I hope it is of use.

 

In my Twsbi 580AL I have successfully fitted the FPR 5.5 Flex and FPR 5.5 Ultra Flex with no issues and no adjustments to the original feed (simple swap and go).

 

I failed to fit a Swan #2 nib to the 580AL as the nib was too thin to friction fit the feeder&nib back to the pen, and my nib did not make a good contact with the Twsbi 580AL feeder.

[grilledcheese]

I recently found a TWSBI Eco pen in the back of my desk, missing the nib. Everything else was there (feed, cap, body, even the little red wrench) but no nib! I have no idea what happened, other than that I must have taken it apart to clean, lost the nib, and forgotten all about it.

 

I wrote to TWSBI and was told they don't sell replacement nibs, and buying another nib assembly for just the nib felt like a bit much, so I tried my luck with a 5.5 flex nib from Fountain Pen Revolution. I got a nice letter from them thanking me for my purchase, and I replied explaining my intention -- and was told it wouldn't work. I thought it was pretty nice of them to prepare me for potential disappointment.

 

It worked immediately, and it was extremely easy. So much so, that when I found a second Eco (I must have a nib-eating gremlin) I ordered two more nibs, a stub and an EF, to see which I liked better. Less luck this time -- the EF fell right out, I couldn't get it to stay in. The stub was too wide or the curvature too low -- I couldn't get it all the way in. I tried squeezing it with a pair of pliers and managed to get the tines out of alignment without curving it enough to fit. Live and learn. I then tried flattening the EF and heard an ominous popping sound, but when I tried fitting it into the pen, it worked! I don't dare fiddle with it any further, but at least I now have two working pens that would otherwise have been trash.

 

Just sharing in case the nib gremlins find their way into somebody else's home.

[Jamerelbe]

I recently found a TWSBI Eco pen in the back of my desk, missing the nib. Everything else was there (feed, cap, body, even the little red wrench) but no nib! I have no idea what happened, other than that I must have taken it apart to clean, lost the nib, and forgotten all about it.

 

I wrote to TWSBI and was told they don't sell replacement nibs, and buying another nib assembly for just the nib felt like a bit much, so I tried my luck with a 5.5 flex nib from Fountain Pen Revolution. I got a nice letter from them thanking me for my purchase, and I replied explaining my intention -- and was told it wouldn't work. I thought it was pretty nice of them to prepare me for potential disappointment.

 

It worked immediately, and it was extremely easy. So much so, that when I found a second Eco (I must have a nib-eating gremlin) I ordered two more nibs, a stub and an EF, to see which I liked better. Less luck this time -- the EF fell right out, I couldn't get it to stay in. The stub was too wide or the curvature too low -- I couldn't get it all the way in. I tried squeezing it with a pair of pliers and managed to get the tines out of alignment without curving it enough to fit. Live and learn. I then tried flattening the EF and heard an ominous popping sound, but when I tried fitting it into the pen, it worked! I don't dare fiddle with it any further, but at least I now have two working pens that would otherwise have been trash.

 

Just sharing in case the nib gremlins find their way into somebody else's home.

 

@grilledcheese, glad you were able to get the FPR nibs to work (sort of, anyway) - I tried that combo and found that the nib tip sat too far proud of the feed.

 

The only place I know of that sells genuine TWSBI nibs without on their own is fpnibs.com, who are based in Spain - but they cost €21, which is actually a little more expensive than buying a Diamond Mini nib unit! [You can opt for a gold or titanium nib, though, if you want to spend a bit more...]

[Misfit]

I put a Nemosine #5 nib on an Eco.

[grilledcheese]

 

@grilledcheese, glad you were able to get the FPR nibs to work (sort of, anyway) - I tried that combo and found that the nib tip sat too far proud of the feed.

 

The only place I know of that sells genuine TWSBI nibs without on their own is fpnibs.com, who are based in Spain - but they cost €21, which is actually a little more expensive than buying a Diamond Mini nib unit! [You can opt for a gold or titanium nib, though, if you want to spend a bit more...]

 

Yes, I got the sense that it was luck of the draw with FPR. I would not suggest it for somebody looking for an upgrade, but it might be worth a shot if one is just going to try their luck and see if they can salvage a couple of pens for a low cost. I did see the fpnibs options and thought they seemed really nice. If I wind up in Europe they might become a bit more affordable.

[Inksomnia]

I had vintage Montbalnc 146 nib in my Twsbi Vac 700R It fitted ok-ish, but nib had crack on the back and feed should had been heatset to work properly.

[Steveg58]

One of my VAC 700Rs has a Goulet #6 EF nib installed because I keep forgetting the TWSBI fine is too broad for my liking. It fitted fine without any fiddling and works well.

[Gunkanes]

I recently use the new "Naginata" nibs that can be found in aliexpress. I think that there are three main versions and the best is the penbbs one. I bought the Kailegou (or something like that).

 

Works directly on TWSBI Vac700R and is a very interesting Architect nib. Depending on the angle you get diferent line variation.

[Ferocity]

wow that's nice