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Greetings everyone , This is my first post in this forum and I need your help. I want to learn hot to properly smooth a nib, without creating any flatspots, sharp edges etc. My issue is that most of the tutorials online recommend methods such as drawing figure 8's which often lead to flatspots. My goal is to learn how to remove material, in a way that the nib gets a well rounded shape. I did refer to Mr. Wim Geeraets's which was excelent and very informative. However no matter how smooth the nib turned out there was, always a spot that was scratchy and when i managed to smooth that spot another one (scratchy) appeared. If anyone would be kind enough to share any information or methods of smoothing nibs in way that no flatspots or edges corners appear, It would really help me and perhaps other members of this forum. Thanks in advance, Nestor

Hello All, I am a newbie and this was my first 3776. I have a Plaisir F that writes beautifully, but this new 3776 SF is so dry and scratchy it is unusable. I recently received a new Lamy AlStar with a scratchy F nib! I seem to be in a patch of bad luck. I have 3 other Al Stars that write beautifully. I ordered the pen from Japan and have emailed the seller, but was wondering if the collective knowledge base here knew anything that might help. Thanks so much in advance.

I bought a Pilot Metropolitan with a fine nib about a couple of months ago after getting to know it has a really smooth flow of writing. The pen had a very rough start. After a day or two, it eased up. But still when I draw a line from left to right, it goes smoothly, but when I do the reverse, it becomes scratchy and as well take off fibers if written on low quality paper. The same happens on a specific diagonal line too. I use Sheaffer Skrip Blue. I am kind of new to fountain pens and never faced this issue with my other pens. Any suggestions would be helpful.

I learned to write with a dip pen (basically, a 1/4" dowel with a nib holder and an inkwell) in Newcastle Upon Tyne and, scratchy as they were, I never fell out of love with writing with a fountain pen. My first real pen was a Parker 51. I now own several dozen pens and many (some might say too many) bottles of ink.

Hey all! My first post around here I recently received an unexpected windfall from work and decided to try pens from two brands I had not previously tried; one of which was a pen I had been particularly lusting after for quite some time. In this process, I also excluded a pen because its particular brand had a reputation for "scratchy" nibs... and I am now second guessing all this after what I received. So earlier this week I received in the mail a Sailor Pro Gear with rhodium accents and a lovely bicolour 21K nib (broad). I also received, which I was far more excited about, a Pelikan M805 Vibrant Blue, also with a broad nib. Most of what I had read about Pelikan nibs was that they felt like butter writing on glass, and most of what I had read about Sailor nibs was that they had "feedback" but were generally well-adjusted from the box and provided a pleasant writing experience. After inking the Sailor up, I noticed: -it puts ink onto paper with absolutely zero pressure; IE touch the nib to the paper and you can write -it feels a little like a fine mechanical pencil when I write with it - not at all unpleasant, but very different from my two Lamy 2000's or my Pilot Custom 823, which feel like... what I would imagine a fountain pen to feel like (IE nothing, if the paper is good) -it is extremely wet, yet somehow lays down a finer line than my Lamy 2000 medium nib although to be fair, I had expected something like this after reading about Japanese vs western nibs After inking up the Pelikan however... -I have to exert pressure (although to be fair not much) to make it apply ink to paper -when writing, it does *not* feel like a mechanical pencil like the Sailor... however nor does it feel like my two Lamy nibs (both 2000's, one medium and one extra fine) or my Pilot broad nib - it feels sluggish and although it does feel "smooth", it feels smooth in the same way your nib would feel if it were made of bacon fat writing on wax paper... it's smooth to be sure, but slow at the same time, and sluggish -it has definite stubbish qualities! Which although neither my Pilot nor Sailor have, both my Lamy nibs do, which leads me to believe Germans grind their nibs rather differently than other people... and I do like it My question is... Is "feedback" what some people equate to as "scratchiness"... because if so, this Sailor nib I just got is in absolutely no way unpleasant to write with. In fact, it is an absolute *joy* to write with - zero pressure required (why I got into fountain pens, I recently started having to take a lot of notes at my work and my hand cramps with ballpoint pens) and it writes beautifully. And it is nice and bouncy if you accidentally have a ballpoint moment and apply a bit of pressure by accident; you just get a fat line and a lot of ink where you had that moment When I got my Pilot 823 with a broad nib there was something definitely "off" with it, and lo and behold, the tines were not quite aligned right... it would write, but it felt scratchy on the downstroke. I spent a bit of time myself (I am blessed in having not just a loupe, but a Wild Heerburg microscope... which some nibmeisters might be jealous of ) and now that the tines are aligned, it will lay down ink with zero pressure (like my two Lamy nibs), and lacks the pencil-like feel that the Sailor nib has (again, like my Lamy nibs). I hemmed and hawed for a long time about the Vibrant Blue M805 and the Aurora 88 Nebulosa... and in the end I opted for the Pelikan a little bit because of ease of cleaning and such, but also the "scratchiness" reputation of Aurora scared me off a bit. But... my favourite two colours are purple and blue (in that order)... so my heart is still with the Nebulosa. And after writing with a Sailor nib that is both renowned for being "smooth" yet "feedbacky"... I wonder what to expect. What nibs do you find "feedbacky"? Or "scratchy"? Now that I have adjusted my Pilot #15 broad it is very smooth and feels like glass on good paper; it also feels pretty smooth on cheapo work paper. My Lamy 2000 XF requires zero pressure on good paper and writes smoothly on those; I have to be careful on cheap copy paper with it but if I am careful, it lays down a proper super fine line for margin comments and such. My favourite of the ones I own however is hands down my Lamy 2000 medium... on a smooth paper like Rhodia it feels like there isn't even paper underneath it; on cheapo paper it doesn't require the care the XF nib does and just writes comfortably, and it is wet, stubby, and easy to write with in a way no ballpoint of rollerball pen ever provided me with. I will probably do a comparison of all these nibs at some point as a result of this Anyway... "feedback" and "scratchiness" turned me off of one of my grail pens... and now I doubt it. Thoughts?

