Nib Smoothing

[P.D.Peterson]

I have just recently bought a Sailor Profit with a medium 1911 nib and it feels really scratchy for the price I payed. I bought it brand new and expected a little better performance from the nib. It's pretty toothy and I'm wondering where the best place to send it to get it smoothed out a little bit would be. Anybody know a great person to smooth out my nib?

 

Parker

[jsolares]

Have you checked the tines? if they're not correctly aligned they will be pretty rough to write with, usually in one direction, if it's scratchy in all directions... i would take it back and get a new one since it's pretty new.

[Dr.Grace]

Yes, check the tines, and if they're aligned I wouldn't be surprised if it's still a bit toothy. That's the way many Sailor nibs are. Michael Masuyama is a good person for the job.

[P.D.Peterson]

Thank you guys, with my naked eye it looks alligned. It's toothy in pretty much every direction except for straight down. I will see if the company I bought it from will accept returnes after a pen has been inked.

[TimGirdler]

Thank you guys, with my naked eye it looks alligned. It's toothy in pretty much every direction except for straight down. I will see if the company I bought it from will accept returnes after a pen has been inked.

 

If they won't, it is likely that the pen can be smoothed to your liking. If you got one of the fine or extra fine nibs, however, the nib will not be like butter, since the ink flow to produce that fine of a line isn't too much.

 

The tines can be widened a tad, allowing more ink to flow, and that should make the pen feel a bit smoother. But, no matter the ink flow or the size of the nib, it's likely--even if the nib is aligned properly--that you have an inner corner or two grabbing the paper and making the nib scratchy.

 

Mike Masuyama has been suggested--and he's an excellent and worthy craftsman. There are others, like me and Linda Kennedy (of Indy-Pen-Dance) that do nib smoothing, too.

 

If you'd like, you can contact me through my website in the signature below. Regardless of who you get to tune your pen, I wish you all the best in having the pen worked on. The Sailor is far too good of a pen to not write to your liking.

 

Blessings,

 

Tim

[Chi Town]

I do this type of repair and can supply you with references if you like -

 

You are correct in trying to return the pen 1st, if that does not work, there are a few of us out here that can support you!

 

Warmest Regards,

Mike

[mhosea]

Thank you guys, with my naked eye it looks alligned. It's toothy in pretty much every direction except for straight down. I will see if the company I bought it from will accept returnes after a pen has been inked.

 

My experience with the standard, modern Sailor nibs is that they have facets ground into them that give the writing surface of the nib a roughly diamond shape. It is gently curved, of course, but the facets create cusps on the left and right that are toothy when dragged across the paper. If you keep it religiously on the sweet spot, writing with arm and wrist rather than finger action, nothing is smoother, but this is not easy for me to do, especially when writing mathematics with all of its "random" access. I even sent my brand new Sailor 21K H-B nib off to Richard Binder (when it was still possible to do so), but the issue I was specifically complaining about when I sent it was the excessive separation of the tines and concomitant excessive flow, and when it came back several months later, that was all that was fixed. By then I had learned a thing or two, so I figured it out and smoothed the problem areas. I think this is one of those things where it probably helps to be standing in front of the nibmeister so that he can see how you write, though I would guess that Mike Masuyama is well-acquainted with the common failure modes of the modern, standard-nib Sailor tipping shape when used with sundry western writing habits.

[P.D.Peterson]

Thank you mhosea, I have noticed that sometimes the nib feels fine and then most of the time it is scratchy and it is when I'm going a curved line in any direction.

[sannidh]

I have just recently bought a Sailor Profit with a medium 1911 nib and it feels really scratchy for the price I payed. I bought it brand new and expected a little better performance from the nib. It's pretty toothy and I'm wondering where the best place to send it to get it smoothed out a little bit would be. Anybody know a great person to smooth out my nib?

 

Parker

 

Guess you would already have got your nib adjusted. I have the same problem with a sailor 1911 - 14k H-B nib (tooth at multiple angles), and their customer service have offered me free nib adjustment through their authorized dealers in India. However, there is a certain handling fee which must be paid to the dealer (around USD 25). I am still thinking whether to send it or not.

[mhosea]

The matter hinges on what exactly is causing the scratchiness and whether their idea of "perfect" adjustment works for you. In the US, a safer play, IMHO, would be one of the well-regarded nibmeisters, even if the cost was $35 instead of $25 or whatever. I'm not sure what your options are in India.

[sannidh]

The matter hinges on what exactly is causing the scratchiness and whether their idea of "perfect" adjustment works for you. In the US, a safer play, IMHO, would be one of the well-regarded nibmeisters, even if the cost was $35 instead of $25 or whatever. I'm not sure what your options are in India.

 

Yes and you are particularly right about "adjustment".

We do not have a 'nibmeister' of repute here in India, so I would have to send the pen to US for nib-smoothing and adjusting ink-flow.

Edited August 31, 2014 by soniknitr