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Thread: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

  1. #21
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Quote Originally Posted by welch View Post
    - Do NOT try smoothing yourself. Not unless you are an experienced nib-specialist, and, then you wouldn't be asking these questions.

    - Send it for tuning to someone reliable. I send pens to Josh Lax, or JJ Lax. Josh is good, and it happens we both belong to the Big Apple Pen Club. I have used Mike Masuyama and Pendleton Brown. Both are good. Richard Binder trained Linda Kennedy of Indy Pen Dance.

    - Do NOT try smoothing, not with micromesh or anything else that is advertised to take tiny pieces off the tipping material. Follow Ron's advice, and save a $500 nib unit.


    Did you watch the videos? What's your disagreement with watch you viewed?

    Maybe he should send his pens out to have a professional ink it as well. Know of anyone who can professionally take the cap off? Maybe he should leave the pen alone in a desk drawer rather than tempt the Pen Gods with the loss of his immortal soul? Or hire a nib meister to live at his house in case he wants to look at his pens but only under strict supervision?

    Such Gloom and Doom! Jesus Christ.
    Last edited by sgphoto; June 5th, 2020 at 09:19 PM.

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    Senior Member grainweevil's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Oh, flippin' heck - changer de disque!

    The marvellous, world-saving, solution-providing nature of internet videos for the betterment of all mankind is not the issue here. Only a fool would attempt to make their first nib adjustments on a nib costing multiple hundreds of dollars.
    In the words of Paul Simon, you can call me Al.

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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    And did I say for the OP to make his first nib smoothing adjustment on a Pelikan M800 nib? No. I told him to watch Youtube videos so he could learn.

    Still waiting to see how many of the naysayers have actually watched the videos and what they found within to intelligently differ with rather than leaping to a Nib-Smoothing Inquisition.

  5. #24
    Senior Member grainweevil's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Quote Originally Posted by sgphoto View Post
    And did I say for the OP to make his first nib smoothing adjustment on a Pelikan M800 nib? No. I told him to watch Youtube videos so he could learn.
    Are you kidding me!? You're really this desperate to always be "right"? You poor soul.
    In the words of Paul Simon, you can call me Al.

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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    I'm not always right. I appreciate it when someone can show me where I'm wrong.

    But in this case it seems there are people who lack basic reading comprehension. Are you one of those poor souls?

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    Senior Member Fermata's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    C'mon guys.

    What unites you is greater than what divides.

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    Senior Member carlos.q's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Quote Originally Posted by voegelin View Post
    Hello! My first post here. Please be gentle.....
    I sincerely hope we haven't scared you away.

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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    I just got my M800 from Mike Masuyama and l can't put it down

    Sent from my SM-G973U using Tapatalk

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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Definitely practice on far, far cheaper nibs before the expensive nib.

    It is the kind of skill that requires experience and mistakes to acquire and hone. Instruction alone won't cut it. Although, the better the instruction the quicker one picks up the skill.

    It is one of those "art" skills like tuning a carb, pulling espresso shots, racing a car, shooting bow and arrow, etc.

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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    While agreed with everything said about smoothing, just 2 remarks:
    1) if the nib was smoth and now is not, it is hardly due to anything else but misaligning hence any kind of smoothing instead of aligning would actually lead to damaging (or even ruining) the nib,
    2) the original poster has not come back since 3rd June when left for youtube... while youtube might be interesting this makes me think all the discussion here is now l'art pour l'art
    Last edited by aurore; June 7th, 2020 at 01:00 AM.

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  17. #31
    Senior Member grainweevil's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Quote Originally Posted by Fermata View Post
    C'mon guys.

    What unites you is greater than what divides.
    Quite probably. But while my connection speed continues to struggle along at dial-up levels, it will not be videos.
    In the words of Paul Simon, you can call me Al.

  18. #32
    FPG Donor ♕ Chrissy's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Quote Originally Posted by Ron Z View Post
    Checking tine alignment is a relatively simple thing to do. Smoothing though, not quite as easy even with videos. I've heard that Richard Binders classes at pen shows are quite helpful. By all means, do check the alignment. But think before you smooth an expensive nib. Typical smoothing is about $40 plus shipping. A new nib if you screw it up? Two prices stated in this thread - $231 - $500. You do the math and decide if you want to take the risk.
    This post is the opinion of an expert who does this type of work.
    By all means have a look at some video clips of nib smoothing when you have some time on your hands and you're interested to see how it's done. Oh and for the record, I have watched many.
    But please don't start nib-smoothing on an expensive nib unless you know what you're doing. Especially on this nib that is more likely to have developed slightly misaligned tines than any problem with the nib tipping.

    Quote Originally Posted by sgphoto View Post
    Maybe he should send his pens out to have a professional ink it as well. Know of anyone who can professionally take the cap off? Maybe he should leave the pen alone in a desk drawer rather than tempt the Pen Gods with the loss of his immortal soul? Or hire a nib meister to live at his house in case he wants to look at his pens but only under strict supervision?

