Peculiar nib shape?

[techjunkie25]

Is this a normal nib shape for a Fine Nib? It’s a pelikan 14kt gold nib. 14C585

It seems to be a bit scratchy as well, haven’t seen a nib tip that shape, and was wondering if this is something a nibsmith could fix or remedy?https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180302/108ebc51f25868964737df7b81116c91.jpg


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[Jon Szanto]

It's only one, not particularly-great photo, but it looks to me that the tines are pretty seriously misaligned, with the left tine tip (closest to camera) bent upward and the right tine bent down. This can occasionally happen if a cap is mess up or the nib is not set deep enough in the section, and then when the cap is screwed on the tip gets twisted.

Misaligned tines are the very first and most common reason a nib can feel scratchy and most people insist (or suggest) that alignment be corrected first and completely before any smoothing is done on the tips. This appears to be the case in the above photo. Definitely can be made right, though.

P.S. I would highly suggest downloading and reading these notes (http://www.richardspens.com/pdf/workshop_notes.pdf) from Richard Binder's nib workshop. Page 2 and 3 discuss your issue, the very first illustration on page 3 shows the problem (I believe).

[techjunkie25]

It's only one, not particularly-great photo, but it looks to me that the tines are pretty seriously misaligned, with the left tine tip (closest to camera) bent upward and the right tine bent down. This can occasionally happen if a cap is mess up or the nib is not set deep enough in the section, and then when the cap is screwed on the tip gets twisted.

Misaligned tines are the very first and most common reason a nib can feel scratchy and most people insist (or suggest) that alignment be corrected first and completely before any smoothing is done on the tips. This appears to be the case in the above photo. Definitely can be made right, though.

P.S. I would highly suggest downloading and reading these notes (http://www.richardspens.com/pdf/workshop_notes.pdf) from Richard Binder's nib workshop. Page 2 and 3 discuss your issue, the very first illustration on page 3 shows the problem (I believe).

Any recommendations as to where to send it to get it right?


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[Jon Szanto]

Any recommendations as to where to send it to get it right?

This doesn't seem to be a particularly bad off nib, I would probably send it to Dan Smith at nibsmith.com. Dan does good work and usually has a pretty quick turnaround. I've heard good things about Mark Bacas but no personal experience. For top-drawer stuff, particularly nib grinds, I like Mike Masuyama but he usually has a backlog and these other guys can do a good job on this nib. Lynda Kennedy of Indy-Pen-Dance (I think that's how they spell it) has pretty good rep and was trained by Richard Binder. Another top guy is John Mottishaw but again, for a basic adjustment like this I don't think you need the long wait time for his expertise.

It's late otherwise I'd do the googling for you. Start with Dan, he's a fine resource.

[Chrissy]

Is it not something that you feel you can fix yourself?

There are many You Tube videos, and expert instruction guides that will walk you through realigning the tines of a nib. It might just be a case of pushing down the high one and pushing up the low one with your thumbnail. Sometimes it's easier to push the high one down.

[SIR]

I agree with Chrissy, it has been known for many modern Pelikan nibs to be delivered new from the factory in need of tweaking because of misalignment similar to that pictured.

[jar]

This is a good candidate for lesson one; hold my beer and watch what I can do with just my fingernails.

Take a look at the fit to the feed as well. You should be just able to slip a piece of paper between the feed and nib. When bending, the goal is to get everything lined up and almost touching the feed.