Spring A Nib?

[BobGast]

I am still a newbie but I am trying to get beyond that. I did do a bit of research on the subject but I really didn't find a suitable answer. I am afraid of springing the nib on one of my good pens. Particularly a fine nib on my Platinum 3776, Lamy 2000 medium nib, TWSBI EF nib. So I guess the question is, how do you spring a nib? How do you tell if it is sprung? Can it be fixed by myself by doing a little research and figuring out how? What kind of pressure do you actually have to apply, I write lightly but what if you bear now on the nib? I know the old try it and see, but I don't have any spare nibs. Please don't get mad at me for asking what is probably a stupid question.

[Luma]

First I would do a quick search on nib types to get a general idea of what properties each one has... will try to look for a link for you when I am on the PC.

 

In terms of springing a nib, you will know it happens when the nib is unable to return to its natural state either because it was firm and not meant to flex or if it was flexible but you overflexed. Yadda yadda yadda... also includes all the different examples in between these two circumstances.

 

You will find there are different stages IMO of 'symptoms'... the first and least fatal is that the line will not be as thin as it used to be. This is not a bad thing so long as you are not applying additional pressure. Under a loupe you will notice a micro separation of the tines. The more damage to the nib, the wider the gap. Depending on the nib, this can be fixed as long as you have the knowledge and know-how to do so... or you can find someone to tune it for you.

 

The disastrous symptoms will leave the tines in a wide V shape or bent awkwardly out of their normal position. It takes a different amount of effort depending on the nib, type of metal and it's abilities to flex for this type of damage to occur. For me, this constitutes a medical emergency and the pen will need a doctor.

 

Hope this helps.

[Luma]

(https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/249346-does-anyone-have-a-stipula-ti-broad-and-maybe-a-macro-lens/)

[BobGast]

Yes I think it helps. I will do the research. I am wanting to try some different types of nibs. Hopefully my research will help me to know what kind of nib that I can use with what kind of pen. Someone said to me on TWSBI 540 with EF nib how could I even see the line? I see my writing quite well and it looks broader than a M ballpoint pen.

[BobGast]

I guessing if I can see something like that with the naked eye, then it is sprung. I have to 10x loupes, neither one of them with a light. I use them to look for scratches on rocks. I am a lapidarist in my spare time.

[Luma]

Can you post a writing sample with the TWSBI 540 EF and a photo of the nib as well?

 

Some pens write wetter than others which leaves a slightly wider line than a dry pen. My Pelikan M205 EF writes like a juicy fine nib.

 

Please keep in mind the paper and ink being used can also determine line width to a certain extent.

 

EDIT: I think maybe your friend is teasing you about having an EF. Some of my friends do the same thing as they sometimes use massive nibs.

[BobGast]

Hopefully this will suffice. My penmanship is legible for me, but still leaves a lot to be desired.

[Luma]

Thanks for the photo.

[aeba]

I am still a newbie but I am trying to get beyond that. I did do a bit of research on the subject but I really didn't find a suitable answer. I am afraid of springing the nib on one of my good pens. Particularly a fine nib on my Platinum 3776, Lamy 2000 medium nib, TWSBI EF nib. So I guess the question is, how do you spring a nib? How do you tell if it is sprung? Can it be fixed by myself by doing a little research and figuring out how? What kind of pressure do you actually have to apply, I write lightly but what if you bear now on the nib? I know the old try it and see, but I don't have any spare nibs. Please don't get mad at me for asking what is probably a stupid question.

Yes, maybe a newbie question, but not a stupid one.

 

It would be less smart to first spring a nib and then ask. (Although I am sure that SBRE Brown knows about springing nibs and still he sprung an Omas extra flessible.)

[Mauricio]

Pen and nib manufacturers uses different standards as to what an XF, F, M, and B nib is. You will find variations even within the same pen brand and model, For example, not all Pelikan M800 fine nibs produce exactly the same line width. The width of the written lines is not only a factor of the nib by itself, but it also depends on the ink and paper you use, the amount of pressure you apply when writing and even the humidity of the air and the humidity of the paper.

 

As for over springing a nib, this will happen when someone applies more pressure than what nib was designed and manufactured for. The picture posted by LuMa is a perfect example of what an over sprung nib can look like. It can get worse than that.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Go to Richard Binder's com, he had a great article of how you can spring your nib.

 

Right now you don't have any superflex nibs so you shouldn't be springing any.

 

Using a ball point is like plowing the south 40, with out the mule. That is the pressure you bring to fountain pens...because you got to push and drag to get ink out of a ball point.

 

The most important thing is using a founatain pen requires no pressure at all. The pen just rests in your hand. The nib skates on a small puddle of ink.

 

There is the classic triangle....which I don't use, but most do, that can take months to learn to grasp the pen as light as a feather. That is hard because the 10&14:00 thumb and forefinger "pinching" placement seems to encourage pressure.

 

I use a variant of the triangle, I call forefinger up. (It works best with posted Standard and Medium-Large pens.....I find unposted Large pens too small for this way to hold a pen. Then again if you don't post Standard or medium-large pens...this will work.)

 

The trick is to let the pen rest where it wants. Do not struggle to keep it at a 45 degree angle just after the big knuckle or 40 degrees at the start of the web of the thumb....if it want's to rest in the pit of the thumb at 35 degrees....let it. Let the weight and length of the pen find it's own balance in your 'now light' hand.

 

Let the weight of the pen find it's own place....posting standard or medium large pens is normal, and gives you the great balance of those pens.

Large pens and I don't have a 2000 so don't know if it is a large pen like a Lamy Persona or which size Twsbi you have. Mostly Large pens are not posted.

 

The thumb is a dam, placed at 9'o'clock on the barrle. And it is flat! You do not use any pressure at all with your thumb. It is only a place to let your pen rest. The thumb prevents it from falling out of your hand. No pressure at all is pressed against the barrle of the pen.

 

The fore finger rests on top of the pen between 12-13:00...12:30 is good. All the fore finger does is rest...so very lightly.....just enough to keep the pen from doing sumersaults.

 

The pen rests just 1/3" out of the middle fingernail root dent-callus if you have them from ball point use. The nerve there is no longer pressed causing pain....like from a BP.

It takes about three minutes to learn this automatic light grip.

 

Sadly my computer did a Lazurus and I've not got back into Photobucket to put in a picture. Went looking for old posts and pictures....and the pictures are not there now. Might return when I get back into Photobucket.

 

Your Lamy is a nail.....no tine spread.I think your Twsbi is semi-nail in that is normal for modern nibs. Mash it hard to get 2X tine spead, over a 1 X normal. do not mash your pen a second time (it's just to see if it's a nail or a semi-nail)..it is not necessary and leads to bent nibs.

 

I'd say 93.7% of us start out Ham Fisted.....after all we were all Ball Point Barbarians.

Hold the fountain pen after the big index knuckle and not before like a ball point and half the problems are over.

Now the next step is to become Slightly ham Fisted....with the goal of developing a Light Hand.

 

 

Those nibs of your only bend or spring under massive misuse of your weight lifting team. It had been done by the true Ham Fisted Olympic Champions.

 

Don't know about the other one you have.

 

Some time later, when you get a semi-flex a small tad of pressure can be used...but really is not needed unless you want to fatten up a letter a bit. There you are talking about a 3X tine spread max, a light down stroke. It took me three months of using a semi-flex to go from Ham Fisted to slightly ham fisted....that was before I took up the fore finger up method of grasping a fountain pen.

 

Some day down the road, there is superflex,.....4-5-6 or even 7 X a light down stroke. There you really need a Light Hand.

[rwilsonedn]

I think when you are starting out with fountain pens, the best advice is simple: never press down on a fountain pen. Let the weight of the pen alone keep the nib on the paper, and the pen will write well. If you have to press down to get the ink started, don't. There are other ways to start a dried-out pen. And if the pen skips, don't press down: it needs adjustment, not pressure. I know this is counter-intuitive for writers who are used to ballpoints, rollerballs and the like. But it's true. If you never press down, you will never spring a nib.

The only time you need to press down on a fountain pen is when you are working with a nib designed for a particular kind of line-width variation: a semi-flex or flexible nib. Almost no modern fountain pen has such a nib. (There are a few exceptions, and they make a big deal about being a little flexible.) So if you decide, after using pens for a while, that you want to explore traditional writing styles like roundhand or Spencerian (but not italic--that is a different kind of non-flexible nib), you can get a flexible-nibbed pen and learn how to use it. Many people start this process with steel dip-pens, for a variety of good reasons, including the fact that the nib costs at most a few dollars, so if you must learn what springing a nib feels like, the lesson won't cost much.

Don't press, and enjoy!

ron