Adjusting/tuning a nib

[pravula]

Yes italic nibs are not tipped and if it is a plain ol' stainless nib I would not worry about it. It is plenty hard enough. i would definitely not do this to an expensive nib. Grind away have fun!

What I was gonna say is some of them are just folded over. No tip at all…

 

[blethenstrom]

I should probably add a couple of notes to the above post, as I realised it may lead to misunderstandings.

Running the razor blade down the gap is done after cleaning, and before the nib/feed are reassembled. I don't want folks gouging a channel down the feed then blaming me

Also, all of the first three steps are done with no ink, but not the fourth. I do everything I can when the nib is clean and dry, but then ink the pen up and make sure ink is flowing at the tip, before refining the tipping.

I have had great success with a feeler gauge too. Just use a cheap one.

 

[Frito Ray]

I did flush it with distilled water using a rubber ear bulb thingy

I don’t want to hijack your thread, but I used an ear bulb on a fountain pen for the first time a little while back. Throughout the process I kept asking myself if one could damage anything by using too much pressure?

 

[gpjoe]

I don’t want to hijack your thread, but I used an ear bulb on a fountain pen for the first time a little while back. Throughout the process I kept asking myself if one could damage anything by using too much pressure?

I don't think so. You are only pushing water through the plastic feed and the nib. I don't believe either are fragile enough to be harmed. I've done it many times on different pens with no ill effect.

 

[nemo]

Some posts with nib info have been moved to this thread from the hijacked "what's in your pocket".

I just want to add that spreading nibs with a razor or steel feeler gauge is risky business -- you're very likely to damage the walls of the slit unless you really know what you're doing, especially soft gold nibs. Gouges in the slit walls are hard to fix and will forever disrupt ink flow.

Read up on nib tuning in Richard Binder's tuning for beginners page.

 

[nemo]

What is a #6 nib?

#6 refers to what size of feed/section the nib will fit. I'm not sure the exact specifications that designates the nib numbers though. It seems to me that a good number of modern pens commonly have either a #5 or #6 nib.

A #6 nib fits a 6mm diameter feed, a #5 fits a 5mm -- it's the inner diameter of the metal.
Many vintage pens (Pelikan, Sheaffer, Parker, Eversharp) have the smaller 5mm. A nib made from really thick metal may not always fit into the corresponding hole in the pen's section so be careful.