New fine steel nib, smooth on the downstroke and left to right, but it drags noticeably on the upstroke and when I pull it toward me. A loupe shows nothing obvious. It's my first pen above 20 pounds and I don't know whether this is a defect, a break-in thing, or my grip.
Try it on different paper before concluding anything. Toothy paper turns a slightly firm nib into sandpaper on upstrokes, and the same nib feels glassy on a coated sheet.
A very light micromesh pass is the standard home fix for a genuine rough spot, but don't do it while you still think it might be alignment or rotation. You can't put material back.
And if you do, use the highest grit you have, write four or five wet figure-eights, then test. Most people go far too hard on the first go.
Also just contact the retailer. Above 20 pounds, most decent sellers will exchange or have their nib person look at it, and scratchy in one direction is a normal thing to ask about rather than a complaint they'll find odd.
@gimbal_gus · 12mo ago · 3 replies
Direction-dependent scratchiness on an otherwise fine nib is usually alignment or rotation rather than a defect.
Under the loupe, look at the tines from directly above with the nib pointing at you. They should meet with no step. A tine sitting even slightly higher than its neighbour catches only when you pull in the direction that digs it in, which matches what you describe.
Then check rotation. Most people write with the pen rolled slightly and have no idea. Deliberately roll it a few degrees each way while doing an upstroke and see whether there's a position where the drag disappears.
Steel nibs do smooth a little with use, but break-in is doing far less work than the internet suggests.
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@gimbal_gus · 12mo ago
Then you choose: retrain the grip, or have the nib ground to how you actually hold it. Neither is wrong, plenty of people write beautifully at a rotated angle with a nib ground for it.
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@seamripper_sol · 12mo ago
Rolling it about ten degrees anticlockwise makes it vanish completely. So it's me.
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