Nemosine Is Going Away. Clearance On All Their Stuff

[MuddyWaters]

I recently received a pack of PenBBS spare parts, which includes (among other things) standalone feeds, housing for nib units, and plenty of O-rings in different sizes. I'm happy to let you know that after pairing a Nemosine #6 EF nib (from a Fission pen, which is a model I've come to dislike and regret buying) with a new feed and forcefully jamming them into a nib housing from the pack, the replacement nib unit fits the PenBBS 308 perfectly (with almost no headroom when the cap is screwed on), in spite of the Nemosine nib being marginally longer than the PenBBS nib.

 

That's a much, much better idea that trying to pull the factory nib out of the pen's original nib housing unit, given how fragile the fins on the PenBBS feeds are. One of the five standalone feeds I received already has a small number of fins that are misshapen and fractured. The replacement nib housing is rudimentary and does not have any 'keying' for the nib body, and it took a lot of force to push the nib as far in as the original nib unit (which is clear, if slightly blue in colour) shows where the factory nib is sitting. Even after that, the nib wrote terribly wetly (and sorta defeated the purpose of replacing the nib on the pen with a Nemosine #6 EF, which I have tested and know is capable of putting down very narrow lines), and it took some more pushing on the nib to finally get it to behave. I have no doubt that it'll now be nigh impossible to remove the nib from the replacement nib unit without permanently wrecking the feed, housing or both, but since I have no intention of ever returning the nib into a Nemosine Fission pen, it isn't all that much of a worry.

 

I just wish Nemosine had offered its remaining stock of Singularity pens (with Stub nibs in different widths) earlier in its closeout sales, so that I needn't have purchased my three Fission pens just to get those #6 nibs. Their awful painted brass pen bodies with the glossy metal sections and most uncomfortable step-down can now go into the trash, even though the factory PenBBS nib units with F nibs won't (as much as I don't find them fine enough for my tastes).

Thanks for this informative post. The penbbs feeds really work well for me. They are distinctly better than jinhao feeds for example. Next time I get a penbbs order I will throw in some spare parts too. Did you apply an o-ring to a singularity to make it more securely eye-dropperable?

[A Smug Dill]

Did you apply an o-ring to a singularity to make it more securely eye-dropperable?

 

No, I didn't. I actually like the Nemosine Singularity pens, so I have no intention of using any of them in that manner. Other than my Opus 88 Picnic pens, which are of course designed to be used exclusively as eye-droppered pens, I will only turn something like Platinum Preppy pens -- which are cheapest of the cheap among Japanese fountain pens, cost less each than a matching converter that is not supplied by default, and their nibs sorely disappoints even though the Slip and Seal mechanism in their caps doesn't -- into eye-droppered pens for holding possibly "unsafe" inks (with which I rarely write) with borderline disrespect; it just isn't worth it to add converters to them at additional expense.

 

Given that each Singularity pen is supplied by Nemosine with a converter already installed and, unlike (say) Fine Writing International models that the manufacturer states are designed to work also as eye-droppered pens, I see no reason for me to add an O-ring to the Singularity and turn it into one. Besides, from a number of anecdotes online, the Singularity is apt to allow the section to be unscrewed from the barrel instead when the user only wants to uncap the pen.

 

I bought a Wing Sung 698 almost a year ago on the strength of all the praise for it, but once I received it I found I had so little appetite for using eye-droppered pens, that to date it's still factory-sealed in the oiriginal retail package.

 

I'm not saying there's anything wrong with some users preferring to turn converter-fed fountain pens into eye-droppered pens just because they can, and if they're fans of such, I hope they enjoy doing so with much better (and costlier) pens than the Nemosine Singularity to suit their tastes.

[Bibliophage]

I just wish Nemosine had offered its remaining stock of Singularity pens (with Stub nibs in different widths) earlier in its closeout sales, so that I needn't have purchased my three Fission pens just to get those #6 nibs. Their awful painted brass pen bodies with the glossy metal sections and most uncomfortable step-down can now go into the trash, even though the factory PenBBS nib units with F nibs won't (as much as I don't find them fine enough for my tastes).