Hello All, I just received my Lamy Al-Star Graphite today with medium nib. I like the look, feel, weight, etc... but the nib is quite scratchy when writing. I also have a Safari which was also scratchy "out of the box." I tried the Safari again today after using the Al-Star and it definitely wasn't as scratchy as the new pen. I only have about a half dozen pens, but none have been scratchy except the Lamys. Is this a "trait" of the pen? Does it get better over time, and that's why my slightly older Safari is less noticeably scratchy than my brand new Al-Star? Thanks! edit: the scratchiness is on the upstroke and the right to left stroke

Hi all. Today I bought a Conway Stewart 466 lever filler from an antiques market. The pen is in nice condition and fills properly, but when writing with it it feels "scratchy" to me - at least compared to my TWSBI Eco(F). The pen has a 14ct gold nib(not sure of the size) and it is a flex nib. However, the nib looks like this: http://i.imgur.com/6rZpQNp.jpg?1 (Apologies for the slightly poor out-of-focus picture) Is the nib supposed to have that subtle "bend" in it at the end? Or am I just using a flex nib wrong? I gave the pen to my mother to try(she writes with a "straighter" grip with the pen more perpendicular to the paper if that makes sense) and she said it was fine but I could still hear it audibly scratching a fair amount. Is the nib at fault here or am I just failing to use a flex nib pen?

Hi, hopefully someone can give me some advice. Around Christmas I bought a Lamy AL-Star with an M nib and shortly after bought an F nib as a replacement as the M was skipping. The F I got felt scratchy but as everything else I've ever owned is bigger I figured that is just how F nibs are. I didn't like it and set myself about fixing the M - turns out the tines were touching and making it skip so I ran the tiniest bit of plastic between the tines and fixed it, now it works great! However, I prefer how the F nib looks, especially when annotating papers, I put it back on and find it still just as scratchy. I have realised this is only when I move the pen to the left, is there a fix for this? Thank you for anyone who can help I really want to like this pen!

Hello everyone, About a month ago, I bought a Sheaffer Snorkel Valiant and promptly returned it. That was the first fountain pen I'd ever bought for myself. It wasn't a very good experience (and I'm not whining about it either) and I was pretty disappointed. Then, fast-forward to three hours ago, the mailman rings my doorbell, I sign the receipt paper, and I whip out a box knife to unpackage my newest purchase. I'd bought it from a reputable fountain pen dealer in Wisconsin as a New Old Stock pen, and made sure that I had good communication with the seller. I play with the snazzy touchdown mechanism with water for five minutes, then fill it with Waterman Mysterious Blue... Without delay, the pen lays ink, but it is quite dry. The line is a faint shade of blue, and has gotten darker over the past two hours, but is also quite scratchy. I read that Waterman inks are supposed to be lubricating, but this pen is nowhere as smooth or as wet as my friend's $15 Pilot Metropolitan using the same ink. There doesn't look to be anything wrong with the pen, visibly I mean. Is this normal for a brand-new fountain pen to be scratchy and dry? I've only tested various fountain pens in stores and used vintage pens. Please help. I like this pen a lot and I hope to be able to use it for at least decades. By the way, it's a fine nib pen.

