Have You Used A Nib Meister?

[FoszFay]

I just sent of one of my pens off to Pendleton Brown to get his trademark Butter-line Stub.

 

It got me thinking, how many FP users have sent a pen to any nib mesieter, and for what reason?

 

Did it turn out better or worse than you expected?

 

Would you do it or have you done it more than once?

 

Edit: Can't construct an English sentence...

Edited September 1, 2014 by FoszFay

[Paddler]

I have never sent a pen to a nibmiester. I learned to modify nibs by first grinding on dip pen nibs and then by modifying the nibs on substandard fountain pens found at flea markets. My fountain pens are now the way I want them. The only times I grind nibs now is when my dip pen nibs wear themselves sharp and cranky.

[Bigeddie]

I have sent about 6-7 pens to Oxonian in the UK. The reason varies, 2 pens with damaged nibs (only one by me, one bought while damaged) and about 4 or so for modifications to the nib, mostly to stubs. One that is with him now is a MB146 with some hard starting issues, the flow seems to be OK so I am hoping that it's the nib.

 

Edited to add: I highly recommend Oxonian (John Sorowka) for nib work. I have purchased a Binder 0.4 Pelikan M400 stub that is fantastic, but the complexities of sending pens to and from locations outside of the EU prohibits me from using most nibmeisters / nib technicians.

Edited September 1, 2014 by Bigeddie

[ISW_Kaputnik]

I sent two pens at the same time to Greg Minuskin. One was a Montblanc that I had gotten for a fairly low price, but it had an oblique nib that wasn't working out for me. I had him regrind it into a smooth writing "regular" nib, and it's now one of my best pens. The other was an old (probably WWI era) Waterman that I got with a badly sprung nib. Because it was so old, I didn't want to risk trying to fix it myself. He got it back to normal, and it's now very nice to write with.

 

I'd like to keep this kind of thing fairly rare, though. The guys who are best at it don't work cheaply. I've done some minor alignments to nibs on my own, and am getting more confident with that.

Edited September 1, 2014 by ISW_Kaputnik

[kronion]

I have sent two pens to Penexchange user Norika (Germany, http://www.penexchange.de/forum_neu/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=44929) and got the pens ground to cursive italic. I am very happy about the results, price and waiting time, and would send another pen, if I felt the need.

 

Edited to add: I highly recommend Oxonian (John Sorowka) for nib work. I have purchased a Binder 0.4 Pelikan M400 stub that is fantastic, but the complexities of sending pens to and from locations outside of the EU prohibits me from using most nibmeisters / nib technicians.

What is the best way to contact him? I tried sending a private message over FPN, but did not get a response (actually it says "Not yet read").

[Tas]

I sent my medium Vanishing Point to Ross at Niche Pens asking for a 0.5mm italic grind.

 

It came back in under a week and has been a delight to use ever since. Highly recommended.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pendleton Brown turned my Lamy black titanium oxide Persona from in the box,because it was a boring 18 k nail, with no line variation OB, into a nice Cursive Italic M-B....in you lose a bit of width.

It's always out, in my 6-17 pen rotation.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/IMG_3993.jpg

 

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/IMG_3994.jpg

Might as well add the rest of the pen. The clip is spring loaded and slips flat to the pen when not clipped to a shirt pocket. It is very Art Deco...for a '90's pen. It is one of the early ones with out the tiny bump on the clip to keep the pen cap or pen from rolling off the desk.

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/IMG_3985.jpg

 

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm300/BoBoOlson/IMG_3981.jpg

Edited September 1, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[de_pen_dent]

I've had nibwork done by Richard Binder, Mike Masuyama, John Mottishaw, John Sorowka & Pendleton Brown. All have done very good work, but my favorites are Richard Binder & John Sorowka.

 

Richard's work is as close to perfect as it gets, but he doesnt work on any nibs other than those he sells. John Sorowka has worked wonders on a bunch of nibs for me, including some difficult-to-work-on ones (Visconti Dreamtouch, Sheaffer inlaids, etc) - his queue is also fairly reasonable, so i use him for all my nib work now.

[fountainpagan]

I have had several of my nibs grinded and polished by a french nibmaster.

I am greatly satisfied with his work.

[Unky]

I have gotten work done by Richard Binder, his work is fabulous. I have purchased pens from Tim Girdler and John Mottishaw, who tune their pens before shipping. Both write amazingly.

[Koyote]

I must be the outlier. Have had a little work done by each of 3 or 4 different nibmeisters and usually been underwhelmed. One place, which is often praised on this forum, ruined a nib and refused to make good on it.

 

If I buy a new pen and it doesn't write right, I return it. If I have a pen that needs tweaking, I do it myself.

