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Any advice on how to narrow, reduce, decrease, tine gap?


Mercian

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Hi all,
I recently bought a used Parker Urban that was made in 2011 (i.e. it's a 1st series Urban). It has a 'Fine' nib that hard-starts all the time and writes like a broad nib that has been stubbed.
By looking at its nib through a loupe I have found that the nib has not been re-ground poorly, but that it does have an enlarged gap between its tines.
So, I would like to reduce the gap between its tines. Narrow it. Decrease the size of the gap. Ideally, as evenly as possible all along the slit.
And I have no idea about how to try to do that.

The feed is only a friction fit, and I have managed to pull the nib & feed out of the grip section. Now I need to know how to go about trying to get the nib's tines closer together.

The nib is the same stainless steel nib that Parker puts on the Parker Vector (and put in the old series of Jotter). It is (unlike, say, the Z50 nib on a LAMY Safari) curved, so that it wraps around the feed.
Because the nib is steel, trying to squeeze the tines together with my fingers has no effect whatever on the nib (although it does hurt my fingers).

I was just about to try to squeeze them together with a pair of narrow-nosed pliers, but then I remembered that I am a ham-fisted and short-tempered klutz, and decided that the sensible thing to do is to ask all y'all for some advice before attempting this delicate operation.
 

So, do any of you have any 'top tips' for how to go about attempting this?
Are there any things along the lines of "DON'T try to do 'x'..." that I need to know?

Do I need to leave the nib wrapped around the feed whilst futzing with it?
Or should I take it off, so that I don't break any of the plastic feed-comb's 'fins' off?
Should I wrap e.g. rubber bands around the jaws of the pliers?

SHOULD I just cross my fingers, grit my teeth, and try to squeeze the tines together V-E-R-Y G-E-N-T-L-Y?

My thanks to you in advance for your answers.

Cheers,
M.

Foul in clear conditions, but handsome in the fog.

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The process I know of, for closing the gap between the tines is quite scary...

 

Lift one of the tines with a fingernail and then squeeze them so it goes over the other one.

 

I don't think you need to remove the nib from the feed to do this, but that shouldn't hurt.

 

If you're ham-fisted, yeah, stay away from pliers.

 

You will have to realign the tines afterwards.

 

I don't remember having done it, so can't tell how easy or effective it is. I do remember, however, trying to align the tines on a cheap chinese pen and the steel was so hard that I stopped trying only because I couldn't take the pain anymore.

 

Alex

 

 

---------------------------------------------------------

We use our phones more than our pens.....

and the world is a worse place for it. - markh

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No pliers! Thumbnails should be enough. Maybe try searching for nib aligning on Google or Youtube.  This is the Pen Habit version but there will be plenty of others. Trying to very slightly cross the tines over each other will work to close a small gap if you are really careful, but you may have to realign them to be straight afterwards. The only problem with squeezing the shoulders together instead might mean that the nib slit surface raises fractionally from it's perfect position on the surface of the feed and changes the ink flow.

 

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1 hour ago, Dione said:

The only problem with squeezing the shoulders together instead might mean that the nib slit surface raises fractionally from it's perfect position on the surface of the feed and changes the ink flow.

 

 

Maybe, could happen, perhaps. Certainly less than crossing (lifting) tines.

Add lightness and simplicate.

 

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51 minutes ago, Karmachanic said:

 

Maybe, could happen, perhaps. Certainly less than crossing (lifting) tines.

Maybe so but I've successfully adjusted nib tine gaps by carefully and very slightly crossing tines hundreds of times but never squeezed any shoulders together. Probably because the gaps between the tines aren't usually the same all the way up the slit. You've probably done it your way many times too. No problem.

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I’m always doing it like @alexwi and @Dione with great success. And I always remove the nib for doing it. And I alternate between left tine above right and right tine above left which helps keeping the tipping aligned. I NEVER use pliers for that partikular nib adjustment.

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56 minutes ago, OMASsimo said:

I NEVER use pliers for that partikular nib adjustment

 

Guess that means I should give my pen adjustment hammer and razor blades away as well?  🤪

Add lightness and simplicate.

 

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Not at all. I wrote "for THAT particular nib adjustment". I use hammer and anvil, pliers, blades, "dremel" and other tools (which some here may abolish) when I consider them appropriate. I also take into account that others have different "hands" and experience.

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1 hour ago, Karmachanic said:

 

Guess that means I should give my pen adjustment hammer and razor blades away as well?  🤪

Ouch. :yikes:

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