Smoothing A Nib

[ThreeForMe]

I still relatively new to the world of fountain pens. I now have 4-5 of them. The nibs are quite variable and are all F or XF. I find great variability in the quality of the nibs where my Pilot VP (fine nib) has a very scratchy feel whereas a cheap FP bought at Staples writes glass smooth. None of them seem severe enough to warrant sending off to a nibmeister.

 

I'm curious to learn more smoothing a nib at home. How does one use the rough exterior of a brown paper bag or micro mesh sheets? Do you simply draw on the paper bag? Do you rub the nib back and forth on the micro mesh sheets or do you draw on it? What grits are recommended for the micro-mesh sheets?

 

Thanks!

--Mark

[mirko]

For first improvments, I am quite fond of this trick

http://www.freelists.org/post/fptalk/Fwd-The-Penny-Nib-Smoothing-Technique

 

I never took more abrasive steps.

[smk]

A common cause of scratchiness is misaligned tines. Check if both the tines are perfectly aligned (under strong magnification is possible.) You can bend the misaligned tine up or down gently to bring it into alignment. This will most likely fix the problem for you.

 

If the tines are aligned perfectly but the nib is still scratchy you can draw figure 8's and circles in both directions on a brown paper bag. This is fairly safe - just don't use excessive pressure on the nib when you are doing this.

 

If even the brown paper bag fails, try a nail polishing block. These usually come with 4 sheets of different roughness mounted on a foam block. Use the smoothest of the 4 and gently write the 8's and draw circles (both clockwise and anticlockwise). This will be sure to get the nib glass smooth.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Salman

[Bo Bo Olson]

Get a good 10-15 X loupe with good glass and coating, as a once in a life time buy....buy cheap...buy again.

 

When the tines are aligned and not before.

Get a good quality paper bag, not one of the shaggy ones. You can also use a cardboard box or the back of a 14 inch legal pad.

 

I rotate the nib writing normal, with no extra pressure and do circles left and right, squiggles up and down, and side ways both directions before doing figure 8's.

 

I do 15 second sets.

Then check the writing. Normally to get 'smooth' as you really need, which is not glass smooth, 4 sets are enough to get the 'micro corrosion' off of a vintage nib, or smooth a modern nib a bit.

Six by me is max.

 

If you want glass go micro mesh. Be careful about flat spots. Your nib could easily end up a size wider.

 

I tried the penny trick and have a worlds supply of antique pennies from that era. I don't think it works well, or as well as the brown paper bag.

[Fabienne]

Thank you, Bo Bo. I really think that should be made into a pinned comment, this whole thread should be in some archive.

[ThreeForMe]

Thank you so much for the advice. I'll invest in a loupe. Does $30-35 dollars for a BelOMO 10x Loupe sound right? If the nib is aligned, then I will try the paper bag/cardboard box approach. If that doesn't work, I'll look into micro-mesh cloths.

 

Thank you so much for the advice!

[thequinox]

The Pilot VPs I have are my glassiest nibs. Surprised to hear yours is scratchy!

 

Richard Binder sells buff sticks on his site, and I think I'm going to get some of them. I'm getting tired of variations in nib quality to be honest. I love fountain pens, but honestly, the OOTB experience on many is lacking.

 

A perfect example is my Pilot 78G and my Pilot Knight. The Knight cost me 5x as much, but the 78G writes much better... and they both use the SAME nib! In the US there are a lot of nib guys you could just send your new pens to, but in Canada it just wouldn't be feasible to send every new pen I got over the border for tune ups.

 

I'm not really a tinkerer... but my pen collection is now about 20 and I'm coming to terms with the fact that I'm going to have to learn how to touch up my own nibs. It's a lottery out there folks

[Bo Bo Olson]

I live in Germany, so I don't know that brand....a BelOMO 10x Loupe.

$30+ is about right for a good loupe. Check what Richard Binder has on his site.

Some folks think 15X is optimal. Some have them with a light, which they love. We had a thread on this, and a couple that had the 20X said they were too strong.

 

I'd go with a 12-15 X if I was to do again. Mine is 10X which was as strong as my jeweler had.

 

Some folks have the fold up pocket loupe, mine has a shaft on it, in I thought it easier to hold when looking at a nib.

It is just a tad awkward when going out to look at a flea market, but I like the shaft when looking at a nib. I'm sure I'd be just as happy with one with out a shaft.

[sessyargc]

Sharing my 2 cents worth about this topic since I've also taken this path.

I had followed the DIY path because I don't want to expend extra money.

 

 

Bought all my stuff at the nearest Tokyu Hands :-) It's a big DIY shop here in Japan it has everything I can think of. I've got a generic 10x loupe, that I used originally for inspecting watches (serial numbers, scratches, etc). 10x works for me. I got 3M microfine mesh. It has #2500 grit. This has a sponge backing so I need be careful. I always use very very minimal pressure. They also have emery cloth, #3000 and #4000 grit. Very very fine grits.

 

I slowly read these:

http://www.pentrace.net/penbase/Data_Returns/full_article.asp?id=242

http://www.nibs.com/Article6.html

and learned by doing it!

 

I won't duplicate what others have already mentioned.

 

 

As everybody pointed out verify first that the nibs are properly aligned. In my short experience if an untouched nib is scratchy going left to right/right to left, the tines are not aligned. Check and align them first. Most of the time aligning the tines properly fixes scratches (and flow problems)!

 

When I'm tuning my nib I do circles, figure 8's, slanted up-down motions. That's what I see Pilot QA are doing to new pens. The only place I've watched this video is at the Pilot Pen Museum :-)

 

As always caution is needed. Grind slowly! You can't put back the removed nib material! Grind, clean the nib, check nib on paper, repeat as needed. Don't try to attain perfection in one sitting :-) Actually don't attain perfection period. Stop when it's good enough or the scratchiness is already gone. If you really really still want to get it more silky smooth use a finer grit mesh or emery cloth.

 

 

HTH

 

All the best,

Rommel

[Paddler]

The others have given you good advice. I would add one thing: if you really want to learn what you are doing when polishing and/ or grinding a nib, get a few dip pen nibs and a holder and practice on those. Most of them will come to you scratchy. Use the loupe to find out why they scratch and how to smooth them. They are very inexpensive and if (when?) you ruin one, you have only lost a dollar versus a whole fountain pen.

[ThreeForMe]

Thank you guys. Sounds like great advice. I'm referring more to nib smoothing, rather than grinding my own nibs. I can see how the line between the two can be easily blurred.

 

I think I'll look into a loupe from Richard Binder's site, along with nib smoothing micro-mesh. Great info. Thank you!