Dragging...

[Empty_of_Clouds]

... what causes a nib to feel like it's dragging on the paper? The nib is not scratchy or overly dry flowing, but using it on Rhodia, after a couple of sentences there is this draggy feel to it.

Any help appreciated, as always.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Because the paper is coated, perhaps? I often feel, with Rhodia, like I'm writing on a chalkboard and actually prefer a slightly softer paper.

[AzJon]

is that true for all nib/pen/ink combos you're using?

[Empty_of_Clouds]

is that true for all nib/pen/ink combos you're using?

Yes, yes it is, but I only have 6 pens - 4 fines and 2 italics.

Now that you mention this though I am wondering if it is indeed the paper. This would be a shame because it's the only FP friendly paper I've seen on sale here (and overseas shipping is nuts!).


Edit: Just mulling this over, I don't experience any of this dragging when using a dip pen (pointed or broad edged). Hmmm.

[Ahriman4891]

Which FP inks are you using? Maybe try them with a dip pen, just to test if it's the ink?

[AzJon]

Edit: Just mulling this over, I don't experience any of this dragging when using a dip pen (pointed or broad edged). Hmmm.

:blink:

I...uh....huh.

[KrazyIvan]

I get a feeling like writing with a crayon once in a while. Nine times out of ten its corrosion on the tipping of the nib. Under a loop the tipping should look highly reflective. If it's not, you have corrosion or oxides forming on the tipping. A few figure 8's on my finest polishing pads gets rid of it. The old paper bag trick would also fix it before I had polishing pads. Some will get bent out of shape at the mention of the brown paper bag trick, but it works. The idea is to polish the nib not grind it or reshape the nib geometry. It may take a few passes but just draw figure 8 5-10 times on a brown paper bag. You might need brass shim to get fibers out of the nib slit too. That's why it's better to use polishing pads, 12K grit gray pad to be exact.

[SIR]

Following on from KrazyIvan's reckoning, I would postulate that the variable in question is 'metallurgy' - how a particular metal's composition, and design, affects it's interaction with the physical properties of other substances.

[Kulprit]

I’ve always believed it to be a very fine toughness of the tipping material. A texture not large enough to make the nib feel scratchy or rough, but enough to prevent it from gliding.

I don’t think it’s the coating on the paper, since, I’m my experience, a glassy-smooth nib will feel glassy-smooth in any paper, and a pencily-feedback nib will have pencily feedback on any paper, and a singing nib will sing on any paper, and a rough feeling nib will feel rough on any paper, etc.

In my mind, the nib smoothness continuum (partially depicted) looks like this:

Hot-buttered glass—>draggy—>pencil—>singing—>neutral—>rough—>scratchy


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[Empty_of_Clouds]

Yes, but it's unlikely to be applicable to all the pens I have or have had. On reflection I don't recall any fountain pen nib being especailly buttery on Rhodia, not even the monster stubs.

[azkid]

Dragging but not scratchy?

As with all things I continue to work on figuring out the puzzle of nibs and how they feel and why.

Some of my nibs on certain papers with certain inks feel like they are dragging, like rubber on glass might feel. Not rough. Not scratchy. Just slow.

My P51 was one of these troublemakers. The nib was a bit tweaked when I got it. I've gone over it twice now and polished it down to 12000 grit micromesh and it seems better. It also seems to like Quink Black more than Pelikan 4001 Black. So dryness / lubricity must be part of it?

Nibs that aren't polished finely enough feel consistently rough, like fine sandpaper on wood. Some xf nibs feel this way. To me scratchy is more like inconsistent (random) grabbing/letting go of the paper fibers due to sharp edges, pits, some misaligned tines, and so forth. It feels like how radio static sounds.

I need to do a better, more scientific job of note taking about all this stuff.

[Empty_of_Clouds]

And I am wondering if I am doing something wrong when I am writing. Having said that though, I don't use much if any pressure on non-flexible points.

This is beginning to annoy me, and I am wondering if it may be a property not just of the paper (Rhodia) but of Jowo nibs in particular and other nibs to a lesser degree. It's definitely worse with the Jowos.

[azkid]

I will try testing a few pens on my only Rhodia notebook and report back.

I don't recall any issues with it before but I only write a little at a time so I will try writing for several sentences with a few nibs and inks.

So far the paper I find to be draggy is the stuff Clairefontaine puts in their bullet journals. It is like roller skating on carpet instead of hardwood.

The paper is more absorbent, too, so my EF nibs lat down F and M lines.

Writing on the stuff can be annoying with some pens after awhile. With others I don't notice any issues.

Clairefontaine's higher grade paper, by contrast, is an absolute joy to use.

Does Rhodia produce different textures and grades of paper?

[ceebert]

I just cursive-d a Vanishing Point, and now it sings. I have no idea which what I did, but a nib that sings makes my knees weak. I ground a Kaweco #5 last week, and it works fine, but quietly. One nib is gold, one is steel, which should make a difference (I am guessing here), but that VP sounds like a tiny Sharpie now, with a vague little bit of drag. I need to play more, and figure out just what I have done.

[Onionartz]

Try Oxford Optik paper. It replaced Rhodia for me. It is now my favorite paper even above Tomoe River....
I don't get drag like I have no Rhodia

[Paddler]

I had a pen like that once, back in my nib grinding days. I could put it under a microscope and watch traffic on the street outside in the reflection of the point. Turned out that the point was too smooth. I had used jeweler's rouge and a strop on it. I gave it a swipe on my finest grit Mylar and it quit dragging.