Home Technical Talk

wacom pen nib broken?!!!

polycounter lvl 10
Offline / Send Message
melviso polycounter lvl 10
Tried to change the nib of my wacom pen by using a very small plier and the nib broke.Right now,there is no way for me to pull the nib out as the remaining nib is as flat as the pen tip.Is there anyway to go about removing the nib?I am thinking of opening the pen but I don't think it can be opened.I am using the wacom intuos 3 pen.
Just feeling bitter..if I could just rewind time,problem solved.
Would appreciate any helpful tips.
Thanks.

Replies

  • lysaara
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    lysaara polycounter lvl 9
    Personally, I'd try digging the tip of a needle into the plastic of the broken nib at a bit of an angle and trying to drag it out like that. Even if you can only pull it out a bit you might be able to grab the protruding part with a pliers/tweezers(I recommend tweezers tbh, much finer control) after that.
  • Mark Dygert
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    This happened to a guy at work. He wore the nib down so much there wasn't much to grab onto, so he tried using an exacto knife to bite into the plastic a bit and ended up shaving the nib cleanly off. He ended up using a pen to a spare tablet until a replacement could be ordered.

    The whole thing had me wondering why they don't have a mechanism for "ejecting" the nib? Clearly if they can come up with wizardry to make a wireless pen/mouse work, they can figure out a way to copy the mechanics of $.05 retractable ball point pen... Unless they want to sell replacement pens which then they would probably try to make the nibs wear out and break faster than they should... oh wait!
  • WarrenM
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Mark - Yes, the price of replacement pens would lend credibility to the theory that they want you buying them. :)
  • melviso
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    melviso polycounter lvl 10
    @lysaara- Thanks for the suggestion,but unfortunately I do not own a tweezer,had to look it up to know what it is.

    @Mark Dygert- You definitely know exactly what wacom is up to.Nowadays,the nibs wear away faster especially with intuos 4 pen as I have been told.I am still using the nibs that came with my intuos 3 pen from 4 years ago.The reason there is no ejecting mechanism is to create several opportunities for one to get a new pen,sales strategy?One can't help but wonder why things are done like that.Why they couldn't even include an instrument for pulling the nib out with the packet baffles me. Its just the same way with apps like Maya,3dmax,photoshop,they purposely hold off on adding very important features to every new version to make money.They slap on a few useless features and call it done.Nowadays,ppl are finding open source apps way better.Check out Blender,u can sculpt,model,bmesh(awesome),texture paint,projection paint,subdivision sculpt,vetex paint,animate,so many more,and they even slapped on a game engine for those u want to make games.Its like Maya,3dmax,zbrush,mudbox,udk rolled into one and its only 137mb in size.I am seriously considering blender.

    @silentbrains- Gahhh...I already opened it,nothing broke though.

    Okay,I opened it and was able to remove the previous nib,put the pen together and put in a new nib.The problem now is that the tablet light turns green whenever I bring the pen tip close to the tablet.The two buttons on the pen work,and the cursor moves around the screen.Its just the pen tip that won't work,it doesn't click on the screen when I tap the pen tip on the tablet.I tried reinstalling the tablet driver several times,even reverted to the old driver.The problem is still there.I noticed it drags a blue box over my desktop screen everytime the pen hovers over the tablet.
    I downloaded the latest driver version for intuos 3 from wacom website.After install,when I try to open wacom features window to change settings,it says tablet driver cannot be found.I am begining to suspect its a windows problem because the older drivers installed.I am using windows vista.
    I don't know what is wrong and I am getting a little frustrated.
  • Mehmet
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    melviso wrote: »
    Okay,I opened it and was able to remove the previous nib,put the pen together and put in a new nib.The problem now is that the tablet light turns green whenever I bring the pen tip close to the tablet.The two buttons on the pen work,and the cursor moves around the screen.Its just the pen tip that won't work,it doesn't click on the screen when I tap the pen tip on the tablet.I tried reinstalling the tablet driver several times,even reverted to the old driver.The problem is still there.I noticed it drags a blue box over my desktop screen everytime the pen hovers over the tablet.
    I downloaded the latest driver version for intuos 3 from wacom website.After install,when I try to open wacom features window to change settings,it says tablet driver cannot be found.I am begining to suspect its a windows problem because the older drivers installed.I am using windows vista.
    I don't know what is wrong and I am getting a little frustrated.

    Hey mate,

    The bit about the "when I get it close to the tablet there is a blue rectangle on the desktop" means that it is actually in a state as if you have held Mouse0 down (left button on PCs). Maybe stuck the nib too deeep and the switch inside got stuck?

    Cheers...
  • melviso
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    melviso polycounter lvl 10
    I was able to get it to work.It works fine now.Thanks for the help,guys.
  • melviso
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    melviso polycounter lvl 10
    Hi Guys, season two of the Wacom pen dilemma

    The plastic containing my Wacom  green thingy has broken off partly so I tried to pull it apart. Seems it pull apart, but the green Wacom thing is stuck to the lower half containing the eraser. Is there a way I can get it loose from the lower half? I am using the intuos 3 Wacom pen.
  • SnowInChina
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    SnowInChina interpolator
    no idea, sorry
    but to come back to your previous problem (like 4 years ago) you could put a tiny dot of superglue on something and pull the nib out with that
  • jaymaytay
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Stabbing the nib with a hot sewing needle, letting the pin cool off, and then pulling the nib out worked for me
  • Solvinator
    Options
    Offline / Send Message
    Hello,
    I just created this account to share my solution, after having tried out everything else that was suggested here and in reddit etc..
    The nib of my Bamboo Ink Stylus just broke, while the other half was still deep inside the pen.
    There was nothing standing out anymore.
    So I took some thin tape and wraped it very tight around another replacement tip, then pulled the replacement tip out.
    You now have the tape rolled perfectly to stick it on the piece that is still stuck in your pen.
    Pull it over and press it against the broken piece with a very thin needle, which should still fit inbetween.
    Now try to pull out the tape very fast, while also pressing with the needle against the nib with an angle.
    And BAAAAM, you are good to go.
    God Bless America!
    Amen.
Sign In or Register to comment.