Breaking In A Nib

[amcityink]

Other than using it a lot, does anyone have any things they do to break in a NIB quicker?

 

Some pens come nice and broken in... Like a MB. I just got a new Visconti and the Nib is a bit stiff... I have a 5 years old Visconti that took a while to brake in.. but writes awesome now.

 

FP's remind me of guitars in a way...Some come perfectly set up.. others need work.

 

 

 

[dickydotcom]

Never had to break in a nib, but I have heard that writing on cardboard will smooth it a bit if that is the problem.

Dick D

[jar]

In my experience it is the user hand that gets broken in. As you use a pen you learn how to use that pen.

[Brian K]

In my experience it is the user hand that gets broken in. As you use a pen you learn how to use that pen.

Perfectly and succintly put, Jar, couldn't have said it better myself.

 

All pens have their good points and bad points and not all pens are for all people, but most of us can adapt to most pens and I find that I use different pens in different manners. This happens so naturally I only recently noticed it.

[Joe in Seattle]

The one and only time I tried to break in a nib quicker I ruined it. In my experience simply using the pen will have the desired result within a few days.

[amcityink]

In my experience it is the user hand that gets broken in. As you use a pen you learn how to use that pen.

The hand is mightier than the pen... and eventually the nib get's worn in and bends to you're will. The user getting broken in??? maybe, but it goes both ways I guess.

 

I have pens that are much different than the one that came out of the box.

 

This Nib on this new pen is just surprising... stiff.

[amcityink]

Never had to break in a nib, but I have heard that writing on cardboard will smooth it a bit if that is the problem.

Dick D

 

I guess Nibs naturally get broken in..(Not as stiff) over time and get a spring to them... I've been using FP's long enough to know that. Just wondering if in the FP world there's ways of breaking in a nib quicker.... Silly I guess.

 

Like the card board idea though... thanks.

[balson]

the only nibs i have ever needed to break in were the noodlers/fpr nibs and the lamy stub nib. the flex mod for the noodlers and the fpr pens helps a lot but even after you do that there is definitely a period where they get much easier to flex than when new. in all cases i just use the pens a lot to break them in. doing extra unnecessary writing like shopping lists helps but beyond that i wouldn't recommend much more than that.

[jar]

 

I guess Nibs naturally get broken in..(Not as stiff) over time and get a spring to them... I've been using FP's long enough to know that. Just wondering if in the FP world there's ways of breaking in a nib quicker.... Silly I guess.

 

Like the card board idea though... thanks.

 

The cardboard or brown paper suggestion is a great way to ruin any fountain pen. Just say no.

[sexauerw]

The only pens that I have that required "break-in" when new were three different models of Stipula pens that all had the same steel 1.1mm italic nib. All three nibs had slits that were so tight that I could see no light through them and they were drier than the Sahara. I had to make the same adjustment to all three of them to spread the tines just a bit so that ink could flow and now they all write beautifully. But this wasn't really a "break-in" problem. The nibs had a definite fault and an identifiable solution so I made the appropriate repair. They really shouldn't have left the factory in that condition but I was not about to send them back to Italy.

[ac12]

If you are pressing the pen that much, you are fatiguing the nib.

If it is not meant to flex, and you are flexing it...well, sooner or later you may spring the nib.

I write with a fountain pen with as LITTLE pressure as possible.

This keeps my hand and arm from cramping and hurting, like it did in college when I did not know how to use a fountain pen.

If I want flex, I use a dip pen.

 

As for the tipping, good luck. The tipping material is HARD, and meant to stand up to wear, so the nib would not get worn down.

 

Any nib work as sexauerw said comes under nib adjustment, not breaking in a nib.

And this a whole different category of stuff to do to the nib.