Hello everyone How often you've craved for a particular costly fountain pen? As a fellow pen lover, these moments of longing are quite frequent for me. Out of all these desires, a few materialise through months of penury and self deprivation, saving each penny by carefully substracting the same from daily home budget. There is the intense but sweet time of going through all the choices from online stores or local shops and selecting the desired model at the most appropriate price, ordering it and waiting anxiously for the pen to arrive. There is this tremendous anticipation and joy running through the body. Everything looks so positive and happy. Then the pen arrives, I open it, marvel at the beauty of a marvellous and precise instrument. I ink it up, draw a line on paper and WHAM. All my romanticism, all my happiness, all my effort stands vilified. The nib doesn't write like those famed nibs I was expecting, rather is one of the most scratchy nibs I have encountered. Now, how often you face this? I can take such below the belt turn of events with a broad smile, if, the pen is one of those 3$ Chinese pens, we more than half expect that while ordering. But the same thing, if it happens with a Waterman hemisphere, or a Sheaffer Taranis, or a cross century, or a Lamy 2000, how are you supposed to console yourself? Deep down my brain I know may be the nib can be tuned or salvaged. May be!!!! Are you kidding, how this 'may be' cropped up with so much care and so much fame of these companies? Are not they supposed to supply tested and super smooth nibs? Why I have to take up the stress of using micro mesh and loupe on my precious buy, even if it's mid range or even low range fountain pen? And I can assure you, these even happen with much higher range pens. Somehow Waterman, Lamy, Cross and any reputed non Chinese fountain pen makers must realise, it's our heart they are playing with. The pens must be tuned before being put on sell. Otherwise what advantage can they claim in this competitive market other than their reputation? Hope to know your experiences with such disappointing purchases. If that somehow help us to cope with these miniature disasters of our lives.

Hoping for any help in finding out about this. Git it some time ago, and all I know is it's a Monte Rosa,has - I think - Minte a Rosa etched on the cap, no cracks, nib says Monte Rosa, and on the end piece there's a dot( white?) and numbers which may be 0486. When I got it, the nib was a wee bit scratchy, and I tried to smooth a little, but left iy when I didn't seem to be making any progress, and didn't want to do damadpge. I'm pretty certain that a nib eister could have iy up and rock and rollin' in no time at all Anyway.....could anyone let me know what model it is? Have enclosed pictures as best ?I cab( eyes bad just now.) Thanks Alex PS I'm hoping to sell it....if there's anyone here who would like to give it a new home, that would be great....eBay is a hassle and my concentration isn't great. I'd much rather just a straightforward private sale. And please excuse me if its cheeky saying that here. I have no idea how much it's worth, nor ant memory of what ?I paid for it( again with the health stuff.....stroke affected memory)

I have a flex nib who don't want to write smoothly. I've examined the tip and everything seems to be alright in fact of alignment. The only thing i can think about is the sharpness of the inner part of the tines.. Is This a common behaviour? How i can fix the problem?

I just recently got into fountain pens so the only pens I have are a Pilot Metropolitan with a Medium nib and a Jinhao x450. I just bought a Goulet nib for the x450 because I wanted a fine nib on that pen.. Well dumb me also bought some 12000 micro mesh with the order which turned out to be a bad idea.. Even thou the nibs on both my pens the Pilot and the goulet nib were smooth I wanted them smoother.. So i decided to try to smooth them myself.. I quickly realized that I made a mistake after smoothing both pens just a tiny bit I had somehow made them both worse than they originally were..I didn't think that 12000 micro mesh would do much at all guess I was wrong.. So I've been trying to get them back to being atleast as smooth as they were but they are scratchy now like the edges of the tines are too sharp but I am afraid to wear too much tipping material away do anything else to them. I've gotten them decent but they are scratchy now when you go on diagonals. I know that a $15 Goulet nib and $15 metropolitan doesn't sound like much but I just went back to school at 30 and haven't been able to work so that $15 Goulet nib and metropolitan were like high end Mont Blanc pens to me since I'm broke lol. Argh so now I'm depressed and mad at myself for even fooling with the nibs. Anyone have any idea on how to smooth the edges between the tines so they are not scratchy without taking off anymore tipping material. Also does anyone have any experience with FPR #35 nibs vs Knox #6 K35 nibs vs Nemosine #6 nibs vs Goulet #6 nibs ? I want to buy some more nibs preferably Goulet nibs but at $15 a piece they are like 4 times the cost of my Jinhao even though they are pretty great nibs it seems. Thanks!

