Does anyone have any idea how well the 1xxx- and 2xxx- series nibs wear compared to the 9xxx-series nibs? I was just curious how much of a difference the iridium tip makes, and how much writing mileage to expect out of various nibs. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Full Version: question about renew-point nibs
QUOTE (lv7 @ Jul 19 2008, 06:17 PM) 
Does anyone have any idea how well the 1xxx- and 2xxx- series nibs wear compared to the 9xxx-series nibs? I was just curious how much of a difference the iridium tip makes, and how much writing mileage to expect out of various nibs. Any thoughts?
Thanks!
Thanks!
From my own use, and from some of the pens I have handled, I would expect that you should easily get at least several years worth of writing out of most 1xxx series nibs. As long as you are not writing on sandpaper, that is. ;-)
I had to replace one Esterbrook nib on a pen I gave to Diane last year that was fairly well worn, it looked like it had been heavily used for years and I had to soak it for nearly a week to get it to (finally) unscrew from the pen. Whoever had owned it had cleaned the pen before putting it away, so I expect that it was years of buildup and never removing the nib. Of course it all depends on how heavily you press down, use it with a light touch, as you should with a fountain pen, and it should last for quite a few years before it wears too much.
The end of the nib was almost chisel shaped on the bottom, which made it rather smooth if you held it exactly as the original owned did, but Diane tends to hold her pens at a somewhat higher angle, plus she prefers fine points. I can't remember just which number it was, but I do remember that it was (originally) a medium point nib, and was very smooth when writing at the correct angle, but even knowing that it tended, with both of us, to be somewhat awkward to keep exactly at that angle. I have been using one (a 1555) non-tipped nib for several years, not a great deal, but even so I can find no noticeable wear yet.
QUOTE (HLeopold @ Jul 20 2008, 08:59 AM)
From my own use, and from some of the pens I have handled, I would expect that you should easily get at least several years worth of writing out of most 1xxx series nibs. As long as you are not writing on sandpaper, that is. ;-)
I had to replace one Esterbrook nib on a pen I gave to Diane last year that was fairly well worn, it looked like it had been heavily used for years and I had to soak it for nearly a week to get it to (finally) unscrew from the pen. Whoever had owned it had cleaned the pen before putting it away, so I expect that it was years of buildup and never removing the nib. Of course it all depends on how heavily you press down, use it with a light touch, as you should with a fountain pen, and it should last for quite a few years before it wears too much.
The end of the nib was almost chisel shaped on the bottom, which made it rather smooth if you held it exactly as the original owned did, but Diane tends to hold her pens at a somewhat higher angle, plus she prefers fine points. I can't remember just which number it was, but I do remember that it was (originally) a medium point nib, and was very smooth when writing at the correct angle, but even knowing that it tended, with both of us, to be somewhat awkward to keep exactly at that angle. I have been using one (a 1555) non-tipped nib for several years, not a great deal, but even so I can find no noticeable wear yet.
I had to replace one Esterbrook nib on a pen I gave to Diane last year that was fairly well worn, it looked like it had been heavily used for years and I had to soak it for nearly a week to get it to (finally) unscrew from the pen. Whoever had owned it had cleaned the pen before putting it away, so I expect that it was years of buildup and never removing the nib. Of course it all depends on how heavily you press down, use it with a light touch, as you should with a fountain pen, and it should last for quite a few years before it wears too much.
The end of the nib was almost chisel shaped on the bottom, which made it rather smooth if you held it exactly as the original owned did, but Diane tends to hold her pens at a somewhat higher angle, plus she prefers fine points. I can't remember just which number it was, but I do remember that it was (originally) a medium point nib, and was very smooth when writing at the correct angle, but even knowing that it tended, with both of us, to be somewhat awkward to keep exactly at that angle. I have been using one (a 1555) non-tipped nib for several years, not a great deal, but even so I can find no noticeable wear yet.
HLeopold, thanks for sharing your experience. That gives me a much better idea what to expect out of these nibs! I actually write quite a lot, though I rotate pens too, and I have wondered how lasting my nibs would be.
