Visconti Runs Dry - Should I Send It To Visconti, Or Nibmeister?

[Feathers]

I've got a Visconti LE palladium factory stub nib with a piston/captured converter that writes beautifully for a bit and then peters out to nothing (basically, writes until the feed runs dry). I prime the feed again and continue writing until it dries up again. Prime, repeat the process etc. If the pen wasn't so gorgeous, and didn't write so beautifully when it does write, I'd likely pitch it.

 

Looking at the nib head on, the nib looks a bit goofy - in relation to the feed, it does not look symmetrical (if that makes sense). It's almost a bit twisted looking. Maybe it isn't seated properly or something? I honestly don't know. I've had the good fortune of not really having too many problems with my pens, so I admit this is an area in which I could use some education and guidance.

 

Any suggestions? I've done the proper cleaning of it, the tines appear to be aligned, tested using Waterman ink etc.

Debating whether I should bother sending it back to Visconti, or just send it to a nibmeister. I'm a bit leery of sending it to Visconti after reading some of the posts here on FPN.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice

 

 

[esteroids]

Wow, a Visconti Pd stub running dry? I've always found them insisting on expelling as much ink as possible. At least that's they way mine wrote out of the box (I've had 6 or 7, mostly 1.3 stubs).

 

Most Visconti PD I've had required the nib to be repositioned on the feed, and all have required a heat set. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if your nib needs to be pulled and reset.

 

There are plenty of good tutorials on the subject. These feeds are plastic; I use very hot water. A mug heated in a microwave works well.

 

Once my nibs have pen put in their place and adjusted they've made consistent moderately wet writers.

 

I've found it interesting that much less user adjustment was needed with the older 18k nibs.

 

Good luck!

Edited January 24, 2016 by esteroids

[Feathers]

Hey esteroids, thanks for your reply and advice

I know, right?? It's a sad day indeed!

I don't feel comfortable messing with it myself, to be honest, since I have very little experience tinkering and I'd rather not practice on a $1000+ pen.

I was just trying to make an educated guess as to whether it was worth the trouble of sending it back to Visconti, or if the issue could be resolved by a nibmeister here in North America.

 

I agree with you about the older gold pens - I have a couple of gold nibbed ones and never had an issue, and they write like a dream.

 

Thanks again for taking the time to reply, I appreciate it

 

Wow, a Visconti Pd stub running dry? I've always found them insisting on expelling as much ink as possible. At least that's they way mine wrote out of the box (I've had 6 or 7, mostly 1.3 stubs).

 

Most Visconti PD I've had required the nib to be repositioned on the feed, and all have required a heat set. So I wouldn't be at all surprised if your nib needs to be pulled and reset.

 

There are plenty of good tutorials on the subject. These feeds are plastic; I use very hot water. A mug heated in a microwave works well.

 

Once my nibs have pen put in their place and adjusted they've made consistent moderately wet writers.

 

I've found it interesting that much less user adjustment was needed with the older 18k nibs.

 

Good luck!

[fjf]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0pNht6vsfE

[DonLeone]

If under warranty, return to visconti. Messing with it and breaking it may void a warranty.

[Feathers]

Hi fjf, thanks for the youtube link, but as I mentioned above I'm not comfortable tinkering with it myself. A less expensive pen like a TWSBI I would tinker with, but not a $1000+ pen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0pNht6vsfE

 

Hi Don,

It is still under warranty, however, I've read a number of older posts here where folks weren't too happy with the service after sending it back to Visconti, so I was debating just sending it to a nibmeister. I certainly have no intention of tinkering with it myself. I was actually hoping for some feedback from folks who have recently dealt with Visconti warranty repairs or some general guidance on which way to proceed - Visconti or a nibmeister.

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

If under warranty, return to visconti. Messing with it and breaking it may void a warranty.