First time posting! I have two Lamys: a Safari and an Al-Star. Both of them did NOT work out of the box. I had to get a replacement F nib for the Safari because it was so scratchy (I didn't have any tools at the time). Now my Al-Star has the same issue: scratchiness. I do have the tools now: brass sheets and loupe. But even with all the videos out there and my tinkering, the issue is not going away. When I received the new F nib from Goulet Pens for the Safari (free replacement), it writes BEAUTIFULLY. I am not keen on ordering another replacement nib, as GP has done so much for me already. So help me out here, y'all: what's the next step? Thank you! Best, Emily

I've read a lot on here regarding the perceived scratchiness of extra fine nibs. It appears to be a very real phenomenon. What I haven't come across so much are the theories and facts as to why this occurs. I understand how it can and does occur in flex nibs, ie the inside edge of tine can only be smoothed a tiny amount before causing ink to lose connection with the paper. I don't understand how it happens with nails. I understand the difference between feedback and scratchiness. In the main it is scratchiness I am concerned about. However, if you've come across a particular nib made of a particular material that offers reduced vibratory feedback when compared to other nibs in the extra fine (or finer) category, I'm keen to know about it. I'm seeking a nail nib in extra fine for everyday use as my most frequently used note taking pen (possibly a Platinum 3776 Century - maybe even ultra extra fine). I naturally write small. The Lamy fine is too wide with the wet inks I prefer to use. I do understand the stepped difference between Western and Japanese fines. Could people please offer a dash or two of experiential wisdom? Subjective/objective comparisons between nibs you've tried or own, based on the above info, would be most helpful. Alternative pen/nib suggestions are welcome, as are threads on the topic that I may not have come across yet. I don't have access to brick and mortar stores locally that sell a reasonable range of pens.

I have a slightly scratchy Pelikan M800 and was wondering whether there were any good nib technicians in the UK. I have seen lots of references to John Sorowka (Oxonian), but I can't seem to find any contact details for him, try as I might. Can anyone help with contact details for nib technicians in the UK?

I'm new to FPN, but I've used fountain pens for a long time now and I'm prepared to help others. First lets get ink flow adjusted.[NOTE THAT THESE ACTIONS WILL MOST LIKELY VOID THE WARRANTY OF YOUR PEN. I REFUSE TO TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE BRAKING/ INEFFECTIVENESS OF YOUR PEN. YOU FOLLOW MY ADVICE AT YOUR OWN RISK] You probably want to detach the nib if you can, as it is less likely to break if you do. Wash it and place it on a hard surface that is covered with a cloth or tissues. Place it wih the nib facing upwards and press down with your index finger until it splits down the middle(not breaking but split down the line that splits the tines). Hold for ten seconds then attach back to the feed. Rinse and repeat until satisfactory. Next, the scratchiness. The main cause for scratchiness is misalignment. If you modified the ink flow, the alignment may be slightly off. Take off the nib and wash it(again). Then, grip the shoulders of the nib and look at it so that you see the tip of the nib. Push one of the times up or down until fully aligned. With a non detachable nib, you can do the alignment with the same method. But for the ink flow press the nib against paper so it splits in the same fashion. Hold for ten seconds and rinse and repeat until satisfactory. Again, you may need to realign the tines. Thanks for reading!

