Possible Remedy For Skipping Pilot Fa Nib

[Bluey]

The other day I was reading this post by jekostas and a light bulb went *ding* in my head because that's quite possibly a solution and reason for why the Pilot FA nib skips.
https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/327997-flow-is-ok-but-ink-is-not-being-delivered-by-feed-m1000/?p=3927156

"That's it!", I mused. The problem is not because the nib/feed needs to be wetter or that it has babys bottom(there was no evidence of that through the loupe, and it didn't behave like my past problematic German nibs did), as many people claim. It's skipping because it's trying to put too much ink too quickly through the nib resulting in occasional and random ink starvation.

I did notice that when I first got it that the tines were wider apart than typical and the ink was crazy bleeding through the paper like a hemophiliac with a razor blade. Seriously, even using the driest ink it was difficult to tell which side of the paper I'd actually written on.

And thus, making it drier will make the flow more controlled.

Note that this is just for using the pen to write normal cursive with the occasional flourish, not to do crazy fool things and flexing the carp out of it. It's not intended to do those things. There's a reason why it's not available outside of Japan where it's used for Kanji.

So I pulled the FA nib and feed out, crossed the tines over each other both ways 2 or 3 times.

And I've yet to have it skip.

[watch_art]

Or you could get an ebonite feed for it -

http://flexiblenib.com/store/2017/09/09/ebonite-feed-for-pilot-custom-743-ready-for-beta-testers/

 

[Bluey]

Wouldn't fit my 912 I'm afraid. That's for a #15 nib

[watch_art]

He'll probably be making some for #10 nibs later on. He might have already.

[Bluey]

What benefit would they bring? Or perhaps more specifically, what problem do they solve?

Edited October 2, 2017 by Bluey

[JunkyardSam]

Bluey - did you buy your 912 FA new or used? I've purchased over 20 gold nibbed Pilots (including a 912 FA and 743 FA) and every single nib had no gap in the tines. They ranged from touching slightly to a couple touching tightly and not flowing at all.

 

I'm inclined to believe that if you had a gap in your tines you either got a used pen or a return. :-/

 

The PCH912 FA didn't work well out of the box. It randomly missed strokes whether writing with pressure or not. Unfortunately I didn't know as much about nibs as I do now so I returned it without getting to the bottom of why the nib had issues.

 

The 743 FA worked flawlessly out of the box.

 

I've found Pilot inks to work best in my FA and my Falcons. (Specifically I prefer Namiki Black.) I have Noodlers Black in my Falcons at the moment and if I sketch fast I can run the pen dry to where ink stops and I have to wait for the ink to resaturate. This doesn't happen with Pilot ink - I get a steady continuous flow regardless of how fast I write or how much pressure I use. (I don't abuse these pens, just a moderate amount of line variation.)

 

The gap between the nib and the feed you describe is concerning. I've only experienced such a gap when my Falcon or 3776 SF has been pushed a little beyond where it should have been. I believe when these nibs are functioning correctly they return to being flush against the feed with no gap at all. Fortunately the FA nib is easier to remove than a Falcon nib so this can be corrected if you have a permanent gap.

 

I would be interested to hear if people consider a gap (between nib and feed) to be normal, and also how much of a gap is needed between the tines. I find inks like Noodlers Black to actually require about a paper width of gap between the tines in order to flow well. Pilot inks seem to work even if the tines are touching at the tip if not too tightly.

 

More specifically -- if I owned your pen I would correct the gap and adjust the nib to be flush against the feed. Yes, a pen will flow if you allow that gap to saturate - but you're right that a pen will run dry if that ink gets used and the gap doesn't pool with ink again. I believe that's why it should return to being flush with the feed when working correctly.

 

I do believe the nib separating from the feed like that is a symptom of overflexing. Based on my experience with these pens (FA, 3 Falcons, and 3776 SF) I don't believe they were intended to be pushed to significant line variation. I don't like to go more than 1 nib size up, and only 2 nib sizes (SEF to FM) when showing off.

 

The 3776 SF offers even less line variation and will most certainly get the "nib pulling away from the feed" effect if any more than subtle line variation is attempted.

Edited October 3, 2017 by JunkyardSam

[Bluey]

I bought it new direct from Japan. None of my other Pilots have a gap between the tines either, but this one did. And apparently, according to Mike-it-work, it can be quite common on the FA nib.

 

 

The gap between the nib and the feed you describe is concerning.

 

I said the gap was between the tines, not between nib and feed.

Edited October 3, 2017 by Bluey

[Algester]

the converter is picky about inks especially the CON-70 so far as I had my FA nib 912 loaded with free swirling ink it writes fine no skipping unless well I do something stupid

[ManofKent]

the converter is picky about inks especially the CON-70 so far as I had my FA nib 912 loaded with free swirling ink it writes fine no skipping unless well I do something stupid

Ditto.

 

Swapping to a CON-20 for less free flowing inks works, but I've had no skipping problems using iroshizuku in the CON-70.

[max dog]

The other day I was reading this post by jekostas and a light bulb went *ding* in my head because that's quite possibly a solution and reason for why the Pilot FA nib skips.

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/327997-flow-is-ok-but-ink-is-not-being-delivered-by-feed-m1000/?p=3927156

 

"That's it!", I mused. The problem is not because the nib/feed needs to be wetter or that it has babys bottom(there was no evidence of that through the loupe, and it didn't behave like my past problematic German nibs did), as many people claim. It's skipping because it's trying to put too much ink too quickly through the nib resulting in occasional and random ink starvation.

 

I did notice that when I first got it that the tines were wider apart than typical and the ink was crazy bleeding through the paper like a hemophiliac with a razor blade. Seriously, even using the driest ink it was difficult to tell which side of the paper I'd actually written on.

