Many fountain pen issues can be solved with a good cleaning, but some will require a slightly more advanced solution. If your fountain pen is scratchy, inconsistent, or just not writing quite the way you'd like, and if cleaning it hasn't solved the issue, read on for some more advanced tips and tricks.
Before attempting to tune a fountain pen, it helps to understand the basics of how they work. If you're new to fountain pens, check out How Fountain Pens Work.
While all of the techniques listed here are relatively simple to perform, it is possible to permanently damage a pen if they are done incorrectly. Please note that using these techniques may void any manufacturer's warranty the pen might have, and you will be responsible for any damage that might occur.
Go slowly and test your pen frequently. Nibs are delicate instruments, and even the slightest adjustments can have significant results.
Now, let's take a look at the three most common fountain pen nib issues and what you can do to address them.
If a nib is scratchy, it will catch and dig into the paper as it writes. Not only does this make writing unpleasant, it also damages the paper and clogs the nib with uprooted paper fibers. Scratchiness is usually caused by either misaligned tines or imperfections in the tips.
Here are the steps you can take to address a scratchy nib.
The most common form of misaligned tines is when one tine is higher or lower than the other. To correct this issue, use the following steps:
- With a fingertip placed on the top side of the nib, press the tip of nib down gently but firmly against a hard surface, like a sheet of paper on a table.
- Rock the nib from side to side for 5–10 seconds.
- Check the nib to see if the tines are still misaligned. Repeat step 2 as necessary.
- Doing this may have caused the tips to become bent up slightly. If so, turn the nib over and, with a fingertip on the underside of the feed, press down briefly several times in a row, repeating if necessary.
If the tines are properly aligned and the nib is still scratchy, use a loupe or magnifying glass to examine the tips of the nib. The surface of the tips should be perfectly smooth. If there are any visible nicks, spurs, or other surface irregularities, contact the retailer or manufacturer for a replacement nib or pen, as these are defects that cannot easily be fixed.
Scratchiness can also occur if the surface of the tips is a little too rough, or if the inside edges of the tips are a little too sharp. In this case, you can try to make the nib smoother by lightly polishing it. Do not do this unless you have already done the previous steps. Trying to polish a nib with damaged tips or misaligned tines will only make the problem worse. Polishing can be done with very fine grit buff sticks, Mylar, or micro-mesh, but doing so is a very advanced procedure and is not recommended without first doing extensive research and preparation.
One polishing technique that is relatively safe to perform and does not require any special equipment is to use a paper bag.
Find a paper bag or other rough paper surface. With ink installed in the pen, draw figure 8s on the paper using your normal writing angle and pressure. Test the pen on regular paper every few minutes or so. This method can take a while to give noticeable results and might not work with all nibs. Stop if you notice that your nib is digging up paper fibers from the bag—the nib is probably too scratchy to fix using this method, and the paper fibers may clog and damage the nib.
"Flow" refers to how quickly a pen puts ink onto the paper. Dry or inconsistent flow can cause the ink to skip or appear washed out. It can also cause "hard starts"—small skips at the beginning of a pen stroke.
Here are the steps you can take to address a nib with poor ink flow.
- With a fingertip on the underside of the feed, press the top of the nib gently but firmly against the edge of a hard surface.
- Slowly, roll the nib from base to tip against the surface.
- Repeat this process, checking every few times to see if the gap is still present.
- Doing this may have caused the tips to become bent down slightly. If so, turn the nib over and, with a fingertip on the top side of the nib, press down briefly several times in a row, repeating if necessary.
- Slowly, press the tip of the nib down on a hard surface so that the tips of the nib spread no more than 1–2 mm apart.
- Hold down for a few seconds, then release.
- Repeat this process, checking every few times to see if the tips are still touching.
- This can take some time, but it should loosen up the tines of most nibs. Do not try to speed the process up by pressing the nib harder or for longer periods, as this can result in splaying or even permanently damaging the tines.
- Roll the top side of the nib against a hard surface, as described in the section on fixing a gap between the nib and feed.
- With a fingertip on the underside of the feed, press the top side of the tip against a hard surface and rock the nib from side to side for 5–10 seconds, repeating as necessary.
- With a fingertip on the side of one tine, press the tip of the other tine down on a hard surface and hold for several seconds. Alternate sides and repeat as necessary.
- Grip the sides of the tines between two fingertips and squeeze them firmly together for 5–10 seconds, repeating as necessary. This can be uncomfortable, so we recommend using a thin, smooth towel or piece of rubber to cushion your fingertips.
Once the ink does make contact with the page, the paper's absorbency and the ink's surface tension will keep the ink flowing, but if the nib is lifted off the paper for more than a second or two, the ink will retreat up into the tip, causing a slight skip on the next pen stroke.
If your nib is suffering from baby's bottom, try the following workarounds:
- Use greater writing pressure. Pushing the nib more firmly into the paper will help the ink to make and keep contact with the paper.
- Use paper that is less smooth and more absorbent. Smooth, non-absorbent papers that are generally considered fountain pen–friendly will exacerbate the problems caused by baby's bottom.
- Use a wetter ink. This will be discussed further in the next section.
It is possible to try to fix a nib with baby's bottom, but this is a much more advanced procedure that will not be covered here.
Waterman inks are particularly noted for working well in pens with poor flow. Other frequently recommended brands include Diamine, Pilot Iroshizuku, and Sailor.
When a fountain pen puts ink down too quickly, it will create wide, wet lines that can be difficult to control and take a long time to dry. It also increases the likelihood of the ink feathering or bleeding through the paper. In extreme cases, ink might even drip or leak from the nib.
Here are the steps you can take to address a nib with excessive ink flow.
Heat can cause the air inside a pen to expand and force ink out through the nib. If the leaking or wet writing occurs when it gets hot out or when you've been carrying the pen close to your body, this may be the cause.
If you don't mind a little work and some inky fingers, it is often possible to fix and even fine-tune a fountain pen to write the way you want. For more information about the different kinds of fountain pen nibs, check out our Guide to Fountain Pen Nibs: Choosing a Fountain Pen Nib.
Do you have any questions or thoughts about nib tuning? Let us know in the comments below!
| When to attempt to tune a fountain pen nib | If the nib is scratchy, or if ink flow is poor or excessive, and if cleaning the nib has not helped. |
| If the nib is scratchy |
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| If the nib has poor flow |
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| If the nib has excessive flow |
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| "Wet" Inks | Diamine, Pilot Iroshizuku, Sailor, Waterman |
| "Dry" Inks | Lamy, Pelikan 4001 |
| Helpful Tools | A smooth, soft towel; a magnifying glass or loupe; thin brass sheets; a rough paper bag; a thin rubber gripping sheet |
