Problems with Mitchell roundhand nib

[Blotbot]

My first post under the broad edge category!

I am using Mitchell broad edge nibs with a reservoir.  I am having problems getting the ink flowing.  I have to turn it over and get the ink flowing off the upper surface, and then I can flip it back over and write until i need to refill, then it starts all over again.  I thing the reservoir is in the right position based on Shelia Waters book.  This has happened with two Mitchell nibs and both Higgins Eternal and walnut ink.  What do you think?

[Blotbot]

Give me enough time and I will solve my own problems!  Lying in bed last night, it occurred to me that I had flamed the new nib with the reservoir attached.  Perhaps I did not get rid of the oil on the underside on the nib and inside of the reservoir?   So this morning, I took them apart and with tweezers carefully reflamed everything.  Now it works!

I make these mistakes so you don't have to.   

[Scarlet Blue]

They are temperamental. I never flame mine... I put them in a mug and pour boiling water over them... spit is effective too.
It took me a while to get used to them, fiddling with the reservoir etc, but now it's second nature... books don't really help that much... with me it was all trial and error.
Anyhow, I am pleased to read that they are behaving themselves today 

[Blotbot]

Well, now I find that why it is improved, it is still a slow starter.  Just the way it is. 

[Salman Khattak]

Glad to know you figured it out.

These nibs can be finicky but they write very well once you get them going. I did not like them at all when starting out but now prefer them over my Brause nibs.

So - want to show us what you wrote with them?

Salman

[Blotbot]

I am in the third week of my foundation hand class.  We have no yet learned all of the miniscules or any of the magiscules, but we need to come up with a prototype for a card for the next class.  Fortunately I found a text that only uses the letters we know.  And it is.....

[Salman Khattak]

Nicely done Ellen.

One thing that helped get the shakiness out of my long verticals was to place the pen at the top at the correct angle, then look at the point where the stroke is supposed to end (yes look away from the nib) and imagine your arm being pulled straight back by a string tied to your elbow until you get to that point. Sounds harder than it is in practice :-)

Who are you taking the class with?

Salman

[Blotbot]

My class is at The Art League in Alexandria Virginia with Hermineh Miller.  Her website is www.peonymoon.com.

[Ergative]

I always use a baby toothbrush and hand soap to clean off my WM nibs. I've never had a problem with them being slow starters, but I often find that I adjust the reservoirs. Often for the smaller nibs I move the reservoirs back (to reduce flow) and with the larger nibs I move them way forward to make the flow hit the whole breadth of the nib. I'd recommend fiddling with the placement for each nib, rather than aiming for a platonic ideal. The reservoirs are so flexible and bendy that they are pretty finicky.

I've been falling in a love with the Brause nibs, after literally over a decade of using WM nibs. I have a really, really heavy hand, and it's nice to have a nib that stands up to it!

[the_newgent]

Glad I found this thread. I finally got to sit down with some WM nibs I got last week, and I've not been able to get them to flow with the reservoir on, even shifting it around. I had hit the underside of the nib with acetone pretty well (I've read not to flame nibs? jury seems out on the practice), and I'm just having a hard time getting any flow.

I got the 10-pack of WM nibs from John Neal, so I grabbed another size nib, flamed that one, and tried, but I am having troubles with it, too. Plus, the tines of this nib seem very slightly flayed without pressure on them.

I'm new to this, so I'm not sure whether I got a bunk nib with the flayed tines, or whether I just need more errors to my trials. Just finally got frustrated enough to post here.

Seems like it's just a thing with these nibs, but once I get the hand for them, I'll love them?

I've a bit heavier of a hand, so I'm thinking I maybe should've gotten Brause, but I wanted the straight cut of WM...
Oi...

(First post here. Hi, everyone! I promise I won't just post when I'm frustrated with nibs!)

[Scarlet Blue]

Hello and welcome, Newgent!
The tines shouldn't be flayed. Tines sometimes flay if the reservoir is on too tight.
Try wiping the nib with saliva, this always helps!
I sometimes whip off the reservoir and dip... the first marks I make after this are obviously splodgy, but eventually, as the ink disperses, I make a nice crisp mark... then I know the nib is fine and that I am having reservoir issues. Sometimes I just switch reservoirs and a nib will then work correctly.
Persevere and the Mitchell nib will work eventually!

[the_newgent]

Thanks, Scarlet!

[Blotbot]

My Mitchell nibs are working better now.  Maybe because I am using the smaller sizes, and maybe just the use in ink seasons them.  My issue now is that they don't behave well with sumi ink.  I think bits of pigment are getting stuck under the blade. 

[Des]

Also using them for them first time, are the ink reservoirs supposed to touch the nib?

[Scarlet Blue]

Yes, Des, the reservoir lightly touches the underside of the nib, but not so tight that it splays the tines.