I bought 1 of the Monteverde Nibs (black 1.1mm stub) and 1 of the Goulet Nibs (1.5mm stub). They both arrived essentially closed, very dry and inconsistent when ink did happen to flow. I spent $10 getting tools to open/adjust them. After set-up/adjusting, the Monteverde black nib is oh-my-god smooth, to the point I cannot feel the nib on the page, and the flow is spot-on. The Goulet Nib is smooth once opened, but comparing the two after set-up shows something in the Monteverde black coating makes the nib glide much more easily.

My solutions to this were the following: 1. Goulet Brass sheets ($3.95+ shipping) http://www.gouletpens.com/gpc-brasssheets/p/GPC-BrassSheets 2. 20X Glass Magnifier from ebay ($5.99 free shipping) http://www.ebay.com/itm/161205436197?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT 3. I cut off aprox. 1cm strip of brass sheet, slide it 3/4 of way through nib (outside of pen), cut the longer portion of brass sheet in half (with intent to make two .5cm strips), pull the sheet from the opposite side, and finish the cut here, leaving me with two .5cm strips in the nib. 4. Next I fold the sheets outward so I can grip each sheet and gently pull outward on both tines. On the first "tug" I slide the lower sheet upward so the sheets are back to back (pulling on same part of each tine). A few firm but delicate tugs was enough for both the Monteverde and Goulet nibs. (If you pull to hard, the sheet will rip long before damaging the nib) 5. Hold nib up to a light to make sure you see through the entire length of the tines. (If you cant, repeat step 4.) 6. Critical Use magnifying glasses to make sure the ends of tines are perfectly aligned. If they aren't, push on fattest part of the tine slowly and firmly until it is aligned. Default to pushing one up instead of the other down (unless you push too far up, in that case pushing down is fine). 7. Enjoy your buttery smooth nib.