Hello, Denizens of the FPN, I'm fairly new into fountain pens, it being only about 6 months since I got into them, and as my third pen, I purchased a Monteverde Artista Crystal. I inked it up with some of J.Herbin's Les Subtitles ink and it's been working well. But I've noticed that while the downstroke, upstroke and left stroke are smooth, the right stroke suffers from varying degrees of scratchiness. I checked the nib and discovered the tines to be somewhat misaligned, and in fact, the whole nib seems to be "crooked" in relation to the feed. But I can't adjust the nib or take it apart since it's almost impossible to disassemble, unlike the feed and nib on my pilot metropolitan. Putting pressure on the nib or trying to bend it back with my fingers seems to work for about 5 or 6 letters before it becomes scratchy again. Other then sending the pen back for repair, what do you suggest I try to do? Thanks in advance. P.S. Sorry about the wall of text.

Since, I do spend a fourth of my weekends on fpn browsing through reviews, I could not resist putting across a review of a pen that is universally loved and most excellently reviewed. My pen was a EF nib-QC victim at first, with a seemingly snug piston. However, the superb LAMY India customer service offered by an Indian retailer chain - William Penn, made sure that the nib was replaced with a smooth F-nib. I also have replicated the content with some additional pictures in my blog as the image upload size is limited by this free photo-sharing tool. Below is a link to the same: LAMY 2000 story So here it goes: Motivation This might sound pretty clichéd.. but it is actually true. If you love fountain pens, it is difficult to stay away from the Lamy 2000 for long. The 2000 is often quoted to have a timeless design, a masterful construction and a rather envious efficiency. And, it comes with a small 14k platinum-plated gold nib. The first of the Lamy 2000s are said to have been launched in 1966 and have well succeeded to become the flagship product of the company. To get the 2000 designed, Lamy had drawn a joint-project with a free-lancer (a top designer in the industrial space during the 1960s), Gerd Alfred Müller – of Braun fame. Incidentally, he was one of the first salaried designers of Braun and one of the advocates of the Bauhaus movement (‘form follows function’ maxim). And the project ended up with a piston-filler fountain pen made out of rigid fiberglass-reinforced makrolon polycarbonate and brushed stainless steel along with a gold nib. The Package (6/6) The L2k arrived in a small tri-folded black cardboard box (with a thick paper outer-sleeve), that locks the third fold on a silver colour plate bearing the ‘LAMY’ logo. These folds reveal the pen resting on a zig-zag felt-like paper floorboard along with a leaflet/manual. http://s25.postimg.org/fik8ajzfz/DSC_1837.jpg Design – Capped (6/6) The pen in its final elements apparently bestows a fluidic design. Even though it is often quoted to have an understated appearance with the brushed black makrolon matter, I feel that that’s the way the pen truly differentiates itself from others. The spring loaded clip made out of brushed-steel, is both efficient and stunning at the same time. http://s25.postimg.org/yz4xx2ujz/DSC_1841.jpg Design – Un-capped (5/6) Then there is LAMY embossed on one of the mount-sides of the clip, with GERMANY 2 written on its underside. As per some FPN posts, the GERMANY 1 or 2 could refer to the cavity number of the die in which the clip was made. Once uncapped, the pen depicts a engineering marvel, the one without boundaries. Concealing all the seams of individual parts starting right from the piston knob and ending with the nib, the lamy 2000 plays an effortless symphony, from the blackness of makrolon body through the subtle set of glassy ink windows (0.25 cm) towards the silvery brushed-stainless steel grip section ending with a hooded metallic nib (14k – Gold: Platinum plated). And that’s when you do realize a splendid piece of industrial design, by Müller! I do find the snap-cap a blessing, when it comes to taking quick notes. Once uncapped, the pen becomes quite susceptible to rolling and falling off from smooth surfaces with a little hint of slope. [That’s why probably a Minus – 1] http://s25.postimg.org/ctpfkityn/DSC_1850.jpg There is a stainless steel disc adorning the end of piston knob, ending the sweet sonnet of an eternal design with a silvery look which once started with the steely grip and clip. Filling System (6/6) The piston knob is adequately large and quite comfortable to operate. The brushed surface ascertains