[globetrotterjon]

I've had work done by Mike Masayuma, Richard Binder, the fellow who often comes to shows with Sailor (sorry!), Debbie (I believe) from Triangle Pens, and John Mottishaw. I have been happy with everyone's work - Debbie adjusted a dull Mont Blanc 100 year anniversary pen to a lovely crisp italic, Mike has done a Pelikan 600 and turned it from a not so great writing BB to a great cursive italic, and the Sailor meister transitioned my 1911 from a standard M to an italic. John Mottishaw's work, however, was hands down the best. He transformed a very good Omas Paragon to an amazing crisp italic with buttery soft flex. I think in general, it's better to send your pens off to a nib meister rather than having the work done at a show. There is more time for careful work, tweaking, adjusting ink flow, etc. While I can't complain with the work I've had done at shows, it would stand to reason that in a loud, packed, time pressured show environment, both the nib meister and the customer can risk a point where it feels they're being rude to the next person or 100 persons waiting in line for their own work to be done. Again, that's not to say I've had anything other than superb work done at shows on my pens, and there's the big plus of being able to work back and forth to ensure the job is done to one's liking, but there's something to the environment that might be a tad distracting.

[View from the Loft]

 

 

What is the best way to contact him? I tried sending a private message over FPN, but did not get a response (actually it says "Not yet read").

If you do a search on the forum, you will find John Sorowka's email address. Email is the best method for contacting him.

 

My reasons for sending pens to John are to have modern pens ground to italics to meet my needs, and to repair the two that I have (gulp) dropped.

 

ETA - John does not like to be referred to as a nib meister. Nib technician, nib fettler are preferred.

Edited September 1, 2014 by View from the Loft

[ethernautrix]

I must be the outlier. Have had a little work done by each of 3 or 4 different nibmeisters and usually been underwhelmed. One place, which is often praised on this forum, ruined a nib and refused to make good on it.

 

If I buy a new pen and it doesn't write right, I return it. If I have a pen that needs tweaking, I do it myself.

 

 

I have tried other people's pens that have modified nibs by the professionals, and they always wrote great! Wonderful! Wow! But the work I have had done (only a few nibs) has been, collectively, a frustrating experience. Others have written with those pens and liked them, but... for me... wasn't worth paying for.

 

My method for the past couple of years has been to wing it. File the hickety-heck out the nibs myself with the last resort in mind - the cost of replacing the nib. So far I've been preeningly satisfied with my nib work. (I won't touch your nibs, though. Not for the faint of heart.)*

 

 

*Not you, Koyote. Just realized I'd quoted you - for the returning new pens if they don't write right out of the box and DIY tweaking.

Edited September 1, 2014 by ethernautrix

[Randal6393]

Consulted with Tim Girdler on a leaky Pelikan M200. He eyed the pen with a loupe and pointed out a crack just below the threads that hold the cap on. Took the pen home and used a high-silicone epoxy to carefully reseal the pen. Have not had a moment's trouble out of the pen since.

 

Thanks, Tim.

 

Enjoy,

[Ghost Plane]

Masuyama is my favorite. Seems he can turn my scribbled description of the problem into exactly what I want.

 

Bought a Montegrappa Oxonian had stubbed & liked it.

[luigi619lbk]

Another recommendation here for John Sorowka in the UK - he has done a number of regrinds to cursive italic on modern pens for me and they have all been fantastic. Plus he's a genuinely nice guy to deal with, a fantastic experience from first contact to receiving the pen back.

 

I also have a Pilot VP 0.8mm stub from Richard Binder and that too is a fantastic nib.

 

I would certainly recommend using a nibmeister, particularly on those pens that don't quite meet your expectations - with a little bit of work from these experts, they may suddenly become your favourite writers, actually exceeding your original expectations.

[cancoi]

I sent my P51 back to Richard Binder about 10 yrs ago for a tune-up (filling & nib). I just pulled it out and forgot how lovely that nib was. Like buttah...

[mwpannell]

I've sent several to Pendleton Brown and also had him do a couple at the Atlanta pen show, the only show I've attended.

 

In each case, a good pen had an OK nib but not what I really wanted. I tend toward XF and finer. PB did an outstanding job in each case and turned them into pens I really love to use instead of them being pens I wished I loved to use. One of them could definitely be my one desert-island pen if it came to it. I had one done as his Butter-line Stub specialty and the others ground down very fine. These included a Parker "51", Pelikans and a Platinum.

 

I've also gotten a nib ground to XF by Shawn Newton on a pen he made for me. I won a scholarship raffle. I agree: lucky, lucky me. It's a tremendous pen and he did a fantastic job on the nib.

 

Without a doubt, I would use either again, and probably will.

 

(I've had a pen Binderized coming from Richard B., but that doesn't really count for this. But it was nice.)

Edited September 2, 2014 by mwpannell

[Octo]

I sent a Cross Solo F-nib pen with a mangled nib (not by me) to the nibmistress at Pendemonium with a request to fix it and also turn it into a cursive italic.

 

A Cross Solo F is like a western XF, yet the pen came back to me perfectly repaired and ground. The cursive italic is subtle at that width but adds lots of character to my writing. Ink flow is optimum. That pen is now one of my EDC.

 

Turn around was quick and price was reasonable.