Nib Change Requires Feed Change?

April 22, 2018

For Christmas I received a flock of Jinhao 750 pens -- then purchased a small number of Zebra G Titanium nibs with the goal of converting the pens I did not give as gifts to use with a flex hack.

Help here on FPN and lots of You-Tube, I converted only two of the remaining pens successfully (almost) to where normal script works OK most of the time. I had cleaned the nibs well before replacing them in the 750s.

I discovered that the feeds (several good inks tried) cannot keep up with and flex. On You-Tube I found an engineer/chemist who partially solved this problem by realizing the ink flow properties of ebonite are not replicated by plastic. And since these pens are cartidge pens made in China, their feeds are designed just for cartridges and being inexpensive.. Apparently experience has been that ebonite wears and breaks if used or modified to work with cartridges or refill assemblies. Digging a wider channel in plastic does not work to increase flow either.

The chemist went to work to see if he could change the surface of the plastic to be more like ebonite in carrying ink. Hed put his Jinhao plastic feeds into an Ozone generating oven for 30 minutes which did "corrode" (his term) the surface of the plastic enough to increase its ability to feed to flex uses by, he estimates, 30 percent. I have seen no tests of the longevity of this partial cure.

I cannot afford an Ozone Oven, and currently know no one at the University that has access. I have looked at making one (oven) as a hack -- but keeping the oven sealed with the Ozone in it starts the list of problems -- another being my lack of electrical knowledge to make electrical sparks efficently and safely enough on a budget WITHOUT blowing every fuse on my block and risking leakoing Ozone Exposure respiratory problems.

SO _ HAS ANYONE ELSE been crazy or knowledgeable enough to pursue and possibly solve the problem of hacking or easily and inexpensively replacing Jinhao 450 and 750 plastic feeds to have them work properly with the flexing Zebra G Nib? Or, failing spending a large sum, has anyone come up with a fountain pen solution for good flex for we who are on miniscule fixed incomes with age preventing us from getting a regular job? (At age 76 I have earned the right to ask this last question.)

I openly admit I am a sort of newbie in some ways -- and chose to get back into handwriting with fountain pens because I thought I could afford the time and cash to get a few cheap Chinese pens, some nibs, and work for the next couple of years to get script (Spencarian I think) my mother used with ease and grace with examples going back to WWI and continuing well into her 88th year and a futile heart surgery death.

Edited April 22, 2018 by Chmara

April 22, 2018

Apparently experience has been that ebonite wears and breaks if used or modified to work with cartridges or refill assemblies.""" ??????

First I've heard this.

Peneengener (sp) has a great blog on Lamy feeds he chemically treated to mimic ebonite back in I think the 80's when the Safari came out....The same slick feed that the '90's Persona had, also my CPM-1 pen.

Perhaps a nice poster will link.

I buy vintage German ebonite feed pens, and have not needed to swap nibs.

All I can suggest is to cut the feed channels deeper with an exacto knife....if that don't work, wider and or both.

With the Ahab pen many learned to do that, or chop off buffering combs/rills; but those are ebonite.

So could look to chop a couple combs off to make buffering less.

April 27, 2018

Goulet Pens sells replacement Ahab/Konrad ebonite feeds for $5, and those pens use a #6-sized nib. While I haven't tried this method myself it might be a solution.