Misaligned Tines Due To Bumps In Feed?

[jcammin]

Hi,

I have a Platinum 3776 Century Chartres Blue with 14k medium nib. It writes nicely but upon inspection with a loupe I noticed that the tines are misaligned (see attached photo). When I took the nib and feed apart for cleaning I checked the tines again and the tines are well aligned if the nib is removed from the feed (sorry - the image is a little blurry). Looking at the feed one can see that there are small bumps in the plastic. I believe this causes the one tine to be raised compared to the other. Does anyone have a suggestion how to fix this problem? Maybe I can use a file to remove the bumps? I purchased the pen in July 2013 so I guess I could also send it back under warranty.

Thank you,

Jochen

[dragonaura]

If you can send it back under warranty that would be your best bet. If you play around with sanding it it might void the warranty. Might as well get a new piece if you can. If it wasn't under warranty I would think trying to sand/file it down with the finest grit you can get your hands on would be best. Make sure to wait for advice from other people as I am not the most knowledgeable.

[Runnin_Ute]

I have no warranty experience.

 

That being said, if you can get it repaired/replaced under warranty I would do that before I tried any DIY project with it.

[hari317]

If the height of the bumps is sufficient, it can surely cause this issue. The feed looks off, never seen such bumps on the platinums that I have taken apart. return the pen.

[jcammin]

I contacted the company where I bought the pen and they offered to exchange it. I received the new pen a few days ago. The feed doesn't have the bumps but the problem with the misaligned tines is the same: The bare nib (removed from the section and feed) has perfectly aligned tines. When the nib is in the pen, then the tines are misaligned as show in the photo of my original post.

 

I suspect that maybe this batch of Platinum pens has a a small asymmetry in either the feeds or the sections. I rotated the nib and feed within the section to different angles but the problem doesn't go away. I noticed that when I don't insert the nib and feed all the way into the section (leaving a space of 1.5 to 2 mm) then the tines are well aligned and the pen writes less scratchy.

 

I can live with that but I wonder if anyone else has seen this on their Platinum 3776 Centuries? I'm also going to contact the seller again about this.

 

Thank you,

Jochen

[KBeezie]

I once had a very similar issue with an old sheaffer touchdown, no real bumps so to speak, but the tines wouldn't be quite aligned unless I offset the tip of the feed a little off to the right if I were viewing at the underside of the feed. So in a way the nib would be every so slightly off-center in terms of being lined up with the feed, but would still write fine, flow fine, etc. So it could be the overall shape of the nib itself, or the feed, or both that it just won't align when the feed and nib are perfectly lined up, so may just have to offset to one side or the other to see if that helps fix without having to adjust the nib itself.

 

Though I'm not sure if you're able to do that with a platinum (wiggle the nib from one side to the other), since I haven't had the chance to play with one.

Edited April 6, 2014 by KBeezie

[KBeezie]

I agree with everyone else though, if it's under warranty, get the pen replaced.

[discopig]

Send it in, they'll replace it for free.

[Paddler]

I would return the pen also.

 

But, for what it's worth, nearly every pen I have bought in the wild has had mis-aligned tines. I think that, over time, the feeds warp and push one tine or the other out of kilter. I just give the tine a tweak and forget about it. For most pens, removing and replacing of the nib and feed is asking for trouble.

[jcammin]

Thanks everybody for the replies. This is already the second pen with the same issue. I'm not hopeful that another return will solve the issue. It might be a production problem with the specific model or production batch. But I will contact the seller again and report back to this forum what they say.

 

Jochen

[jcammin]

I decided to just keep the pen. It's working well enough for me.

But thanks for all the feedback.

 

Jochen

[Ron Z]

An off center feed can indeed push one tine up. You'll never get the tines to line up if off center.

 

A warranty is intended for just this kind of thing - please take advantage of it. A manufacturer would be justified in declining to honor the warranty if the pen is played with or modified.

[Ernst Bitterman]

It might actually be worth sending those photos directly to Platinum; they may well thank you for pointing out the problem. ("I told you to NEVER let Aoyagi near the feed-casting station!")

[Sirenology]

I can live with that but I wonder if anyone else has seen this on their Platinum 3776 Centuries? I'm also going to contact the seller again about this.

 

Yep. Same happened to me a 3776, regular black version with F nib, that I bought from Engeika and received no more than two weeks ago. Since I didn't want deal with the prospect of returning something across oceans, I just worked on it myself. I tweaked and adjusted the tines, eventually got it writing ok but still with too much scratch for my liking. I'll probably send it to a nibmeister. If I'd have paid more than I did for it, I would be upset.