    Such Gloom and Doom! Jesus Christ.
    Come on sg, lighten up. No-one is condemning all possible nib-smoothing that's not done by experts.
    Last edited by Chrissy; June 7th, 2020 at 03:33 AM.
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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  20. #33
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    "Come on sg, lighten up. No-one is condemning all possible nib-smoothing that's not done by experts."

    Except those that did in this thread.

    I am lightened up. I got plenty of laughs at some of the responses.

    I offered the OP visual advice, not doom. A chance to gain knowledge about tines, not a rigid gospel of one-way or damnation. Had anyone watched the videos they would have seen that checking the tines for alignment was the first consideration.

    Information about any subject, good or bad, is always to be weighed and judged by the inquisitor. I gave the OP options, not a blanket condemnation.

    Cheers to all.

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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    The post by the OP pretty clearly indicated that he did not know how to correct the problem with his nib. The title of the thread and text of the OP asks who to send it to.

    Your following post recommends a source for a new nib, and then recommends him trying to smooth it himself - linking a video. Frankly, you missed the entire point of the OP. There is no shortage of people who correct nibs for a living.

    The reason so many people jumped in to tell the OP not to try it himself is pretty clear. It’s an expensive replacement. It’s not a task for someone to learn on an expensive nib. It’s easy to screw up.

    Youtube has good information, and it has bad information. I’ve watched plenty of videos of people “smoothing” a flat foot on their nibs doing figure-eights, because they read about it or learned about it from the internet. I’ve screwed up my share of nibs learning how to adjust, smooth and grind. I certainly didn’t practice with expensive nibs from expensive pens. The OP shouldn’t either, and you should have taken the cost of the pen and nib into consideration before recommending that he “try smoothing the nib yourself”. Note you used the word “smoothing”, not “adjusting”.

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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Perhaps the OP will come back and report his decision. I stand by mine in doing what I did to increase the OP's knowledge.

    In the meantime, the Forum Politburo can establish the official position by directive.
    Last edited by sgphoto; June 7th, 2020 at 07:04 AM.

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    Default Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Quote Originally Posted by voegelin View Post

    First, thanks to everyone who took the time to offer advice. Thank you very much!

    I'm in Canada, so if there are any nib repair folks here in the great white north I'd be happy to hear from you.
    Hi there!

    For nib experts, my primary go to is Mike Masuyama who is in California. http://www.mikeitwork.com

    Since you are in Canada, I also recommend Salman Khattak. Here’s his site:
    https://torontopencompany.com/prices--process.html

    Hope this helps and you can get your M800 nib back to its awesome glory!

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  26. #37
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    For nib adjustment - and especially for nib smoothing - watching a video is no substitute for practice, and lots of it. A great deal of the exercise is about feel.
    Regards,
    Deb
    My Blog

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  28. #38
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    I have been smoothing my own nibs for years and have so many tools and things to smooth my nibs, I thought I was pretty good until I sent a 146 away to a specialist, the difference was astonishing. This nibmeister has since done six or so other nibs for me. I still hope that my skills are good enough for everyday smoothing, using something like a block of flint or polished aluminium, arkamsas stone or the like.

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  30. #39
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    Quote Originally Posted by sgphoto View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by welch View Post
    - Do NOT try smoothing yourself. Not unless you are an experienced nib-specialist, and, then you wouldn't be asking these questions.

    - Send it for tuning to someone reliable. I send pens to Josh Lax, or JJ Lax. Josh is good, and it happens we both belong to the Big Apple Pen Club. I have used Mike Masuyama and Pendleton Brown. Both are good. Richard Binder trained Linda Kennedy of Indy Pen Dance.

    - Do NOT try smoothing, not with micromesh or anything else that is advertised to take tiny pieces off the tipping material. Follow Ron's advice, and save a $500 nib unit.


    Did you watch the videos? What's your disagreement with watch you viewed?

    Maybe he should send his pens out to have a professional ink it as well. Know of anyone who can professionally take the cap off? Maybe he should leave the pen alone in a desk drawer rather than tempt the Pen Gods with the loss of his immortal soul? Or hire a nib meister to live at his house in case he wants to look at his pens but only under strict supervision?

    Such Gloom and Doom! Jesus Christ.
    Is this a joke? Watch some videos and anyone can tune a nib? "Boldly" do-it-yourself with a Pelikan 800 nib? Skip the part where someone:

    - goes to Richard's nib class at a show

    - buys a load of third-tier pens

    - practices on the old junkers and clunkers

    - practices on some Esterbrook 1xxxand 2xxx nibs

    Because tuning a nib is just like taking the cap off of a pen?
    Last edited by welch; June 8th, 2020 at 01:14 PM.

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    Senior Member Ron Z's Avatar
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    Default Re: Pelikan M800 nib adjustment - who is good at this?

    I notice that our "watch a video and do it" friend is not offering to cover the cost of a new nib if the OP takes his advice, and screws up the nib in the process.

    Visit Main Street Pens
    A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful pen repair....
    Please contact us by email, and not PM for repair inquiries.

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