Sprung Nib?

[eaudom]

Hi, when I got this Parker challenger, the left tine was bent backwards(up) at least 60 degrees. I took it apart and it was pretty easy to bend it back to near perfection. Put back together, it worked well under very light pressure, but with moderate pressure that tine started lifting/bending/ separating due prior damage. Is this he definition of a "sprung" nib? Is there a remedy? Thanks for any help!

Don

[virgilio]

Hold it up to the light, and if you can see a lot of light coming thru between the tines, it's sprung. You probably know all about how to gently put the tines back closer together, using some snub-nosed pliers. Have to pull the nib to do this, of course.

[eaudom]

Thanks I did get the tines aligned and close. The problem is that when I write with pressure, the previously bent tine flexes but does not spring back to alignment.

[Dr.Grace]

Could it be that the tine tips are rubbing against one another and friction keeps the tine from springing back? Anyway, maybe you're using too much pressure. You can adjust the tines so that only slight pressure, supplied merely by the weight of the pen, is needed for ink to flow.

[virgilio]

I should have said needle-nosed pliers. Yes, sometimes the tines are so bent that they fit much too tightly together. Again, you almost certainly know that you can encourage sprung tines to fit back together by just turning the pen over and pressing down on the point. But this also tends to misalign the feed.

 

Truly sprung nibs are one of the most difficult challenges in pen repair, especially if the steel is very hard, that is the pen is a 'nail".

 

It typically takes a long, long time of doodling with the pen inked to get a bent nib to truly write correctly, but occasionally your reward is a pen that writes better than ever. You will also not infrequently have to polish the nib, which may be scratchy in its new configuration.

 

I for one am not always successful. Just today I finally had to junk a very nice nib that had been worked on inexpertly. The nib itself, not just the tines, was warped in a way almost impossible to correct. Probably a true nibmeister might have saved it, but I am still learning.

[eaudom]

Thank you for all input. I am encouraged by the fact that no one has said that having been bent unnaturally, the 14kt gold is now weakened permanently. I was wondering if, once properly aligned, heating and then dipping in ice water might somehow strengthen the metal.?

[virgilio]

Well, you never know; it is not pure gold after all, but partly copper, I am guessing. The ancients had a method, now lost, for hardening bronze to the strength of steel.

[ac12]

The nib "may" be permanently damaged.

I liken it to a piece of wire that you bend several times. The place where you bend it become weak. Making the wire straight will not get the strength back to the wire.

You will have to wait for a more experienced nib guy to give his opinion.

[virgilio]

Yeah, I had this happen to me the other day, when I bent a semi-flex nib tine once too often and it finally broke.

[Vintagepens]

From what you have written, it sounds as if the one tine is fatigued. "Sprung" refers to a nib having been bent, but your situation is worse, since a bent nib can be straightened whereas a fatigued nib is pretty much beyond remedy. Sorry, but heat treatment is not an option. Luckily, that's not a rare nib and a replacement should not be expensive.

[eaudom]

Thanks agree nib is probably permanently weakened....Anyway I was writing on the back of the nib to start the ink flow, ended up writing pretty much on the flat back of the nib, and surprised to get this: a big fat italic...tried the same thing on another nib, got a similar effect but not nearly as extreme...interesting.

[eaudom]

Another sprung nib?....Not trying to beat this subject to death, but I have another pen with a similar issue. This one is more interesting...a small jack knife safety eyedropper: This pen still has the lucky curve feed which I don't want to mess around with. This nib has left tine bent down, and right tine bent up....Is it worth sending to a pro for re-alignment?

[Vintagepens]

Yes, that nib is certainly worth straightening!

Fortunately, it is relatively uncommon to run across a seriously fatigued nib. In most cases even when the nib has gotten badly bent, it can be restraightened without harm. There are the exceptions, though. Sometimes a nib has been bent and restraightened too many times. Sometimes it has been bent too far, causing internal cracking that may or may not be visible. Not always visually apparent, as hardness of the metal is a key factor.