Straightening bent nibs... technique?

[chud]

What's the best approach to straightening bent nibs? Especially really bent ones. ---/\/\. :-) I have a junker to play with that has a thin-ish steel nib that looks like ocean waves.

 

Fine pliers seem like an okay start, but it seems pretty hard to get them *really* straight this way (maybe I just need more practice). If you "correct" the bend in even slightly the wrong spot, you end up with two little bends instead of one big one... if they're little enough it may still work, but it seems like there should be a better way.

 

Thanks!

[Oxonian]

Hi Chud,

 

You can get so far with pliers but to get the nib as near perfect as possible you need a nib block, there are a few threads about these in this forum and I think one with an illustrsation somewhere in the attic of the Marketplace.

 

Nib blocks can be made of various materials, some are precisely machined stainless steel, they provide a raised, tapering, semi circular ridge and a matching negative tapering channel onto and into which a nib can be placed, the straightening forces are applied by burnishers, basically very smooth and well polished steel implements with rounded ends in profiles that fit into the curve of the inside of the nib and others onto the outside curve of the back of the nib.

 

I have also used a thick leather pad when working on the inside of the nib and work freehand with the burnishers but I suspect that is just me and not an recognised method.

 

Cheers, John

[wdyasq]

I have a large old drill chuck I use to hold a drill bit the approximate inside diameter of the nib in backwards, drill tip to chuck It fits in a block that has holes drilled in several direction. I hold the nib on the drill bit with a small magnet while I burnish straighten the nib. The magnet is just to hold the nib where it won't go floating about the bench between burnishing strokes. While 'stroking I usually have a finger holding the nib in place.

 

I also have some wooden blocks with concave channels cut into it so I can work the inside of a nib. I have several hand/home made burnishing tools.

 

A 2 to 3 pound drilling hammer or large ball-peen hammer is useful for working out stress on the remainder of the pen after you get in a hurry and pop the iridium off the nib ... uh, not that that has EVER happened to me ..... yeah, I read that somewhere where that could happen.

 

Ron

[laburlisque]

:roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho:

[jmkeuning]

Mine is a four part process.

 

First, I push it with my thumbnail. Then I write with it some and realize the the thumb nail did not work.

 

Second, I push it REALLY HARD with my thumbnail. Then I realize that I went too far.

 

Third, I push it back. Now it has a nice wave to it.

 

Fourth, send it to the nib expert with a check for ~$20.

 

 

Work every time!

[chud]

Are nibs generally made with a more or less standard curvature? I wonder because I'd generally assumed not, but if not then a nib block that fits one nib might not fit the next... I assume they cover some range of curvature radii, but unless they are a foot or two long the range can't be all that great.

 

(If they are more or less standard, that's a good thing from the point of view of making franken-pens from otherwise lost causes, since more nibs are likely to fit into more sections and with more feeds than otherwise...)

 

[wdyasq]

Are nibs generally made with a more or less standard curvature? I wonder because I'd generally assumed not, but if not then a nib block that fits one nib might not fit the next... I assume they cover some range of curvature radii, but unless they are a foot or two long the range can't be all that great.

 

(If they are more or less standard, that's a good thing from the point of view of making franken-pens from otherwise lost causes, since more nibs are likely to fit into more sections and with more feeds than otherwise...)

 

 

They are not standard. Many are in a small range but... they are all enough different to cause a problem.

 

Ron

 

[SMG]

I would suggest searching for the image of a nib block to understand how it applies to nib straightening. Alot of the waviness is burnished out, but one has to be careful as you can move alot of material this way and change the characteristics of the nib. Also you need to be attentive when it comes to the nib slit and ensure that the burnishing does not close it or round the margins of it. I usually flatten the nib slit walls after burnishing and reset the slit profile to ensure that the pens write correctly.

 

Oh yeah, watch out for the tipping. Heavy handed work in this area or a slip with a burnishing tool can quickly remove the iridium from the nib. I know, been there and done that a couple of times.

 

Cheers,

Sean