Help With Waterman Nib Skipping

September 6, 2022

If anyone's been following the other thread I posted, I am at wit's end with my Waterman nibs.

Every single one of my Waterman pens from the 20's/30's is not just a "meh" writer, they're actually the worst writers out of all my vintage pens. Including my Wearevers - my Wearevers actually put down a consistent line without skipping! This is not hyperbole, I can't think of another pen that writes as badly.

So... I need to figure out what the issue is. If it's me, if it's the nib, if it's some holy force that is compelling the pens to just not work, anything.

These are some pics of the latest horrifically bad Waterman nib I have. Can anyone offer any advice on how to fix this? From first glance, it looks like this has a baby's bottom. I am aware of the left tine being very slightly out of alignment - I don't find that this causes any scratchiness or issues because the nib is very soft and the tines align as soon as you put in on the paper.

I must be doing something wrong because I have had the same issue with every single #2 Waterman nib I've used and I'm at three so far. Are these just all horrible for everyday writing and only used for flex writing? That can't be it, right? I'm sorry for the histrionics but skipping is my single biggest pet peeve for nibs, it makes pens completely unusable for me.

September 8, 2022

It does look like baby's bottom.

That size of dramatic deep valley between two domed tine tips is seen in exaggerated diagrams, drawn to illustrate this type of fault.

The tine gap slit appears rather narrow towards the tips also. Difficult to judge in a photograph of an inked nib. I prefer to check the size and profile of the slit with a dry nib and a light source behind the nib shining through the slit.

If the skipping occurs part way through a pen stroke then the narrow tine gap is a likely cause.

But if the skipping occurs when the nib is lifted from the paper after a normal inky stroke, and then when placed down onto the paper again, to begin forming the next letter, no ink is laid down at all .... then babby bottom is the more likely cause.

The tine tips have been beautifully ground and polished though, with admirable symmetry .... as if the tine tipping form was fully intentional? Perhaps it was ground for use with the wettest of inks, on suitable paper ( softer slightly fuzzy surfaced paper, with a soft slightly spongy support surface behind the paper, such as leather, not a hard support such as a glass desktop)?

What to do about it...?

That is a difficult choice.

A vintage pen "collector" may prefer to preserve the original grind, as part of the character of the pen. Find a combination of ink & paper & support backing that allows the pen to work.

A non-collector pen user (like myself) would simply re-grind the tipping to remove most of the valley between the two tine tips. I would view the nib like a steel flex dip-pen, that does have a very narrow tine slit by design due to the pre-loading of the elastic tine pressing together - to allow the finest of lines with a light touch - and broader effects when flexed. Such nibs cannot tollerate any baby bottom though, and are accepted as being somewhat "scratchy" by nature.

September 8, 2022

21 minutes ago, dipper said:

The tine tips have been beautifully ground and polished though, with admirable symmetry

I have three Waterman #2 nibs (on a 52, a 3V, and this one) that are all ground this same exact way... I was wondering it was intentional and I am starting to think it is. But if a lot of these were ground this way, I feel like I'd hear more about people having skipping issues.

I guess maybe people usually use these for flex/calligraphy writing and baby's bottom doesn't really affect flex? Or I have an especially finnicky hand where I'm more prone to skipping more than most people?

The good news (for me anyways) is I just got another (I'm a glutton for punishment) and this one has a really fine, really deliberate grind. I only tried a dip test so far but it was really nice. I am crossing my fingers that it is just as good when it's inked. Sadly ran out of the correct sized sacs so I'll be waiting a week or so to get it working.