I was surprised, as a straight razor user, an Arkansas stone was even considered.
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I was surprised, as a straight razor user, an Arkansas stone was even considered.
Haha I'm not going to cheap out! My hasty DIY nib smoothing was just a knowledge gap and a learning curve. I'm really kind of bummed out about it now. I wish I was more careful about this kind of stuff.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Szanto
But Hempstead LI is not close to me. Considering gas, tolls, time spent in Manhattan traffic, the cost of admission, and the cost of having the pen "meistered" could be considerably more than simply replacing the nib entirely and keeping the ruined one as a spare or maybe selling it on eBay to someone who can readily have the work done on it. It's not really a money objection, more of a time/effort thing.
Then again I would enjoy going to a fountain pen show aside from getting work done on my pen. So I'll see.
That's why you do it to a cheap Jinhao and some spare nibs, not on a family heirloom.Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc149
I'm not sure how difficult it would be a get a replacement nib for a Mb Meisterstück Chopin. Nor am I sure how easy it would be to fit if you managed to buy one.
I saw one on Etsy, it's the whole screw-on nib housing, not just the nib. I may spring for it.
Yes, I know I f--ked up. I'm owning it. Lesson learned (the hard way :cry:).Quote:
Originally Posted by KBeezieThat's why you do it to a cheap Jinhao and some spare nibs, not on a family heirloom.Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc149
Don't think that everyone is jumping on you, as (for the most part) FPG isn't like that. It's just that people read the thread at different times. It is also pretty clear you are aware of the mistakes made and I think it takes a lot to publicly own those kind of moments, so good on you for that. Live and learn, yeah?Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc149
Those of us who broke cheap pens are just lucky.
Please be aware that unscrewing Montblanc nib housings to screw in new ones isn't known for it's ease and simplicity. However, I've never heard of any special tool requirements for a 145/Chopin so it may be relatively straightforward. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc149
Worst case scenario, send it out to be re-tipped to a tipping size/shape of your choice. (at least the nib would still be original to the previous owner)
It's only a 145/Chopin nib. Nothing specially different between one or another and the price of retipping would probably be higher than the Etsy price he's found for a new nib.Quote:
Originally Posted by KBeezie
<sigh> Arkansas stone, paper bag, penny.... on a how many hundred dollar pen? I wish I could put a silver stake in the myth that these are good ways to smooth a nib. They are not, and never have been.
I'm pretty sure that the Kennedys and Richard Binder will be at the show. If its possible to save the nib, they'll take care of it for you.
Do these suggestions show up often on a general google search for tips and tricks? Cuz it's more than a few times I heard of someone doing it, and I can't even fantom it, and I feel like I'm still a novice to it all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron Z
No offense to the OP of course, as I know the information must have come from somewhere, just seems too common. And I remember in the earlier start of getting into pens (I started in 2014), that I had heard of the brown paper bag 'trick', but I always looked down on it because there would be way too much inconsistency from one batch to another if it even worked as intended. And even when I did give it a go with a cheap steel nib from a batch of cheap pens, the results is almost always a smooth-but-blobby mess when there's no fine control or experience in between.
Like honestly I want to find the sources being published on the ill-fated advice and just gather them up in a catalog of "... are you kidding me?" resources.
Especially since so many (new and vintage) Montblancs are falling victim lately.
Like not even a week ago :
https://i.imgur.com/Ngggcnl.png
https://i.imgur.com/ZwZUjWp.png
Thanks for keeping the screencap long enough to include my remark... ;)
Was the cherry on top, I had to.Quote:
Originally Posted by Jon Szanto
It pops up on pen boards as a way to smooth nibs from time to time. I don't know where it originated. I've seen a few of the videos on how to repair pens by people who shall remain unnamed. A compendium of totally disastrous information in most cases. There are some good repair videos out there - Laurence Oldfield made some for the WES. Most of the people who are good at repair don't have enough time to go posting repair videos.Quote:
Do these suggestions show up often on a general google search for tips and tricks? Cuz it's more than a few times I heard of someone doing it...
I guess some insight --
Yes, I went online and saw suggestions for the honing stone, the brown paper bag, and the penny...
Although the pen was given to me (unused, in its original box) and I didn't pay for it, I was really put off by the scratchiness of the nib. Like, isn't a Montblanc supposed to write like a dream? It's a $300+ writing instrument -- I don't know, is there usually a "break in" period for nibs?
So after a week or so of daily writing, it still felt like writing with a pencil. After a bit of bourbon one Friday evening, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I just really, really overdid it. I'm impatient and careless with these things a lot of the time. Especially when alcohol enters the equation. I've ripped the breast pocket on new suits because I was frustrated with my wallet not sliding in very easily. I'm working on that.
All of us have learned lessons about use or care of pens, and more, the hard way. Repair guys even more than others. It is no doubt the reason why we tend to be so cautious. As long as we do learn, it is not wasted.
LI Pen Show says Richard Binder, Linda Kennedy, and Josh Lax will be there.Quote:
Originally Posted by guyy
- I send my pens to Josh Lax for nib work. He is in Big Apple Pen Club, and saved the nib on a Parker-100 that had dropped point-down on my floor
- Linda Kennedy, of Indy Pen Dance, learned from Richard Binder
- Richard Binder would be in the Fountain Pen Hall of Fame, if there was one.
There was a mention that Jim Baer would do work. When Richard was selling pens, they came with a slip of paper saying "Binderized by Jim Baer".
(Most in FPG know these people, but for the OP, that's who they are and why you can trust advice from any of them)
Status/Money doesn't always equate to quality, especially when it's used. And "write like a dream" is extremely subjective that can be had with a $40 steel nib pen, or even a $50,000 montegrappa.Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc149
Likewise, just as there are many different styles of pens, there's many styles of nibs, and again many styles of tipping/texture. The aim of 'glassy butter smooth' isn't what everyone ones, and not always at the high end either. There's going to be nibs with tactile feedback even on the high end. For example Aurora is known more for having a sort of pencil-like feedback, and many like myself desire that.
I don't like the firm-stylus-on-glass feel, I like my points to give me a sort of soft velvety graphite feel on paper (also the nibs with that kind of feedback tend to write on more paper surfaces without the need to be extra wet)
And the only "break in" period there may be is your own adjustment to using it, or finding the right paper+ink+nib combination that makes it feel good to you (not all papers or inks are going to feel the same).
Also how you described 'scratchiness' , but saying 'still felt like writing with a pencil.' Means you were using the term scratchy incorrectly, what you're referring to is feedback. With most of us here, 'scratchy' is a defect, that snags on the paper when you try to write, and it's usually the result of one tipping sitting higher than the other, and snagging the inside edge of the tipping. (Which if that was the case, then checking for alignment was the very first thing that should have been done because smoothing a mis-aligned nib ruins it unnecessarily).
My advice is to re-evaluate your expectations, and don't buy (or DIY something you don't want to have to pay to replace) something until you're patient enough to research it. Fountain pens, especially "fine writing instrument", aka "luxury" etc pens, are not for the impatient/novice. (though I feel that way of all pens, but most of the sub-$50, it's a minor financial burn to mistreat them).Quote:
Originally Posted by rjc149