ZT5E Zebra G Dip Nib in TSWBI 580, Black Ebonite

Description

Summary

The ZT5E feed and housing in black ebonite are used with Zebra G dip nibs to provide a low cost flexible nib writing experience for the TSWBI 580 fountain pen. Please note, however, that dip nibs will be corroded by fountain pen ink over time, so expect to need to change out the Zebra G nib periodically when writing performance degrades from use and exposure to fountain pen ink. Although your ZT5E includes one Zebra G nib, you will need to remove the nib, clean manufacturing oil off it, and re-install it into the housing before use. Instructions below. You can use the ZT5E with almost any fountain pen inks, but some inks, like most of Noodler’s permanent inks, will not perform well or at all. Do not use dip pen inks; these will clog the feed. Because the tip of the nib is very narrow, you must use high quality paper with a smooth finish.

Zebra G Dip Nib for TSWBI 580

For those unfamiliar with Zebra G nibs, these are excellent dip pen nibs aimed at Japanese Manga cartoonists. These nibs are also superb for calligraphy, particularly Copperplate and other styles that require substantial width variation in the characters. I thought I would try adapting them for use in a JoWo #6 cartridge converter fountain pen. My test pen is a Edison Nouveau Premiere from several years back.

Zebra G nibs are made from cold rolled spring steel, and are untipped. Zebra G Titanium nibs are plated with the very hard substance TiN (titanium nitride), which is a gold colored coating commonly found on cutting tools to extend their usable life. Standard Zebra G nibs are chrome plated. Zebra G Titanium nibs will last longer, but they cost more than the standard nibs.  Both nibs write about the same.

Fountain pen nibs are made with gold alloys and other precious metal alloys, and also from some forms of stainless steels that are impervious to fountain pen inks. The cold rolled steel material of the Zebra G nib is not a great material for a fountain pen nib, as the water in the ink will cause the nib to corrode (in the vernacular, rust).

The most common failure mechanism for a Zebra G nib when used with fountain pen ink is the tip corrodes and breaks off. This failure can be minor, and the nib becomes somewhat more scratchy, or it can be catastrophic, and the nib is no longer usable. The second mechanism is corrosion in the ink slit of the nib. This manifests itself primarily as poor ink flow or railroading, as the ink no longer flows smoothly to the tip. The nib’s life can be extended somewhat by using a brass shim to clean out the corrosion from the slit. A less common failure mechanism is corrosion on the inside surface of the nib that touches the feed. This failure also manifests itself as poor ink flow. The nib life can be extended by cleaning off the corrosion with a toothbrush and toothpaste.

For longest use, it is best to only have the Zebra G nib installed in the pen when you are actually writing with it. After using it, rinse well with water, dry it with a lint free cloth and allow it to air dry. If left inked in the pen, the nib’s life will be seriously degraded. If you must leave the pen inked, then it is best to use inks with a neutral pH (around 7), like Noodler’s. Inks that have low pH (less than 7) will degrade the nib faster. Inks with alkaline pH (above 7) will also tend to degrade the nibs more quickly than neutral inks. Note that pH is not the sole determining factor of speed of corrosion; dyes and other additives in the ink will also influence nib life and have varying degrees of corrosive action.

I list here some of my observations when leaving the nib inked, from worst to best.  This is not a definitive, controlled test, but I used several nibs with each ink, wrote frequently each day with each nib, and left the nib inked continuously until failure.

• Waterman Mysterious Blue. Damages the nib in less than one day.
• Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue. Damages the nib in 2-3 days.
• Rohrer & Klingner Scabiosa, R&K Salix. Damages the nib in 3-4 days.
• Visconti Bordeaux. Damages the nib in 4-5 days.
• Aurora Black. Damages the nib in 4-5 days.
• Herbin Verte Gris. Damages the nib in about 6 days.
• Noodler’s Apache Sunset, Noodler’s Tiananmen. Damages the nibs in about a week to ten days.
• Noodler’s X-Feather. Damages the nib in about 13 days.
• Herbin Perle Noire. Damages the nib in about 15 days.
• Iroshizuku Inks. Typically can be used for two or more months. These are my favorite inks for Zebra G.

If you are diligent and leave the nib dry and uninked when not being used, then it will last for several weeks before you have to replace it. I am rarely this disciplined.

Writing with a Zebra G nib is just about as good as it gets for a flexible nib. It is not a wet noodle (my favorite vintage flex nib, the Wahl Eversharp Adjustable Nib, is softer), but it is supremely controllable and requires less skill than is needed with a more flexible nib like the Wahl Adjustable. The tip of the Zebra G is quite narrow, so it must be used with very smooth, high quality papers like Rhodia or Clairefontaine. Using a Zebra G in a fountain pen will range from the best experience writing experience you’ve ever had, to a frustrating annoyance, sometimes with the same exact nib and ink.

