Ruined Nib? Never Give Up, Never Surrender!

[virgilio]

Excellent post, and excellent replies all round. This should inspire more people to tweak their nibs. This is one of the glories of fountain pens; you can make the same pen write in a dozen different ways, exactly to your taste. No need to spend hundreds of dollars unless you just want to.

 

As long as both the tines and the tipping material are intact, very few nibs are hopeless, altho OMASsimo (the greatest) has certainly achieved something with that particular nib...

[ParkerDuofold]

Hello Omasimo,

 

Thank you... I think I'll go to Widget Supply, (unless anyone here knows a better place), and look for the ideal tools. Btw, where does one find a good nib block?

 

 

Hello Mitto,

 

How do you use an old ignition key? Do you use a burnishing type action... and what do place the nib on for support?

 

 

Be well all.

 

 

- Anthony

[OMASsimo]

As long as both the tines and the tipping material are intact, very few nibs are hopeless, altho OMASsimo (the greatest) has certainly achieved something with that particular nib...

 

Thank you for your kind words. Yes, the aim of that thread was to encourage people with damaged nibs not to give up too easily. There's a lot more possible than most people think. This was a fairly easy job that even I as a hobbyist managed to do. But professionals can also replace missing tipping material or weld a broken tine. I'm not quite there yet but I keep learning.

[OMASsimo]

Hello Omasimo,

 

Thank you... I think I'll go to Widget Supply, (unless anyone here knows a better place), and look for the ideal tools. Btw, where does one find a good nib block?

 

Be well all.

 

 

- Anthony

 

 

Hi Anthony,

 

unless you'll do this all day you may not need the "ideal" tools, just something that does the job. I think that David Nishimura (user Vintagepens) has nib blocks in his online shop. But I just used a brass rod of the right diameter with the end rounded of.

 

Do you have a broken nib to repair currently?

 

Peter

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi Anthony,

 

unless you'll do this all day you may not need the "ideal" tools, just something that does the job. I think that David Nishimura (user Vintagepens) has nib blocks in his online shop.

 

Hi Peter,

 

Ok, great; thanks for the info.

 

 

 

But I just used a brass rod of the right diameter with the end rounded of.

 

Okay, good. I'll have to see what I have laying around... or can get my hands on... a cost effective solution.

 

 

Do you have a broken nib to repair currently?

 

Actually, no... not anymore, but I had a Conklin nib I tried to make wetter by pushing on the shoulders... which is supposed to separate the tines... but i used a little too much pressure... ...and completely mangled it.

 

Unfortunately, I threw it out in disgust... but I promised myself I'd never let that happen again... so if it does... ...I'd like to have the tools and equipment on hand and ready to fix it.

 

 

Peter

 

Thanks, again,

 

Anthony

[corgicoupe]

Thank you for the explanation, Peter.to me, forging meant hammering and I was not aware of many hammers that would be small enough. A watchmakers hammer would surely fit those specs. I remember my dad (a mechanical dentist) burnishing tin foil with a small bead (metal or bone), shaping it when making false teeth, and wondered if your process involved burnishing.

Edited November 2, 2017 by corgicoupe

[amk]

I made my own nib blocks out of a small piece of tight grained beech, by drilling various diameter holes into it and then cutting slightly at an angle so that the drilled troughs are tapered. You need to use good sharp drill bits and sand the roughs very smooth before using. I've also made a burnisher by taking a broken screwdriver (a big old devil with a good size shank) and grinding then filing and sanding smooth the end of the shank into a dome shape. Again, using a fine grade wet and dry paper to get a really smooth surface is crucial.

[OMASsimo]

Thank you for the explanation, Peter.to me, forging meant hammering and I was not aware of many hammers that would be small enough. A watchmakers hammer would surely fit those specs. I remember my dad (a mechanical dentist) burnishing tin foil with a small bead (metal or bone), shaping it when making false teeth, and wondered if your process involved burnishing.

 

Well, doesn't burnishing refer more to smoothing the surface? In the present case the surface was perfectly smooth and didn't require any polishing. But the nib was out of shape and I straightened it by hammering on it sitting on a properly formed anvil (my makeshift nib block). I'd refer to this as "forging". I don't know how false teeth are made but it might involve forging gold foil into a mold just like nibs are made. Anyway, watchmakers and goldsmiths will have the right sort of hammer and other tools to work on small and delicate objects like a nib. I often use my matchmakers tools when restoring vintage pens.

[OMASsimo]

I made my own nib blocks out of a small piece of tight grained beech, by drilling various diameter holes into it and then cutting slightly at an angle so that the drilled troughs are tapered. You need to use good sharp drill bits and sand the roughs very smooth before using. I've also made a burnisher by taking a broken screwdriver (a big old devil with a good size shank) and grinding then filing and sanding smooth the end of the shank into a dome shape. Again, using a fine grade wet and dry paper to get a really smooth surface is crucial.