 

And thus, making it drier will make the flow more controlled.

 

Note that this is just for using the pen to write normal cursive with the occasional flourish, not to do crazy fool things and flexing the carp out of it. It's not intended to do those things. There's a reason why it's not available outside of Japan where it's used for Kanji.

 

So I pulled the FA nib and feed out, crossed the tines over each other both ways 2 or 3 times.

 

And I've yet to have it skip.

The tines on my 912 FA out of the box did not exhibit any gap, but looked to be touching slightly at the tip.

I did do the crossing over the tines 2 times and it is writing OK normally. I will try a few more different inks to see if the reducing the flow a bit made a big difference as for some reason my nib does not like Pilot Blue which I am using right now. I did not use my usual trusty MB Permanent Blue for this test as it normally lets the FA write without a problem, so tried a different ink, ie PIlot Blue.

Edited October 4, 2017 by max dog

[max dog]

I've found Pilot inks to work best in my FA and my Falcons. (Specifically I prefer Namiki Black.) I have Noodlers Black in my Falcons at the moment and if I sketch fast I can run the pen dry to where ink stops and I have to wait for the ink to resaturate. This doesn't happen with Pilot ink - I get a steady continuous flow regardless of how fast I write or how much pressure I use. (I don't abuse these pens, just a moderate amount of line variation.)

 

 

 

 

Ditto.

 

Swapping to a CON-20 for less free flowing inks works, but I've had no skipping problems using iroshizuku in the CON-70.

 

I've found so far for me the absolute best performing ink with the FA and regular Falcon has been the Montblanc Permanent Blue for normal writing and pushing the flex with the least amount of railroading. Some days it kind of feels like my Waterman 52V with that ink and FA so long as I don't go crazy. But I would like to try some other colors now.

 

I haven't tried any Pilot inks except the plain Pilot Blue which does not work with the FA very well for me. What Pilot Iroshizuku inks specifically do you guys find works best with the FA for keeping the railroading down, so I can go and try my first foray into the Iroshizuku inks?

Edited October 4, 2017 by max dog

[Algester]

I use Kon-Peki but YMMV pretty much...

[ManofKent]

 

 

I haven't tried any Pilot inks except the plain Pilot Blue which does not work with the FA very well for me. What Pilot Iroshizuku inks specifically do you guys find works best with the FA for keeping the railroading down, so I can go and try my first foray into the Iroshizuku inks?

 

The ink I use most is Ku-Jaku, but I've had no problems with Tsuki-yu, Ina Ho, Kon Peki or Tsutsuji.

[Bluey]

The tines on my 912 FA out of the box did not exhibit any gap, but looked to be touching slightly at the tip.

I did do the crossing over the tines 2 times and it is writing OK normally. I will try a few more different inks to see if the reducing the flow a bit made a big difference as for some reason my nib does not like Pilot Blue which I am using right now. I did not use my usual trusty MB Permanent Blue for this test as it normally lets the FA write without a problem, so tried a different ink, ie PIlot Blue.

It shouldn't depend on ink. The way I see it, if a pen depends on the ink to write as it should then there's still something wrong with the pen.

I only use Diamine and Pelikan 4001 for mine and have had no problems with any so far since the adjustment.

 

I should also mention that I use a cartridge rather than any converter.

Edited October 4, 2017 by Bluey

[watch_art]

Every pen writing well can and does depend on ink though. All inks are not created equally and some inks flow better than others and some aren't sure what flow is and that they're supposed to be doing it. And if a pen isn't cleaned out well enough between ink changes performance can suffer terribly.

[max dog]

It shouldn't depend on ink. The way I see it, if a pen depends on the ink to write as it should then there's still something wrong with the pen.

I only use Diamine and Pelikan 4001 for mine and have had no problems with any so far since the adjustment.

 

I should also mention that I use a cartridge rather than any converter.

I've got some Pelikan 4001 black, and it is writing consistently without skips under normal writing. Will keep using it until the ink runs out and see how it holds up. Good so far. Using the CON 70 currently.

Edited October 5, 2017 by max dog

[max dog]

I use Kon-Peki but YMMV pretty much...

 

 

 

The ink I use most is Ku-Jaku, but I've had no problems with Tsuki-yu, Ina Ho, Kon Peki or Tsutsuji.

Thank you. I will check out the Ku-Jaku and Kon Peki.

[Algester]

It shouldn't depend on ink. The way I see it, if a pen depends on the ink to write as it should then there's still something wrong with the pen.

I only use Diamine and Pelikan 4001 for mine and have had no problems with any so far since the adjustment.

 

I should also mention that I use a cartridge rather than any converter.

Ahh but I did say the CON-70 is picky about inks it likes I tried it with Sailor inks which just happen to have a high surface tension and that the agitator of the CON-70 isnt so good at breaking it so I get ink stuck on the walls and near the button tip of the converter and in some other cases the ink gets stuck near the bottom collar and thus isnt capable of flowing to the feed (sailor's sou-ten in particular) so I got hard starting even with a soft nib Edited October 5, 2017 by Algester

[Bluey]

Ahh but I did say the CON-70 is picky about inks it likes I tried it with Sailor inks which just happen to have a high surface tension and that the agitator of the CON-70 isnt so good at breaking it so I get ink stuck on the walls and near the button tip of the converter and in some other cases the ink gets stuck near the bottom collar and thus isnt capable of flowing to the feed (sailor's sou-ten in particular) so I got hard starting even with a soft nib

Perhaps the converter could do with flushing with dishsoap.

[Algester]

Perhaps the converter could do with flushing with dishsoap.

tried it the plastic that Pilot uses on their converters just don't like it... unless I can spray it with teflon but who knows...