Bad nibs

[Michael Lew]

I've been selling fountain pens for only a little while, but my experience so far is that Jowo and Bock nibs are far more variable and unreliable than one might expect. About half of the nibs need tuning to become acceptable and a lot need serious re-shaping. Some are so asymmetrical in tine widths that I do not know how to make them work.

 

So far I would say that the Bock nibs are more likely to have excessively tight tines than the Jowo, but no small pen maker could send either brand out without testing and adjusting as necessary. Are penmakers OK with that? Should I be sourcing a different brand of nib?

 

What about the nibs that I cannot use? Should I try to send them back to the supplier—fpnibs for the Jowo, and a local supplier [in Australia] for the Bocks—or to the manufacturers, or should I just take the failures as part of my costs?

 

I had a bad Conklin nib from Goulet pens a couple of years ago and they replaced it happily, but I wonder whether they were having to eat the cost.

 

Michael Lew, PlatypusPens.com

[amberleadavis]

Bummer you haven't received a reply.

[Newton Pens]

I tune EVERY nib that goes out on one of my pens and they ALL need tuning, Jowo and Bock alike.

I prefer Jowo, but will put Bock in when customers request them.

Tuning is a part of the business.  Just like sanding and buffing/polishing your parts after you turn them.   

 

If you get some nibs that are really bad - for example if the slit is off center so that one tine is so narrow it can't be tuned, send back to the retailer.  The manufacturers aren't going to deal with you.  If you're not really comfortable with tuning and adjusting the nibs yourself, just let your customers know that they should consider having you send it to a nib tuner first, or that they'll need to test it out before they get it.  A lot of people are pretty comfortable with this, while others are very much not.