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Regular nib vs Gregg nib


donwinn

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I have noticed that some nibs, e.g., the 1554, are listed as firm fine, clerical, while the 1555 is listed as firm fine, Gregg. What is the difference between clerical and Gregg?

Not yet an Estie user (they have not arrived yet - they are still on order/in the wind).

 

Donnie

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
Edmund Burke (1729 - 1797)

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I don't like the 1554 nib. Way too scratchy for me, even though I like nibs which have some drag to them. When I looked at the 1554 nib under a magnifying glass, I noticed it had no rolled over tip that I could see. To my eyes it looked like a flat nib. The 1555, on the other hand has a noticeable rolled over nib.

Regards,

 

Ray

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I don't like the 1554 nib. Way too scratchy for me, even though I like nibs which have some drag to them. When I looked at the 1554 nib under a magnifying glass, I noticed it had no rolled over tip that I could see. To my eyes it looked like a flat nib. The 1555, on the other hand has a noticeable rolled over nib.

 

Strange, I found my 1554 nib mounted to a Esterbrook LJ to be the smoothest writer I have encountered so far, regardless of tipping or not.

- zer0render

(Ink Trading - My List)

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Pure speculation...

 

Gregg shorthand used to be widely taught in American schools. Maybe it was an endorsement deal, where Gregg Publishing approved certain nibs as suitable for shorthand, Esterbrook got to use a familiar name, and Gregg had its name reinforced?

 

If it was something like that, maybe Esterbrook had similar deals. Pitman shorthand was English in origin, and apparently at some point the Highlo Pen Museum (www.penmuseum.co.uk) had for sale an "Esterbrook Flexible Extra Fine Pitman Shorthand Pen", mounted with a 9128 nib.

 

-- Brian

 

fpn_1375035941__postcard_swap.png * * * "Don't neglect to write me several times from different places when you may."
-- John Purdue (1863)

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Gregg actually did branding w/ pen manufacturers (http://www.shorthandworld.co.uk/Greggpens.html), but it goes beyond that --- most styles of shorthand advocated a nib w/ a ``v'' like underside which allowed the nib to be used readily from any angles, esp. the variety one might see when writing on a steno pad held in the off-hand.

 

William

 

 

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That's the sort of thing I had in mind when I said "suitable for shorthand", although not being a shorthand writer myself, I just imagined something smooth and with reliable inkflow at speed.

 

I also don't have a 1555 or 9128 nib -- do they have that V profile?

 

-- Brian

 

fpn_1375035941__postcard_swap.png * * * "Don't neglect to write me several times from different places when you may."
-- John Purdue (1863)

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That's the sort of thing I had in mind when I said "suitable for shorthand", although not being a shorthand writer myself, I just imagined something smooth and with reliable inkflow at speed.

 

I also don't have a 1555 or 9128 nib -- do they have that V profile?

 

-- Brian

The 9128 feed, underneath the nib, has what I would call a "round" profile, but I guess you could see it as a "V".

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  • 7 years later...

I use a Sheaffer G1 nib on a cadet even though I don't use shorthand. I was curious about what makes this nib different and the answer I got is that the Gregg system requires a fine line of uniform width and that this nib produces such a line, regardless of which direction you hold it or write.

 

My internet source for this is http://listarchive.consultech.net/ZossPens/index.cgi?0::33966, which says the following:

 

"The "G" nib is relatively uncommon, based on my experience. It is a

relatively stiff nib, basically fine in width, but ground "spherically"
so that it produces lines of the same width whether the user is writing
a vertical or horizontal line. This because the "Gregg" style of
shorthand called for this constant line width. The other style of
shorthand (sorry, I'm blanking on name) had some symbols where the
meaning of the symbol could vary depending on line width. For this

style, a flexible nib is required."

 

The other system, which requires lines of variable width, is identified as Palmer (http://listarchive.consultech.net/ZossPens/index.cgi?0::45971).

Edited by rff000
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