QUOTE (lv7 @ Jul 21 2008, 08:19 PM)
QUOTE (HLeopold @ Jul 20 2008, 08:59 AM)
From my own use, and from some of the pens I have handled, I would expect that you should easily get at least several years worth of writing out of most 1xxx series nibs. As long as you are not writing on sandpaper, that is. ;-)
I had to replace one Esterbrook nib on a pen I gave to Diane last year that was fairly well worn, it looked like it had been heavily used for years and I had to soak it for nearly a week to get it to (finally) unscrew from the pen. Whoever had owned it had cleaned the pen before putting it away, so I expect that it was years of buildup and never removing the nib. Of course it all depends on how heavily you press down, use it with a light touch, as you should with a fountain pen, and it should last for quite a few years before it wears too much.
The end of the nib was almost chisel shaped on the bottom, which made it rather smooth if you held it exactly as the original owned did, but Diane tends to hold her pens at a somewhat higher angle, plus she prefers fine points. I can't remember just which number it was, but I do remember that it was (originally) a medium point nib, and was very smooth when writing at the correct angle, but even knowing that it tended, with both of us, to be somewhat awkward to keep exactly at that angle. I have been using one (a 1555) non-tipped nib for several years, not a great deal, but even so I can find no noticeable wear yet.
I had to replace one Esterbrook nib on a pen I gave to Diane last year that was fairly well worn, it looked like it had been heavily used for years and I had to soak it for nearly a week to get it to (finally) unscrew from the pen. Whoever had owned it had cleaned the pen before putting it away, so I expect that it was years of buildup and never removing the nib. Of course it all depends on how heavily you press down, use it with a light touch, as you should with a fountain pen, and it should last for quite a few years before it wears too much.
The end of the nib was almost chisel shaped on the bottom, which made it rather smooth if you held it exactly as the original owned did, but Diane tends to hold her pens at a somewhat higher angle, plus she prefers fine points. I can't remember just which number it was, but I do remember that it was (originally) a medium point nib, and was very smooth when writing at the correct angle, but even knowing that it tended, with both of us, to be somewhat awkward to keep exactly at that angle. I have been using one (a 1555) non-tipped nib for several years, not a great deal, but even so I can find no noticeable wear yet.
HLeopold, thanks for sharing your experience. That gives me a much better idea what to expect out of these nibs! I actually write quite a lot, though I rotate pens too, and I have wondered how lasting my nibs would be.
You are most welcome. I am not a huge user of Esterbrooks, but from those I have looked at you really should not have any problems with using one of the untipped nibs for at least a few years, used in rotation it may easily last for a couple of decades. Plus you can find plenty of the 9xxx series Esterbrook nibs available in a number of places, eBay, Richard Binder, lots of others, these are tipped nibs that will last as long as any nib since they have iridium (or other very hard metal) in the very end of the tines. These will cost you a bit more than the 1xxx series, but not all that much, for most, and are an excellent buy. Esterbrook made something like 29 or 31 different nibs for all sorts of writing, some untipped (1xxx), some tipped (9xxx) in fine, accountant, medium, broad, italics and others I have no clue about. Even at least one semi-flexible nib, but it tends to be very expensive from what I hear. There are lists available, even on the web, of all those nibs and what the corresponding number would be. I "think" it is probably posted here somewhere in the Esterbrook area, but don't ask me where.
I have handled a lot of Esterbrook nibs and I have a few general observations...
1) A 1XXX nib never really wears out, it just very slowly gets broader over time. I have some extremely smooth 1550s that are nearing medium fine when they began life as fines
2) A 2XXX nib will wear out assuming that it is a model with a folded over steel point when it gets worn enough to weaken the connection between the top of the nib and the folded over portion and snaps one side of the "ball" off
3) A 3XXX, 8XXX or 9XXX nib never really wears period, let alone wear out
Adam
1) A 1XXX nib never really wears out, it just very slowly gets broader over time. I have some extremely smooth 1550s that are nearing medium fine when they began life as fines
2) A 2XXX nib will wear out assuming that it is a model with a folded over steel point when it gets worn enough to weaken the connection between the top of the nib and the folded over portion and snaps one side of the "ball" off
3) A 3XXX, 8XXX or 9XXX nib never really wears period, let alone wear out
Adam
I have yet to wear out any Esterbrook nib. Maybe because I rotate a fair amount and though I take a lot of notes at work, I do not write much beyond that save in my personal journal. I do know that the 9xxx nibs feel better on paper as compared to the others.
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