a firm grip. Initially, the piston knob was too snug for my comfort, but it worked like a charm after lubricating the piston seal. Infact, it now is apparently smoother than the nib itself. More on it later. The pen draws and expels ink through its breather hole (below pic), located on the underside of the hood. Rather, the mechanism gushes ink in or out with remarkable efficiency. The ink capacity is said to be around ~ 1.4 – 1.5 mL. http://s25.postimg.org/yrvjp64of/DSC_1901.jpg Physics of it (with a similar sized Pilot Custom Heritage 92/91) (6/6) I did copy the weights shamelessly from Goulet Pens, since I lack a fine weighing instrument, not a writing one though . From the perspective of writing comfort, I would prefer the whole 25 grams and keep the pen posted. For short notes, I am comfortable to use the pen un-posted. Dimensionally, it is quite similar to a pilot custom heritage 91/92 and is rather a medium sized pen. The hooded nib seems small but an elusive unification with the metal grip gives the pen a unexpected leverage with a somewhat bottom heavy design. So you might never feel the absence of a big nib. Capped Length ~ 14 cm Uncapped Length ~ 12.5 cm Posted Length ~ 15.4 cm Nib Leverage ~ 0.75 cm Total Weight ~ 25 g Body Weight ~ 15 g http://s25.postimg.org/m5bhhh6i7/DSC_1886.jpg Nib (5/6) This is the complete nib-section which is hidden under the hood. It’s a rather small nib but to reiterate, it’s a supremely efficient and an effective design. And thanks to Müller, apart from the most elegant of appearances, LAMY also managed to save some costs on the gold part of the nib. Mine was an EF nib and was yet another QC victim [Minus –1]. I did smoothen it up, but again the angularly-varying nib widths were not pertaining to my taste. But thanks to Lamy India Customer Service – by William Penn, they replaced it with a F nib in three weeks, totally free of charge. I was assured by them, if any Lamy is within a year of purchase (from anywhere across the globe), William Penn will happily service the pen at zero cost. The replaced nib is quite smooth. I believe it’s one of the older pieces in their service stock and it draws a line quite similar to a pilot FM nib or a pelikan EF. http://s25.postimg.org/6eqenun8v/DSC_1875.jpg Disassembly (5/6) The best part of the pen is the ease of disassembly without a need of a tool. (The only part in which you would probably need a tool is probably pushing out the piston rod and seal out of the barrel) The steel grip section can be unscrewed off from the barrel in a clockwise manner, with the piston end on top. Be careful when you push out or push in the nib section, for I had used a cloth to hold the nib + feed while gently pushing out the nib. While putting it in, I would suggest making sure that the convex opening of the grip section is well-aligned with the nib and feed faces the breather hole. It should smoothly fit-in, else it’s not aligned. The nib can be easily damaged during this exercise and secondly, there are multiple o-rings – metal (grip section) and rubber ones (nib section) to take care of. [Minus –1] I recommend staying away from the force (forcing the nib section in), even when The force is with you! The piston knob can be screwed off in a quite similar manner of operation. After a stop, once it’s rotated anti-clockwise from top a few clicks are heard and it comes out completely revealing a plastic internal end cap for this version. http://s25.postimg.org/72unt1wkv/DSC_1864.jpg Since, my piston knob was very snug from the beginning, I took the liberty of disassembling the pen to apply some silicone grease on the interiors of the barrel, with an ear-bud. After turning the piston knob in and out for a few times, it was magically butter-smooth to operate. I referred to this video by Brian Goulet. Picture here. Economic Value (5/6) I was able to win the pen at USD 120 on an online auction. I am not sure whether I could have got it for less. It probably sells at a street price of USD 150-160 on the internet and retails at USD 200+ in India. And post the nib replacement, I am pretty happy with the pen. Overall(5.5/6) Know what! If you haven’t already, you should get it. It deserves a place in your collection. PS – It was 1966 not 68 http://s25.postimg.org/rr7jwe2wf/DSC_1894.jpg Love to follow :: References https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/227631-lamy-2000-and-the-origins-of-lamy-design/ Applying silicone grease for the piston seal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDJHTWD8GPY Thank you for going through this review. I hope you enjoyed it. Thanks, Sonik

