A razor blade changed my life

[tonysameh]

Hi All

If you looked in Pelikan forum, you'll find a post of mine about a disappointing Pelikan 405 with Fine nib

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...c=99735&hl=

 

It was a twin of another one I bought months ago and the first one was really wet and wonderful.

 

Now I got this second one and .. It was very dry ...

 

I started thinking that this thin dry line may be the real Fine while the first one is somehow adjusted..

At this point I decided that the Medium nibs will be my favorite forever.

 

Then I read some posts about increasing the ink flow by widening the legs of the nib using a razor blade... Oh, that's v dangerous.

I'll never do it..

I kept writing and writing waiting a miracle to happen: either the flow increases by itself, or I start to like the pen..

 

Neither happened and I decided that if I kept this pen like this, I'll never use it anyway, so take the risk.

<I'm from egypt and no one here fixes those pens>

So, I was brave enough and got a razor blade and here is what happened:

 

1. At first, I tried inserting the blade from the tip and I failed... It is very sensitive and the blade is so sharp, I was afraid
2. I then was able to insert the blade from the hole on the middle of the nib, and moved it towards the tip.. I then tried the pen, no difference.
3. I kept repeating this 10s of times and every time I try the pen.. No difference, but at least it was not destroyed (as I expeceted)..
4. Then, after a couple of hours of disappointment, I got some courage and start moving the blade around its axis so that the two legs of the nib (sorry for my english) starts moving up and down away from each other... At this point i was sure that the nib will be thrown away, but I didn't care much because I already started to hate this pen... Then I got my notebook, started writing with no hope, and I was really amazed

 

It became perfectly wet, perfectly wide, even better than my first pen...

I didn't believe myself and kept writing in all directions because I was sure

it will be scratchy somewhere after torturing the nib like this... But it didn't... It is coool :roflmho:

 

Anyone should do so with any dry piece he has, but very carefully though.. There's a risk anyway..

 

Thanks

Edited March 18, 2009 by tonysameh

[scratchy]

Thanks for posting this! I'm going to try it on a couple of very cheap pens (Bic X-pen).

[Wolverine1]

I have done this procedure with a couple of my pens, and performance has improved. only thing is that instead of using a razor blade, I used a used piece of 35mm film.

[yossiantokolitz]

Thank you so very much.

I read about the procedure and was quiet afraid to try it. The experts settle for a generalized description - I need to be walked through the steps of the dance and you did just that.

As I always say : I am not as stupid as I look but I look even more stupid than I am.

Talk slowly so I can understand.

The film suggestion is helpful too and seems safer.

Thanks again.

[scrawlysteve]

I have done this procedure with a couple of my pens, and performance has improved. only thing is that instead of using a razor blade, I used a used piece of 35mm film.

That seems a really good idea, I was always scared of chewing up the inside of the tines with a blade...but a piece of film has to be safe.. I'm so glad I resisted digital!

Steve.

[gyasko]

I would suggest not using any tools, including razor blades. Most minor adjustments can be done with just your fingers, and by and large, that is how the pros do it -- at least the ones that i am familiar with (the Sailor guys). The advantage to working with your hands is that you are, ahem, more in touch and have more of an idea of your limits. As to exactly how to do it, there's an article on nibs.com that's pretty informative. The section on increasing flow is a bit down the page.

 

 

[piembi]

As to exactly how to do it, there's an article on nibs.com that's pretty informative. The section on increasing flow is a bit down the page.

 

This is exactly what I have done to some nibs and it does improve the ink flow. It works best with big nibs like the Pelikan nibs because you can get a good grip.

[tonysameh]

Thank you so very much.

I read about the procedure and was quiet afraid to try it. The experts settle for a generalized description - I need to be walked through the steps of the dance and you did just that.

As I always say : I am not as stupid as I look but I look even more stupid than I am.

Talk slowly so I can understand.

The film suggestion is helpful too and seems safer.

Thanks again.

 

You are most welcome, but please check the article on nibs.com on the replies...

It seems safer than the razor blade

[bphollin]

I used a used piece of 35mm film.

An overhead transparency also works well, in my experience.

[rpwage]

As to exactly how to do it, there's an article on nibs.com that's pretty informative. The section on increasing flow is a bit down the page.

 

This is exactly what I have done to some nibs and it does improve the ink flow. It works best with big nibs like the Pelikan nibs because you can get a good grip.

 

+1. It dramatically helped my very dry M805.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Something to consider for safety's sake, both for yourself and for the fountain pen, is a "de-fanged" razor blade.

 

You don't need that dangerously sharp edge to get through that nib slit. The slimness of the razor blade is usually enough. I use an old double edged razor blade, very thin steel, that I've used metal shears to snip the sharp edges off of.

 

And a blunt razor blade is not just for nibs, either. I've found it useful more than once to run such a razor blade through the feed's ink channel in order to either get crud out of it or to maybe widen it a tiny bit. A sharp blade not only poses a possible danger to your fingers but if it slips, and it slips a lot when I do it, a sharp blade can cut the feed and damage it.

[SimonJamesLucas]

I'm a huge fan of this technique and have recently done wonders with a replacement nib I put into a kit pen of mine. It seems a lot of modern pens run rather dry straight from the box. Yes, take care with sharp razor blades but go for it, I think there are few hand held instruments more frustrating than a dry fountain pen.

