First Stroke Of A Capital M Or W Skipping

[Tseg]

I have a new pen that writes delightful, and I've swapped out a few inks to try to fix the problem to know avail... but on occasion when starting a sentance with a Capital M or W that initial short up or sidestroke skips, then the balance of the letter writes. Under a loupe I do not see mis-aligned tines or baby's bottom on this Medium nib (that is on the fine side). It doesn't happen every time, but enough to be annoying. What type of micro-mesh stroke to the nib, and where on the tipping should I try to "work out" the issue? Is it a condition that will fix itself over time? The nib has balanced wetness... I suppose more wetness could resolve the problem, but not really seeking to do that. I tried a gentle brass floss and that did not resolve the issue either.

 

Thoughts? I've had the issue with some other of my pens, so certainly part of the problem is my writing technique, and historically resolved through rather invasive meshing (or more than I would like to do) but ultimately the other nibs now perform flawlessly. Something tells me the resolution is more simple than I have been making it out to be for this short 45 degree up-stroke, only on certain capital letters.

[offbase]

Interested in this thread as I have the same issue with a pen or two.

[alexwi]

If it's not a horribly expensive nib and you're willing to experiment I'd try writing some M's on micromesh.

 

My guess is that the angle at which you hold the pen while making those particular strokes isn't conducive for the slit between the tines to touch the paper. Unless there's a layer of ink on the entire surface of the tip, capillarity can't do its magic.

 

What you want is to shape the tip in such a way that at the angle you use the slit touches the paper.

 

I would start with the finest micromesh. If you find that you require more aggressive grinding, go one step down (you will have to go one step up afterwards to adjust smoothness) and see if that works.

 

As always, when shaping a nib, BABY STEPS. Just a few M's on the micromesh, wipe the nib, and try. Then repeat as necessary.

 

alex

[Honeybadgers]

You have baby's bottom.

[Lloyd]

You have baby's bottom.

I think it's his nib that has baby's bottom, not him....but I could be wrong.

[DonM]

I would start by trying a different paper.

[Tseg]

alexwi, I think I did end up having a very mild case of baby's bottom. I did about 8-10 M's and W's then a few figure-8's on 8K grit micromesh then the same on 12K micromesh and the problem seems to have gone away. Thanks for the guidance.

[alexwi]

Awesome!

 

I wouldn't have gone for the 8's unless strictly necessary once the M's and A's were fixed, but I'm glad it worked out.

 

Alex