Twsbi 530 Owners: May I See Your Writing Line/thickness?

[A British Person]

Firstly, this is a disguise account to not compromise my identity.

 

I'm in a holiday gift exchange and I thought a fountain pen would be an excellent idea for a gift. I want a new-in-box pen, something fancy and something techy to combine the look of past and present: and I can't think of a better pen than the Twsbi to fill those requirements (and a nice complementary ink and writing pad)!

 

Problem is, there isn't much evidence of how thick the writing line between all three nibs are, and am hung up on which nib will be best (since I believe all potential recipients have never used a fountain pen before, I want a more common to rollerball nib/writing size for a starter pen). If you do have a Twsbi, do you mind doodling a quick write line, stating the nib size, and scanning it into this thread? It would be most appreciated, and it will be around for archival use when this question gets asked again!

 

Thank you,

A British Person (probably not really an actual British person).

[Surnia]

wrote this a while ago... TWSBI EF, slightly modified to be a wetter writer. The Brown is a Pilot 78G Broad (stub) nib.

 

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/CxTPB/TWSBI%20Glow%20Project/SpearmintthroughaTWSBIEF.jpg

[A British Person]

wrote this a while ago... TWSBI EF, slightly modified to be a wetter writer. The Brown is a Pilot 78G Broad (stub) nib.

 

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/CxTPB/TWSBI%20Glow%20Project/SpearmintthroughaTWSBIEF.jpg

Thanks very much! So it's safe too assume Twsbi's draw a slightly thicker line than what's normal?

 

Does anyone else have a contribution to see how it all stacks up?

[51ISH]

 

Thanks very much! So it's safe too assume Twsbi's draw a slightly thicker line than what's normal?

 

Does anyone else have a contribution to see how it all stacks up?

 

 

Erm.....No. ......At least not in my (limited) experience anyway.....

 

I find my Medium to be a 'true' (western) medium.....and a bit of a dry writer......which may well be my Pelikan BB ink......

 

Sorry I have no photos to prove it.....

 

Interestingly, you will see Surnia has 'modified the nib to make it a wetter writer'

[Ernest]

I find that TSWBI NIbs tend to write wide.

Fine is like medium.

EF more like fine.

 

I generally like my nibs on the fine side.

Hence even the EF was too wide.

I took the bold move to grind my EF to a cursive italic which turned out very nice.

 

 

[mackthepen]

 

Erm.....No. ......At least not in my (limited) experience anyway.....

 

I find my Medium to be a 'true' (western) medium.....and a bit of a dry writer......which may well be my Pelikan BB ink......

 

Sorry I have no photos to prove it.....

 

Interestingly, you will see Surnia has 'modified the nib to make it a wetter writer'

 

Does the wetting up of a TWSBI just involve tine work, or also adjustments to the feed?

 

I was keen on the medium for my first purchase, but get the impression from several posts that it will be a bit dry - and I love a wet pen.

 

Andrew

[51ISH]

 

Erm.....No. ......At least not in my (limited) experience anyway.....

 

I find my Medium to be a 'true' (western) medium.....and a bit of a dry writer......which may well be my Pelikan BB ink......

 

Sorry I have no photos to prove it.....

 

Interestingly, you will see Surnia has 'modified the nib to make it a wetter writer'

 

Does the wetting up of a TWSBI just involve tine work, or also adjustments to the feed?

 

I was keen on the medium for my first purchase, but get the impression from several posts that it will be a bit dry - and I love a wet pen.

 

Andrew

 

From what I have read here....... yes......just spreading the tines from what I understand....although I have not done this myself...

 

To recap a little..... from what I understand (and the writing sample above) the EF and F ran 'wide' in 'some' cases.....that EF above looks to be about the same width as my Medium........ But, if you 'adjust the tines'....that in most cases will give a broader line...will it not??

[fabrimedeiros]

I think speedy shows in a video (on youtube) how to become it wetter. It's very easy.

 

With your pen loaded, press gently the nib with your thumbs' nails as this pic below. Please, do not press directly over the tines.

 

You will slightly take the tines apart. After it, try to write. Do it several times until you achieve the flow you like.

 

If you have any doubt, please ask me!

[mackthepen]

Thanks,

 

That's helpful.

 

Andrew

[Surnia]

 

Thanks very much! So it's safe too assume Twsbi's draw a slightly thicker line than what's normal?

 

Does anyone else have a contribution to see how it all stacks up?

 

 

Erm.....No. ......At least not in my (limited) experience anyway.....

 

I find my Medium to be a 'true' (western) medium.....and a bit of a dry writer......which may well be my Pelikan BB ink......

 

Sorry I have no photos to prove it.....

 

Interestingly, you will see Surnia has 'modified the nib to make it a wetter writer'

Does the wetting up of a TWSBI just involve tine work, or also adjustments to the feed?

 

I was keen on the medium for my first purchase, but get the impression from several posts that it will be a bit dry - and I love a wet pen.

 

Andrew

 

Yep, just widening the tines. When I got it the nib was very dry and scratchy. This was well before Speedy put his videos of how to widen the tines up (frankly the nib can take quite a lot of abuse...) and I widened it with a box cutter blade. Ran the blade in once, wrote a bit, and repeated 2 more times til I got it wet enough to where I liked it. Haven't had issue with it since, but I do suspect it got a bit wider. It is however, noticably thinner than the Varsity's medium nib, and my Petit1's F-nib.

 

The 50:50 waterman red + diamine blaze orange was very dry, so i added a small touch of detergent. I think it was too much though, and the ink spreads quite a bit... it is writing much wider than it used to. colours have NOT been corrected, as its not the purpose of the scan =p Shading is exaggerated, nowhere near as much on the paper in front of me. The pilot's stated to be 0.5mm on the edges, and the preppy's just the 03. Not sure if it means 0.3mm?

