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After seeing a lot of glowing reviews about various PenBBS pens and especially about a good quality and consistency of their nibs, I bought a number of those pens myself. Unfortunately, in my case I found that while the pens themselves are indeed good, the nibs are basically unusable: even with well behaved inks (I use Pilot black & blue-black) the nibs have hard starts and skip constantly. One of the problems is clearly due to the fact that the tines are very tight near the tip of the nib and there is not even a slight gap between them, which seem to prevent a proper ink flow. Note: I have other good pens (like Pilot Metropolitan, Platimun Preppy and Lamy Safari, each pen both in fine and medium sizes) that write very well and in all of them I see a slight gap between the tines for the whole length of a slit - it is a bit wider for medium nibs and a bit smaller for fine ones, but it is always present. So it is not the case that I am unable to see the gap in PenBBS' case - it really is missing there, or that it is normal for a nib to have tight tines. I tried to floss between the tines to create a slight gap (using 0.002" (0.05mm) & 0.003" (0.08mm) gauge feelers), but no matter how I tried the tines always snapped back together - in the end I just ruined one of the nibs by applying too much pressure and bending the very tip of the nib (the part which contains the tipping alloy) and creating a 'V' shape where the two prongs of the 'V' are tips with the alloy and the point where they meet is a point a couple of millmeters higher between the tines - and at this point even after all the brutal handling the tines were *still* tight together, without any gap. I forced the tips back with pliers (nothing to loose here anyway) and the nib does write - though now it creates a much wider line: and it still skips constantly. After all those adventures I lost my illusions about PenBBS' nibs and understood that if I want to use the pens, I have to buy properly made nibs separately. Now, there are a number of problems here: first, I have read that PenBBS uses #6 nibs, which means that feed's diameter is supposed to be 6mm. But in reallity PenBBS' feed is 6.5mm in diameter in it's widest point (the part near the nipple) and 6.35mm-6.4mm in other parts (the feed is not completely cylindrical - it is a bit flattened). So the question is: can this difference between the specs for #6 nib and PenBBS' feed create a real problem? Another isse: I saw a Pablo Carrasco (who is the owner of fpnibs.com) in one of his videos (here) explain a difference between the standard and BF Jowo's nibs: standard Jowo nibs & feeds are curved, and BF nibs are straight. Looking at PenBBS' feed I see that it is a straight feed, but the nib is curved (see the attached pictures). First of all, it make me wonder: maybe this is one of the causes for the poor ink flow - is it possible that the curve of the nib prevents a proper contact with the feed? And in general, why in the world did PenBBS decide to use a curved nib with a straight feed!? In addition - and this is probably the most important question now: which nib should I buy - a standard one or a straight one? Or maybe it would be better to buy Bock's nib instead of Jowo's one: as I understand, Bock's 'standard' nibs (unlike Jowo's 'standard' ones) are straight, and so maybe would be a better choice. In particular, I have some hopes that maybe I can replace PenBBS' feed with a different feed, but BF Jowo nibs sold by fpnibs.com are sold without a matching feed. So if it happens that a straight nib matches PenBBS' better, then if I buy Bock's nib I will have a better chance of success: if the nib matches PenBBS feed well enough then I will use the original feed with the new nib. If it doesn't, then there is still a chance that a replacement feed will fit. If I buy BF Jowo nib though and the nib doesn't fit the feed, then I am stuck. What are your experiences and opinions about all this? Here is how the feed looks: And here is the nib:

I have Walh-Eversharp equi-poised fountain pen, it has stub nib. At least I think it is stub, nib leaves wide stroke down and thin sideways. But I just can't make it work with my handwriting! No matter how I try to hold it, it makes it look horrible... Nib is really flexible, wet and smooth. So nothing wrong with the nib, more about "user error". How stub nib should be hold when writing? Do I need to write fast or slow? Also, is there some script that is suitable this kind of nibs? If everything else fails, is it possible to regrind this stub to needlepoint? It has almost no tipping material at all. Also, I don't want to ruin perfectly good nib just because it doesn't fit my writing style. I would really love to learn write with this nib, I love the pen so much and nib is really nice writer, except I don't like the outcome... Some pictures to help clarifying things.

I am very new to this hobby from a hobby perspective, but I have used and had a preference for fountain pens for years. I have never before now actually taken the plunge and purchased a nice pen, so all of my previous experience has been with very cheap pens. I started out with a "Franklin Covey Freemont" which was made by cross but branded as private label. It was nice, and was enough for me to fall in love with fountain pens, but it just didn't hold up as a daily writer. I used it for several months, and then the cap got loose and whatnot, so I now leave it in a drawer. I have since used those super cheap Pilot Varsity pens, which are great for $3 but they are still cheap. Today my brand new Lamy 2000 EF came in the mail. With much excitement I purged it and then filled it with Noodlers Black ink and grabbed a sheet of paper. I want to like it, really I do, but I think something isn't right. The pen is BEAUTIFUL, (in a minimalist, understated kind of way) and it feels amazing in my hand, but it doesn't write like I think it should. It keeps skipping mid-word, and feels like I am scratching the paper with a sewing needle. Is it possible that I am just doing something wrong? Do you think I have gotten a lemon? How can I tell if the nib is messed up? I am an engineer, and would love to BECOME a nibmeister, but I currently have NO experience, and no idea where to start. Eventually I want to be skilled enough to work on my own pens, but I have a few years to go yet. Can someone help me out with what to look for, before I simply send it to Lamy and risk $10 and the embarassment of them telling me that it is fine? I love the pen, but I think my varsity pens write smoother... That shouldn't be right! Thanks guys!