increasing ink flow

[Distant Orbit]

hi

 

is this advisable. i've read you can do this by inserting a razor blade into the slot, very carefully??

 

cheers

 

 

kevin.

[Roger]

Hi Kevin,

 

Yes, that can help, but it can also mess you up if overdone or done improperly. Slot width and shape is only one of likely a dozen or so factors that govern flow rate.

 

I'd prefer to let an established nibmeister, like Richard, lay out those factors and what the average bloke can do about them.

[wimg]

Hi Kevin,

 

Roger is right. Within limits you can increase ink flow a bit, provided the feed is capable of supporting the ink flow required. Normally it can.

 

You'll need a piece of a transparant overhead sheet or something similar, IOW, fairly stiff, bendable, but not too thick plastic. Cut off a strip, and wiggle it between the tines, between the tipping material on both ends of the tines. Next pull it out slowly. Try the pen. Still not enough, try it again, but no more than 2 or 3 times. The tines should still touch when looked at with the naked eye, IOW, at the tipping, you shouldn't be able to see through the slit. If you do, you've gone too far. But I'll explain only how to undo that when you get there by accident. It is much harder to undo this, then to increase the ink flow, and in this case you really may have to send the pen off to a nibmeister.

 

Now, also make sure that the tines are still aligned properly, otherwise the nib will be scratchy afterwards. You can set this right, if they do become misaligned, by "twanging the nib ", IOW, flicking the tine that is highest up in the air with a finger nail, down towards the feed. You probably need to do this up to 3 times before it is right again, and you need a decent loupe to be able to see that everything is as it is supposed to be.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Distant Orbit]

i'll leave it alone!!

 

thanks for the help.

 

 

cheers

 

 

kevin

[tryphon]

Please don't use a razor blade. I have seen people use a utility knife and literally butcher an otherwise excellent nib!

Use the clear acetate material as suggested by another poster. If the pen needs more than the acetate, consider sending it to a pro. It is easy to mar the inside surface of the tines and, in some cases, to break off the feed, especialli in delicate vintage pens and in some modern pens with Schmidt feeds.

[saturation]

I've had good luck cleaning tines recently with a focused blast of compressed air from Dust Off.

 

http://graphics.samsclub.com/images/products/0008621611867_LG.jpg

Edited February 9, 2006 by saturation

[tryphon]

I've had good luck cleaning tines recently with a focused blast of compressed air from Dust Off.

 

http://graphics.samsclub.com/images/products/0008621611867_LG.jpg

I am puzzled. Ink flow is incresed by:

1. Increasing the separation between the tines

2. Increasing the gap between the nib and the feed.

I honestly fail to see how compressed air can help. Maybe it is strong enough to slightly bend the nib away from the feed....

I do not doubt your word, I am just puzzled.

Regards,

Giovanni

[Roger]

True, Gio, but though the thread is about increasing ink flow, the claim for compressed air was merely as an aid in cleaning the nib.

[veloci]

Hi.

I have a hero 9296, fine nib.

The nib feels scratchy but the alignment looks fine though.

It runs very dry unlike Hero pens i have used before.

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

Edited October 14, 2014 by veloci

[ac12]

 

Hi.

I have a hero 9296, fine nib.

The nib feels scratchy but the alignment looks fine though.

It runs very dry unlike Hero pens i have used before.

Any help would be great.

Thanks.

 

Scratchy could simply be the side effects of you dry pen.

What you are feeling is the nib on the paper with very little ink to lube the tip.

 

To determine if it is the nib.

Draw horizontal lines ------ From L->R and L<-R.

If it is scratchy in one direction and not the other, then one tine is lower than the other, and not yet in alignment.

I have been able to feel a scratchy nib, yet not quite been able to see it.

 

But you also have to have the pen LEVEL, both tines evenly on the paper.

If you do the line test with the pen slightly rotated, you will get the effect from the side/edge of the tip, not the center, and getting a false test result.

 

Some pens do not have a spherical tip, but have a box/cylinder shaped tip and a somewhat sharp outer edge. It is this outer edge that you also have to look at. If that edge is sharp and you rotate the pen a bit, your scratchy feel is coming from that edge, not a misalignment of the tines.

[veloci]

Thank you ac12.

Tried out the horizontal line experiment (keeping the pen level at all times).

Got some interesting results. The pen is nice and wet R to L but skips when tried from R to L!

How can I fix this?

Edited October 14, 2014 by veloci

[ac12]

 

Thank you ac12.

Tried out the horizontal line experiment (keeping the pen level at all times).

Got some interesting results. The pen is nice and wet R to L but skips when tried from R to L!

How can I fix this?

 

It is wet and skipping at the same time???

I think one of your directions is reversed.

 

I think you have misaligned tines.

You need to either lower the high tip or raise the low tip. And do this VERY CAREFULLY, or you could damage the nib.

How you do this depends on the specific pen and what access you have to the nib. And your Hero has rather limited access to the nib. Working on just the tip of the tines can be rather tricky/dangerous, in that you are bending the tines very close to the tipping. It is much easier if the nib can be removed from the pen, but I don't know how to do it on your pen.