Platinum 3776 soft fine nib experiences.

[Ste_S]

I've purchased a Platinum 3776 Century with a Soft Fine nib. On the whole, I like the writing experience, it's probably the most characterful modern nib I've used. Toothy, and soft, but in a different way to vintage gold nibbed pens. 

 

When writing, I get a consistent (dry) flow, however when doing longer strokes such as underlining or cross hatching, I get some skips. Which makes me wonder if the toothy-ness or dryness I'm experiencing are above what they should be? Have been solely using Visconti Turquoise ink so far, and have had similar results on Rhodia, Leuchtturm, Midori and Muji (the A5 dot pad) paper.

[A Smug Dill]

In my experience with three separate SF-nibbed Platinum #3776 Century pens, the SF nib tends to write more dryly out-of-the-box than a regular Platinum 14K gold F nib would. Platinum's own nib width chart shows the SF nib putting down a slightly broader line than the regular F nib, but when little or no downward pressure is applied, I've found the reverse to be true, mostly likely on account of the SF nibs being drier.

[CityPop]

I find that these nibs perform best with wet inks such as the Iroshizuku line, or sailor Inks. So much so that I've not tried anything else, in them, and I am supremely happy with the way that they write with said inks.

[DR Teeth]

My 3776 Broad is dry writer too.  I don’t mind so much because it never, ever gets ink on my fingers.  Good for work.  But, it is pretty picky about ink. Visconti Blue didn’t flow well at all.  Pilot Iroshizuku Asa Gao flows perfectly, so that’s what I use mainly.  Platinum Blue Black flows well too and shades nicely.  
 

If you don’t want to be restricted by ink, you could send it off to be tuned to your liking by a nib grinder or try installing an ebonite nib from Flexible Nib Factory.  

[Ste_S]

I've now put some Sailor Yama-dori into the pen, and whilst it is wetter, it still skips a little on long strokes like underlining. Handwriting is still fine. I do have some Platinum Blue-Black cartridges which I'll try also after the Yama-dori.

 

I think it probably need the wetness of the pen just upping minutely.

[Honeybadgers]

If you're comfortable with it, pull the nib/feed straight out, rest the nib with the concave part facing down on a HARD surface, and press gently but firmly straight down on the breather with your thumb. This will open the nib up just a hair and solve your issues.

 

But it is generally going to be a bit dry. That feed is used for the whole 3776 line, and it is taxed when the SF is flexed at all. It should never skip on a simple underline with no pressure. That's being caused by you starting the line with pressure and ending it with less, to which the tines being a hair too tight are pinching back closed and losing the ink supply to paper.

[A Smug Dill]

On 5/4/2021 at 12:13 AM, Ste_S said:

I've now put some Sailor Yama-dori into the pen, and whilst it is wetter,

 

You can see how dryly my Platinum #3776 Century SF nib wrote with Sailor Shikiori Yamadori here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/343508-q-i-use-western-fine-nibs-what-is-the-japanese-equivalent/?do=findComment&comment=4174229

 

Some other writing samples (with three different #3776 SF nibs):

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/311370-is-my-platinum-3776-faulty-or-it-is-expected/?do=findComment&comment=4094796

 

[Ste_S]

Out of frustration, I tried flushing the pen again with water/washing-up liquid, and then water again. That seemed to help initially, as the pen wrote fairly consistently. I can only think I hadn't flushed all of the washing-up liquid solution out, as it now seems to be worse than before. Hard starts and skips more frequently during writing.

 

Rather than try adjusting the nib myself, I think I'll send it back for a replacement.

[CityPop]

Do not be discouraged. Even among several high end nibs that I have tried and owned, somehow the 3776 SF strikes the perfect balance between feedback and wetness for me. Of course your tastes may vary.

[Ste_S]

@CityPop No, won’t be at all. Even with it skipping it feels like like kind of a unique nib. Different from vintage softer nibs I have like a Mabie Todd Swan and Pelilan 400NN; almost feels kinda dip pen nib like.

[AL01]

 

 Those Platinum 3776 nibs are nice... 

 

 It's like a more 'rigid' version of vintage Pelikan nibs, (if that makes any sense).

 

 However, I think a fair amount of them write dry, so I don't know if your replacement 3776 will have the writing characteristic you are looking for.

 

 Did you try Waterman/Sheaffer (or something along those lines) ink on your pen? I have noticed that those inks seem to be more 'free-flowing' than Yama-Dori.

[Ste_S]

I returned the pen to Cult Pens, and they've told me they can't find anything wrong with the pen, and that they think I wasn't applying enough force when writing.

I'd disagree with that; I'm quite heavy handed naturally and had enough experience with various nibs (vintage gold, dip pen, modern steel etc) to know how nibs should work, and when it's just running to dry.

 

Anyhoo, they've agreed to swop it for another, so I'll see what that one's like.

[PithyProlix]

17 hours ago, Ste_S said:

I returned the pen to Cult Pens, and they've told me they can't find anything wrong with the pen, and that they think I wasn't applying enough force when writing.

I'd disagree with that; I'm quite heavy handed naturally and had enough experience with various nibs (vintage gold, dip pen, modern steel etc) to know how nibs should work, and when it's just running to dry.

