I'm interested in trying an italic or stub pen; does anyone have a suggestion as to a good one (modern or vintage -- I don't mind looking around for vintage pens in antique stores and on dealer websites) to get started with?

I'd prefer a tipped nib, though it's not essential, since low cost is even more important to me.


Thanks,

Jeff

Hi,

I can grind you a tipped stub from a Reflex or Vector if you are interested.

Dillon

Best solutions are probably the Sheaffer non-Nonsense and the Osmiroid nibs/pens.

Thanks for the tips.


Dillon -- I'm still pondering getting another Reflex and having it reground, but I am also curious as to other pens that may come with the desired nib.

The Lamy Vista with italic nib is inexpensive. It's ultra smooth even though it's untipped. Just a thought. Don't know what width italic you want to try. Otherwise, a custom nib grind on your choice of pen is always fun.

If you're looking at buying another pen, and if you have the money, a Pelikan m150 or m200 from Richard Binder with a stub nib is my recommendation. His stub nibs are really smooth and can be used almost as easily as a standard round nib. You can get an m150 with a stub nib for $60 USD. (Click here.)

Another good option are the italic pens from Pendemonium. (Click here.) They sell a wide variety of pens at various prices with cursive italic nibs.

Good luck!

TMann

In addition to the above mentioned, I can also highly recommend a stub by Nathan Tardif ( I think he has several for sale online ? ), very decent price, and extremely smooth performance with good flow .

Some regular brands come with stubs or italics as well.

If you want to experiment a little : grind your own on a pen whos nib you don't like ( make sure it's one you don't mind to mess up on..if you cut the tip off too far you have a chance of the flow being too much.Smooth with micromesh and test often untill happy. buying is easier though )

Bob Speerbrecher (speerbob) is selling a couple of Osmiroid calligraphy sets with a variety of italic nibs on the Pentrace Green Board (http://www.pentrace.com/PenMarket.htm) right now. I'm going to go for one and think that it's a great deal for trying out a bunch of italic nibs.

If you already have a M200/300/400/600, you can pick up a stub from Richard Binder - they're wonderful. You can also snag Lamy Safaris with stubs on Ebay (got a 1.5 mm stub Safari myself - nice and smooth). Other possibilities - do an advanced search on Ebay searching titles and descriptions for "fountain pen stub" and see what happens - you might find something interesting. Alternatively, you could have an existing pen ground by someone - maybe even an FPNer.

I am interested in purchasing some italic nibs for some pens that are in my collection. My pens are not too fancy. I have some Sheaffer Preludes, Lamy Vistas, Parker 45s. Dare I add my Waterman Phileases? I am especially interested in getting a nib for my newer 45 (this is the one they came out with a couple of years ago). Any suggestions?

PTLaw

Hi PT!

Pendemonium is selling Lamy replacement italic nibs (in widths 1.1mm and 1.5 mm) for $12 USD each. They have a couple of other types, too. Check out the bottom of the page here: http://www.pendemonium.com/pens_lamy.htm
They also have a pre-ground cursive italic nib unit (ie. an italic nib whose edges have been softened) for the Sheaffer Prelude (in 1.1 mm width) for $20 USD on this page: http://www.pendemonium.com/pens_italic.htm (about half way down, under "Cursive Italic Replacement Nibs")
Keep in mind these are the prices for the nibs only...not the whole pen!

Hope this helps.
~Maja

Well, since TMann has already mentioned my name, I suppose I can toss my hat into the ring. I can grind a stub or italic on any nib you have, as long as it'll produce a result at least 0.3 mm wide. Any narrower than that doesn't give sufficient line variation to overcome the effects of capillary action, and there just isn't enough line variation to be useful. At the other end, I've ground italics as broad as 1.5 mm on retipped nibs.

For me, the appearance of a pen's nib is important, and I take extra steps to ensure that the result of my regrinding will look as good as it can within the constraints imposed by such things as the material and plating of the nib. Here are a Levenger True Writer that I reground to a cursive italic and a Columbus Academia that I made into a stub.



Appearance is important, but the shape of the tip is even more so, and here is where I see a lot of problems caused by people who don't actually understand what they are trying to accomplish. Anybody can make a nib smooth for a very limited range of hold angles and altitudes, but it's more difficult to make a nib that will work properly under the range of conditions imposed by most people. (The difference is that a properly ground nib lets you work, while a badly ground one makes you work -- its way.) This is a Pelikan M800 that came to me for correction after a "bargain" nib worker had made it into a "cursive italic." Left is before I worked on it, right is after. Note the damage the previous person did to the slit with a really crude knife job.

Oh, that's just painful to look at. Like a botched operation on a loved one.

t!

Ouch, but loved your metaphor, t

Thanks! This does help.

Richard, I will probably be contacting you in a couple of days. I need time to think about which pen I want to start with.

This is such a great place!

PTLaw

PT, my recommendation is (go figure) Richard's ItaliFine. Cursive italic on the bottom, but turn it over and it is a fine line. He starts with Pelikan Steel (but tipped) nibs.

I like this one for a first because if you don't like it, I find that it is a great "highlighter" nib. You can use the italic to underline, and the fine for marginallia. Fill it with an ink that is both bright and contrasty, and its a great pen!

Richard's ItaliFine Article