Flex A Safari Nib

[ac12]

Someone asked about flexing a Lamy Safari nib.

I was using one of my Safari's with a F nib and was a bit surprised by the ink line.

From the ink line, it sure looks like the nib is flexing. But it flexing or simply be more ink flow?

I have a line from an Esterbrook 9048 flex nib below the Safari for comparison.

Edited February 28, 2015 by ac12

[Mike 59]

One effect could be that the clips under the nib have become less tight grip on the feed, and so the nib can lift slightly, on downstrokes, giving a little more ink flow.

I don't take the nibs and feeds apart very often on my Safaris, the clip system is obviously quite different to 99% of other fountain pens.

[mirosc]

It's not flexing, it's just mistreating the nib

Just like Mike59 said the nib is forced to split from the nib a bit and thus sucks a bit more ink from the feed. The result might look similar to that of a slightly flexible nib, but the amount of force you need to do that is not really healthy for the nib.

[Jimmy Joe]

My experience with excessive pressure on a Safari (don't ask) is not that it damages the nib. It damages the feed. Specifically, the little wings that the nib clips onto will tear off.

[ac12]

Ah, but this is done with LITTLE pressure on the pen. So I am not FORCING the tines to flex.

I use just a bit more than my usual very light hand and less than the pressure that I use with a Nikko G dip pen nib.

 

Mike may be on the right path. The nib maybe a tiny bit loose on the feed, allowing more ink flow on the downstroke. I will have to use a magnifier and tinker with the nib.

[Matt.Nethery]

In my experience you can get slight variation on just about any Nib. The nature of a thin piece of metal thats slit up the middle will bend/flex a tiny bit with pressure. But if its not designed to be flexed your only going to risk damage or cause wear to the nib/feed.

 

I've done the same with my Lamy before, it definitely doesn't feel right putting pressure on the nib and with the design I would concur that it's lifting off the feed a bit.

Edited March 1, 2015 by Matt.Nethery

[canibanoglu]

What Matt.Nethery said. You can pretty much force any pen to lay down more ink and get at the very least small line variation from the nib. I'm sorry to say that both those sample lines don't look like even semi-flex to me. Like everyone else, I would advise against trying to get some line variation from a Safari, there's a high chance that you can damage the nib, feed or both.

[ac12]

You guys are not listening, or reading in this case.

 

quote from post #5:

Ah, but this is done with LITTLE pressure on the pen. So I am not FORCING the tines to flex.

I use just a bit more than my usual very light hand and less than the pressure that I use with a Nikko G dip pen nib.

 

So the nib is NOT being PRESSED or forced to flex open.

IOW, the pen is NOT being abused.

 

 

@canibanoglu

The Esterbrook 9048 nibs IS marked as a FLEX nib, albeit a rather stiff flex nib. And I did not PRESS this nib hard, so you do not know the flex capability of the nib just from looking at the writing.

 

* * * * *

 

This is definitely related to the feed, as Mike suspected. I move the nib to another Safari with the same ink, and the ink line was more uniform in width, without the wider and thinner lines of the first pen. So there is something about that combination of nib and feed that is allowing the nib to put down ink like that.

[mirosc]

Maybe this special feed has enough tolerances so that the nib can wiggle around a bit. Or the metal has opened so that the nib doesn't sit as tight on the nib anymore.

Just take the nib out, try it without feed and see if it "flexes" (you can dip it and hold it with tweezers if the fingers won't do it) or try it in serveral other Safaris.

I've seen my share of those Lamy Safari nibs in the past 35 years and none of those were manufactured as flexible nib. So I doubt that there's suddenly a regular, naturally flexible nib out there.

 

But, hey, I don't want to rob you of your joy. If you believe it's a flexible nib and you get the results that you like - just be happy with it!

Edited March 10, 2015 by mirosc

[Intellidepth]

So there is something about that combination of nib and feed that is allowing the nib to put down ink like that.

When u figure out the feed/nib tweak, let us know. I have 3 AL Stars

 

The only time I get variation like that in your image is when I write with a dryer ink (thicker viscosity) on a notepad where medium-light writing pressure on the downstroke indents slightly into a page into the underlayer allowing more of the nib surface to come into contact with the paper. Then when my pressure eases off slightly on the up strokes I get a finer line due to less nib surface being in contact. It's happening because I've gotten into the habit of putting a little deliberate pressure on downstrokes for vintage flex nibs.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Intellidepth

[ac12]

@microsc

I think this is an interesting nib+feed combo where the manufacturing tolerances came together to give this effect, of looking like a flex pen.

 

I was playing with it today, and what it does NOT have is reliable 'spring back' as with my dip pen flex nibs. This is the quick cutting of ink flow after the "flex." That reinforces Mikes theory and what you mentioned about the nib/feed tolerance. So I "think" the nib is not flexing, but instead moving on the feed just enough to allow more ink to flow to look like it is flexing.

 

@intellidepth

I used Dux blue-black ink when I first discovered this effect, the scan above is with PR DC SuperShow blue.

It could be similar to what you describe, but in combination of a heavier than normal stroke on the downstroke and lighter than normal stroke on some of the lines, like the upstroke of the letters l and f.

 

I think I will go play with it more.