This video kind of sets my hair on fire. Not because any of it wrong, not at all. Everything said here is perfectly reasonable and all the advice well worth following -- But  BUUUUT... a lifetime (I'm old) of working with dip pens has taught me this: 99% of the problems with a dip pen nib -- are NOT the nib! It's the ink. Here's a simple rule. If the pen doesn't work at all, out of the box after you got the varnish off the new nib with alcohol or other solvent...  it just won't write: ok, check the nib it might be defective. But BUUUT....  < If the pen was writing fine for a while and then stopped working > --- it's NOT really the nib, not unless you dropped the pen (which does ruin nibs). It's that ink that has dried on the nib -- this can be nearly invisible -- the Ink has dried <inbetween> the tines of the nib such that wet ink doesnt flow correctly or at all.  India ink dries fast. Microscopic amounts of ink dried in the tines can make the pen stop working correctly. Clean the nib (not just redip!) with a solvent, wet with water, wipe... and it will work again. Learned this the hard way after many many hours spent dumbly staring at nibs wondering why they stopped working. Why do all my nibs go bad, so quickly? lol. A second issue is that a freshly cleaned nib -- one that seemed to draw just fine earlier -- doesn't write correctly anymore. You try a different nib, and it doesn't work either. What's going on is the ink itself has thickened, right in the ink well, and doesn't flow correctly for that nib anymore (some nibs are more tolerant than others). This is especially a problem if, as I do,  you use a small ink well that you refill from a larger bottle --  that capfull of ink you dip in thickens quickly and in less than an hour it won't flow off the nib the way it did fresh from the bottle.  The solution is to replace or refresh the ink (adding a drop of water or wetting agent to the ink can work). In my opinion India ink is very cheap and very black -- it's the best but it dries very fast on the nib and causes the problems described above. Fountain pen inks are less black and more expensive but they flow so nicely off the nib and have less problems. Thank you Ryan for showing me to look out for defective nibs. I hope my notes help people solve their nib problems when the nib <isnt> the problem the ink is.

I'm new to the world of dip pens, and I was so confused as to why my paper kept getting stuck in the nib. This vid helped me realize my nip was cut wrong. Thanks for the info!

Japanese nibs reign supreme. Zebra G and Tachikawa Maru (the equivalent of these you're showing here) are my top favorites, the ones I must ALWAYS have. They're really consistent in their high quality too.

Gee, here I thought it was me !  Checked the Nib that made me stop & find this Video - low & behold!  cut was good but the alignment was ever so slightly out.  Its so interesting how such a small issue can create such a huge problem.  While I knew there was something wrong with the Nib from just the FEEL itself and irrational ink surge, I now feel more empowered to diagnose my Nibs beyond just guessing.  Thank You!  Very helpful instruction Video.

You can use a very thin sand paper wraped/glued in a barbecue stick, put the stick in a drill and use it as a grinding tool to erode the bigger tooth of the pen. Do it at your own risk, but you can do it.

Great videp thanks

Most informative, thanks!

This video is a godsend omg, thank you so much for making it.

Hey could you please help me? I recently purchased 2 separate maru pen nibs (Tachikawa nibs) from Zigg and they dont seem to be working at all. I am not a beginner with these nibs, the first one i ordered worked perfectly with no prep and it came from a pack of 3 (G-pen, Maru and Saji). However, these pens do not at all seem to be working, i have tried burning the tips, soaking them in warm water, and washing them with toothbrushes multiple times. Please do help me.

I've gotten brause steno nibs with off center cuts. Kinda pissed me off

I've practically quit buying Hunt 102 nibs as a consequence of the shoddy quality the few years. I figure if they don't care, I will stop.

Wow, that’s a shockingly bad ratio. What happens if you complain and return them as defective? Are they obliged to send replacements or refund?

Hi! I bought a dozen zebra G nibs to along with a pen holder so I could start practicing copperplate (a week ago). I did not check all the nibs but the first one writes really well...although, after a while it started scratching a bit...and a bit more. Is there a time where it is not fixable anymore? I tried realigning which was a bit better but still  a little scratchy. What if I sand it a little. Thank you for your video...