Requesting Nib Test By Vendor

[AmandaW]

Is it reasonable to ask a vendor to test a nib before shipping a pen? Will many vendors do that?

 

It's a brand that's caused me disappointment in the past, is that the only way to be sure of getting a good one out of the box?

 

 

[silverlifter]

I've asked The Writing Desk and Appelboom to do it, and both did. The Writing Desk also included the test card with the pens, so I could see their work.

[greencobra]

I've asked The Writing Desk and Appelboom to do it, and both did. The Writing Desk also included the test card with the pens, so I could see their work.

do they actually fill the pen or just dip the nib?

[silverlifter]

do they actually fill the pen or just dip the nib?

 

I can't say. All of the nibs that were tested wrote perfectly though.

[Mr.Rene]

it is fine Why not?

[A Smug Dill]

It's a brand that's caused me disappointment in the past, is that the only way to be sure of getting a good one out of the box?

I don't think you can be sure of not being subjectively disappointed anyway. I've asked EndlessPens to inspect the nibs on Italian (both Aurora and Leonardo) pens before, and that caught a (or, should I say, yet another) bad nib on a Leonardo and the order ended up cancelled after many months of (allegedly) Leonardo not being able to supply a fit replacement nib before the pen was to be dispatched; so there was ultimately no satisfaction on my part there. The Aurora nib was OK, but then I knew what to expect: dry and feedback-y, which I don't mind; but someone else receiving the same checked nib may be very disappointed to get one like that.

 

Santini Italia, which makes its nibs in-house, would test the nibs and even send images of the test card to the customer, ahead of dispatching an order for its pens, even without the customer expressly requesting it. Great customer service, and the nib wrote OK, but it didn't entirely fit the specifications I gave, even though I already had a nib (on a Pelikan, customised by Dan Smith) that wrote how I wanted, so I knew it was humanly/physically possible to achieve.

 

So it really comes down to what you mean by disappointment and what you mean by good.

[greencobra]

 

I can't say. All of the nibs that were tested wrote perfectly though.

nice! it never occurred to me to ask to have the nib tested. makes perfect sense i think.

[Runnin_Ute]

I have bought three pens from The Writing Desk and all three were tested, and the test page was included. Without asking.

[Honeybadgers]

Goulet, Vanness, and a few others will happily test them for you.

 

I wouldn't trust Jetpens. Even if they agree to, I wouldn't trust them to notice a pen with monstrous baby's bottom.

[sansenri]

I've asked more than once to have my nibs tested with ink by the vendor especially when the vendor is a well known and reliable seller.

I too make such request when I fear the nib might hide some surprise...

Often the seller will send a photo of the test writing, which is useful, and I do believe I may have saved myself from some disappointment in such cases.

[Newton Pens]

Definitely ask. If they refuse then maybe don't buy from them in the future. When I test and tune my pens, I fill them rather than dip them.

[bemon]

It's never been a problem for me. All the big name usual stores we all shop at have seemed happy to do so.

[AmandaW]

The vendor hasn't replied to my question about testing a nib so I will take that as their answer and quietly disappear. Hmmm... maybe the lemon that scared me off was indeed a vendor issue rather than the brand? Sad to see that.

 

Subjective it is, as Smug says, but my expectation is 'something pleasant to use within the normal range for the type of nib'. Honestly, I'm pretty easy to please. Someone speeds up behind us and cuts us off in traffic? Me: "there's a hospital just up the road, maybe it's an emergency". My husband laughs at me, but it keeps my blood pressure down.

 

Once bitten, I want to prevent problems. Maybe in this hobby one should choose the vendor as carefully as the pen.

[silverlifter]

I don't think it is all that subjective; it is just a pen, after all.

 

If the staff in the shop are so clueless about fountain pens that they can't ink/dip it and quickly ascertain whether the nib writes without skipping, juddering across the page or slicing through the paper, they have no business selling the things. It's like walking into a car yard and the salesperson, when asked how it handles, saying "dunno, I can't drive".

Edited October 16, 2020 by silverlifter

[sidthecat]

I haven't bought a new pen in a million years, but I pester the sellers on eBay.

Not sorry.

[Ted A]

In September I wanted to give a TWSBI Mini Vac as a gift. I ordered from one of the largest online sellers. I noted that iI was to be a gift so would they check the nib. I received an Emil from them that they sell lots of those pens and their customers don’t have problems so they wouldn’t be checking the nib. Sure enough the pen shows up scratchy and you can see badly misaligned tines. 

[Newton Pens]

I would think if a vendor refuses to test a nib for you, you could purchase somewhere else.  There are lots of vendors who will do this.  But maybe they just don't feel comfortable messing with nibs.  It's not for everybody.

[welch]

While I have not bought a new pen in about ten years, I always bought from a couple of vendors who tuned the nib before shipping: John Mottishaw and Richard B. Otherwise, it is worthwhile budgeting an extra $40 or so to have someone skilled tune it...just in case. 

 

Any vendor of new pens should check and tune a nib. If they refuse, then they are a lousy vendor; not worth buying anything from them, even if a nib specialist can fix the nib later. Refusal = garbage.

[A Smug Dill]

2 minutes ago, welch said:

Any vendor of new pens should check and tune a nib

 

I'm not sure I agree with that as a blanket statement. I still have some Sailor pens, ordered from Japanese vendors, that are factory-sealed in clear plastic sleeves; and I think I prefer it that way. Would I really want the random Japanese vendor to check and tune a Sailor Naginata Concord Emperor nib (which I bought only when it became apparent that production was ceasing indefinitely)? I deal with such vendors because they have access to stuff and favourable pricing than nobody else was offering, not because they're hobby specialist shops with master nib technicians on staff.

 

I never had a problem with the nib on any of the pens I ordered from Engeika, before Taizo wound the business down to go all in with his own Wancher brand, and I don't think they were checked and tuned. I did have a problem with a flawed finish — some specks of grit was trapped under the clip's ruthenium plating — on a high-end Platinum pen, that I think should have been picked up readily if the vendor even inspected the item at all out of its retail packaging before packing for dispatch to the customer.

[AmandaW]

TWSBI themselves  seems to be causing the problem with Australian vendors: I have been told directly taht they can't check the nib because the boxes are sealed and TWSBI won't allow it. And when one gets a bad nib, as I did earlier this year, one has to pay for international shipping (and wait for that with Covid postage delays!) to get it fixed. Nine times out of my collection of ten TWSBI pens the nibs were fine, but in this one case I was the loser, and still have the pen to remind me.

 

Another Australian vendor had this in their recent email promotion: