New Platinum 3776 Sf Super Scratchy And Dry Help?

[RedSquare]

Hello All,

I am a newbie and this was my first 3776. I have a Plaisir F that writes beautifully, but this new 3776 SF is so dry and scratchy it is unusable. I recently received a new Lamy AlStar with a scratchy F nib! I seem to be in a patch of bad luck. I have 3 other Al Stars that write beautifully. I ordered the pen from Japan and have emailed the seller, but was wondering if the collective knowledge base here knew anything that might help. Thanks so much in advance.

[steve50]

If you have a loupe (10-40X magnifying glass), see if the tines are misaligned. That means that one side is lower or higher than the other so they are catching on the paper more. It's a common problem and can be fixed easily within a few minutes.

[Karmachanic]

As above in conjuction with ensuring the nib is centred on the feed.

[minddance]

I have 2 Platinum 3776 arriving out of the box with slightly misaligned tines, luckily, that was fixed by pulling out the nib and feed and re-inserting them.

 

a small misalignment can be a big scratch, especially with Platinum 3776 type of nib grind.

 

I am not asking you to do that but that was what happened with me.

[Uncial]

If it's not misaligned tines it could be one or both of two other things which crop up from time to time in both the 3776 and Century models. The nib slit can be too tight and the tipping irregular or the feed channel is too shallow and narrow. In either or both of these instances the only thing you can do is send it back for a replacement. There are a few sellers that recognise the problem and will send you a nib and feed replacement.

[Honeybadgers]

They have a chance of coming misaligned or just super dry from the factory. Firstly, check alignment. If it's super dry, take the nib out, place it on a flat, hard surface, and press down gently, but firmly on the breather hole to open the tines a bit.

[MuddyWaters]

I think they are tuned dry to be fine, and people are not expecting that. If the tines are not misaligned, you can try to get used to it until it loosens up a little after writing for a few months. You will benefit from having smoother paper.

[Sailor Kenshin]

My first 3776, M, did not have misaligned tines, but a nib so scratchy I literally cut my finger on it. It caught on all papers.

 

Very, very, very carefully, I applied my buff-stick a little at a time until I took down the 'tooth.' That pen has been filled and in use ever since.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Scratchy is often misaligned tines..........another reason for scratchy is holding the fountain before the big index knuckle like a ball point, instead of behind the big index knuckle.

 

As far as I read, Japanese nibs are narrow to go with wet ...........like once Waterman was...narrow dry nib, wet ink.................Pelikan had a wider wet nib to go with dry ink.

 

What is the wettest Japanese inks? Some are from what I read very wet inks. That might be something to try.

 

I can't afford Japanese inks, in they are down from years of only E70 to only E22 on Amazon, here in Germany, but my limit is E16.

[A Smug Dill]

I have a Plaisir F that writes beautifully, but this new 3776 SF is so dry and scratchy it is unusable.

I have several F-nibbed Platinum Plaisir pens and SF-nibbed Platinum #3776 Century pens, and generally speaking I'd say the latter are about two nib grades narrower than the former when writing with minimal pressure. It is, of course, possible to get as thick a line out of the SF nibs as what is typical of a Plaisir F nib, but then you have to apply enough pressure on the SF nib to cause the tines to bend slightly, and with a point that is so fine and a contact area so small, that would easily translate to scratchiness against some types of paper.

[minddance]

Hello All,

I am a newbie and this was my first 3776. I have a Plaisir F that writes beautifully, but this new 3776 SF is so dry and scratchy it is unusable. I recently received a new Lamy AlStar with a scratchy F nib! I seem to be in a patch of bad luck. I have 3 other Al Stars that write beautifully. I ordered the pen from Japan and have emailed the seller, but was wondering if the collective knowledge base here knew anything that might help. Thanks so much in advance.

I am not sure what kind of 'smoothness' you are looking for in Platinum 3776 but all the Platinum 3776 ranging from ef to b nibs are not 'smooth' in my opinion.

 

some people categorize anything that doesn't scrape off paper as 'smooth' and that is a very vague description that encompasses a huge range of writing sensations. some people categorize a noisy nib that doesn't scrape off paper but writes noisily as 'smooth with some feedback'.

 

to me, Platinum 3776 are rough. like sandpaper. the nibs interact alot with the paper. they make alot of noise when writing, even the B nib.

 

the nibs feel 'unfinished'.

 

and they are dry, even the B nib. the nibs will almost always give you the lighter shades of an ink.

 

with this kind of nib grind, precise nib alignment is important. and a light hand is favored. proper pairing of inks and papers are almost a must for me.

 

hope your situation gets solved and please let us know what the problem is.

[Mongoosey]

If you are a newbie, do not use a buff stick or try to polish it yourself. That's a terrible suggestion.

 

Like others said before: make sure the tines are aligned and be careful and take it slow doing it.

 

If aligned, check the space between the tines. If they look tight and show no space at the tips you'll need to spread them. I recommend getting a couple Brass Sheets like those from Goulet pens and first placing one between the tines. If that doesn't spread the tines enough to create a very small/tiny gap between the tips of the tines you can try leaving it in over night. That does make a difference.

 

If that doesn't work, try using two brass sheets and go through the same process of seeing if the tines spread quickly and if not, leave the brass sheets in over an extended period of time.

 

If that doesn't work, insert a single sheet of paper in between the 2 brass sheets placed in between the tines and go through the same process of checking if it spreads them after a short term and if not you can try the overnight process again.

 

Use subsequent more sheets of paper as needed to get that tiny space in between the tips of the tines. Soft nibs can sometimes be more difficult to spread.

 

Pressing down on the nib to open the tines runs the risk of the nib bending upwards and even a little off from the feed and can affect the flow, and may also spread the tines in a way that increases feedback... especially with soft nibs.

 

If these methods don't work, don't mess your nib up. Just send it to Mike Masuyama and you'll have one of the best nib grinds in the world. He's worth the wait and the money. He's the best.

[Sailor Kenshin]

It's not a 'terrible' suggestion if you are slow and careful and use the finest surface of the stick.

 

But if you run your fingers on the nib and you feel something that could cut skin, and you are afraid to smooth it yourself, by all means exchange the pen or send it to someone you will pay to do the same thing.

[Uncial]

Once you start grinding or buffing on a nib you can't send it back. If the issue turns out to be a bad feed you've just ground away what you paid for the pen and you still have a pen that doesn't work.

[minddance]

I am of the opinion that the nib slit should not be spread too much unless the overall nib grind and nib curvature is altered to suit the gap, including inner tines. or else, there will be very nasty scratch, possibly in addition to the original 'scratch'.

 

And this might be possibly why Platinum chose to make the nibs so hard and resilient, to maintain the nib alignment with its kind of nib grind. And that's probably why the Soft Fine nib gets many complaints (?) because this kind of nib finishing should not be flexed or else the nib alignment gets shaky. and that's probably why the sf nibs have a slight curvature down towards the paper, so that the nib approaches paper at higher angle in the normal state and arrives at the 'normal' angle if some pressure is applied. and even at the 'normal' angle, it is not entirely a 'smooth' ride.

 

and also, I wouldn't advise micromeshing/polishing the nib since OP declared he's a newbie. even if he's not a newbie, I wouldn't advise micromeshing. one can 'practise' micromeshing and nail-buffing on 100 or more nibs and still not get it 'right' if one does not know how and what to do. it is possible to practise the wrong things and reinforce it.

 

and yes, i am parroting some of the voices here, but it is important, if you intend to return the pen for refund/exchange, please do not micromesh or nail-buffer the nib.

 

smoothness can be a factor of many things - personal expectations and nib alignment amongst them. and alignment can be affected by: the nib itself (but the nib is never really by itself), the feed, and, the nib collar (section).