[Mulrich]

i had a similar nib issue on an M1000 that looked weird and didn't write well and instead of making a warranty claim I just sent the pen to Dan Smith and for about $20 he straightened everything out and got it working the way I like. A Visconti factory may be able to fix the nib but I don't know if they'll tune it to your preferences, in which case you may end up with a nib meister anyways. I have a new Visconti that has a problem with the hook-lock cap that I'll be sending in soon, I'll let you know how it goes but for a small nib issue I'd just go straight to a nib specialist.

[langere]

I understand that Visconti takes a while to return pens...I'd go with a nibmeister if you can find one with a good turnaround time.

 

Erick

[Mastiff]

If you bought from an AD, then it may be faster to get the nib replaced compared with sending it direct to Visconti. Alternatively you may wish to ask for a replacement with a stock medium/broad nib and have it then modified to a stub by a nibmeister. For visconti the former was the option that I chose and for omas I opted for the latter option.

[Feathers]

Thank you, Mulrich, Erick and Mastiff for taking the time to read my post and replying I really appreciate your feedback and thoughts. I have made some further inquiries, and from the info I gathered offline, as well as the replies here, it makes more sense to send it off to a nibmeister rather than going the warranty route. Mulrich, you're exactly right. I've also heard of Visconti sending pens back saying there wasn't an issue at all, in which the customer ended up just sending it off to a nibmeister anyway. It'll save me a lot of time to just send it to be nibmeistered right off the hop. Thank you all again, I really appreciate your assistance

 

i had a similar nib issue on an M1000 that looked weird and didn't write well and instead of making a warranty claim I just sent the pen to Dan Smith and for about $20 he straightened everything out and got it working the way I like. A Visconti factory may be able to fix the nib but I don't know if they'll tune it to your preferences, in which case you may end up with a nib meister anyways. I have a new Visconti that has a problem with the hook-lock cap that I'll be sending in soon, I'll let you know how it goes but for a small nib issue I'd just go straight to a nib specialist.

 

Thanks Erick, I'd heard the same, and even when returned, the results were not always favourable to the customer. I'm going to go with a nibmeister. Thanks for your input!

I understand that Visconti takes a while to return pens...I'd go with a nibmeister if you can find one with a good turnaround time.

 

Erick

 

Hi Mastiff, unfortunately, I'm not able to go that route - they'll just sent it right back to Italy, and I don't really want to bother with that. Good point though on the stock broad, if I were going for a replacement, that's a wonderful idea, thank you! I appreciate your valuable feedback with your own personal experiences

If you bought from an AD, then it may be faster to get the nib replaced compared with sending it direct to Visconti. Alternatively you may wish to ask for a replacement with a stock medium/broad nib and have it then modified to a stub by a nibmeister. For visconti the former was the option that I chose and for omas I opted for the latter option.

[welcmhm]

If you have access to a nibmeister who can get it back to you quickly enough for you, I would go that route. I have a Visconti that wrote fine, but the tines of the nib always seemed off. I debated whether to send it back to the dealer, send it to Visconti or send it to a nibmeister. Luckily, I was at to go to the LA Pen Show last weekend where John Mottishaw of nibs.com took a look and told me that indeed the right tine was bent outwards and the left had been pushed in to meet it. He fixed it right up, smoothed it a bit and now it writes like a dream.

 

I also have my father's homo sapiens which is old and out of warranty. It wrote very dry to the point it was almost unusable. I gently used my fingers to open up the tines. After slow, patient work, it now writes very nicely. Still a bit dry for a Visconti, but very smooth and nice. This was the first pen I tried to fix/tune even though it's a very pricey one. But, if you are careful and patient, it is possible to work on even expensive nibs as a beginner. Going slow and being patient will ensure that any mistakes you make are small and correctable by a nibmeister, rather than fatal to your nib.

