I recently received a nib from Farmboy that was marked as a Firm/Fine, but had obviously been reshaped into a Medium Oblique. Has anyone here tried this? If so, what method did you use to grind the nib to the new shape? Dremel? Bench grinder? Arkansas stone?

The one I received was quite sharp at the edges - to the point where it cut the paper - but a little smoothing on a nail buffing block turned it into a smooth-writing pussycat. If someone else could reshape an Estie nib, then there's no reason I can't, too. I love obliques for the way they give shape to the letters.

Any tips/ideas/thoughts?

thanks,

Joel
I'm going to cross post this to the Repairs forum, too

I understand what you mean, Joel. I just received my first Estie today from an eBay sale. Beautiful as it is, the nib drags quite a bit. (Picture of my Gray Esterbrook w/1551 nib attached below)

When you said you used a "nail buffing BLOCK", did you mean you used a "pumice stone"? Just wondering. Thanks and good luck on your quest. I'll check out the Repairs forum, too.

not a pumice stone - a fingernail buffing block, with 3 different sides, gray, blue and white, in descending roughness. this particular one is by Seacret. Ultra fine smoothing. they're available on eBay and at some shopping malls (in the malls especially around Christmas, at those temporary carts). I'd bet you could find something similar at Walgreens. Just take it easy, two or three strokes at a time.

My late shorthair was named Gracie, after Gracie Allen. We taught her to run to her kennel whenever she heard, "Say goodnight, Gracie."

joel

Thanks for the clarification, Joel. Much better picture in my mind of what you used. In fact, I think I may have one, or two, of those already. If I get brave, I'll have a go at it with my 1551 nib.

Regarding the "Gracie" - glad to hear about your Gracie. Gracie Allen is part of the reason I have "Gracie" as a nickname. Glad to hear others appreciate her, too. Gracie Lives!

Janet
aka Gracie Lives!

Just go slow. It was recommended to me that the way to do it is to have ink or water in the pen, so you're not 'writing dry.' make one or two figure eights on the finest grit side of the block. test for smoothness. repeat. I found that paying attention to the corners of the nib was very helpful - those were often a bit too sharp and dug into the paper. Just a stroke or two to the actual writing surface of the nib.

Good luck!

joel

i also have an estie with a 2668 nib that was obviously reground by someone to an oblique stub nib. works great!

Thanks, again, Joel.

I just finished what I think might be the last pass on the buffing block AND it is a lot smoother than before. I've been using my magnifying-fly-tying-glass-on-a-stand thing to get a better/safer view of what I've smoothed off. Better safe than sorry.

Btw, the figure 8s had a very good effect.

can you point me in the right direction im starting to repair pens but i deffenetly love the stubs. I would prefer to make mine since they seem to run at about $20 or more on ebay.

any help greatly appreciated

http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/nibs.html

You can start here, but take your time as its not as simple as it seems to get a nice stub nib.