 

as for personal expectations, a perfectly aligned Platinum 3776 will never give you the writing sensations of a perfectly aligned Lamy2000 or Safari or Pelikan. Platinum3776 has its own 'house feel' which is very distinctive. If that wasn't expected, some people could get a nasty shock from the nibs, especially if they were expecting it to be an 'upgrade' in terms of 'smoothness' from a Lamy Safari or Pilot Steel nib, only to find that it writes 'worse' than them.

[Mongoosey]

The Platinum 3776 is a lifetime pen. And nib grinding and buffing takes practice to get halfway descent and even nibmeisters who know their stuff don't come close to what Masuyama can do in one try.

 

Plus the OP has a 3776 Fine nib, which has barely any tipping material to work with. You only want the best grinding on that nib.

 

It's worth paying $50 and waiting a few months to have Masuyama optimize the 3776 which will last a lifetime.

________________________________

 

I agree, I find it optimal to have the narrowest space possible to allow steady inkflow. Too much and you simply have more edge catching the paper and more feedback providing an unwanted challenge to each writing session that never ceases to annoy and deter from using the pen.

 

Start low, Go slow, or just send it to Masuyama lol. I know there's other nibmeisters, and I've tried many of them, but he's just my favorite.

[loganrah]

Having just received the same pen about two weeks ago I would say that it is definitely a nib with feedback, if not scratchy, and quite dry. Neither is too much for me but it does lay down quite a fine line; I didn't get why people said Japanese pens were finer until I wrote with this. It is definitely a European extra fine.

[A Smug Dill]

I didn't get why people said Japanese pens were finer until I wrote with this. It is definitely a European extra fine.

The SF nibs on the Platinum #3776 Century pens write significantly finer than the F nibs in the same product family. Few "European extra fine" nibs could lay down as fine a line.

[biancitwo]

I have a 3776 soft fine. It is dry and fairly scratchy, even on Rhodia. But then, it’s nib is hardly larger than a pin (bleep). I have two other 3776s, both broad nibs [though hardly broad]. One remains a broad and smooth as silk. The other has been modified to a Pendleton Brown CI. It too is silky smooth. I am very fond of both.

[JunkyardSam]

RedSquare - IMHO you should skip that advice about smoothing your nib. I suspect the problem is just that your pen runs too dry. Odds are high the tines on your nib are touching very tightly. It's OK for a soft nib's tines to touch because they should spread a little with minor pressure... the problem is -- the 3776 Century's tine cut is not very deep so the tines don't really spread much with pressure.

 

Therefore if the tines are touching tightly then when you apply pressure they won't open much or at all - and therefore ink won't flow.

 

With no ink flow your pen will feel scratchy even if the tipping is fine.

 

Yes, check alignment first, of course... but the issue I'm talking about is probably the problem. I have owned three Platinum soft nibs with this issue that came from the factory completely unusable. (No, not user error. I mean literally not usable.)

 

If I'm correct in my diagnosis - reducing the tension in your tines or even allowing a super ultra narrow gap - will get your pen flowing well.

 

Check out this photo: https://imgur.com/fpngallery/owGN5mZ

 

That's a firm nib, so you don't necessarily need that gap for your soft nib. But that gets to the heart of what is probably the issue -- if the tines are too tight the ink is not going to flow.

 

As far as the feed channel not being deep enough as someone suggested -- that is almost certainly NOT the issue as the feeds are mass produced with consistency. This issue of tine gap and tightness-of-tines, however, is not consistent.

 

Anyhow, correcting this issue is probably too much for someone at your level - and you don't want to 'learn' on an expensive nib. I would send it to someone like Mark Bacas at nibgrinder.com for adjustment... or any of the popular nibmeisters. I just have experience with him so he's who I tend to recommend.

 

I wouldn't return it because there's a good chance the replacement would have the same issue. I would just have a nibmeister adjust it and then it will be perfect. Good luck.