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1. If I want to try to do it myself, What could I use to pull the nib and feed? I don't have a nib puller (if there is such a thing) Where is it safe to grab? Should I screw it back into the pen for greater grabbing leverage (though I don't know how I'd then get the assembly back out)?

~ If the nib and feed aren't set fully in the threadded collar, you can use 'Spark Plug Pliers" found at nearly any auto parts supply shop. These work great as section pliers & can double as a nib extractor in a pinch. Be very careful though, it's easy to crack a feed & bend the nib. 

~After you have soaked the section/nib/feed in a cup of room temp/slightly warm water. You'll want to position the nib so it sits in the concave jaw of the pliers, close them & squeeze with just enough pressure to hold it in place. DONT use so much it crushes the feed/nib. Then Holding the barrel, pull straight out or push in to set them deeper as needed.

1. Should I just send it to Chartpak? (I'm not crazy about a broad oblique nib anyway, maybe they would swap it? These days I'm into F and XF)

~covered above

1. Should I send to a private repair guy? (If I do, what do you think the repair estimate be?)

Chartpak?pelikan will generally do this foryou free of charge, but if you decide you muct have a repair guy or want to try yourself, then here's what to do.

Pretty much any repair guy type worth his salt can pull/reset & reassemble a collared nib unit. .

This is going to be a little confusing/tricky to describe.

Grab your knock out block. Find which 'hole' in your knock out block fits the collared end with the least clearance bewteen the unit & edge of the hole. Your looking for a close but not tight fit. The shoulders of the nib are wider than the collared area so I put the collared end through the hold coming at it from the underside of the knockout block. To avoid scratching the nib.

____
l      l   <~ko block.
l      l            _
  ^              )_(   <~ threadded end
   l                V

AMH210 wrote:

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Mission accomplished...sort of.

~Groovy!

I remembered I did have a knock-out block and was able to knock out the nib and feed with very little trouble. The nib shoulders seemed too broad for the right sized hole for the collar but eventually it worked (without bending the nib sides, I hope).

~Thats why I tried to explain (badly) that you need to put the nib unit in to the knock out block from he underside so the shoulders dont scrape along the hole while passing through.

I managed to maintain the alignment (near killed my fingers) but when I put the collarred nib back in the pen it seemed that the nib and feed stuck out more than it should.

~ Arthritis here. I know and currently feel your pain my friend.

~ You can check the nib/feed 'depth' by looking at the back side of the collar/feed. If there is a 'lip' orspace between the end of the feed & lip of the collar it's not set deep enough. On most pelikan nibs I recall seeing, the feed protrudes some past the end of the collar. =llll==> (sort of like that)

~ If you haven't polished the nib before you go to put it back in, check to see if there is a shadow of the former nib depth. Then shoot for that when your resetting. You can give it a polish after the collar is back on.

So, now that the pen gave more grab-space, I was able to get the nib/feed in a bit further till it looked right. Miraculously, the alignment was maintained and the nib unit still unscrews properly.

~ Honestly you got lucky my friend. Using the mounted collar/nib unit & section threads as a base to reset the feed/nib puts a LOT of stress on those threads & could crack the section, strip the threads, crack the collar or a host of other damages.

~What I do is, grab a shop towell, fold it up to a 5" square. Put it in my left hand, feed/collar end side against tme towell, wrap the front of the nib in the other side of the towell, grip the collar with my left fingers, pinch the nib/feed with my right and pust against my palm with the unit. It will 'pop' to just the right depth almost every time. You can ease the forces involved with a thin schmear of silicon grease on the inner surface of the collar & 'non-nib covered' portions of the feed. Just rinse it off in some warmish water when your done & the excess grease is melted/rinsed away. Rinse in coo, water. You may also need to heat set the feed to the nib, but thats another lesson.

I dipped the pen and then filled it with Pelikan Blue (seemed appropriate for a blue Pelikan 600). It writes OK, but is definately less than smooth. I examined the nib under the 10x and 20x loupe and it looks OK to me, though since it is an Oblique Broad nib, it is automaticly lined up weird. I don't think I'm going to try an amateur smoothing job on this nib, certainly no more than a brown paper bag. I emailed ChartPak with all the info and expect I'll hear back from them after Labor Day with instructions. Hopefully they will OK the nib swap and just ask me to send the nib for exchange. If they want the whole pen, that is OK as well, just a bigger hassle.


~They should be fine with the swap & I wouldn't even mess with the bag trick. It's helpful, but if your swapping it out & not going to use it, then let the pro's mess with it when they get it home.

I'd like to have an xf nib but I've heard that the Pelikan stock xf nibs are not good at all. I'd rather have a good f than a bad xf, but I'd really like to have a good xf. Do you have any idea if what I've heard is still a problem or if I beg nicely, will the person at ChartPak look hard for an excellent xf nib?

~I've heard they straightened out the bad nib issues & all is well. If you get one & it's problematic, send it this way & I'll sort it out for ya.

Thanks for the help. I've suggested to another former FPN guy to check out this forum. Don't know if he will or not. I'll spend some time here and will always appreciate diligent effort.

Thanks for spreadding the word about our humble community bud. I hope to see the both of you and anyone else you'd care to invite on the boards more. I'm very proud of our little community & am grateful to every member, veteran and rookie alike for being a part of the whole.

Dennis