 

Don't trash them. _someone_ will need or want the pieces - probably reasonably soon.

[coinlvr]

I bought some at a discounted price. However the pens are writing dry. Is that normal? The ink is waterman florida blue.

[MisterSheaffer]

I bought some at a discounted price. However the pens are writing dry. Is that normal? The ink is waterman florida blue.

I purchased pens with stub nibs and they are all writing dry and scratchy. I am getting hard starts and they have been a pain in the ass to deal with. I checked the tines, I flossed the tines, I flushed the converter and nibs and still have problems with it. I am using Waterman Serenity Blue. I am disappointed with the nibs so far. Only one nib has worked and it was a #5 1.1mm stub.

[WalterC]

I bought a Wing Sung 698 almost a year ago on the strength of all the praise for it, but once I received it I found I had so little appetite for using eye-droppered pens, that to date it's still factory-sealed in the oiriginal retail package.

 

Unless that is a typo, I'd urge you to try the WS 698 -- it is a pretty reliable piston filler. Of course, it is easy to get all these Chinese pens names/numbers confused.

Edited November 22, 2019 by WalterC

[A Smug Dill]

Unless that is a typo, I'd urge you to try the WS 698 -- it is a pretty reliable piston filler. Of course, it is easy to get all these Chinese pens names/numbers confused.

 

My mistake. I did get my Chinese pens confused. It is indeed a Wing Sung 698, and a piston-filler not an eye-dropper. I've been so happy with my Wing Sung 3008 piston-fillers, I haven't felt the need to unbox the WS698. The eye-dropper that everyone was raving about was the Moonman M2, on which I didn't end up pulling the trigger even when it was discounted.

 

Thank you!

[coinlvr]

I have gone back to my Ero German piston filler. Boring but reliable! Adieu nemosine!

[WalterC]

 

My mistake. I did get my Chinese pens confused. It is indeed a Wing Sung 698, and a piston-filler not an eye-dropper. I've been so happy with my Wing Sung 3008 piston-fillers, I haven't felt the need to unbox the WS698. The eye-dropper that everyone was raving about was the Moonman M2, on which I didn't end up pulling the trigger even when it was discounted.

 

Thank you!

I did the same with the MM M2 eyedropper. It leaked when I tried it and did not bother trying to fix it with silicone. It sits unused. The WS 698s I do use, especially when I'm away from home and don't want to risk a more expensive pen.

[OmegaMountain]

I bought one of the Singularity pens with an EF nib. It was hard starting and drying out like crazy. Tried putting it with the nib slightly down and it leaked all the ink into the cap and all over the section. Fortunately it was in it's sleeve and didn't get ink everywhere. For what it cost, I just tossed it. It wasn't worth the cleaning and fixing. Oh well, no biggie.

[A Smug Dill]

Tried putting it with the nib slightly down ...

 

Do you mean positioning the nib such that it sat further out instead of being pushed as far into the gripping section as it could possibly go? If so, did you push the feed as far into the section as it would go all the same, and simply allowed the nib to protrude more than as fitted out of the box?

 

For what it cost, I just tossed it. It wasn't worth the cleaning and fixing. Oh well, no biggie.

 

Fair enough, although I would probably have advocated keeping the nib (which should be easy enough to clean just by dumping the piece of metal into a cup of water), given it could fit other fountain pens that take a #6 nib. Personally, I'd much prefer to write with a Nemosine EF nib than the default nib on a PenBBS 308 or 309 pen.

[OmegaMountain]

Do you mean positioning the nib such that it sat further out instead of being pushed as far into the gripping section as it could possibly go? If so, did you push the feed as far into the section as it would go all the same, and simply allowed the nib to protrude more than as fitted out of the box?

 

 

Fair enough, although I would probably have advocated keeping the nib (which should be easy enough to clean just by dumping the piece of metal into a cup of water), given it could fit other fountain pens that take a #6 nib. Personally, I'd much prefer to write with a Nemosine EF nib than the default nib on a PenBBS 308 or 309 pen.

No - I just had the pen resting in a nib down inclination to try to keep the ink in the converter at the nib end. I think the problem was also that the cap didn't seal well. I didn't try re-setting the nib - should have, but it didn't leak when writing. When it finally did dump all of the ink I didn't have any rubber gloves to put on and it had R&K document ink in it which I didn't want to risk getting everywhere. I'm not sure if R&K document ink is one that typically cause hard start issues, so that my have contributed to the problems as well. In hindsight, I could have done more with it, but I didn't have time to work on it immediately and I'm only out ~$10. I don't have any bodies I would have put the nib in anyway. I haven't been buying cheap pens anymore to keep from simply accumulating pens - I only bought this one because Nemosine is local to me in Pittsburgh. Edited November 23, 2019 by OmegaMountain

[Misfit]

Up until now, Ive been happy with every Nemosine purchase. A loose 0.6mm stub nib I bought is scratchy, and has a tiny fiber or two at the tip of the nib I cannot get out.

 

Any suggestions on making this nib better? I dont have any supplies for nib tuning.

Edited November 25, 2019 by Misfit

[Maccabeus]

Up until now, Ive been happy with every Nemosine purchase. A loose 0.6mm stub nib I bought is scratchy, and has a tiny fiber or two at the tip of the nib I cannot get out.

 

Any suggestions on making this nib better? I dont have any supplies for nib tuning.

 

I've had the same experience with my .6 and .8 mm Nemosine nibs. I would highly recommend investing in a sheet of 12000 grit micro-mesh. It'll last forever and will make a world of difference.

[A Smug Dill]

A loose 0.6mm stub nib I bought is scratchy, and has a tiny fiber or two at the tip of the nib I cannot get out.

 

Any suggestions on making this nib better? I dont have any supplies for nib tuning.

You could floss between the tines using a small piece from an old sheet of 35mm film negative, or just lift one tine up higher than the other while the nib is sitting under a running tap, to get rid of the fibres that get caught up, but that obviously won't remove any burrs on the metal that is ripping fibres up from the paper surface in the first place.

 

As for tuning the nib, I've worked on several of the (gold and steel) nibs on my pens — some more successfully than others — with emery boards and nail buffer blocks to write more smoothly and/or change the line width. The nib you have on hand cost only a few bucks to buy in the first place, so the consequence of going too far and/or ruining it inadvertently is relatively minor, but if you "can't" write with it with confidence and enjoyment as-is without fixing it, then it could be a calculated risk to consider taking.

[Misfit]

Thank you @A Smug Dill

 

I do have 35mm negatives around. That sounds like a good method, and I don’t have to buy anything to floss with, so thank you.

 

I have regular Emory boards, and a glass version. I like the glass version, so maybe I should use the paper based ones. I appreciate the advice very much. I have been mostly lucky with nibs on the pens I’ve bought. As a result I never paid attention to threads on “bad” nibs.

[Misfit]

I've had the same experience with my .6 and .8 mm Nemosine nibs. I would highly recommend investing in a sheet of 12000 grit micro-mesh. It'll last forever and will make a world of difference.

 

Thank you my pen pal friend. Next time I place an order, I will consider adding that. I will look for that at Anderson because they have some ink I’m hoping to get for Christmas (wink wink).

[brokenclay]

Nemosine is now selling 60ml bottles of ink (a variety of blues) for US$5.99, and bags of 100 short cartridges (a bunch of colors) for US$9.99. It's not clear (to me) whose ink it is - the color names are not the same as the Nemosine branded cartridges.

 

https://www.nemosine.com/collections/ink-cartridges

[katerchen]

Ah, that's the same sale as Birmingham's. Those bottles are Diamine inks. Not sure of the cartridges.

[Misfit]

Has anyone ordered the Mystery pen with mixed cap color?