 

Hmm, that's a questionable statement from Cult Pens. A fountain pen - and the 3776 is certainly not an exception, with any of its nibs - should write well with only the weight of the pen. 

[Ste_S]

I think I remember reading somewhere that the 3776 soft fine can occasionally have issues with the tines being too close together towards the tip?

I guess this is the problem mine had, if Cult Pens are recommending cranking down on the pressure (which would open up the tines). As you say though @PithyProlix, that shouldn't need to happen to get the pen to write.

[CityPop]

I would qualify @PithyProlix's statement with a caveat: A "well-tuned" fountain pen should write well with only its weight. I find that the Japanese pens often do come with overly tight tines from the factory. Which I appreciate, because it is relatively easy to make it wetter, while quite hard (IMO) to make it drier. If this one is also dry, I would suggest making the pen wet by opening the tine gap slightly, though with a soft fine you should perhaps be able to get away with slightly touching tines at the tip.

[Ste_S]

Well I got my replacement pen back, and it's worse than the first one! Refuses to write at all unless I dump ink into the feed from the converter, and then what's gone, it's back to not writing again.

 

Could this be a converter issue (used the same converter in both pens), or have I just been really unlucky with Platinum QC?

 

Anyhoo, have left it soaking in water/detergent overnight, after giving it a good few bulb flushes, and I'll try a Platinum black cartridge in it tomorrow.

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, Ste_S said:

Could this be a converter issue (used the same converter in both pens),

 

Could be. It has been noted by some users that the fit of the converter around the post inside the gripping section seems to be looser on the PNB-13000 compared to the PNB-10000; I have both a PNB-10000#71 and a PNB-13000#71, and found that to be the case when using a CON-500 converter previously used on multiple Platinum pens. (I haven't gone out of my way to try a new CON-500 with the PNB-13000.) One could argue that perhaps the newer Platinum #3776 Century pens do have an ever-so-slightly thinner post, but would nevertheless work perfectly with a new Platinum ink converter or cartridge whose opening has not already been made marginally wider by other/older Platinum pens.

 

To be certain whether a pen is defective (by design and/or manufacture), I think a reasonable standard is to use one of the supplied ink cartridges to test it, if the user doesn't want to and shouldn't be expected to spend money on a new converter just to check that a new pen is OK as delivered in a stock standard retail package.

[essayfaire]

On 5/13/2021 at 3:56 PM, Ste_S said:

Well I got my replacement pen back, and it's worse than the first one! Refuses to write at all unless I dump ink into the feed from the converter, and then what's gone, it's back to not writing again.

 

Could this be a converter issue (used the same converter in both pens), or have I just been really unlucky with Platinum QC?

 

Anyhoo, have left it soaking in water/detergent overnight, after giving it a good few bulb flushes, and I'll try a Platinum black cartridge in it tomorrow.

First, thank you for saving me money - I have pondered purchasing a SF; this thread has convinced me not to.

 

Second, perhaps - I have a Platinum EF that was bought shortly before the pandemic hit that has always been too dry and scratchy.  I have tried many things, and it costs less than the price at which Platinum will repair ($150 US, I believe).  So it's going to the nib meister in the hopes he can smooth it out.  

 

I find it ironic that a company that makes some of the most reliable, best designed cheap pens (e.g the Preppy, Prefounte, Procyon, etc.) has pen folks questioning themselves over the better quality nibs!

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, essayfaire said:

I have pondered purchasing a SF; this thread has convinced me not to.

 

The Platinum SF and SM nibs are unlike its regular 14K gold F and M nibs; that's that. If you're not already familiar and/or comfortable with how they behave — preferably from first-hand user experience — then there is always the possibility that you find them less agreeable than the regular nibs; but then every purchase is a punt by the consumer and user, and in my opinion should never be assumed to come with an implied guaranteed that spending more money buying yet another pen improves the overall capability or enjoyment of his/her collection of pens.

 

I was (of my own volition) sucked in, early in my headlong dive into the hobby, by the hype around soft and flex nibs, and spent quite a bit of money on it — including three Platinum #3776 Century pens with SF nibs, and a Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with an FA nib — and ended up being distinctly unimpressed by what I got. That doesn't necessarily mean those nibs had QC issues, but they just didn't handle my style(s) of handwriting at the time that well, and neither could I adjust to them to get out of them what I wanted.

 

1 hour ago, essayfaire said:

I have a Platinum EF that was bought shortly before the pandemic hit that has always been too dry and scratchy.  I have tried many things,

 

Does that include writing with a lighter hand? I'd expect writing ‘dryly’ to be normal for a truly fine Japanese nib with a tiny contact surface area between tipping and page, which may result in lighter-coloured ink marks and reduced incidence of sheen, etc. that some users may find aesthetically unsatisfactory; but writing scratchily under just the weight of the pen itself is a different matter. A competently ground nib should not be scratchy even when there is no ink or other liquid to lubricate it as it moves against the paper surface with little or no downward pressure applied.

[Ste_S]

So, no doesn't work with a cartridge either. Had a closer look at the nib and feed, and I guess this is why.

 

Kinda disappointed in Cult Pens that something like that went out, especially after I had issues with my first one.