Jump to content

One Happy Customer: Thanks Dan Smith (Of Fp Geeks)!


NomadSteve

Recommended Posts

First things first: mods, if this is in the wrong place, please pardon the mistake and move it as necessary.

 

I'm writing to gush some praise at Dan Smith (of FP Geeks fame) and his nib services.

 

About six months ago, I bought a Visconti Homo Sapiens 25th Anniversary (variant on the steel age oversize), with the 1.3mm stub nib, from somebody here on the forums. I got a great deal on one of my grails, and the pen was in beautiful condition when it arrived. This was a huge investment for me as a new hobbyist, far and away my most high-end pen.

 

I was nervous about it given the legendarily unreliable Visconti QC, and boy, this nib sure was true to Visconti form. It was like ticking off a checklist of all the problems I'd read about with the Dreamtouch nibs. Hard starts, check; skipping, check; crazy flow issues, check. I mean I like a wet line, but this thing was pouring ink. None of the typical quick remedies helped (flushes, try a different ink, etc - not even good ol' Waterman Blue helped any). I could never use it for more than a few seconds without wanting to fling it across the room.

 

Well, I finally decided to send it off to somebody who knew what they were doing. I chose Dan, and, wow, am I glad I did. I asked him to do what he could about the skips and starts, reverse a bit of tine spread (don't ask), try and get the flow under control if he could, and narrow it from a 1.3 to a 1.1mm.

 

I got the pen back earlier today and all I can say is *wordless noise of delight*. I finally, finally get what all the fuss is about with these pens. I inked up some Iroshizuku kon-peki (an ink I know very well and trust to be a stellar performer), put nib to page, and hoooo boy. It's still a nice wet writer but the flow is dialed in to "manageable"; the slightly narrower line makes it much more versatile (to me anyway); the nib looks sensational and writes even better. This pen simply dances now. What a treat.

 

Best of all, Dan was a pleasure to work with - great communication, super fast turnaround, excellent customer service all around. I could not be more pleased...and, for the first time ever, I actually have a Visconti Homo Sapiens to write with instead of just stare at glumly!

 

Any nib work I need in the future, Dan's my man. You can find his nib services list and contact info here on FP Geeks. Highly highly highly recommended.

 

post-92186-0-71511200-1408639302_thumb.jpg

 

(sorry for the mediocre photo quality; just a quick scribble-and-snap with my phone. Mulling doing a longer video review of my experiences with this pen - and Dan's repair job - so stay tuned!)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 7
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Jamerelbe

    2

  • nibbling

    2

  • Wolverine1

    1

  • NomadSteve

    1

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

Seconding this. Dan does good, no excellent work. Plus his charges are very reasonable

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

I just got my Sailor 1911L (B) back from Dan today. Wow, what a difference! It was scratchy and dry when I bought it, I attempted to fix the issues but had no luck. I had completely given up on this pen. Dan fixed my issues quickly, it's exactly how I hoped it would be when I bought it.

Pilot Custom 823, Pelikan M600, Platinum 3776 Century (x2), Pelikan 400NN, Sailor 1911L, Pilot Elite 95s, TWSBI Vac 700, Noodler's Neponset, Hero 9018.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's probably worth mentioning, Dan's services are no longer available through FP Geeks - but has his own website, with a blog (I'm watching eagerly for more content!) and with with details on the various nib services he provides. You can check it out at http://nibsmith.com/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's probably worth mentioning, Dan's services are no longer available through FP Geeks - but has his own website, with a blog (I'm watching eagerly for more content!) and with with details on the various nib services he provides. You can check it out at http://nibsmith.com/

Thanks for the head's up! I've certainly missed Dan's reviews.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the head's up! I've certainly missed Dan's reviews.

 

Yep, me too - it's only being added to very slowly at present (I guess he's busy with other stuff - like the rest of his life??), but hopefully he'll have time to add new stuff over time, and/or re-publish some of his older reviews, too...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Yep, me too - it's only being added to very slowly at present (I guess he's busy with other stuff - like the rest of his life??), but hopefully he'll have time to add new stuff over time, and/or re-publish some of his older reviews, too...

Yes I was pleased to note some of the older reviews, and even more pleased to find a review on the Omas 90th Anniversary Ogiva! I'm sure it'll be a slow process but I'm certainly hopeful it'll come together eventually.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 9 months later...

Thread bump with more praise of Dan Smith's work: I just got a Sailor 1911L Realo M nib pen back from nibsmith.com. Like shedberg's pen above, mine was writing too dry and toothy. Now it is smooth and generously flowing, as I requested. Dan said that he just had to spread the tines a little, and smooth the inside edges. It sounds simple, but I wouldn't have dared try to do it on a non-bargain-basement pen myself, for fear of doing the wrong thing, slipping up or going too far. Excellent, quick service and reasonable fees from Dan. Highly recommended!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...