# Nib, Disassembly, reassembly,changing...very  long



## PenWorks

Since there has been so much talk about fountain pen nibs, gold vs steel, and some writing problems with FP in general. I have taken a few apart for inspection so the majority can see the inter tickings.

The terms I am going to use here are,
Nib- The steel or gold metal writing point
Feeder- The part that fits against the point that controls the ink flow
Housing- The part that the feeder & nib fit into
Front section- The front part of the pen that holds the nib, feed,& housing.

First, if your fountain pen does not write properly, there can be numerous problems, if you do an internet search, you will find a vast amount of info on using different inks, polishing or smoothing out your tip and just about anything else you want to know. 

But if you remove the nib & feed, you just may find this.








Everybody will tell you, you should rinse out the feed & nib every two weeks, but we generally do it twice a year or when we find out our feed is clogged. So by rinsing your feed out often, you will avoid this crud build up. 

Most nibs and feeders can be removed by gently pulling & wiggling the nib & feed. There is also a tool called the knock-out block that can be used, this is one available from the Wood Bin LTD, Martin has a good selection of FP tools.
http://www.simcom.on.ca/woodbin/Tools.htm






This section deals with disassembly of nibs from some of our most popular kit pens, or at least the ones I make regularly.

First is the Jr Gent/Baron/Navigator pens.
This photo shows from L-R
CS FP nib, Plat Jr, Black Ti Baron, Gold Ti Baron






The parts removed from the right are, the gold front section screws off, which reviels the feeder housing, which holds the feeder and nib.
If you play around with these parts, they are somewhat interchangeable. So, if you want the look of a two tone nib, you can use a Baron. If you want the caligraphy nib from CS, unscrew the black  front section and take one off another. Some minor fitting may be done. Aslo, you can replace the steel nib with a gold nib of the same size and still be able to use the same feed and housing sections.

This is the Penchetta 14K gold medium nib with feed & housing assembly & no front section cover.






This is what the gold nibs look like in different metal front housings, note the small 14K nibs are offered in gold out or gold in.






Next is the Ligero and El Grande. About the only difference I see between the two fron sections is the Ligero has the cap threads on the front section and the El Grande uses a coupler for the cap threads. The photo is of the Ligero front section. Now these I have noticed in both models have the nib & feed pressed in pretty good. A little extra wiggling and a firmer grip may be needed to remove them without the knock-out block. But can be safely done. This nib can be replaced as well with a large gold nib. I have chosen to replace the nib & feed together when putting a gold nib in.

Ligero front section, feed, original nib, gold nib & new feed.





Assembled:





Assembled in pen






*NOTE:  I have been experiencing some problems with the conversion to the Ligero & El Grande. On some, the nib is not lying completely flat on the feed and therefore not working properly. I am having to bend the nib so it comes in contact with the end of the feed. So I would currently recomend staying away from this conversion for now.
Updated 7/29/05*

Next is the Havana nib. It uses the large type nib and can be removed by the wiggle pull method.
The original nib, original nib & feed, new replacement gold nib & feed






Original nib, gold nib:






This is the front section of a Gentlems/Statesmen pen. The nib, feed & housing can simply unscrew from the front section. Great design.





Upon further disassembly you find the large nib, feed & housing






Here is the original and placement gold nib, feed & housing.






There are various other nibs in the market, but all have different housings, threads, feeds & front sections which make changing nibs a little more challening.
A Bexley nib next to a PenWorks nib





A Krone, Visconti, Danitrio, & Krone nib







Reassembly:
When reassembling the nibs and feed into the housing, first insert the feed part way only. There is a slight catch or guide in the housing, you may have to rotate the feed to find it. When you do, it will just slide in. After you have started to insert the feed, take your nib and insert between the feed and housing and press both into the housing firmly, that's it!

I hope this is somewhat informative to some and does not sound to much like an infomercial for my gold nibs I am going to offer for sale 

But this method can be used with a variety of nibs you may find that happen to be the right size. 

