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View Full Version : Pelikan Nib Issues. What would you recommend?



ilya2193
October 4th, 2014, 08:02 PM
Hi all,

I recently purchased a new Pelikan M640 with a medium nib for a steal of a deal since they're discontinued. Unfortunately, when it arrived, I noticed that it didn't write pleasantly. The nib is incredibly smooth but I noticed that it skips a lot on up and diagonal strokes. Also, it's quite a dry writing pen which surprised me from everything I've read. I'm lead to believe my pen has the dreaded "baby's bottom" although I'm not able to confirm because I don't have a loupe.

Being on a college student's budget, I'm trying to figure out the best way to go about this. I ordered this pen from Chatterley Luxuries and I emailed Bryant (the owner) about the issue but I understand that he may be limited in trying to help me fix this problem. So, how should I go out this? Should I just send it off to a nibmeister and wait for a long turn around time or perhaps I should contact Pelikan and see if they could replace the nib?

I know this subject has been called on numerous times, but I'm curious as to what's the cheapest and quickest way to go about this. Any help is appreciated! :)

mhosea
October 4th, 2014, 08:33 PM
Well, see what Bryant has to say first. I'm not generally that keen on the idea of fishing for another nib. Almost all of them need work, if you ask me personally. Every pen is a little different, but in my experience, most nib issues are not "defects", rather adjustment matters. There are good nib technicians who also have good turnaround time:

Jim Baer (trained by Richard Binder): pen.repair@verizon.net
Tim Girdler (trained by Richard Binder): http://timgirdlerpens.com/services-menu/
Mike & Linda at Indy-Pen-Dance (trained by Richard Binder): http://www.indy-pen-dance.com/nib-work.html
Dan Smith of fpgeeks: http://fpgeeks.com/nib-services/

Tony Rex
October 4th, 2014, 08:39 PM
First, congrats. Without the problem, the M640 is really a writers pen. I'm assuming you have the Everest? That's is great because the nib is bi tone 18C M600 size that is common, so you can do a swap with chartpak within four weeks of purchase.

Or for just a little bit more, get it ground to suit you exactly. I'd personally prefer that.

Robert
October 4th, 2014, 08:42 PM
I agree with mhosea. The nib is probably in need of an (inexpensive) tune up. Sorry you had the problem, and good luck!

Laura N
October 4th, 2014, 08:44 PM
It's a brand new pen from a great dealer, under warranty from a great company. You don't have to worry.

Bryant will take care of you. Just wait for him to get back to you. I'm sure Bryant will advise you that if he has another nib in stock he can swap it out for you. If not, you can send it to Pelikan USA. They have terrific service and will fix or replace the nib for you. In fact, I believe you can swap out any new Pelikan nib with Pelikan USA for the first 30 days after purchase, even if there's nothing wrong with the nib and you prefer a different size.

In the meantime, one quick thing you can do to help diagnose the problem is to use a different ink. Of course you might have already done this, and if so I apologize for restating the obvious. Not every pen works well with every ink. Try using a few different inks, and try using a couple safe and bland brands, like Pelikan (in this case), Waterman and Sheaffer. They might seem bland and unexciting but they tend to work well with a variety of different pens. Because you've got a Pelikan pen, Pelikan ink could be a good match, even though it is dry and not a great match for all pens. When Pelikan service fixes it, they will test it with Pelikan ink.

ilya2193
October 4th, 2014, 09:49 PM
Well, see what Bryant has to say first. I'm not generally that keen on the idea of fishing for another nib. Almost all of them need work, if you ask me personally. Every pen is a little different, but in my experience, most nib issues are not "defects", rather adjustment matters. There are good nib technicians who also have good turnaround time:

Jim Baer (trained by Richard Binder): pen.repair@verizon.net
Tim Girdler (trained by Richard Binder): http://timgirdlerpens.com/services-menu/
Mike & Linda at Indy-Pen-Dance (trained by Richard Binder): http://www.indy-pen-dance.com/nib-work.html
Dan Smith of fpgeeks: http://fpgeeks.com/nib-services/

Thank you for all of the info! I haven't heard of these technicians but I'll definitely take advantage of their lower prices and faster turn around times if it comes to that. I guess I'll wait for Bryant's response first but now that I know that I can get a nib tuning done for $25, I'm more inclined to have it adjusted to write exactly how I want it to rather than take a chance on getting a new nib that might have issues. It's quite frustrating that a $500 retail pen doesn't write well out of the box.


