How to Swap a Fountain Pen Nib: Kaweco Sport, Liliput, Traveler's

So I figured this would be a great time to show you how I did it.

Watch the full video for everything shown on camera.

The swap I wanted

This one is the Liliput. It has a medium nib and then this is a fine nib from the Kaweco Sport. I want to swap these two nibs. I can have the medium nib on the Sport and a fine nib on the Liliput since I typically like to travel with the Liliput and just prefer a fine nib.

Start with the easy customizations

Before the nibs, some of the things that I like doing with the pens and the stationery that I have in terms of just customizing and making sure it fits the needs I have.

### A pencil in the Traveler's Company holder

So this is a Blackwing pencil in the Traveler's Company brass pencil. Just cut the pencil to the correct length and put it in. And then you have a Blackwing you can bring anywhere, protected. It feels nice in the hand and it writes great. Obviously, Traveler's Company sells their own pencils that you can just fit in it. But a pencil of the same diameter, cut to size, works too.

### Gel pen refills

These are Sarasa Vintage pens. If you start getting familiar with different inserts, you start to notice some of these inserts are very similar. So these gel pens typically have this shape. One of them now has a Muji 0.5. And then this one is the Zebra JF-0.5 that came with the pens themselves. And all I did was swap them again.

### A trimmed refill

This is the Big Idea Design Base Line Bolt Action Pen. And this is typically one of the Parker-style inserts. I trimmed a gel refill to size to fit it. And again, this won't work with every single insert.

### A two-tone Fisher Space Pen

This is the Field Notes edition. I had a brass Fisher Space Pen and then I got the Field Notes one. And then just took the cap of one and put it in the other one. The refill in it comes from a Zebra Sarasa multi-pen. Again, this one has a very narrow shaft, so it's hard to get any inserts to fit. So definitely a lot of trial and error. It's a gel pen, so everything you can expect from that writes really well.

How the nibs come out

These ones are a lot of times a little scary for people to figure out.

### Liliput

The Liliput nib unit unscrews. If you want to buy a new nib, it's a very easy swap: you just unscrew it. So nothing else to do if you were just going to buy one online from Kaweco or one of the retailers.

### Traveler's Company fountain pen

The challenge here was this one does not just simply unscrew. So when you pull it out, you actually get the whole thing out. So you need to figure out what to do. And one of the nice things is that it just comes out really easy. If I were to push it all the way back to where the Traveler's nib will go, it's a little short, so you have to adjust it to make it fit there.

### Kaweco Sport

My Kaweco Sport is a plastic Classic Sport, where the nib and feed are friction-fit and pull out of the section. Work them out slowly with a towel.

Make sure you don't break your tines or anything.

If I put all these feeds next to each other, they're very similar. The Kawecos are a little longer and they have a stop where the nib should go. The Traveler's Company is about the same diameter and length and they look very similar.

Putting it back together

### Kaweco

This one has a stop to show you where the nib stops. So very easy. Seat the nib, then put the unit back in the body.

### Traveler's Company

This one does take a little trial and error. Push the nib all the way back on the feed and it will sit just too short. Slide it there, keeping an eye on how high the nib actually goes out. Then press the nib and feed into the section.

So we'll give it a few minutes to get that ink down there.

Was it worth it?

The medium nib also writes great. Very excited to have a fine nib in this one.

I talked to a few people from the Kaweco company, who were really useful as I was trying to get this, because the nib that came on this Traveler's Company fountain pen was not the greatest. So I just ended up replacing it and it's a really fun customization that really helps make the form and feel better. With this one, again, a lot more trial and error went into getting it to work.

Don't customize every single pen. But sometimes there is a body that really catches my attention and I want to make it better.

The gear worth a look

• Kaweco Liliput: my travel fountain pen, now with a fine nib.
• Kaweco Sport: now carrying the medium nib.
• TRAVELER'S COMPANY Brass Pencil: holds a Blackwing cut to length.
• Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel Pen: the standard gel refill shape that makes swaps easy.
• Field Notes Space Pen: the Field Notes edition I combined with a brass one.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How do you swap a Kaweco Liliput nib?

If you want to buy a new nib, very easy swap, you just unscrew it.

Can a Kaweco nib go in a Traveler's Company fountain pen?

If I were to push it all the way back to where the Traveler's nib will go, it's a little short, so you have to adjust it to make it fit there.

Why swap the nib on the Traveler's Company fountain pen?

The nib that came on this Traveler's Company fountain pen was not the greatest. So I just ended up replacing it.