Dodgy m215 nib.

[snedwos]

Yesterday I bought a Pelikan m215 with a broad nib, and then hopped on a plane to a different country for what could be a long time, making going back and exchanging the nib problematic...

It's not that it writes badly, but it's a very very hard starter (especially on really smooth paper), and writing with some inks (Apache Sunset) is downright unpleasant. Edelstein Aventurine is much better, and Waterman Havana is OK. But the hard starts persist, along with some skipping that seems to be based on angle of writing.

I've flushed it through several times and when I get it going, the feed keeps up however fast I write, so it's definitely a nib issue.

I don't really want to do anything to it myself (I have a 3 year guarantee and would prefer to avail myself of it), but I would be interested to know what is wrong with it, and how it could be fixed.

Buying an m400 nib for it, as I was already planning to do anyway, becomes more of a priority now...

[JustDaveyB]

I had a M600 medium nib that exhibited the same problem, the issue with my nib was that it had a slight "babies bottom" on tip - My local pen shop "smoothed" the tip slightly and now it works better. Before I had it fixed I used to just pause at the start of each word holding the tip on the page so that the ink would flow.

[snedwos]

Sometimes I have to write with the very tip to get it going again. Baby's bottom is what I suspected, but having never seen or written with one, I couldn't be sure.

[manoeuver]

Sounds like a BB to me. Do you have a loupe or access to one somewhere?

[snedwos]

Nope, afraid not. I have learned a valuable lesson here though. Never commit to a pen until you've had a day or so to write with it, unless you don't have the option of course. I have to be less impulsive.

[JustDaveyB]

Nope, afraid not. I have learned a valuable lesson here though. Never commit to a pen until you've had a day or so to write with it, unless you don't have the option of course. I have to be less impulsive.

I don't trust Pelikan to sell a nib that writes well out of the box so that is why I only buy my new Pelikans from John Mottishaw's Classic FP or Richard Binder both of which will test and adjust nibs for flow before delivery.

[snedwos]

If I knew what extra charges would be imposed for importing into the UK I would consider that. Probably a specialty nib.

[dannzeman]

I agree with David and would suspect a "baby's bottom" to be the culprit. How does it feel when ink is flowing, as smooth as can be? If this is the case then I would put money on it being a "baby's bottom". Rounding the inside edge of the tines will create a supremely smooth nib but if you go too far it'll make the nib a hard starter.

It's a pretty simple fix if you have some super fine abrasive mylar sheets. I would start with the finest available, fill the pen with ink, and, on a smooth hard surface, make some circles and figure eights. Go to your paper and try the nib. If it's not enough, go back to the mylar, then the paper, and repeat. This will slowly remove the "baby's bottom" and by using the finest abrasive mylar and repeatedly testing on paper, you should be able to find the perfect medium between smooth and instant starter.

Don't worry about damaging the nib. With this fine of abrasive you'd have to be pressing very hard and really going to town on it to do any damage.