[sizzle]

My nibs are always getting clogged and feel dull like it starts to lack the precision it once had where the nib once felt like it was exquisitely carving into the paper. Any tips on good nib hygiene or how to restore nibs?

I only have used Lamy fine and extra fine nibs, any recommendations for other companies?

[Al-Khwarizmi]

Coarser nibs are harder to clog. Changing ink to a more liquid one can also help, and sometimes a given ink just does not go well with a given nib. I don't use the same nibs as you do but you can search forums for ink recommendations for your specific nibs.

If you want another fountain pen, I recommend the Platinum Century #3776. It has a locking mechanism that prevents ink from drying so it prevents clogging when the pen is not used for a few weeks. For me it works like a charm.

PS: Keep in mind that Japanese nibs like the Platinum are finer than European nibs. So for example a Platinum M should feel roughly like a Lamy F.

[cyberferret]

Make sure you flush and clean the pens every now and then (I do mine every 3 or 4 refills). The climate where I am means ink normally dries in the nib or ink channels if I leave them too long without using them, so a routine flush with tap water tends to keep the gunk out of the system and ensure smooth ink flow and good 'feel' between nib and paper.

[rsl7]

Maybe it's the paper? I have a Lamy with a fine nib and it's amazing. I mostly use decent printer paper, but coarse paper like a typical composition book is not so great.

[phaus]

That shouldn't be happening even with an extra fine nib, what kind of paper are you using?

[sizzle]

I switch mediums often which might be the reason. Typically I use my leuchtturm1917 notebooks which have decent weight paper that absorbs the ink nicely.

I think when I switch materials on occasion when I'm in a meeting and only have scrap paper, think some waxy coated film papers e.g. 3M post-it notes material, this is clogging my nib somehow. What do you think? I never made this connection before, might help me avoid some future grief if I can stick to proper fountain pen paper.

I use noodler's bullet proof black ink.

I have several Lamy pens up to $100

[phaus]

I'd bet its the scraps of paper and the post its. The nicer paper for fountain pens actually has some kind of finished surface, which prevents ink from bleeding much at all. For paper where ink bleeds a lot, the surface of the paper is becoming completely saturated to the point where your nib is scraping soft chunks of ink soaked paper up as you write. That's probably what does it. If some of the paper is waxy, that could also cause clogging.

Different inks might have better results on a wider variety of paper, but that's something you have to try until you get something that works. I generally always either keep a high quality notebook around or I just use felt tip pens and keep my fountain pen at home if good paper isn't available.

Black and Red makes a decent quality notebook that's a good amount cheaper than Rhodia, Leuchtturm, etc.

Also stay away from moleskin they are trendy garbage. Ink bleeds like crazy because the paper they fill them with is of incredibly poor quality.