Before you use a Zebra G nib, you need to remove the oil that is left on the nib after manufacturing to keep it from rusting. I do this with a old toothbrush and a bit of toothpaste followed by a thorough rinsing with clean water. A good scrubbing of the underside of the nib is required to remove the oil. I also give a the top of the nib a good scrubbing, but that is less necessary than the underside.  There are other techniques involving solvents, but I find scrubbing with a toothbrush is the easiest to do. Some suggest burning off the oil with a match, but that can disturb the structure of the steel, so I don’t recommend that technique.

You can verify that you have removed the oil by dipping the nib into ink. If, when you pull the nib out of the ink, the nib is fully coated with the ink, the nib is ready to go. If ink barely adheres to the nib, then clean it more thoroughly and try again.

One way to tell if an ink is likely to work with a Zebra G nib is to dip your cleaned nib into the ink you want to use. If the ink thoroughly coats the nib, that ink will probably work. If the ink doesn’t coat the nib, then it probably won’t work well with the Zebra G. One ink I’ve never gotten to work with Zebra is Montblanc Racing Green, which is sad, because it is one of my favorite inks.

Unlike a gold nib, there is a short break-in time for a Zebra G. When you first ink it, it will barely write. The up-strokes will be extremely thin, almost invisible, and the nib may railroad. It’ll take a line or two of writing or even up to a half a page of determined writing before the nib becomes usable. The nib will now settle in and write really nicely. You will notice the up-stroke lines becoming gradually thicker over time, until, after days or weeks, the nib fails and you’ll start over with a new one.

You will also notice that each nib has its own characteristics. Out of a box of ten, seven of them will write very well, two of them will be so amazing you’ll gasp with joy, and one will be such a miserable experience that you will heave it into the trash. By now, I’ve used a few boxes of Zebra G Titanium nibs and probably more than a hundred standard Zebra G nibs from break-in to catastrophic failure, and this has been my consistent experience. You’ll live for those two amazing nibs per box.

There is no discernible performance difference in writing, to me, between a Zebra G Titanium nib and the regular chrome plated ones. The Titanium nibs last about twice as long as standard Zebra G nibs with fountain pen inks.

I started out using the Zebra G cut down to fit in a Pelikan M200 pen. The Zebra G by chance uses uses the same diameter feed as a vintage Pelikan 400 and modern M2xx/M4xx/M6xx. The nib is too long to fit into the section of the pen, so I had to cut the nib shorter. Cutting at the vertical stroke of the “B” in “ZEBRA” imprint on the the nib allowed it to fit onto Pelikan feed. I made the feed and collar out of Nikko ebonite on my Roland 4-axis mill. I made the internal diameter of the collar loose enough so that nibs could be changed by hand without tools like a nib block, punch and hammer. I thought about making a product for Pelikan, but the constant problem of having to cut off the end of the nib caused me to look for another solution, and since I had already reverse engineered a JoWo #6 feed and housing, decided to use that approach, as the nib could be fit into that housing without needing to cut the end off.

The feed and housing are made from Nikko ebonite. This design differs from the one I make for JoWo #6 nibs in that I use a wide 3 slit ink slot instead of the narrow 1 slit ink slot for a standard JoWo nib. The 3 slit ink slot is adapted from a modification I did for a customer who wanted a JoWo #6 with maximum available ink flow. The other difference for the Zebra G is that the housing and feed are keyed, and the housing has an inlay for the Zebra G nib. This design allows nibs to be changed very easily. My original Zebra G design didn’t have this feature, and it was frustratingly difficult to change the nib. The new design allows you to change the nib in 30 seconds or less, once you get the hang of it.

The nib is set on top of the feed, with the tip of the nib adjusted such that the tip of the nib is just far enough forward not to spread the tines of the nib, and the tip of the feed is just about even with the sides of the tines. The Zebra G nib has a slot on each side of the nib that is useful in that you can align it with the fifth slot on the feed, and that position is pretty optimal for most inks. You can move the nib slightly forward or back from this spot on the feed to adjust for any particular ink. Move the tip of the nib back for dry inks and forward for wet inks. I don’t find that I need to do much adjustment, but it is there for the calligraphers to tweak for their particular writing style.

I include one Zebra G, installed, with each feed and housing. The provided nib has not been cleaned, so you will need to remove, clean, and reinstall the nib before using. Take a close look at how the nib fits so you can restore that fitting after cleaning the nib.

