Junk (?) nibs

[gregkoos]

After restoring some 30 or 40 pens, I've accumulated a few gold nibs that are neither usable, scarce nor desirable. So my question is, what is the best way of recycling them?

 

One idea I've had id to find a central repository for such items, and have that person sell them for the gold value and donate the proceeds for the operation of the board. Whoever would do this needs to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. For instance is a relatively rare broken Kritzler nib better off given to a nib Meister who could at some time fix it and get it back into use?

 

I would be interested in learning how others are dealing with this.

 

Greg

Edited December 23, 2008 by gregkoos

[Breck]

Hmmm. That's a really good question. My first (selfish) response was: Send it to budding restorers like me to practice on!

 

However, selling them for scrap gold value for FPN site upkeep is probably more in the spirit of the season.

[rroossinck]

Greg, how wrecked are these nibs, anyway? Are we talking about a few with the tipping snapped off but in serviceable shape otherwise, or massive cracks, whole tines gone, etc.?

[Nick A]

To sell the gold for scrap, I HIGHLY recommend Midwest Refineries. http://www.midwestrefineries.com/ I am also a metal detectorist, so I end up with junk jewelry and other bits. I packaged up a small box of gold and silver and promptly got a check for over $700! (Do I sound like a tv commercial?) Anyhow, Midwest's fees are VERY low. It's a family owned and run operation.

 

However, that said, a nib repairer like John Mottishaw or Greg Minuskin might pay more than scrap.

[RevAaron]

I get a total cringefest going on when I think of cashing gold nibs in for gold content- unless they're really messed up. Mostly because I've known a few pensioners and antique-mall denizens that upon finding out I am into fountain pens tell me all about the interesting pens they've "collected" over the years- get a big lot of pens, rip out the nibs with a pliers, toss it in a box and send it off to be smelted. It make me want to weep!

 

Not that there aren't true junk nibs, but one man's junk nib is another's untipped italic.

 

What should happen depends on what Ryan asked. If they still have tipping and don't have any cracks, they could be put to use. No tipping makes them more or less worthless for pens, unless you want an untipped italic, which can make for a very smooth nib. But the market for those is likely to be pretty small.

 

Most nibs aren't worth sending into be retipped, mostly because retipping is expensive ($60-80). It makes sense if you're trying to restore a specific pen, or want a certain nib for other reasons, but othewise...

[Johnny Appleseed]

I have a small collection of trashed 14 nibs, and have them sorted into a couple of different categories:

 

Total junk - tines broken, off (not just tipping, but the whole tines) split in half, etc. - Eventually I have a few nibs I will send to Mottishaw and see if he can use the scrap (his website says he can).

 

Damaged Warranted nibs - if it is just tipping I will grind them down to tipless italics. If they are badly cracked they go in the first category

 

Damaged name-brand or quality nibs but common nibs - (eg. a Feathertouch with broken-tipping on one tine) these are not worth getting fixed at this point as replacements can be had for less than the cost of repair. But I am guessing that in time that will change, so I am hanging on to them until it is worth it (or Nathan Tardiff goes back to doing $25 retips). They don't take up that much space in the parts bin.

 

Damaged valuable nibs - I do have a Parker Lucky Curve #2 nib and a Waterman #4 stub that are cracked. One of these days they go to Mottishaw (with the scrap listed above, hopefully).

 

John

Edited December 23, 2008 by Johnny Appleseed

[barny]

I have a Pelikan EF nib for the M400 that is messed up and i'm not sure if it's still serviceable by a nib repairer. I will post some pics of the nib soon maybe some FPN'ers can give advice.

[gregkoos]

In terms of what I think could be junked are such things as an Eversharp off of a Fifth Avenue with both tines gone, another Eversharp with a truncated tine, and one with a badly cracked base; also a Sheaffer 33 with a cut down base.

 

I share concerns about people ripping nibs out for the gold value.

 

Thanks for the discussion. It helps me think it out.

Greg

[julikko]

I have a Pelikan EF nib for the M400 that is messed up and i'm not sure if it's still serviceable by a nib repairer. I will post some pics of the nib soon maybe some FPN'ers can give advice.

Barny, you do not need to service the Pelikan nib. Chartpak (spelling?), the repair service of Pelikan will replace it for free, and will ship it free too. No need to show sales receipt, just send it. I love, love, love them!

Edited December 28, 2008 by julikko

[Vintagepens]

We should also keep in mind that both nib values and nib repair costs are going to change as the years go by.

 

Right now, supply and demand decree that some vintage nibs are cheap and common. But supply is fixed -- or, rather, steadily diminishing -- while demand is increasing, sometimes with surprising leaps, as happened not long ago with Parker 51s, for example. It doesn't take a crystal ball to see that nib values are going to go up, but what I think many collectors overlook is for the potential for a real shortage in the years ahead of the replacement parts we've always taken for granted.

 

At the same time, the cost of nib repair is bound to come down. Highly personalized nib customization will certainly always be expensive, but the cost of both crack repair and retipping should plummet as more entrepreneurs enter the field. I would not be surprised to see the wholesale cost of a basic crack repair go down to around $10, and nib retipping go down to around $20 or even less (one highly experienced restorer has already quietly been doing retips for select customers for $25 each for quite a few years).

 

So my advice is to hold on to those seemingly hopeless nibs. You won't be forgoing much in the way of scrap value, in any event, and you won't be left kicking yourself a few years down the road like those Antiques Roadshow guests who had their painted furniture stripped back when original finish added little value.

[Johnny Appleseed]

That has been my thinking as well - which is why I am hanging on to things like Sheaffer FT5 nibs with missing tipping. Not worth doing now - but someday it will be.

 

Still, I have a couple that are really, really trashed - a warranted nib missing one whole tine, broken off at the breather tube. That one is scrap.

 

Even if I do figure a nib is only worth scrap, I would scrap it through someone like Mottishaw who is familiar with nib pricing and rarity and would be able to catch something that might be worth saving.

 

John

[antoniosz]

That has been my thinking as well - which is why I am hanging on to things like Sheaffer FT5 nibs with missing tipping. Not worth doing now - but someday it will be.

 

What is FT5? Or is it FS5?

 

AZ