Question on Replacing Unbranded "Iridium Point Germany" Nib

[esb100]

Last year I purchased on ebay two very inexpensive pens - an unbranded "Mont Blanc style" black and gold FP and an unbranded "Waterman style" black and gold FP. The pens actually look very good, but I am unhappy with the nibs. Each nib is an unbranded two-tone (mostly gold, silver-tipped) "Iridium Point Germany." While the auctions described the nibs as "fine," they are indeed too fine, meaning they are scratchy to the paper and have very low ink flow. The seller stated he had nothing wider.

 

I am thus wondering if anyone here knows where I could purchase wider replacement nibs. The nibs are contained in a screw-on, bottom part of the barrel. The bottom part measures about 4 and 3/4 cm in length. The threads on this nib section of the bottom part of the barrel measure about 7-8 mm across. If my description is sufficient, I would welcome any suggestions on how to purchase replacements in a medium or broad nib.

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

[Oxonian]

Hi esb,

The nibs on the vast majority of these open IPG nibs are friction fit and will knock out and can be replaced without replacing the section, there are more varieties of thread pitches and diameters on the sections than there are of nib sizes so it is a safer bet on getting a fit if you just change the nib. There are two distinct sizes commonly seen, the majority of them are the smaller size. Most of the nibs are if they are marked are marked medium but even these in general are finer than most European mediums, they might have different markings on them, in the way of decoration etc but most will fit most of the pens.

I have several of these nibs hanging about and even more still in pens pens from job lots but I don't know where you are or if it would be worth your while paying the postage from the UK or hunting replacments locally feel free to PM me if you do and we will see what we can sort out.

 

Cheers, John

[John Cullen]

HI

 

In Yahoo, search under "fountain pen nibs" and see if a place comes up called something like Arizona Silhouette. This guy sells pen blanks and kits and some nibs that sound like they might be the ones you are using. I have never worked with him, so if you do buy some stuff I would be interested in hearing how he is to work with.

 

It seems that IPG nibs range from terrible to excellent depending on which company orders them. There must be some way some companies save money by not having the nibs carefully finished or polished or something. On the other hand, in my opinion, Dani Trio has excellent steel nibs, and, of course, remember that the Phileas and Bexley Simplicity carry.......steel nibs.

 

Be careful. You might well end up spending 4-8 dollars per nib and not really get one any better. You don't really want to buy two nibs for $16 plus shipping and end up with the same so-so nib.

 

I have several pens that were handmade, carry small IPG nibs, and were very cheap ($12) and the nibs are like the ones you have. One of them is reasonably smooth. The other is scratchy and the seller sent me two new nibs to replace the old one that is bad. One of these new nibs is also scratchy and the other is OK. I have a few pieces of micromesh on the way and I plan to practice nib smoothing on them.

 

I hope I do not sound too negative, but there are some really cheap nibs out there that are not very good and there are some that are inexpensive and surprisingly good. I bet these small cheap and not well finished nibs I got on the kit pens were 50 cents a piece in bulk. It is too bad too, as the pen material is striking and looks nice, even if the trim and clip are pretty basic.

 

What would be cool is to buy some of the unique resin pen blanks they have and then send them off to a place like Bexley to have them make a cap and body and then put on their trim and nib and have a custom made Americana or 10th Anniversary or Simplicity. That seems like it might be the only way to get a mandarin yellow or fire engine red Simplicity.

 

 

 

 

[tesseliot]

Am wondering where you can buy this micromesh material. I have not used it before. My favorite pen in style was not expensive but it is covered with a beautiful raised Celtic design that I love. It has a fine point no-brand Iridium nib has never worked properly and I started reading about them in hopes of fixing it. I want to use this pen for every day. I can see that one side of the writing tip is bigger and it might just need to be replaced. I don't even know where to go to get a replacement, since it has no brand name on it. Many in my collection were from My late father and his father though I have bought some for every day use. I just want to finally use this beautiful Celtic pen. Micro mesh may be the answer, or a business where the whole nib could be replaced. I think I need to find something on Youtube about the micro mesh, too! Thanks!

[SoulSamurai]

I have purchased micromesh from Goulet Pens in the past. Brian Goulet has some videos on youtube about how to use micromesh and mylar paper to smooth nibs.

 

However, before doing that, it's worth checking if the tines are misaligned. As I understand it that can cause a nib to feel scratchy and not write properly, and trying to smooth a nib when the tines are misaligned just causes more problems. Well, there's plenty of forum members who are far more knowledgeable than me on this topic, so I'll leave it to them to explain the details, I just thought I would mention the possibility.

[ac12]

Try Fountain Pen Revolution for nibs.

You are on your own to determine if the FPR nibs will fit your pen.

[sidthecat]

Maybe it's my retro tendencies: many German pens carried Warranted or other American nibs in the 30s and 40s. In the 50s, a small number of gold nibs were made and you can find them if you're willing to do a lot of scrolling through almost identical pens. They can be found, but they may not be necessary.

[sidthecat]

Ooh, I found a nice, flexible Ehco nib on an otherwise-ruined pen. That may be the ticket.