Twsbi Mini - Careful With The Feed

[xwingrox]

The exposed fins of the feed can very easily be bent out of place. I tried removing the nib and feed from the section and I visibly moved the fins forward. I had to bend them back with my fingernails. A few times and I reckon the fins might break or something.

Just wanted to caution people from being rough.

[vondauster]

Thanks for the "heads up!" :hmm1:

 

Will

[dannzeman]

It should noted that this applies to all feeds, not just the ones in TWSBI pens.

[tochom]

The exposed fins of the feed can very easily be bent out of place. I tried removing the nib and feed from the section and I visibly moved the fins forward. I had to bend them back with my fingernails. A few times and I reckon the fins might break or something.

Just wanted to caution people from being rough.

 

But did you manage to take out nib&feed? because I'm not able. But yes, I was able to bend the fins.

[dannzeman]

The nib and feed come in a plastic collar that screws out. Rotate it, don't pull it.

[tochom]

The nib and feed come in a plastic collar that screws out. Rotate it, don't pull it.

Yes, of course. I meant to take out nib&feed from the plastic collar, just like with the TWSBI 540.

[trhall]

I haven't been able to remove the feed and nib from the nib unit easily. I ended up having to use extreme force with a pair of pliers to get mine out the first time. Even now, every time I try to remove it, it is such a tight fit that it requires extreme force. Nothing like the 530/540. I ended up breaking several of the little fins on the bottom of the feed and bending the nib. (This is from a nib that I had already damaged)

 

There is a small opening in the back of the nib unit where the back of the feed lives. Not sure if you can punch out the nib/feed from the nib unit or what. I've only tried pulling out from the front, not pushing from the back. YMMV. If anyone has other suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them.

 

The mini feed and nib are longer than the 530/540 nib/feed. The nib is just barely longer, but the feed is probably 2-3 mm longer. (See image below; apologies - taken with my iPhone)

 

I hope that TWSBI can address this in a future update. One of my favorite features of the TWSBI Diamond 540 (I own multiple) is that I can easily remove the nib and feed from the nib unit. I often swap in other nibs into the pen, and that isn't very easy with the Mini at this point.

 

[xwingrox]

Trhall, this is exactly what I meant in my original post. I tried removing the feed to clean it before first use but ended up bending some of the fins in the process. While this is annoying, I think the trade off is that the nib seems to take much longer to dry out when exposed. For example, I can leave my Mini uncapped for ~5 mins and it will still write on first touch (although the ink will be a touch darker than usual). I could only leave the 540 nib exposed for ~1-2 minutes before it dried out.

[trhall]

@xwingrox, I was totally agreeing with you! I think some others are discussing other things - nib units, sections, etc.

 

When I read your post, I realized it was exactly the issue I had.

 

Interesting that your 540 nib dries out so quickly. I have had mine uncapped for 5+ mins and not had it dry out. Maybe it depends on the ink or some other conditions? (Note: I do have a different nib on my feed; normally using a Pilot #5 nib with Pilot Blue Black ink)

[tochom]

Trhall, this is exactly what I meant in my original post.

I wrote an email to TWSBI service, and this is the explanation:

 

> FYI, these mini nibs are tighter because the nibs are smaller. If we made it

> the same way as the 540s, it would wiggle too much inside the feeder holder,

> rendering it unusable. So we had to make the feeder and nib fit into the

> feeder holder a lot more snug.

 

The problem is that my mini leaks and I'd like to adjust its nib, but I don't want to damage the feed

[chiaroscuro]

Trhall, this is exactly what I meant in my original post.

I wrote an email to TWSBI service, and this is the explanation:

 

> FYI, these mini nibs are tighter because the nibs are smaller. If we made it

> the same way as the 540s, it would wiggle too much inside the feeder holder,

> rendering it unusable. So we had to make the feeder and nib fit into the

> feeder holder a lot more snug.

 

The problem is that my mini leaks and I'd like to adjust its nib, but I don't want to damage the feed

 

My advice: don't try it until the individual nib units become available. I damaged my nib and feed trying to separate the assembly -- it's very tight. Now I can't use my Mini until I get a new nib assembly. I know of at least one other FPN member who had the exact same experience.

[tochom]

My advice: don't try it until the individual nib units become available. I damaged my nib and feed trying to separate the assembly -- it's very tight. Now I can't use my Mini until I get a new nib assembly. I know of at least one other FPN member who had the exact same experience.

 

By the way, I've tried the 540 nib at the MINI, it fits (I mean, the set feed+nib+plastic collar). It could be a possibility while the MINI nibs start to sell.

[XiaoMG]

By the way, I've tried the 540 nib at the MINI, it fits (I mean, the set feed+nib+plastic collar). It could be a possibility while the MINI nibs start to sell.

I've got a 540 nib in my Mini and am perplexed as to why TWSBI didn't just use it instead of going to a whole new nib. Fits just fine, looks even better, and writes at least equally well for me. I emailed them but got no response. I bought a second Mini nib here in Taiwan but it wasn't as nice as the 540 EF, so I'll keep the latter installed.

[chiaroscuro]

The separate Mini nib units are now available: TWSBI Diamond Mini Nib Set

[Miles R.]

I'm glad that I looked up this thread. I have two reasons for wanting to extract the nib and feed from my TWSBI Mini: (1) one of the two nibs that I have for it, namely the italic 1.1 mm, is rather dry; (2) I would like to use J. Herbin Café des îles in the nib, but this is an ink that cannot be cleaned out of a pen without directly brushing the feed. If I can't take the nib apart, I can't safely use my favorite ink in the pen, and I'm stuck with a dry-writing italic nib. I have tried pulling the nib out with plastic grip material, with no success (and with some discomfort to my fingers!). This made me wonder if the feed was glued in! But I gather from this thread that it is just fit in so tightly that one cannot remove it without a significant risk of damaging the feed.

 

Edited to add: Well, it turns out that the italic nib and feed were fairly easy to remove from the sleeve: I just left the nib assembly in the plastic mount in which it was packaged and was able to remove the nib and feed with a piece of gripping material. But when I tried this with my other TWSBI Mini nib assembly, with a B nib, it wouldn't budge and I bent some of the gills. Drat! So, anyway, I can adjust the wetness of the one and use Café des îles with it, but I don't dare to use that ink with the other one.

Edited February 22, 2013 by Miles R.