How to adjust the tines on a fountain pen

Sometimes you’ll come across a fountain pen that feels slightly scratchy when you use it – the nib might write smoothly in one direction but scratchy in another direction. This is the classic symptom of tine misalignment. Even new pens can come this way from the factory but do not fear, there is a very simple way to fix the problem yourself. 

Start by examining your nib, from the front, using a loupe / magnifier – it might look a bit like this: 

Even though the righthand tine on this nib is only a tiny bit too low, it will still cause a slightly scratchy feeling when writing – especially when writing lines from left to right, while lines from right to left should feel smoother. This is just because the inner surfaces of the tines have quite sharp edges and if one of them is making stronger contact with the paper then it will dig in very slightly. 

My equipment for adjusting tines is very simple – just an old credit card and a wad of kitchen paper. The credit card has a nice sharp edge but it’s soft enough not to scratch your nib and it isn’t too thick – you’ll only need very tiny adjustments. The kitchen paper is just there to soak up any ink that flicks out as we make the adjustments. 

You need to turn the nib upside down and (remembering which tine is the highest) attempt to gently push the highest tine against the edge of the card a little, while not putting pressure on the other, good tine (see below). We nearly always push the highest down, closer to the feed, because we want to keep the nib in close contact with it and pushing a tine up risks reducing that contact. 

You’ll notice that I’m bracing the feed with my right forefinger so that I don’t bend the feed, which could damage it. With my left forefinger I’m steadying the pen and stopping it drifting right, off the edge of the card. The natural tendency as you push down is for the nib to slip off the card but you have to resist that carefully and feel for that point where the good tine is hanging over the edge while the bad one is pressing against the card.

Make very small adjustments and check regularly using your loupe and by writing on a pad of paper. When you’ve got the tines properly aligned it should look more like this and will write smoothly in all directions.

I hope that has given you the confidence to try adjusting your tines – it’s actually a very easy thing to do and can save you having to send the pen away to someone or just put up with a scratchy nib!