Laban Nibs

[toyota]

I finally finished using all of my 3 Labans (2 new and one second hand) they all have medium nibs and all were on the dry side and needed kick starts if not used for a couple of hours. I did the flushing with cold water and the dilute ammonia flush even tried to spread the tines out a bit to no avail. I have read the reviews on them here and no mention of this issue. I bought them for the looks but if the nibs are all like this whether new or old then I guess these are my last Laban pens.

[Deirdre]

What Laban model? Some caps have issues that would cause what you're describing.

[arz]

 

This is not my experience at all. I have a fine nibbed Laban Labrados (steel nib) and since it's much larger than most of my other pens, I don't always take it with me. I can leave it inked and unused for extended periods of time (I know that this is not advised) and it starts up without any trouble at all. It writes very smoothly always, but is stiff (which I like).

 

I did have an issue with the trim of the pen when I first received it and sent it back; they resolved the issue and I had my pen back within a week. Which is to say: in my experience they have very good customer service, so I would suggest contacting them about it. Good luck!

 

 

By the way, I think this is in the wrong forum, unless you'll be updating with full reviews of the pens.

[lovemy51]

i have a Kaiser and had problems with air sipping trhu the clip and drying the nib, but this happened afters 2 or 3 days of sitting around. i do agree that the Kaiser Laban nib is a bit dry to begging with. i had to reorder a broad from the rep in the US, thinking i was gonna get more flow... and i'm a little happier now.

 

by the way, the sales rep was very nice and helpful and i didn't pay for the nib. if you drop them an e-mail/note someone will get back to you in a day or two. here's their site: http://www.laban.com/contact_us.php?osCsid...b2cd27b7ef0349f

 

PS arz is right... wrong forum, so i think this will get moved to writing instruments, maybe (it's up to the moderators, obviously)

Edited January 9, 2009 by lovemy51

[jd50ae]

What ink are you using? I have three Labans and the nibs have always impressed me.

[FrankB]

I have three Mentos, two with steel nibs and one with a gold nib, and one Boneto with a steel nib. If any of them sits for five days or so, I have to hold the nib under a drizzle of water to get it started. But then it will write without difficulty for ages. My Duofolds act the same way, so I consider the Labans are in good company.

[ht1]

The only experience I have with Laban nibs are the Mentos. I have nine Laban Mentos and one spare nib. All are fine point steel nibs.

 

The first Mento I got was scratchy but the ink flow was good. The tines were unevenly aligned, and it was easy to adjust them. The feel of the pen in my hand was the most comfortable I had experienced, so I bought a second, and a spare nib.

 

The second nib was scratchy, it skipped, and I had to work to get it started every time I opened the pen to use it. I widened the gap between the tines, and it wrote better than my first Mento. I widened the gap in the first Mento, and I then had two pens that wrote better than anything I had tried before. That's why I have nine Mentos.

 

I have adjusted all of the nibs. Some of them I adjusted before I tried them, but none of the ones I tried out of the box had the same problem as the second one.

 

I'm not impressed with their quality control, and I'm not impressed with their customer service, but I do find the Laban Mento easy to adjust to make it write exactly the way I want it to write. I got my first Mento in February of 2008. I have written with at least one Mento each day since then, and it's usually the only pen I use. I hope you are able to resolve your problem. I had to work through several issues with mine in addition to the nibs, but I know it was worth it.

 

ht

 

[gigipurple]

I also have experience with a few Mentos and a Boneto. All of them have gold-plated fine steel nibs. If I don't use them for a few days they do need to be dipped for a second in some water in order to start. There are no problems of drying up when used every day. Also, once they start they don't skip or dry up again. Why don't you contact the company? I've heard good things about Laban's customer service. It could be a good idea to give it a try and call them. Gigi

[Aysedasi]

This thread might be useful to you - I'm going to try the shellac trick myself.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...mento+_+shellac

Edited January 10, 2009 by Aysedasi

[MYU]

Moving this to the Repairs Q&A forum where it will get proper attention.

[Aysedasi]

Well, my Mento is now fantastic!

 

I bought it about a year and a half ago and it has a lot to answer for as it was the pen that kick-started my current FP addition. I bought it new with a medium nib which disappointed me immediately. The pen itself was lovely, great large size - just what I like, but the nib was dull and a dry intermittent writer. I also like my nibs big and this nib didn't fit the bill so I bought a broad nib from isellpens. Better, but still quite dry.

 

I was tipped off that FPN member Oxonian might be able to do some work on the nib for me and he did this before Xmas. The nib was much nicer, better flow and ground a bit more to my satisfaction. However he's since had it back and it was returned to me yesterday - Eureka! Perfectly ground to my liking and superb ink flow. Oxonian also smoothed the Balance II I received for Xmas and worked on a Lamy 2000 for me too. I'm a happy bunny - thanks Oxonian! Well, partly happy - I'm now sitting here at my desk at work unable to make up my mind which pen to use for the rest of the afternoon......

Edited February 20, 2009 by Aysedasi

[bbbiswas]

I finally finished using all of my 3 Labans (2 new and one second hand) they all have medium nibs and all were on the dry side and needed kick starts if not used for a couple of hours. I did the flushing with cold water and the dilute ammonia flush even tried to spread the tines out a bit to no avail. I have read the reviews on them here and no mention of this issue. I bought them for the looks but if the nibs are all like this whether new or old then I guess these are my last Laban pens.

 

I have 2 Laban pens with 18K nibs - Abalone and Maya. I did not get any ink flow problem perhaps because the replacement gold nib units were made by Bock for Laban. I cannot say what would have been my experience had I bought them with the original IPG steel nibs.

[torstar]

My Mento has been well worth the price paid for it ($80 US at the time)

 

Never a problem with the flow or the nib, the convertor is thoughtfully built (if that's the right term, it's 4 in the morning...)

 

Problems were drying through the hole in the cap and it being plastic and breaking as expected through the abuse I put a daily writer through.

[speculator]

Perhaps some of you may have some advice about Laban Mento nibs that dry while writing.
What's the remedy for that? I've been trying water-soaking and different inks. The pen is brand new, and would be a great writer- if it could just write consistently.

Many thanks for any suggestions you might have.

[Bluey]

To begin with, try a wet ink such as many by Diamine, Noodlers, and iroshizuku., if you havem't already.

 

When you say water soaking, do you mean that you only used water to flush it? If so, this time add some dish soap to the water and soak the converter and nib section for about 3 - 5 hours. Then rinse completely with clean water.

Edited March 19, 2017 by Bluey