Problems with Kaweco (ice sport, sport, al-sport) EF nibs? Information please.

[rgperedo]

So I have a Kaweco sport with a Fine nib. I like it a lot. It's small and easy to carry. I have a good friend why got an ice sport with an EF nib and he had a ton of problems right out of the box. The nib was terribly scratchy, the lines were super inconsistent, and it was skipping. I was about to order an EF because I always enjoy the thinner lines for note taking, but now I'm debating. I even looked through several sites where I've seen comparisons between the nibs sizes and the lines my friend's EF was making looked way way thinner (and not in a good way) and the black ink looked like a dark grey. Is this a reoccurring problem with these Kaweco EF nibs? I definitely want one, but I want to make sure that my friend's was a lemon and not the standard for Kaweco EF nibs. Any info would be helpful. Cheers.

[Murfie]

Any info would be helpful. Cheers.
My experience with Kaweco over the past five years has been very good, unlike that of your friend. As far as steel nibs go, they are generally excellent. Your friend's nib multiple problems could be caused by a single problem, such as tine alignment. I have just put an EF nib in my red AC-Sport and it is very smooth and wet for an EF and a delight to write with. I've also used an F in the past, and more recently an M and two B's which I have reground to stubs. All of them work perfectly. Among my friends are other Kaweco owners who also speak very highly of the brand. I hope this helps.

[rgperedo]

Thank you, and yes it definitely does help. Like I mentioned I really enjoy my F nib sport. I will go ahead and order the pen with the EF nib and keep my fingers crossed. Thank you very much for your help!



Any info would be helpful. Cheers.
My experience with Kaweco over the past five years has been very good, unlike that of your friend. As far as steel nibs go, they are generally excellent. Your friend's nib multiple problems could be caused by a single problem, such as tine alignment. I have just put an EF nib in my red AC-Sport and it is very smooth and wet for an EF and a delight to write with. I've also used an F in the past, and more recently an M and two B's which I have reground to stubs. All of them work perfectly. Among my friends are other Kaweco owners who also speak very highly of the brand. I hope this helps.

[AndyT]

Fingers crossed for you. My experiences with Kaweco nibs have been unfortunate to say the least, but you're probably on much safer ground with an EF than the BB which caused me so much trouble. I'd have chalked that one up to a Friday afternoon job or letting the apprentice loose on the buffing machine, except that a friend had exactly the same experience. I'd agree with Murfie up to a point and say that there's nothing wrong with the nibs per se, but over-polishing is potentially a problem.

[writingrav]

Fingers crossed for you. My experiences with Kaweco nibs have been unfortunate to say the least, but you're probably on much safer ground with an EF than the BB which caused me so much trouble. I'd have chalked that one up to a Friday afternoon job or letting the apprentice loose on the buffing machine, except that a friend had exactly the same experience. I'd agree with Murfie up to a point and say that there's nothing wrong with the nibs per se, but over-polishing is potentially a problem.

While I have three relatively new Sport pens with BB and no problems right out of the box. In fact, among the smoothest nibs I have on any pens. The only Kaweco I've had nib issues with was the Ice Sport, so I wonder if there is any connection to the production line for that particular model and the nib problems people have reported. BTW it was easily enough fixed with a minute's worth of micro mesh, not that I'm defending the need to do so.

[AndyT]

... I wonder if there is any connection to the production line for that particular model and the nib problems people have reported. BTW it was easily enough fixed with a minute's worth of micro mesh, not that I'm defending the need to do so.

I wonder the same. Believe me, I'm not over fond of complaining in public, but that nib was a disgrace. It was most certainly smooth as supplied, and that was the root of the problem. Cost me a lot of effort to set to rights, including work on a 600 grit diamond plate to grind out the baby's bottom profile ... my friend wound up doing all the work on Micromesh and it took her hours, literally. I like the pen now, a design classic in my opinion, but cannot sincerely recommend it without grave reservations.

[79spitfire]

I have several in various sizes, all have been faultless from the box.

[reprieve]

I have several Sports and one Liliput with all the nib sizes from XF to B as well as a couple of italics. The only nib I had issues with was the XF nib on the Liliput, which I had to order a replacement for as I couldn't get the original to write at all. All my other Kaweco nibs have written flawlessly though.

[rgperedo]

I have some bad news. I got an EF Kaweco ice and it was just as bad as my friend's pen. Horrible :-/ I am super disappointed. I returned the pen and I ended up adding a little more and getting a Lamy Al-Star instead. I love my Kaweco classic with a Fine nib, so I won't discard the brand at all. I do plan on eventually getting a raw aluminum Kaweco Al-Sport in a fine nib. I am disappointed though.

[Toulouse]

I wonder if the EF nib problem is limited to the Ice line only. The Classic Sport has a gold plated nib, but is it the same nib under the plating?

[rgperedo]

My classic sport is excellent. Perhaps it's an "ice" problem. I have a F nib Ice coming my way. I'll let you guys know what happens.

[Tsuki yo]

I got the Ice Sport in an F nib from the Goulets last week, beautiful out of the box, no real problems writing with it. I did notice that the F on my ice sport is a little bit different from the F on my All Rounder, not really scratchy per-se but it did seem to me that there was something almost intangible that makes the writing experience a little less smooth. I think that may have to do with a couple of factors, like the weight of the pens, and the fact that my All Rounder has been well used, and the Ice Sport is spanking new. Or it could be that the QC on the Ice Sport specifically lacks, because I know that the All Rounders and the Sports are supposed to have the same nibs.

[rgperedo]

I just got my ice sport with an F nib and I couldn't be happier. It is an excellent pen. I already enjoy it so much it is my new every day carry. I wish the EF I had would have worked out. I ended up buying a Lamy al-star ( mostly because I have a few safaris that I enjoy. I will admit I was pretty disappointed by the Al-Star) I wish I would have gotten another Kaweco sport, I think my next purchase will be an Al-Sport raw.