First, congrats. Without the problem, the M640 is really a writers pen. I'm assuming you have the Everest? That's is great because the nib is bi tone 18C M600 size that is common, so you can do a swap with chartpak within four weeks of purchase.

Or for just a little bit more, get it ground to suit you exactly. I'd personally prefer that.

Thank you! Yes, it's the Mount Everest. It's truly a stunning pen. When I first saw it, I was shocked that they haven't sold out of them because I, personally, prefer it much more over the other variants in the collection.




In the meantime, one quick thing you can do to help diagnose the problem is to use a different ink. Of course you might have already done this, and if so I apologize for restating the obvious. Not every pen works well with every ink. Try using a few different inks, and try using a couple safe and bland brands, like Pelikan (in this case), Waterman and Sheaffer. They might seem bland and unexciting but they tend to work well with a variety of different pens. Because you've got a Pelikan pen, Pelikan ink could be a good match, even though it is dry and not a great match for all pens. When Pelikan service fixes it, they will test it with Pelikan ink.

When I first received the pen, I inked it with Iroshizuku Kon-Peki. It's skipped a lot and just wasn't pleasant. I figured it might need a flush, so I emptied the ink and flushed it throughly with water and let it dry for about half an hour. Then I inked it with Edelstein Jade which seemed to write even worse. I find the Edelstein to be a drier ink than Kon-Peki.

Laura N
October 4th, 2014, 10:20 PM
When I first received the pen, I inked it with Iroshizuku Kon-Peki. It's skipped a lot and just wasn't pleasant. I figured it might need a flush, so I emptied the ink and flushed it throughly with water and let it dry for about half an hour. Then I inked it with Edelstein Jade which seemed to write even worse. I find the Edelstein to be a drier ink than Kon-Peki.

Yeah, it's not the ink. :)

ainterne
October 5th, 2014, 12:22 AM
I know you said you don't have a loupe, but can I suggest you do get one. They are invaluable. Yes if the nib needs adjustment then the pen may not write properly. If you are a pen enthusiast you may want to learn how to adjust your nib yourself as nibs can easily become adjusted and sending them off every time is a pain and expensive considering how easy nib adjustment can be. If you don't want to get involved with that side, then fair enough, but with that said, in case you don't know, then ink goes into the feed before it gets to the nib, and even at that time is working via capillary action. You might be quite surprised when you look at the back of the feed with a loupe, how dirty it can be compared to how it looks to the naked eye. I have cats and quite often find a cat hair or a minuscule piece of a tissue or cloth I have used to clean up after inking, gets stuck in the back of the feed in the ribbed area. That's were the ink has to flow and if it's blocked in anyway, it will reflect on how much ink gets to the nib. Keeping the nib clean can't be over emphasized enough and believe me it does not take long for dried ink to build up even if you use the pen often. Much is said about ink, but Diamine is probably one of the fluid inks you can use. Iroshizuku is very good, but inks like Quink are gritty in comparison.
The distance between the feed and the nib is also very important. You should be able to get a thin piece of paper between them and that helps to cleans out stubborn dried ink from behind there.

If you just want a good and easy read on what can happen to nibs then I would suggest you read http://www.richardspens.com/pdf/workshop_notes.pdf . I know none of this may help you right now, but going forward it should help as you live with your pen. Really don't be surprised if your nib becomes out of adjustment very quickly if you are heavy handed, or you put more pressure on one tine over the other because of how you write. I write with a slight bias on one of the tines and mine become out of adjustment quickly. I bought about 50 nibs from a factory in China that cost about $5. I practiced tuning the tines, heating them up and altering them, all sorts of things...just to get used to handling nibs and knowing what they would stand up to. Now however when my expensive nibs need correcting, it only takes a few mins and then I am good to go again for a few months. Leaning how to smooth a nib and keep it smooth is also important, but believe me I use 1micron film on my nibs and after using that, you will realize why you should keep away from cheaper, rough paper when you realize how quickly the tipping on the nib can be worn down.

I apologize if you know all this already... but if you do want to be frugal, a little self education and working with some throwaway materials, you can save a lot of money in the long run and be quite satisfying.

Good luck....

Phil..