 

[Sparkle]

That's brilliant! Thankyou for this.

 

I had tried pulling the tines apart manually but it just wasnt happening.

 

The only razor blades in my house are glued into disposable razors.

However in my reckless live-like-today-is-the-last-day-of-your-life style I found a small version of a box cutter in my desk drawer.

 

The edge is qute razor fine and tapers out wider.

And you can hold it without fear of it slipping.

 

Sweet! I wish I had known about this years ago.

 

Thanks again. My pen is happy. I'm happy.

[BerneseMtDogEatsArco]

I used a razor blade on a Lamy2000 and it ended up wonderfully balanced. However, do at your own risk. This could go wrong really, really quickly.

[OcalaFlGuy]

Thank you so very much.

I read about the procedure and was quiet afraid to try it. The experts settle for a generalized description - I need to be walked through the steps of the dance and you did just that.

As I always say : I am not as stupid as I look but I look even more stupid than I am.

Talk slowly so I can understand.

The film suggestion is helpful too and seems safer.

Thanks again.

 

Yossiantokolitz, you really should be careful tromping around inside my brain like that. There's all kind of sharp metal shards in there to cut yourself on.

loose high voltage wiring and all the gluck make it hard to keep your footing. There are also things living in there that haven't had their shots.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

 

 

[OtterNZ]

I have used a razor blade before, but you have to be very careful, I have heard people say how they ruined a nib by being too over zealous with the adjustment.

 

I'm going to agree with those above who talk about finger adjustment, I've seen various sites talk about hooking your thumb nails on the edge of a nib where it is at it's widest point and curves down over the feed, and gently pulling apart which also pushing on the top of the nib with your fingers. It's worked well for me.

[ZeissIkon]

I have used a razor blade before, but you have to be very careful, I have heard people say how they ruined a nib by being too over zealous with the adjustment.

 

There are actually multiple ways you can ruin a nib with a razor blade (and worse odds using a thicker blade like a utility knife). First, you can open the slit too much -- it's far harder to close up a slit than to widen it, and a firehose pen is almost as bad as one that's too dry. Second, if you apply force the wrong direction in the wrong place, it's possible to break a tipping hemishere off the tine (this might be a bigger risk with a steel nib; I've read that tipping alloy doesn't bond as securely to steel as to gold, perhaps the one place a gold nib is superior to a modern stainless alloy). Third, with a too-thick blade, or a heavy hand, it's possible to damage the inner edge of the slit; raise a burr in there, and you'll have ink flow problems of one flavor or another until either you toss the pen or a nibmeister finds and corrects the problem.

 

That said, a double edge razor blade (that's the thinnest kind -- and a small package of them can still be had for a couple bucks in most pharmacies or supermarkets) can sometimes accomplish an adjustment your fingernails can't get the traction to manage -- you just have to approach the task with the knowledge of where it can go wrong, and go at it in small increments (because it's so much harder to tighten a slit than to open it up).

[futhark]

No question that using a blade to increase ink flow is a high-risk approach, but as a fast and dirty technique it is easier to use a mat-knife or graphics knife that has a handle rather than a common razor blade - that will decrease the chances of the blade going in unintended directions.

[ZeissIkon]

No question that using a blade to increase ink flow is a high-risk approach, but as a fast and dirty technique it is easier to use a mat-knife or graphics knife that has a handle rather than a common razor blade - that will decrease the chances of the blade going in unintended directions.

 

Tempting to suggest that if you can't control a razor blade well enough to keep it where it's intended, you might be better off not trying to adjust your own nibs. Come to that, I've sliced myself pretty deeply with a utility knife a couple times in the past forty-some years; the handle may aid control, but it also adds leverage, so when (not if) it does slip, it'll have more force behind it.

 

The biggest reason not to use a utility knife is that the blade is too thick. A double edge razor blade runs around .005" thick (twice the thickness of a sheet of copier paper, roughly); a singe edge blade (which I've used, because I didn't have a double edge and, at the time, couldn't spare two bucks for a packet of them), with the folded stiffener at the rear, is around twice that (I haven't measured one recently). Utility knife blades run from about half again as thick as a single edge for the lightweight versions to double or more for the industrial variety. Since you want the final nib gap, at the tipping, to be between .001" and .002", using a blade that's at least a eight or ten times that thick seems like asking for trouble -- yes, the tines will spring back most of whatever adjustment you apply, but you start by forcing the blade into the slit at the breather, where there's the least flexibility available.

 

Beyond that, if you're making the adjustment with the nib still mounted on the pen, you're likely to cut into the feed -- the narrower that cut, the less you'll change the capillary circuit of the pen; there's a good reason the feed channels don't run all the way out to the end of the feed, and that reason is, mostly, to make the slit the primary ink path beyond the breather. Some ink still travels beneath the nib on the channel free surface of the feed, of course -- but much less than would travel in a significant groove; make much of a cut in the feed and you might turn your dry writer into a firehose by mistake.

[Andreas Smith]

Well, following the above advice and being ultra careful, I've just used a double-edged razor blade to open up the nib of a Parker Sonnet that's been dry for ten years. It now writes without pressure. So, problem solved, but what a shame I had to put up with such poor performance for so long.