I know this was lengthy, but if it has any value at all, Jeff may want to put this in the article section in PDF format with some changes.

14K Gold replacement nib by PenWorks


----------



## Darley

Thanks Anthony very nice instructions and I'm agree with you that Jeff should put it in PDF format and post it at the main page. For myself I was looking at this link probably you know about it .

http://nibs.com/PenMaintenance.htm


----------



## DCBluesman

Thanks for the pictorial, Tony!


----------



## coach

Anthony you are the man!  Thanks a lot.  Serge, very helpful link all great information!


----------



## driften

Thank You very much Anthony for the information! I agree a PDF version should be made and saved in the articles section!


----------



## wee willie

Thanks Anthony, some great info. much appreciated.


----------



## wdcav1952

Anthony,

Thanks for the course on nibs.  The pictures made it so very much easier to follow.   I also love fountain pens, and rather make them than anything else.


----------



## Deere41h

Anthony....Thanks for the neat education.  It always amazes me how much knowledge you have and your willingness to share that with us.  Thank you for sharing it with us.


----------



## woodscavenger

Wouldn't it be cool to have as many different pens as Anthony.  I admit it, I have pen envy![] Thanks for the tutorial.


----------



## timdaleiden

I agree that this should be a PDF article. [Edit: If Jeff doesn't have the time to PDF this, I could copy it to MW, spell check, turn it into PDF, submit it to you for approval, and forward it to Jeff] To be honest, I have yet to make a FP, and had no idea what the other side of the nib even looked like. 

 My only memories I have of fountain pens is my Dad saying the stupid thing doesn't work, and numerous spoofs on TV shows of bad experiences, e.g. fountains of ink spraying onto someoneâ€™s face. 


 (BTW, sorry if my sig loads slowly...I am working on it.)


----------



## wicook

Thanks, Anthony. Very informative article. Now I want to try to fix a problem I have with ink flow...


----------



## darbytee

Wow Anthony, All of this great information and you can get me a good price on a Martin D15, you are my hero.[][]


----------



## PenWorks

Thanks for the comments. It was fun doing this today. Pissed my sons off, because I did absolutely no work today other than take pictures and write this. []


----------



## Darley

> _Originally posted by penworks_
> <br />Thanks for the comments. It was fun doing this today. Pissed my sons off, because I did absolutely no work today other than take pictures and write this. []



Well sometime you have to relax don't you?[]


----------



## JimGo

Wow, thanks Anthony!  As someone who has yet to do a FP, this is a great resource.

Thank you for taking all the time!


----------



## Mac In Oak Ridge

Anthony, thank you for this article.  It really helps sort out what we have to work with.

Regards,
Mac


----------



## Mac In Oak Ridge

Anthony,  It is my observation that all the problems that get reported here about fountain pen kits not working properly can be traced to the capillary groove that is on the feed section of the assembly.  On good quality pens you find that groove to be a very sharp, perhaps machined groove.  On the pen kits that I have taken apart I have found that groove to be cast in the plastic and not very uniform at all.  I am working on a way to accurately re-cut that groove, if needed.
Mac


----------



## Rifleman1776

That is an excellent tutorial and definately something worth posting permanently. But 'WOW! [:0] Now, I understand why ballpoints were invented. But, then, some of us drive old pick-up trucks, others drive Maserati's.


----------



## woodwish

I missed all this the first time, probably because at that time I had no interest in making a fountain pen but in recent weeks I have been giving more consideration.  This thread provided a lot of info for me.  I hope it gets posted somewhere permanantly instead of eventually lost to the archieves.  Good stuff![]


----------



## DCBluesman

Moved to a more appropriate forum - to be made sticky (so we don't lose this one!).


----------



## CPDesigns

I just happened across this today... WOW! I haven't made any foutain pens yet, in part because of the mysteries of the nib. Once my DW lets me buy more supplies I'll have to look in to getting a few FPs. Thanks for the education![]


----------

