My pen seems to need more pressure to write without skipping. Is this something related to my nibs?

[Nemmie]

I have two Jinhao 992s which are fairly new, and it seems that one of them needs a bit more pressure to write clearly than the other.
I'm fairly new to fountain pens (These two are my first pens), and I would like some insights on any factor that could affect these. Maybe it's the nib?
This issue replicates itself in other papers as well.

SPECIFICATIONS:
Both pens are Jinhao 992s with a fine nib.
Paper used in the photo is the Canson Watercolor Paper, 200gsm (Packaging does not specify any further)
 

Edited April 20, 2024 by CyanAppleSauce
forgot to add one detail

[Geert Jan]

A fountain pen should write under it's own weight, not needing pressure added by the user. If these are new pens, dis you flush them first with water and a tiny drop of dishwashing detergent? Then it could be the ink and the pen not getting along, I'm not familiar with these inks.
Lastly, and possibly most likely you nib is a bit 'dry' i.e. not allowing enough ink to flow. This is because the slit between te tines is too narrow or altogether closes at the tip. It's thta channel that transports the ink to the tip via capillary motion. Exerting pressure will force the tines to open. Please compare the two nibs under a loup to see if there is a difference in slit width. If the slit of pen #2 is too narrow, please look up ways to increase the width and thus the flow. I recently saw a YouTube video by doodlebud demonstrating the actions, but plenty of other sources of info are about.
Last minurte edit: if these are new pens, you could also contact the seller for an exchange.

Enjoy both your pens!

[Nemmie]

50 minutes ago, Geert Jan said:

A fountain pen should write under it's own weight, not needing pressure added by the user. If these are new pens, dis you flush them first with water and a tiny drop of dishwashing detergent? Then it could be the ink and the pen not getting along, I'm not familiar with these inks.
Lastly, and possibly most likely you nib is a bit 'dry' i.e. not allowing enough ink to flow. This is because the slit between te tines is too narrow or altogether closes at the tip. It's thta channel that transports the ink to the tip via capillary motion. Exerting pressure will force the tines to open. Please compare the two nibs under a loup to see if there is a difference in slit width. If the slit of pen #2 is too narrow, please look up ways to increase the width and thus the flow. I recently saw a YouTube video by doodlebud demonstrating the actions, but plenty of other sources of info are about.
Last minurte edit: if these are new pens, you could also contact the seller for an exchange.

Enjoy both your pens!

I forgot to flush them out the day earlier while waiting for the inks to arrive, I might flush pen 2 out and if the issue still persists, I will follow through with your second suggestion.

Thanks for your help!

[Nemmie]

Edit: Upon further inspection, I noticed that Pen #2's nib was a bit tighter at the tip than Pen #1. This might be a mess for me to fix, aaah

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

Not if you have some old film negative stock.  

 

Just take the problem pen, GENTLY press the tines onto paper, until you can work the film stock through the tip, and push the stock through.

 

I just did this myself two days ago on a 992 with the same problem.    The pen now writes beautifully.

 

If no film stock, very fine brass shims can be found.  Hope this helps.

[Ron Z]

A small pack with various thicknesses of brass shim stock can be found at most hobby shops.  You'll find an S&K brass shim stock assortment on Ebay for about $5 plus shipping.

[Nemmie]

Assuming that the thickness of the shims needed vary per nib case, what's a good rule of thumb for thickness and amount of shims?

 

[Ron Z]

0.001" should be a loose fit, 0.002" with a little resistance.

 

[Beechwood]

Bearing in mind that this is a $1 pen.

 

Flush them through with warm water and with a very small amount of dish soap.

 

Then flush through with clean water, perhaps bottled water.

 

Fill with a good ink such as Waterman, test.

 

If there is still a problem stand the pen nib down and full of ink in a glass with a kitchen towel in the bottom of the glass, leave it alone for a few hours.

 

Test.

 

If it is still a problem forget the $1 pen.

 

 

[Paul-in-SF]

I run up against too-tight nib tines from time to time, and I always find it difficult to know how much to push the tines apart so that they don't snap back to where they were before. This is always trial-and-error for me, starting with a thin shim and gradually increasing the shim thickness until I get the result I want. It does take a bit of patience. 

 

14 minutes ago, Beechwood said:

If it is still a problem forget the $1 pen.

 

I disagree to some extent, a $1 pen gives leave to try riskier or more difficult procedures to see how they work, that you wouldn't want to try for the first time with a $100 pen. 

[Beechwood]

9 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

I run up against too-tight nib tines from time to time, and I always find it difficult to know how much to push the tines apart so that they don't snap back to where they were before. This is always trial-and-error for me, starting with a thin shim and gradually increasing the shim thickness until I get the result I want. It does take a bit of patience. 

 

 

I disagree to some extent, a $1 pen gives leave to try riskier or more difficult procedures to see how they work, that you wouldn't want to try for the first time with a $100 pen. 

 

The corollary of that proposition is that these are the OPs first pens, I am assuming that they want a pen that works so that it can be used.

 

As an experienced pen person you may be inclined to buy stuff such as shims to make your $1 pen work a little better but  others, especially new pen users,   just want a pen that works immediately and without having to buy stuff to make a $1 pen work better.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mercian]

5 hours ago, CyanAppleSauce said:

I forgot to flush them out the day earlier while waiting for the inks to arrive, I might flush pen 2 out and if the issue still persists, I will follow through with your second suggestion.

Thanks for your help!

I wish to give you some additional advice:
After you have flushed your second pen with dish soap, and then with plain water, I advise you to try your Karkos ‘Hot Pink’ ink through it. You already know that that ink performs well in your other pen.

Sometimes you will find that a certain pen just will not work with a particular ink, even though the particular pen works great with other inks, and the particular ink works great in other pens.

 

The weirdest example of this that I have personally encountered is with Parker Quink ‘Black’ in my Parker 45 pens.

The ink works great in my other Parker pens (including the 75, which is internally very similar to the 45).
My Parker 45s work great with other inks (including other colours of Parker Quink).
But none of my three Parker 45s will work at all well with my Parker Quink ‘Black’ 🤷‍♂️ They all react to it in the same way that your second pen reacted to your Karkos Black; writing very ‘dry’, with lots of skipping.

 

There is no need to start messing around with your pen’s nib (or feed) until after you have cleaned it thoroughly, tried different inks in it, and have then found that you are still getting flow problems from it.

 

I wish you good luck with it 🙂

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Ron Z]

24 minutes ago, Mercian said:

But none of my three Parker 45s will work at all well with my Parker Quink ‘Black’

 

We have found this to be the case quite often.  When someone writes saying "My pen doesn't write," I start with "what ink are you using?"  If Black Quink, I tell them to try another ink and let me know what happens.  The pen usually writes well with anything but black Quink.  Yeh, I know that this will trigger a whole thread of "Black Quink works just fine in my pens and I've been using it since Shakespeare, got me started using and it was his favorite ink!"   Try another ink, it it may very well work.  If not, we look for other causes.