I’ve used two methods of cleaning the manufacturing oil off of the Zebra G nib. The first way is to use an old toothbrush with a bit of toothpaste on it. Thoroughly scrub the underside of the nib and the tip of the top of the nib, then rinse with clean water. The second method is to use an ultrasonic cleaning machine. A small amount of dishwashing soap or household ammonia in the water, with a three minute cycle, will clean all the manufacturing oil off of your Zebra G nib. Rinse with clean water, and your nib is ready for writing.

You can purchase additional Zebra G nibs from JetPens and Amazon, and quite a few other online stores.

To install the nib onto the feed and insert it into the housing, place the nib on top of the feed, making sure the slit between the tines of the nib is aligned with the center of the ink slot on the feed. Align the fifth slot on the side of the feed with the slot on each side of the Zebra G nib.  Next, align the nib inlay with the nib and slide the  feed and nib into the housing. Press the nib and feed into the housing until it is firmly in place. The nib and feed will go easily into the housing about 1/2 inch, then the remaining 1/8” will need a bit more effort. If it doesn’t go in easily, then check that the alignment of the nib, feed, and housing is correct, and try again. After inserting the feed and nib, check that the feed is fully inserted by making sure the three slot cartridge end of the feed is at the end of the cartridge converter nipple at the end of the housing. If so, you are ready to screw the assembly into the section of your pen, attach the cartridge converter into the section, and load up ink as you do normally.

The TSWBI nib assembly has two o-rings, both of which need to be removed from the TWSBI nib assembly and transferred to the ZT5E nib assembly. If you don’t use these o-rings, your pen will leak. See photos below for installation.

 

Installing the ZT5E into the TSWBI 580 Pen

First, remove the Zebra G nib and clean it by one of the methods described above and re-install the nib back into the ZT5E housing. In order for the nib assembly to fit into the TWSBI cap, it is important to note that a portion of the G logo on the Zebra G nib will be covered by the lip of the housing. Next, empty your pen of ink in the usual manner with the piston filler of the pen. The TSWBI nib assembly is removed from the TSWBI 580 pen by turning the clear plastic section and metal collar together counter clockwise until the three components are removed from the pen. When you have the collar, nib assembly, and clear plastic section removed from the pen, slide off the clear plastic section, and then the metal collar. Make note of how these came apart so you can put them back together.

There are two o-rings on the nib assembly. The larger of the two o-rings is on the end of the housing closest to the nib and is hidden by the metal collar and rests against the widest part of the housing. The second o-ring is in a groove on the end of the housing around the nipple that receives ink from the pen. Both of these o-rings need to be removed from the TSWBI nib assembly and placed onto the ZT5E before installation into the pen. The larger o-ring is easy to remove by simply rolling it off of the nib assembly. The second o-ring can be difficult to remove, but you can use the tip of the Zebra G nib as a tiny lever to pull the o-ring out of the groove. Below is a photo of the TSWBI nib assembly with the two o-rings removed.

 

Below is a photo of the ZT5E with the clear plastic section, the metal collar, and the two o-rings.

 

When you have the two o-rings removed from the TSWBI nib assembly, you will now place them into the same positions on the ZT5E nib assembly. First, put the larger o-ring onto the ZT5E housing and roll it up to the wide lip of the housing as far up against the lip. Next, insert the ZT5E nib assembly into the wide end of the collar and push it up so it is against the top lip of the housing. Finally, insert the small end of the clear plastic section onto the pen. When this process is finished, you will have an assembly that looks like the photo below.

 

Next, you will carefully screw this assembly into your pen. It is important to keep the section and metal collar secure against the ZT5E nib assembly when you screw it into the pen. Fill your pen with ink and enjoy.

The ZT5E can only be used with fountain pen inks. Don’t use dip pen inks, as those will clog the feed and stop the nib from working correctly.

If you have difficulty getting the Zebra G nib out of the housing, try these suggestions.

1. When you pull out the nib and feed, try to give the housing a slight twist. There isn’t much play, as the housing is keyed, but there is some, and a twist at the same time as you pull the nib and feed should allow you to get the nib and feed out of the housing. Be careful to keep your fingers clear of the tip of the nib, as it is very easy to stick yourself with it.
2. If that doesn’t work for you, you can use hot water to soften and expand the housing. Use water about 150F (65C), which is hot enough to burn you, so be careful. Dip the ZT5E housing into the water, leaving the feed and nib out of it. After a few minutes, the housing should be soft, and you should be able to easily pull the nib and feed from the housing. Be sure to protect your fingers with a cloth from the hot ebonite of the housing.
3. Last resort: Punch out the feed from the housing with a 0.064” plug gage (about $3 on Amazon) or 1/16” punch, on a nib block. Place the plug gage into the converter tip of the housing and very lightly tap with a jewelers or watch repair hammer to push the feed and nib out of the housing.

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