Edited February 20, 2016 by welcmhm

[Feathers]

Hi there,

thanks for your input. Yes, I'm going to be sending it off to a nibmeister. It is very wet when it starts out and then just stops. If it were always dry, then I'd try to open the tines a bit, but that's not the case here. Glad you got yours sorted out Thanks again

If you have access to a nibmeister who can get it back to you quickly enough for you, I would go that route. I have a Visconti that wrote fine, but the tines of the nib always seemed off. I debated whether to send it back to the dealer, send it to Visconti or send it to a nibmeister. Luckily, I was at to go to the LA Pen Show last weekend where John Mottishaw of nibs.com took a look and told me that indeed the right tine was bent outwards and the left had been pushed in to meet it. He fixed it right up, smoothed it a bit and now it writes like a dream.

I also have my father's homo sapiens which is old and out of warranty. It wrote very dry to the point it was almost unusable. I gently used my fingers to open up the tines. After slow, patient work, it now writes very nicely. Still a bit dry for a Visconti, but very smooth and nice. This was the first pen I tried to fix/tune even though it's a very pricey one. But, if you are careful and patient, it is possible to work on even expensive nibs as a beginner. Going slow and being patient will ensure that any mistakes you make are small and correctable by a nibmeister, rather than fatal to your nib.

[SoCalBilling]

Hi there,

thanks for your input. Yes, I'm going to be sending it off to a nibmeister. It is very wet when it starts out and then just stops. If it were always dry, then I'd try to open the tines a bit, but that's not the case here. Glad you got yours sorted out Thanks again

 

You can send the pen to Coles of London who is the US distributor for Visconti, they will send it to Mike Masuyama for any nib work. He can adjust the feed for you and it won't cost you anything. They also have a nib exchange program for $25 I believe.

 

I sent them a Visconti pen I had purchased at the 2015 LA Pen show that had nib issues, and Coles sent it to Mike and he worked on it. I was not charged anything.

 

Anthony

Edited February 27, 2016 by SoCalBilling

[SoCalBilling]

 

You can send the pen to Coles of London who is the US distributor for Visconti, they will send it to Mike Masuyama for any nib work. He can adjust the feed for you and it won't cost you anything. They also have a nib exchange program for $25 I believe.

 

I sent them a Visconti pen I had purchased at the 2015 LA Pen show that had nib issues, and Coles sent it to Mike and he worked on it. I was not charged anything.

 

Anthony

 

I wrote this assuming that you bought this from a US dealer. If you did not, my apologies.

 

Anthony

[Feathers]

 

You can send the pen to Coles of London who is the US distributor for Visconti, they will send it to Mike Masuyama for any nib work. He can adjust the feed for you and it won't cost you anything. They also have a nib exchange program for $25 I believe.

 

I sent them a Visconti pen I had purchased at the 2015 LA Pen show that had nib issues, and Coles sent it to Mike and he worked on it. I was not charged anything.

 

Anthony

 

 

 

I wrote this assuming that you bought this from a US dealer. If you did not, my apologies.

 

Anthony

Hi Anthony,

Thank you so much for your reply. I really do appreciate it. That's good to know - I wish I could say I purchased it in the US - sadly, I didn't.

 

Thanks again!

[mk2579]

I sent my Visconti Homo Sapiens Maxi to Mike Masuyama for crisping up and now the 1.3mm Stub is crisp, smooth and super wet with a 8/10 ink flow. Quite simply awesome!

 

Here it is...

Edited March 5, 2016 by kunju123

[snarkitect]

I've gotten 3 nib exchanges and 1 repair through Coles of London. I'd say the only successful service was the 1 nib (a steel Van Gogh) that wrote terrible. If in fact they send out the nibs to Masuyama, that makes sense.

 

All of the nib swaps exhibited the same spotty quality control I have come to expect. All were Palladium nibs. All needed nib work.

 

Like others have mentioned, the turnaround can take awhile, but you will likely experience a similar wait if you are sending your pen to a nibmeister.

 

I did not buy any of the pens I sent in through a US dealer.