New Sailor H-F pen is more hassle than anything

[Merkelbach]

I just got this pen as a gift from my law firm, but it is constantly getting clogged with paper fibers, it goes dry then super wet and sometimes it so scratchy I feel like I’m ruining it trying to use it.

Is it possible the tines are way to close together with a brand new pen? I thought it would be out-of-the-case wonderful, but it’s not. I have some pics of the nib if I can figure out how to attach them.

[Chrissy]

In order to clean out the paper fibres you could very carefully try a very fine gauge brass shim. Almost paper thickness.
My personal preference is to use it from underneath the nib in order to avoid any possible scratching on the upper gold surface.
The way I do it is to slightly spread the tines apart from underneath against the edge of my thumbnail in order that I can slide in the brass shim. Then just pass it along the slit to the feed and out again. No scrubbing.
Even though it should be a very fine gauge version it will help with distance between the tines if they are too close together.

Your nib looks very fine. EF nibs tend to feel more scratchy than broader nibs.

[elaineb]

You may need to have a nibmeister take a look at it. The tines do look very tight in these photos. I checked my own Sailor EF nib, and it looks a bit more open than this. Also, it shouldn't be picking up paper fibers, so there may be a subtle problem with the tipping. I use EF nibs almost exclusively, and good ones do not feel scratchy in use. They glide smoothly across the paper, and lay down crisp lines with no effort.

That said, I write with a very light hand. If you are heavy-handed (people who've used ballpoints for most of their lives tend to use more pressure when writing), even a good EF nib will cut into the paper and feel uncomfortable to use. This may be happening for you as well. But your description of finicky ink flow and paper fibers make me suspect first that there may be something wrong with the nib itself. Nothing serious, though. A good nibmeister can do wonders with a quick tune-up.