 

That's and interesting idea. If I had to do such repairs on a regular basis, I'd probably make such molds of brass or aluminium using my lathe and milling machine. In this way one could also produce conical shapes if needed. But if it's a "once a year" thing, a piece of brass rod just works fine.

[corgicoupe]

Well, doesn't burnishing refer more to smoothing the surface? In the present case the surface was perfectly smooth and didn't require any polishing. But the nib was out of shape and I straightened it by hammering on it sitting on a properly formed anvil (my makeshift nib block). I'd refer to this as "forging". I don't know how false teeth are made but it might involve forging gold foil into a mold just like nibs are made. Anyway, watchmakers and goldsmiths will have the right sort of hammer and other tools to work on small and delicate objects like a nib. I often use my matchmakers tools when restoring vintage pens.

Yes, let's suppose it does, but because there can be some plastic deformation invalve I was thinking that a burnishing operation on an anvil could change the shape of the nib much like hammering or forging.

[OMASsimo]

Yes, let's suppose it does, but because there can be some plastic deformation invalve I was thinking that a burnishing operation on an anvil could change the shape of the nib much like hammering or forging.

 

OK, now I see what you mean. Yes, burnishing on a properly formed mold or anvil can yield the same result. I'd assume there are countless ways to straighten a bent nib but I have not much experience in this specific operation. At least not yet.

[OMASsimo]

By now I also finished restoring the exterior of this little pen and was utterly surprised. The barrel and section are made of celluloid which Kaweco used till the early 1950s as far as I know. But the cap is made of ebonite as I found out when polishing it! This would make a pre-war production more likely. Also the ink window is more green than blue, which I think would also be more consistent with pre-war models. Due to the 14k Gold nib, this would put it into the 1930s maybe (or they used pre-war parts in the 50s). I couldn't find any reliable info to date this pen and hope that one of the experts here may know.

 

Since I'm back to my studio, I made a reasonable picture of the finished pen with some coins to give you an idea of how tiny it is. It measures just 88 mm capped, 86 mm uncapped, and 118 mm posted. I also put in my watchmakers hammer for size comparison. This was a fun project...

 

 

Edited November 3, 2017 by OMASsimo

[Chrissy]

Wow. Now I want to know what you used to restore the exterior of this lovely little Kaweco Sport.

[OMASsimo]

Sorry for the late response, I was tied up all day. There's a short and a long answer. The short one is: Patience!

 

Anyway, here comes the long answer. The exterior of the pen was in very good condition, no cracks, no deep grooves, excellent crisp imprint. However, the cap was rough and dull as happens with old ebonite sitting in the drawer for decades. So, I just used a leather belt with some polishing paste in the first stage of polishing both cap and pen. For the finishing stage of polishing, I just used cheap office paper, which gives an excellent shiny finish and is particularly safe not to rub off the imprint. This is a simple and cheap method and only requires some time and patience. Finally, I polished the metal parts with a small buffing wheel using a dremel.

 

I think this was well worth the little effort.

[mitto]

Sharing another experience of tinkering with an ailing nib. A MB 24 that I bought cheap because of its bent and twisted nib. Yet, worse the nib also had scars of failed attempts of straighening by the previous owner. Well, I worked on the nib and I think it is now nearly cured.

 

The nib on the pen when it arrived.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_v0YzkCPJQ3UzlneC10bVdHSEE/view?usp=drivesdk

 

The nib after being tinkered with.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_v0YzkCPJQ3cjVjM1VyZ2ZYcU0/view?usp=drivesdk

 

The whole pen before restoration.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_v0YzkCPJQ3MWJtSFBydTd2MU0/view?usp=drivesdk

 

After restoration.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SGh0G7lDhFp3a95U4L6ps3qLCSX_4HD2/view?usp=drivesdk

Edited November 8, 2017 by mitto

[SoulSamurai]

I can only see one of those photos, for some reason the rest say that I don't have permission.

[ParkerDuofold]

I can only see one of those photos, for some reason the rest say that I don't have permission.

Me, too, SS. We must look like a couple of shady characters to Google.

 

I'm signed in, too.

 

 

- Anthony

[SoulSamurai]

Hey, Google looks pretty shady to me too, so the feeling is mutual!

[mitto]

I can only see one of those photos, for some reason the rest say that I don't have permission.

Made a bit of tinkering now with my Drive.

Pictures now showing. I have checked while I am signed out of my account.

Edited November 8, 2017 by mitto

[mitto]

Me, too, SS. We must look like a couple of shady characters to Google.

I'm signed in, too.

- Anthony

Anthony, I am sure the picures are now showing.

 

Best.

Edited November 8, 2017 by mitto