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Fountain pen nibs, are generally good to go as soon as you receive your pen.  If you notice any ink flow issues it's worth giving your pen a good flush using warm soapy water, or even better, distilled water or our Nib Cleaning Solutionand then rinsing thoroughly (otherwise you may notice that the ink will bleed through your paper).

Benefits;

- Juiciness - It's fitted with professional calligraphy nib (the chrome Zebra G)giving youthe greatest variance between thick and thin strokes, from hairline up to 2mm.

- Titanium Zebra nibs are available tobuyseparately on the site and last four times longer than chrome.

- Softer - it's a doddle to flex, requiring very little pressure.

- Ink Flow - The Japanese ebonite (a special type of vulcanised rubber)  feed delivers just the right amount of ink.

Things to Consider;

- Maintenance - Before using your brand new pen, you will need to remove the nib, clean off any residual manufacturing oil, and re-install it into the housing before use. See how to do this here. You will also need to clean and dry your nib in between use, just like you would a regular dip pen, in order to prevent corrosion and prolong your nib's life.

- Replacing - because a calligraphy nib's raison d'être is to flex, they're made from alloys which are beautifully soft but can corrode and wear. So, just like a calligraphy pen you'll occasionally need to replace your nib (available here) when you notice your nib is no longer performing as well.

- Heat Setting- One of the tricks to getting the most from any flex nib is good contact between the feed and the nib. One of the clever things about ebonite is that it becomes malleable with heat, meaning you canachievea super cosy fit for optimum ink flow. This process is called heat setting and I do it to every nib, but it can occasionally need re-doing if the pen is knocked etc. I'll be making a video to demonstrate this but a quick google will also give you a good number of explanations and videos demonstrating the process. If you're not confident about this I would recommend the Semi - Flex nib instead.

- Snag - The hairline nib when un-flexed creates beautifully fine strokes but, particularly if you're new to calligraphy, you will notice that it may sometimes snag on paper simply because it is so fine. For this reason we recommend using high quality paper with a smooth finish such as Bristol Board.

Benefits;

- Maintenance Free - If you're not a calligraphy or fountain pen nerd and want a simple maintenance free writing experience, the Semi-Flex is the way to go.

- Durability - It's essentially a fountain pen nib (gold plated stainless steel) that has been designed to be make it more flexible so it will be more durable than the pro-flex.

- Smoothness - The Semi-Flex is an extra finetippedfountain pen nib, which means that nib has an Iridium (super hard metal) end where it meets the paper.  This increases the durability of the nib and making it smoother to write with on a variety of paper types.  

Things to Consider;

- Flex - It's more flexible than 95% of the fountain pen nibs out there, but compared to the Pro-Flex it's not as soft and more effort is required to achieve a thicker stroke. 

- Hairlines - The pen is tipped which, as I mentioned before, increases durability and smoothness, but this means it can't achieve such fine hairline strokes as the Pro-Flex.

- Ink Flow - Flex nibs are inherently thirsty pens and require the feed to keep up and deliver ink to the nib so that it doesn't run out mid-sentence.  The Pro-Flex ebonite feed is the best in the world at delivering ink and is the main reason for the price difference between the two.  The Semi-Flex has a plastic feed which is good but due to lots of incredibly geeky factors can on occasion run out after lots of juicy inky flexing. It's easy to get it flowing again (by pushing more ink in using the included ink convertor) but it's worth considering before purchasing.

The nib units all unscrew from the pen. With the nib pointing towards you, remove the ink converter then simply pinch the nib and the feed (the black part under the nib) and twist anti-(counter) clockwise.

All of the gold plated fountain pen nibs will not corrode. The Pro-Flex will corrode but you can easily replace it if needed.  For ultimate longevity I'd recommend removing your Pro-Flex nib from the feed and drying between uses or at least flushing your pen with distilled water after every use and drying it.

The Studio Fountain Pen works beautifully with all fountain pen inks, and I recommend Diamine Inks (you can find them here).  Be sure not to use calligraphy specific ink as this can clog the pen.

- We recommend you flush your fountain pen thoroughly before use. This will remove any oils from the nib which are present during manufacture, and will impede ink flow. Any of the following are good options: our Nib Cleaning Solution, distilled water or water with a tiny touch of dish soap.

- Your Pro-Flex nib is slightly different to a tipped fountain pen nib. When used fresh from the box, will take a little encouragement before it is performing optimally. Ink flow may be intermittent and railroading will be frequent - this is perfectly normal. Rest assured that after a page or so of writing it should settle in and start writing lovely and smoothly. 

- Every pen is machined from solid metals on a lathe used for making fine watch and aerospace grade components, so you can be sure your pen will write perfectly for years and years to come.

- We offer a complimentary repair service, so should your pen need a little TLC please contact us.

1. Paper is actually a pretty excellent abrasive so if you have the inclination you can wait until the nib is polished by the paper over time.
2. You can speed up the process by buying what's called 'micromesh' that goes up to 12000 grit.  It's what I use to get a mirror finish on my lacquered pens.  if you carefully sand the iridium tip by going through the grades from around 1200-2400 grit and going up, your pen will be buttery smooth.
3. I'm sure you're already aware but paper choice also makes a big difference, I use MD Paper which is lovely and smooth and perfect for fountain pen use.