Hello, I bought a brand new Sailor Pro Gear Imperial Black FP with medium nib. But I have a problem with it. The Ink flow is very poor.When I write with very very lower angle and press hard, it is ok. Using Normal angle, higher angle and light pressure caused problem. I checked the nib tines, I didn't see a misalignment. It writes scratchy and dry. What do you offer about this problem? I ask your help, please. Best regards. Cengiz PS. I attached a writing sample.

I find that flexible dip nibs are very scratchy and railroad a lot. I have the following nibs: Brause L'ecoliere NibBrause 66EFBrause Rose NibVintage Gillott 404Gillott 404 NibLeonardt Copying Nib DP33Hunt 108 dipped in Noodler's inks, and Parker Quink inkon Nature's Wheat-based Paper Can anyone shed light on this and suggest solutions to get smoother, uninterrupted writing with line width variation? The first thing is I don't expect this, because these are supposed to be a useable selection of implements.

New to posting, old to fountain pens. If you have a cursive italic nib on a fountain pen (ideally an excellent nib custom ground by one of the best nibmeisters) could you let me know how scratchy sounding the cursive italic sounds compared to a smooth round nib and also if you have it, a stub nib. I love the line the cursive italic produces but find the sound somewhat bothersome when writing in a quiet room. It sounds a bit as though I am trapped in Les Liaisons dangereuses with a quill pen but without the romantic drama. I realize the solution might simply be to play music in the background but am wondering if this is something others have noticed and found bothersome? The two nibs in question are both gold nibs, both with custom cursive italic nibs--one is a Montblanc and the other is a Waterman Le Man 200. For comparison my round nibs are completely silent, and the sound I am hearing is a bit louder or at least scratchier than that produced by my Lamy Safari 1.1 stub nib. And is there a way to make them a wee bit quieter? And would a custom stub nib have been a much quieter choice (if so, how close to silent are they?) Many thanks for any insights.

A few months back I purchased a vintage (c. 1950s) Aurora 88 Nikargenta from what appeared to be a well regarded seller off eBay but when the pen arrived it was hugely disappointing. The piston leaked, the tines were completely out of alignment and I suspected the iridium on the nib was probably shot. To her credit the seller adjusted her price downward by an agreed amount and I set out to have the pen restored. Mike Masuyama restored the piston and tweaked, tuned and smoothed the nib. I dreamed of this classic beauty smoothly scrolling across the page, flexing gracefully to create elegant lines, letters, etc. Well, 8 weeks later the pen arrived and the work has been done but honestly the nib is still a bit of a rough ride for me. It may just be the nature of these nibs, perhaps i'm too heavy handed...I am unsure. I hate the idea of letting this pen go and before I do I thought I would see if anyone here had any thoughts on these pens, the issues i've described, perhaps even an Aurora 88 expert who could help me understand if the issue is me or the pen. Thanks!

I recently purchased a Lamy Safari fine nib as my re-introduction to the world of fountain pens. I have had a couple observations/issues, though: -The pen writes extremely broad lines, especially on cheaper paper. It is definitely not what I would consider a fine nib, it seems more like a full-fledged medium. On better paper the performance is finer, but it still seems rather broad. (I have used an admittedly small sample of inks: Lamy Blue, Noodler’s 54th and Noodler’s Bad Blue Heron (the Noodler’s were definitely worse for line width, and also terrible nib creep!) ). -The nib seems scratchy. There is a definite scratchy noise when writing, not matter on what type of paper. This is alleviated somewhat if I hold the pen at an extremely low angle, but if I write at what I would consider my normal angle (about 60 degrees or so) there is a sound, and also a feeling, that occurs when writing. My questions is, are those two conditions normal for this pen? I was made to understand that writing with a fountain pen should be smooth, which is how I remember it from years past. Having been using ballpoints for quite some time, coming back to fountain pens is indeed smoother, but not as smooth as I remember it, and I certainly don’t remember the scratchy noise and feedback. And, as a related aside, are gold nibs generally smoother than steel nibs? I know that might be a can of worms, and there indeed may be no actual consensus, but I was curious...

Ok. So i got the assortment of nibs from lamy. Namely the 1.5 and 1.9 mm italic nibs. My question is, are they supposed to be so scratchy?!? I have a 1.1 mm goulet stub in my konrad, and its great!!! Ive tried smoothing the 1.5 a bit, but not much. Didnt wanna damage it because ive never smoothed an italic nib. I know my goulet 1.1 is a stub italic so it has very rounded edges. Are the lamys cursive italics and dont have as much roundness on the outside points? Im kind of disappointed. If i press a bit while writing for more shading im getting a thin saturated line in the middle of my line on the downstroke... What am i doing wrong?!? I know there are three italic nibs... the stub italic, the cursive italic and a tgird the pretty much has sharp points on the outside edges... Lamys are listed as calligraphy italic... dont know what that means. Tell me there is nothing wrong with the nib and its just me... lol Thanks!!!!