M600 Right To Left And Bottom To Top Strokes Dry And Very Thin

July 19, 2015

hi everyone...i have a quick question for you....my pelikan m600 extra fine is amazing. I do have a small problem...it lays down a very nice and wet stroke from left to right and top to bottom...but the right to left and bottom to top stroke is the exact opposite. its dry and very thin....barely visible....i do not know what to do about this...please let me know if you have any suggestions...thanks

July 20, 2015

Sound like a misaligned tines case. Get a loupe and loot at tip of the nib while hold the pen at 45 degrees to see both of the tines are aligned or not.

July 20, 2015

Presuming that you are a right hander...

Top to bottom will always be wetter than bottom to top, simply because you are pulling the pen down and the tines can spread, putting down more ink.

Similarly the Left to Right stroke, because it is a pulling stroke, vs the Right to Left which is a pushing stroke.

You could have the nib adjusted to flow more ink, which would darken the R->L and Bottom->Top stokes. But it will also make the other strokes wetter as well.

Another idea is your paper and ink. If the paper is not smooth and hard, the EF nib may/will have a harder time moving in the push direction than in the pull direction. And the ink provides the lubrication for the nib.

July 20, 2015

Sound like a misaligned tines case. Get a loupe and loot at tip of the nib while hold the pen at 45 degrees to see both of the tines are aligned or not.

i did check the tines and they were a tiny bit out of alignment. but that didnt fix my issue. thanks for the suggestion though.

Presuming that you are a right hander...
Top to bottom will always be wetter than bottom to top, simply because you are pulling the pen down and the tines can spread, putting down more ink.
Similarly the Left to Right stroke, because it is a pulling stroke, vs the Right to Left which is a pushing stroke.

You could have the nib adjusted to flow more ink, which would darken the R->L and Bottom->Top stokes. But it will also make the other strokes wetter as well.

Another idea is your paper and ink. If the paper is not smooth and hard, the EF nib may/will have a harder time moving in the push direction than in the pull direction. And the ink provides the lubrication for the nib.

thank you for the reply. You are spot on. I did try to make the flow a bit more wetter and that fixed the ltr and bottom top strokes but also made the pen much more wetter in the other directions too. i then pressed the tines back together because the pen had become too wet for me. I am used to japanese pens and their fine is very very fine with quite a bit of feedback. the european pens are the opposite of that which is the also the case with this pelikan m600. i love the pen but just don't like at all the way it writes and i dont have access to a nibmeister to get the nib reground to be extra fine like a japanese fine. well i guess i have no choice but to get used to the pelikan nib because i just loooove the pen. thanks for your suggestion though.

btw i had no idea that the 14k pelikan nib was so soft. it is very easy to ruin the nib if you apply even a bit of pressure. i accidently made mine write like a bb and its a ef nib. now its back to normal.

July 21, 2015

Fountain pens are supposed to be written with very little pressure on the pen.

As I understand it, the 14k nib on the M600 is NOT a soft/flexy nib.

From what you said, I am thinking that on the down and L-> strokes, you are applying significantly more pressure than on the D->U and R->L strokes.

When you hold the pen, what is the angle of the pen relative to the paper?

Fountain pens are not designed to be written with a steep (more vertical) angle. Most write best at about 45 degrees angle.

The other thing that you could be doing is rotating the pen. The smaller the nib, the smaller the 'sweet spot' of the nib. If you rotate off the sweet spot, the ink flow slows down or stops.