Tool To Modify Ebonite Nibs - Suggestions Please?

December 9, 2014

Hello,

I would like to modify some new Noodler's Ahab pens as Christmas gifts. The first-step in fixing a new Ahab feed is (obviously) hacking the Ebonite feed so it writes properly.

But I find this to be a time consuming chore. Certainly not something I want to do to a bunch of Ahab pens in a row.

The basic feed hack consists of cutting away a small part of the rib channel so the long ink channel that runs lengthwise down the feed and the concentric rib channel meet.

A picture may help at this point...

There are rib channel barriers on both the top and the bottom of the feed. You start increasing flow by opening up one or two rib channels and proceed to open more channels if need-be after testing the pen. Once ink-flow is good, I complete the simiple modification by heat-setting the feed and nib. Sometimes I willl do one more step before heat-setting and grind the nib for more flex (EMF mod).

The problem is the process of cutting away the rib channel material that is blocking the connection with the the channel running lengthwise along the feed.

I use a small X-Acto knife with a small pointed blade to very carefully chip away at the blockage material bit-by-bit. I have to be careful to not break off the rib itself. The Ebonite (hard rubber) feed material is quite brittle.

The solution?

What I am looking for is some sort of saw or file to remove this material blocking the rib channel quickly, easily and safely. I don't think a knife will do it quickly. The feed material is brittle and you really need something that abrades the material away.

I measured the rib channel width with a feeler gauge set and found the channel is about 0.01" (0.25mm) wide. A 0.01" feeler gauge slides between the ribs fairly easily while just making friction contact with ribs on both sides. I think a saw or file of some sort will have to be narrower than 0.01" to be able to work without the risk of damaging or breaking the feed ribs - perhaps 0.008" (0.2mm) in width.

What if I were to use a 0.008" feeler gauge and heated it so it would remove the blockage material by melting it?

Does anyone know of a tool that will do this work? I do not have the tools to fabricate something,from scratch, and my eyesight is not so good to begin with.

Any suggestions are most appreciated.

Thank You & Happy Holidays, David

December 9, 2014

You may google 'ultra-fine razor saw' and 'photo etched saw'. May be these will suit your needs. The razor one I measured is about 0.15 mm. The cut will be a bit wider.

December 9, 2014

Also I can recommend Olfa Art-knife (AK1). It is allows to work with more precision than X-Acto knife.

December 10, 2014

You may google 'ultra-fine razor saw' and 'photo etched saw'. May be these will suit your needs. The razor one I measured is about 0.15 mm. The cut will be a bit wider.

@fromthecrowd,

Thank you for your reply.

* Fine Razor Saws:

I do have a fine Zona brand saw. I Googled looking for finer saws but I have not been able to find anything suitable - not even a saw as fine as 0.15" as you mentioned. Nevertheless, a 0.15" saw will not work with the Noodler's Ahab Ebonite feed, it is too thick in my opinion. The concentric rib channel is 0.1" wide.

* Olfa Art Knife:

I did find the Olfa Art Knife model AK-1. It looks like a nice knife and it gets great reviews. At $8-$10 USD for a knife and five blades it is affordable. However I do not see any real advantage to the Olfa knife in this application. I already have some nice knives and blades for fine work - that is what I am currently struggling with.

* Photo-Etched Saw:

I did not know about photo-etched saw blades before your post - thank you.

I found only two photo-etched saw products after searching Amazon, ebaY, and the Web in-general.

The first one is by "Model Car Garage" P/N MCG-2238. It is not exactly clear from their web page for this product just how thick these saws are. However after an Email reply from Model Car Garage, I can confirm their model MCG-2238 photo-etched saws are 0.85 inch thick - far too thick for this application.

Link to Model Car Garage P/N MCG-2238:

http://www.modelcargarage.com/store/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=356

The second set photo-etched saws I found was by the Japanese model-maker Tamiya, It is their model 74094**008.

Rather than try to describe what these blades look like, here is a picture of the product scraped from the Web:

Link to Tamiya P/N 74094**008:

http://www.tamiyausa.com/items/tools-accessories-80/tools-74000/photo-etched-craft-saw-74094

The Tamiya package for these blades specifies a blade thickness of 0.1mm. The blades have what Tamiya calls "grips" which can be folded over to increase support. These folded-over "grips" allow the blades to be fitted into a standard clutch-type handle. The Tamiya handle that will accept these blades is P/N 74040.

A package of five of these blades is around $8-$12 USD plus shipping. These blades get mixed reviews with some of the negative reviews saying the blades break easily. I don't understand why these blades should break easily. My 0.1mm feeler gauge is stiff but very bendable and not brittle at all. Maybe they want these saw blades to be stiffer.

The Tamiya blade thickness of 0.1mm is too thin in my opinion for cutting the Noodler's Ahab/Konrad feed rib channels which are around 0.25mm (0.1") wide (measured with a feeler gauge set). A saw blade of 0.2mm (0.008") width or twice the width of the Tamiya blades would be better. Unfortunately it does not appear Tamiya offers these blades in any thickness other than 0.1mm.

Conclusion So-Far:

The thin razor saws I can find are too thick, something I knew already after doing a bit of research. The photo-etched blades are new to me. But of the two photo-etched saw products I could find, one is too thick, and the other is too thin. However, since my search results for photo-etched saws to-date brackets the required thickness, the photo-etched saws deserve more research.

I am starting to think fabricating a tool of some-sort may be worth a try. I am thinking about how I may rough-up or cut the edge of a feeler gauge to act as a file or saw. I do have a Dremel tool with some rotary saw and grinding attachments. I'll give this some more thought.

Edited December 10, 2014 by Drone

December 10, 2014

My razor saw is not 0.15''. It is 0.15 mm.

Look also at this shop http://www.micromark.com

Especially ultra fine saw blade. They proclaim 0.005 inch thickness, but this is obviously a mistake. It will be about 0.15 mm.

All these blades must be used carefully for they do break easily, just like the shaving blades.

A home made variant is possible to make from safe shaving blade:

http://america.dp.ua/secrets/instruments/microsaw/index.htm

The page is in Russian, but the vital information is that you get the teeth by gently hitting the blade cutting edge with a sharp knife. Resulting cut is 0.2 mm.

Please, be careful with the blades!

December 10, 2014

Look also at hiroboy etching saw 0.15

A possible solution can be to put two 0.1 mm etched saws into a single holder.

Edited December 10, 2014 by fromthecrowd

December 11, 2014

Look also at hiroboy etching saw 0.15

A possible solution can be to put two 0.1 mm etched saws into a single holder.

@fromthecrowd, Thank you for staying with me on this thread. Your suggestions have been excellent.

I like your suggestion to put two 0.1mm etched saw blades back-to-back to get a 0.2mm cutting edge. I think this will work as the blades are acid-etched, not with tool-ground edges. So the two blades should mate together well.

However, from all the set of etched saw-blades I have been able to find to-date, Tamiya and Hobby Design (more on this below), have all different sized blades in the set. This will require the purchase of two sets just to get one back-to-back usable set of one type of 0.2mm cutting edge.

Then there is the question of how the thew 0.1mm blades will work back-to-back in a knife holder. I think gluing the two blades together with a pliant (more-flexible, not rigid) adhesive such as hot-glue vs. the likes of CA or Epoxy would be a good choice. Also, hot-glue may allow un-gluing and/or repositioning the blades with a bit of re-applied heat. Also gluing the blades together may make them more robust - less prone to breakage.

I did find the "hiroboy" 0.15mm thick "etching saw" blades you mention. These are apparently sourced from a brand "Hobby Design". The part number seems to be "HD02-0152". This set of blades are roughly the same price as the Tamiya P/N 7094 0.1mm thick blades. Here's a picture of the HD02-0152 blades scraped from the Web:

And a pic of the HD02-0152 part packaging:

After a bit more searching, I did find a 0.1mm version of the Hobby Design etched saw blades, P/N HD02-0150 (not HD02-0152). But these are hard to find in-stock. Here's a pic of the HD02-0150 0.1mm packaging:

There is another set of Hobby Design 0.15mm straight and long etched blades P/N HD05-0003. But the cutting teeth on this set of blades look too coarse for this application. Here's a pic scraped (again) from the Web:

By the way, it looks like this company "Hobby Design" may be in Mainland China. The Web site for Hobby Design seems to be:

http://www.hobbydesign.com.cn

But the above Web site is not responding with any content at my post time. So I may be wrong about the site URL.

Edited December 11, 2014 by Drone

December 11, 2014

Sometime ago I ordered an Ahab and wanted to EMF mode it (planning ahead what instruments could be used for that purpose). But upon arrival the pen turned out to be so perfect and such a good writer, that I decided not to tinker with it and wait for another one. After reading all kinds of critical observations I was very surprised to find such a beautiful and functional pen.

I have a custom made micro saw made from a razor blade with laser profiled teeth. Some years ago it was bought at a local scale model club. I could try it on the Ahab feed. But unfortunately this can not be done before the holidays.

When things are so small many operations that we are used to in the macro world bring quite unexpected results. The cut may turn out to be wider or even narrower (because of material deformations). So it is mostly the matter of trial and error.

Of course the prices on specialized instruments are insanely high. Before buying one of them it is desirable to test how the material behaves. I would advise to try a simple cheap razor blade turned into a saw by a knife first. On eBay there are lots of these blades. Look for 'double edge safety razor blade'. More convenient are 'single edged razor blades - 10 pack'. They feature a ready made handle at the top. Try a self made saw on a piece of scrap plastic. I think by applying more and less pressure with the knife while making the teeth you can also control the breadth of the cut.

Or may be you can just use a heated x-Acto blade? It's worth a try.

Edited December 11, 2014 by fromthecrowd

December 12, 2014

I thought, may be its worth asking this question in the REPAIRS section of the forum. All the professionals with experience of ebonite works should be there.

December 12, 2014

http://www.thurstonmfg.com/jewelers-slotting-saws.html

i have always been curious about setting up a rig with these to make feed modifications

December 12, 2014

http://www.thurstonmfg.com/jewelers-slotting-saws.html

i have always been curious about setting up a rig with these to make feed modifications

Looks like an overkill at first glance. But on the other hand. Making a rig for comfortable work may provoke numerous experiments with your own ebonite feeds. I am beginning to think - why not a make a good ebonite feed for Pilot FA nib, for instance?

December 13, 2014

Looks like an overkill at first glance. But on the other hand. Making a rig for comfortable work may provoke numerous experiments with your own ebonite feeds. I am beginning to think - why not a make a good ebonite feed for Pilot FA nib, for instance?

I have wondered the same thing for some time. I think there is a niche market for Ebonite feeds to fit the Pilot pens (e.g., Falcon and pens with FA nibs) and the Stipula T-Flex and Flash.

July 17, 2015

i might be necroing an old topic, but i did find this: http://www.1999.co.jp/eng/10001624

the language on the page isn't the most clear but it seems to indicate that it has a 0.25mm wide blade, so that might work for those feed rib channels.

i'm also trying to modify some feeds. i'm working to replicate the feeds of the old waterman pens.

http://0101.nccdn.net/1_5/397/2d8/1da/460wa.JPG

i mostly need a tool to create the 1.5mm wide square cut main channel that tapers up to meet the feed tip.

perhaps a tiny square file or some type of small cutting wheel for a dremel style tool. i'm not sure.

for the three thin channels that run down it i will use a 0.25mm razor saw (if i can find one like yourselves) to start them and a thinner saw like:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004Z2U4?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_1&smid=A1KRI4CSQ591L0

to make the bottom of those cuts extra thin.