The scan for some reason makes the varsity look thinner, and the TWSBI wider...

http://i213.photobucket.com/albums/cc122/CxTPB/TWSBI%20Glow%20Project/skfA684.png

[cubic archon]

Here is a little comparison of my own. The TWSBI is an M nib, with J Herbin Poussiere de Lune, and there are a few other pens that I have lying around. Paper is 5mm squared Rhodia.

 

[mbradley]

I find that TSWBI NIbs tend to write wide.

Fine is like medium.

EF more like fine.

 

I generally like my nibs on the fine side.

Hence even the EF was too wide.

I took the bold move to grind my EF to a cursive italic which turned out very nice.

 

 

 

Very nicely done, beautiful writing also...

[freewheelingvagabond]

I find that TSWBI NIbs tend to write wide.

Fine is like medium.

EF more like fine.

 

I generally like my nibs on the fine side.

Hence even the EF was too wide.

I took the bold move to grind my EF to a cursive italic which turned out very nice.

 

 

[inkpenguin]

Ok, is this enough line variation for you? I had an "accident" and overpolished the nib. Had a Fine nib turn into a broad stub. I've included some writing samples of my medium Waterman Hemisphere, Pelikan M250 B, Lamy 1.1mm in comparison.

 

Had a friend at last week's pen meet do some of writing samples, so please don't compliment me on the handwriting as I cannot take credit for it.

 

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5081/5230915845_02820c1f39_z.jpg

DSC_0006 by inkpenguin, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5003/5231506908_d28905a3b5_z.jpg

DSC_0007 by inkpenguin, on Flickr

 

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5244/5230916541_70a66b4b06_z.jpg

DSC_0008 by inkpenguin, on Flickr

 

I do not consider this one a successful grind but rather something I managed to salvage from the brink of disaster. My wife hijacked a Medium Diamond 530 that I had ground to a stub italic and I will try to post some samples of that nib soon.

 

However each of them I was able to adjust for wetness as they came out of the box as rather dry pens. I'm using Iroshizuku Asa Gao for the TWSBI.

Edited December 4, 2010 by inkpenguin

[A British Person]

Thank you all very much for the contributions. I think I've decided on a Fine point being best as an inbetween size that anyone will like. I'm hoping the gift turns out to be a big hit! Now to find a nice ink to show off in the Twsbi's demonstrator body!

 

Thank you all again,

A British Person (probably not really. Probably never been to the UK, let alone Europe)

[hershamboy]

Hi inkpenguin - what is the blue ink you've used? I love it.

[inkpenguin]

Hi inkpenguin - what is the blue ink you've used? I love it.

That's Iroshizuku Asa Gao ink. I love the colour and it is a very well behaved ink, though somewhat more expensive. Definitely a favourite!

[inkpenguin]

Ok. Here are a couple of shots of the writing samples of my wife's Medium TWSBI Diamond 530 that I attempted to grind into a cursive italic:http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5121/5234242562_2c433228df_b.jpgDSC_0002 by inkpenguin, on Flickrhttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5205/5234242948_435565d679_b.jpgDSC_0003 by inkpenguin, on Flickrhttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5090/5234243326_a45f2e0ff5_b.jpgDSC_0001 by inkpenguin, on Flickrhttp://farm6.static.flickr.com/5286/5234243694_c23c5939e7_b.jpgDSC_0004 by inkpenguin, on Flickr.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5203/5234285256_d9a6a1a01a_z.jpg

DSC_0005 by inkpenguin, on Flickr.

Please excuse the handwriting as I was trying to get these samples out in a hurry.

The photo exposure is slightly different but it is using the same Iroshizuku Asa Gao ink.

Edited December 5, 2010 by inkpenguin

[FlatCactus]

whoops

Edited December 7, 2010 by FlatCactus

[Bo Bo Olson]

For a start I think you have picked right with a Fine width nib; in that many/most coming out of ball point or gel pen are use to that; or narrower.

Some pen company's EF are not as smooth as another's.

 

Some one wiser than I said, @ he could get five different widths with five different papers, and wet or dry ink combo's.

 

Of course I couldn't on a quick search find this...but I have many megs of copied material in my pen files.

 

www.richardspens.com/ Go there for your own general information. It is the basics of fountain pens; nibs, filling systems, some advice on inks and some :puddle: pens.

 

 

It is most important to know that each company has it's own standard of what is Fine, Medium and Broad and so on. Often this is a massive difference compared to an other company's width standards.

 

There is no international or national standard; only each companies and there is variation in each company's own nib width due to the hand grinding of the nib.

 

 

If or when you decide to buy a pen for your self, I could get much more detailed.

 

If you do decide to buy a pen for your self, take a good two weeks or more of studying here on the com.

 

Writing is 1/3 nib width and flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink.

 

I chase the nib, and not the pen. A good nib will have a good pen attached to it, and a grand nib a grand pen.

 

 

Perhaps as important as all the above is how to hold a fountain pen properly. There is the improper way; the ball point Death Grip, and a proper way with two variations, one I call the 'short' forefinger up method, which is good for calligraphy and if you do not post a pen.

The other I call the 'long' forefinger up method, which is good for those who post their pens.

A year ago Caliken did a thread on holding a fountain pen properly. It took me two minutes to learn. Wonderful, no more stress, cramped hands and my writing 'improved'.

Over the year in that I post, my hand fell into a 'more comfortable' variation of grasping the pen.

I think a fountain pen user should be able to do both; that way he does not have to fight the pen.

 

Go to the advanced search section.

Author....(thread) Death Grip in writing instruments.

 

holgalee…Death….writing instruments

Edited December 7, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson