Poor Ink Flow

[amandapanda011]

Hello,

A couple of weeks ago, I bought two Kaweco Classic Sport fountain pens: one for my sister and one for myself. My sister’s pen works perfectly, but mine has very poor ink flow. I can’t see any difference between her nib and mine though (but I’m very new to using fountain pens). I’ve tried flushing the pen with water but that didn’t work. Is there any way I can fix the pen myself? Thanks!

[Richard]

It's likely that the difference is in the width of the slit. You might not be able to see the slit opening with the naked eye, especially if the nib is not clean and dry, but if you flush the pens and then dry the nibs you will probably see that there is a tiny gap between her nib's tines but none on your pen.

 

The next problem is widening the gap (or, in this case, creating one). If you search FPN, you will probably find suggestions such as dragging a very thin piece of brass shim stock or plastic sheet through the slit. Usually, this sort of trick does not work.

 

You can try to spread the tines slightly as follows: Hold the pen essentially horizontally, with the nib on the underside and facing away from you. Place the tips of your index fingers together, under the nib and supporting it. Catch your thumbnails in the spaces between the nib's shoulders and the feed. Spread your thumbs slightly, in the general manner of opening a book. This will spread the shoulders, and the tines will also spread a little. Do this gingerly -- it's easy to spread too far. You want a gap of about 0.0005" to 0.001" (one-half of one one-thousandth of an inch to one one-thousandth of an inch) between the tine tips. It's easy to misalign the tine tips; if this happens, use a thumbnail on the underside of the one that's lower (toward the feed) to raise it.

 

 

The catch here is that if you're not moderately skilled with your hands, you risk blowing the whole thing and ruining the nib. You might want to consider sending your pen to an expert. I know this isn't cheap, and in fact it might cost as much as the pen did. You'll have to decide whether it's worth it.

[pajaro]

Wouldn't a warranty cover something like this? If you can't write with a pen, the seller and manufacturer haven't fulfilled their part of the deal.

[Boucheron Parker]

I'm new to collecting fountain pens, but here goes my question:

 

I have a Waterman's L'Etalon with an 18K medium nib. I bought it used a couple of months ago. I used the recommended slightly soapy water technique to flush it out when I got it home and cleaned out the supplied convertor as well. I filled the convertor with "Private Reserve Black Cherry" ink and it wouldn't write. I advanced some ink into the nib section using the converter and still a no go. I left the pen standing nib side down overnight and the next day I could get some ink flow, but very sporadic. Finally, I tried turning the pen upside down (turned the nib 180 degrees) and I got good ink flow, which indicated to me that there was a problem with the underside of the nib contacting the feed to get ink to flow to the point. Now, I keep the pen horizontal, but start using it "upside down" - the nib that is, and get good ink flow from that position but sporadic from the correct angle. Any suggestions? I could send it to a "nib meister" for repair, and I would like the nib ground down to a fine from the current medium. The pen is too nice to keep writing upside down with the nib and it's frustrating. Any recommendations on a home fix or who to send it out for repair and grinding would be appreciated - and a contact website or email would surely help!

Edited June 6, 2013 by Boucheron Parker

[Indy_Pen_Dance]

Wouldn't a warranty cover something like this? If you can't write with a pen, the seller and manufacturer haven't fulfilled their part of the deal.

Yes it should be covered, but the main problem is most companies do not adjust the nibs once they are mounted and on the pen. As with the example it is luck of the draw when purchasing pens off the rack like this and the next pen could present the same problem, be worse or perfect. Purchasing from dealers such as Richard, eliminates that problem as all pens are tested and adjusted for alignment, smoothness and ink flow before they are shipped to the customer. It just doesn't get any better than opening a package, filling your new pen with ink and watching it glide across the paper leaving just the right amount of ink.

[amandapanda011]

Thanks for the advice! I spread the tines a bit and now the ink flow is much better.

[OcalaFlGuy]

I gotta give Richard credit.

 

That's the absolute best most understandable version of how to do that I've ever read and I've read it a brazeelyun different times. Much better for those of us that need to see it done with explanation.

 

Thanks Richard.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[BMG]

You can try to spread the tines slightly as follows...

 

(Just coming to this thread from another, which bore a link to this post.)

 

Thanks, Richard, for the tip. Do you have a similar one for *decreasing* ink flow?

[OcalaFlGuy]

Cross the tine tips under each other. Try hard not to contact the tip you're bending to the opposite tine and break the tip off.

 

Check the tine alignment with a loupe when you're done.

 

It make take a couple tries to get it right.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[BMG]

@OcalaFlGuy -- thanks for the suggestion. I've tried it with limited success. Maybe I just need practice.

 

For me it would be a boon to be able to adjust ink flow. It would be nice if each pen wrote "just right."