# Steel vs Gold Nibs, Thickness



## Jim in Oakville (Dec 21, 2007)

Hi,

I was wondering if I have been missing something or just suddenly realizing something regarding gold nibs.

I think the issue for me is the thickness of the gold nibs vs that of the steel nibs.

 I recently have been upgrading some clients pens from steel to gold nibs.  One pen is a Gentlemens pen and another is an El Toro, in both cases while I have found that the steel nib is firmly held in place when assembled but when I replace the nib with a gold one they are very loose, flex and slide side to side and can be pulled out with a very light pull.  

Any ideas on how I can correct this or what I am doing wrong would be appreciated.

Thanks


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## DCBluesman (Dec 21, 2007)

Nibs often need just a hint of tweaking to seat properly against the feed and to be firmly held in the holder.  Bend the two "wings" gently outwards (radially).  That should give you better contact with the feed and with the nib holder.  BTW, wide spread wings is the reason some of the kit nibs can be a b!t@h to remove. [8D]


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## ashaw (Dec 21, 2007)

SO far none of my gold nibs need adjusting.  They fit perfectly.


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## Jim in Oakville (Dec 23, 2007)

Thanks Lou,

I did that, it improved some what, but I still can not get the same fit as the steel nibs.  

Do you know if there is a standard thickness for nib bodies ?

The steel nibs I have and the gold ones I am trying to replace have the exact same profiles.


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## bgray (Dec 23, 2007)

Respectfully, Lou...I'm not a fan of bending the nib to fit, as that will alter the flow.  Not a problem if you can re-adjust the tines to adjust the flow from there...but if you don't know how to do that, you're asking for it.

Also, if you bend the nib severe enough, the tines will rotate, lifting the center line where the ink comes out off the paper...causing skipping.

All nibs are generally the same thickness.  What varies is the thickness of feeds, and the hole in sections.

I have a box full of various feeds and sections.  Start swapping different feeds and sections, and you will find one that fits eventually.

Try the feeds first...that's usually the culprit.

Some feeds make a loose fit, and some make a tight fit.

I just fish around until I find one that fits...my 2 cents.


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