Urgent Help: Nib Tines Sprung :(

March 5, 2012

Hi All,

I received a joyous vintage MB with what I would characterize as a wed noodle nib. It is a push button filler and in my eagerness to fill it I mistakenly pressed down on the nib when filling it in the ink well. As a result the tines have sprung!

I have tried pushing them back together but have failed and this is such a soft nib that it would be best left in the hands of an expert and someone with a loupe to make sure its adjusted correctly.

The softness of the tines makes a manual hand adjustment rather impossible (with a sturdier nib its easy to push them back together but with this one I simply can't make them stay tight).

Can anyone suggest a repair person in North America who can handle the demands of re-adjusting a super soft flexy nib?

I am absolutely devastated that I sprung the tines.

March 5, 2012

Ouch! I can understand how that must feel. You have my sympathies.

I have never had that happen to me but based on the repair work represented on this page http://www.nibs.com/beforeandafter.htm, I think sending them a picture and getting an estimate would be a good start. I have a Namiki Falcon modified to oblique italic with added flex from John Mottishaw and its a dream to write with.

Best of luck with the repair. It would be nice if you could share before and after pictures.

Salman

March 5, 2012

Ugh, this is bad luck!

I think an experienced person would achieve the best results here. In the US you have quite a choice where to send your nib, there's Greg Minuskin, Mike Matsuyama, Richard Binder, John Mottishaw (and sure some more people I don't know)... being located on the other side of the pond, I don't have an awful lot of experience with them myself, but from what you can read here they all do a great job.

Here's some pictures of nib repairs from John Mottishaw's website which I browsed recently: nibs befoer & after

Your nib surely doesn't look worse than some of those... o.o

The best of luck with your pen!

March 5, 2012

Thanks for the replies.

I managed to calm down after some hours.

Luckily the damage is not severe, I just sprung the tines but because its extreme-flexy nib they will not go back together. I tried pushing them with my fingers but this did not work. (I have done this kind of simple repair on my other pens but they are stiffer nibs and respond easier).

After my amateur repair attempt now one tine is above the other one so it needs to be adjusted by someone with a loupe and the correct skill.

I spoke to Mike Masuyama and he is very confident he can repair it back to normal. He said in this situation you have to remove the nib from the feed and then only can you get it back to normal otherwise the feed is adding resistance to the metal. So I am feeling better but the only problem is that it will cost $$$.

Its my first experience with a wet noodle nib, I didn't realise they are so delicate. I just hope the repairs will not affect the flexibility.

Here are some pics ....

p.s. push button seems to be a much superior, and faster, system to piston.

March 6, 2012

Ouch I feel your pain.

There are plenty of repairers around on here. Some who have already been mentioned, and others that you can find in the Repair Q&A forums. I'm confident that it's fixable and wish you the very best of luck with it.

March 6, 2012

Any of the afore mentioned nib workers should be able to fix things. I have a preference towards John but to each their own. Mike is also fantastic and has worked on many of my pens!Having a quick look at your pictures, be reassured that it's a common enough problem and indeed easily repairable.

You won't even know it's been repaired... just be careful not to do it again... (says me who umm... has done it several times from 'testing' the limits of flex)

Edited March 6, 2012 by tanalasta