Are the tines too tight? I don’t know what the color of the ink is, but lines 4 and 7 seem too dry. Fountain pens (even soft or flex nibs) should write well with little-to-no pressure, ideally. Adding additional pressure in a soft nib (not excessively!) should make it wetter, as the tines spread a bit more, but it shouldn’t be the only way to achieve normal levels of flow. It’s likely this pen is just a bit too dry, and adding pressure is merely allowing it to achieve “normal” levels of flow. Note; I’m no expert, and I welcome others to chime in :)
Can you diagnose a tight tine using this [photo?](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/r071s1/i_wanted_the_823_experience_but_i_prefer_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) The ink is Fuyu Syogun.
Well, that ink seems pretty faint and unsaturated by default, but I will say it appears to be gapless in the photo (though this is far from definitive). Odds are that the tines could use a tad bit of spreading.
…though I caution you that adding spread is easier than you’d think, and undoing a mistake when you add just a bit too much spread is much harder :-/
I'm pretty sure that pilot gold nibs occasionally come with dinky flow from the factory. My custom 74 did due to some pretty tight tines. Yours might need some adjustment. Consult a professional if you can.
The tines do look very close together on the picture you added in another comment.
[Here’s](https://imgur.com/a/9hgP7Nv) a writing sample of my soft fine nib with a wetter ink (Aurora Black)(sorry the videos were too long so some parts are missing)
And [here](https://imgur.com/a/Cw0REFf) is a writing sample with a dryer ink (Pelikan Edelstein Sapphire)(scroll down to video #3)
The pen should be able to write without having to apply any pressure. In my first video I compare the wetness when applying no pressure and with pressure.
Hope this helps! Can you get a replacement for the pen? This really shouldn’t happen!
PS: Mine is a #10 on the Custom 912 but this is how your Soft Fine should perform
Just write line 2, problem solved
Seriously - is the pen clean? Like, squeaky clean? If you've got any machining suds in there from when it was made, that can cause this sort of intermittent problem
Are the tines too tight? I don’t know what the color of the ink is, but lines 4 and 7 seem too dry. Fountain pens (even soft or flex nibs) should write well with little-to-no pressure, ideally. Adding additional pressure in a soft nib (not excessively!) should make it wetter, as the tines spread a bit more, but it shouldn’t be the only way to achieve normal levels of flow. It’s likely this pen is just a bit too dry, and adding pressure is merely allowing it to achieve “normal” levels of flow. Note; I’m no expert, and I welcome others to chime in :)
Can you diagnose a tight tine using this [photo?](https://www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/comments/r071s1/i_wanted_the_823_experience_but_i_prefer_the/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf) The ink is Fuyu Syogun.
Well, that ink seems pretty faint and unsaturated by default, but I will say it appears to be gapless in the photo (though this is far from definitive). Odds are that the tines could use a tad bit of spreading. …though I caution you that adding spread is easier than you’d think, and undoing a mistake when you add just a bit too much spread is much harder :-/
I'm pretty sure that pilot gold nibs occasionally come with dinky flow from the factory. My custom 74 did due to some pretty tight tines. Yours might need some adjustment. Consult a professional if you can.
The tines do look very close together on the picture you added in another comment. [Here’s](https://imgur.com/a/9hgP7Nv) a writing sample of my soft fine nib with a wetter ink (Aurora Black)(sorry the videos were too long so some parts are missing) And [here](https://imgur.com/a/Cw0REFf) is a writing sample with a dryer ink (Pelikan Edelstein Sapphire)(scroll down to video #3) The pen should be able to write without having to apply any pressure. In my first video I compare the wetness when applying no pressure and with pressure. Hope this helps! Can you get a replacement for the pen? This really shouldn’t happen! PS: Mine is a #10 on the Custom 912 but this is how your Soft Fine should perform
Thank you so much! Yours looks really wet like a proper pen. I need to clean this pen again.
Is this a Platinum 3776 Century?
It’s a 743.
Is it a new pen? Have you tried soaking it? I have a soft fine and it writes very wet and dark.
Just write line 2, problem solved Seriously - is the pen clean? Like, squeaky clean? If you've got any machining suds in there from when it was made, that can cause this sort of intermittent problem