Smoothing Out A Nib

[Phil1-6]

I'm back into fountain pens. I purchased two, was gifted one and inherited one. Three are Sheaffers; a nononsense, Le Black and a Connaisseur. The last one is a Parker 75.

The nononsense goes to work, but the nib is rough and scratchy. It's too cheap to send out so I thought I try smoothing it myself. I remember reading about some tips awhile ago and am asking for someone to refresh my memory.

Thanks.

 

[the_edski]

I'm not an expert, but I think the least dangerous method to start off with is to scribble a lot on a brown paper lunch bag. It's basically 10,000 grit sandpaper. The greats minds will chime in with better ideas soon.

 

[Rockminer]

Are you sure that the tines are perfectly aligned? You might want to start there. Smoothing unaligned tines can cause flow problems as well.

 

[syngent]

I'm back into fountain pens. I purchased two, was gifted one and inherited one. Three are Sheaffers; a nononsense, Le Black and a Connaisseur. The last one is a Parker 75.

The nononsense goes to work, but the nib is rough and scratchy. It's too cheap to send out so I thought I try smoothing it myself. I remember reading about some tips awhile ago and am asking for someone to refresh my memory.

Thanks.

Before you even make an attempt at smoothing, do you have a loupe to check the nib alignment as it is usually the cause of a scratchy feeling, and the only thing it needs to be fixed for minor problems is a fingernail

if you try to smooth a nib that not aligned you may make a mess of it

 

[Sharon888]

The Fountain Pen Geeks did a nib tuning seminar with Brian Gray of Edison Pens. They recorded it. Here's a link to it:

http://edisonpen.com/index.cfm/2013/4/27/Tweaks-for-Geeks-a-Big-Success--Learn-How-to-Tune-your-Nibs

Good luck!

 

[redbike]

+1 on the nib check. No amount of smoothing will correct misaligned tines. I use abrasive mylar sheets to smooth nibs and they work pretty well. You can see their use in the recorded seminar linked to in the above post. Good luck.

 

[Phil1-6]

Thanks for all the feedback. First thing is to find a loupe. Again, thanks.