Forgive a possibly naive question from a newbie, but is there any way to make a nib wider? I have a Sheaffer Balance that has a 3-25 nib that is basically EF. My impression from doing some research is that you can only make nibs narrower.

Thanks,
/K

I was going to say "turn it sideways" but thought better of it.

I think I've seen, read, heard and somewhere inwardly digested that Richard Binder can do a grind of some sorts, but I guess you'll have to ask him though. Anything is possible, the impossible takes a little longer.

Gary

Your research about covers it Kwahoo. With tipped nibs like the Sheaffer's, the limitation is, of course the maximum width of the tipping material. Since it is usually a ball shape for general purpose nibs, having someone grind it to an Italic or stub will give you a little increase in width - but not much. As Gary says, Richard would know exactly what percentage increase you could expect, but it ain't gonna be a BBB or anything like that.

On untipped nibs (or those with missing iridium) the nib can quite often be ground to a Stub or Italic that is quite a bit broader than it originally was - in fact, this is a common way of salvaging an otherwise damaged nib. The point will not last anywhere as long as the originally tipped one, but if it was damaged beyond repair in the first case, it's a reasonable thing to do.

Other than that, as you surmised, your EF isn't going to become much wider - perhaps an F. You're better off trying to trade with someone that has a wider nib if you want more than that.

Hope that helps.

Regards.

Gerry

do you want a wider nib? or is a wider line sufficient?

The latter can be achieved by increasing flow. Increasing flow is not that difficult in most pens but since I'm not one that's very good at explaining such things... Hopefully either someone else will chime in or if you have a chance, you can probably search on "increase flow" or "increasing flow" using our search function. Just make sure to set the search date to "any date".

Yes - it's just a wider and wetter line that I want. The EF nib is so think and dry that it's not much fun.

Thanks,
/K

Looking through old posts, I found this useful link:
http://www.penmuseum.co.uk/master%202.htm

But upon experimenting further with the nib in question, I think it is actually scratchy and missing the iridium. So this offers lots of opportunities for me to experiment!

/K

Gary, I thought you might be interested in the complete original quotation. The author is unknown, but it's the motto of the Seabees, the Construction Battalion of the United States Navy:

"With willing hearts and skillful hands, the difficult we do at once; the impossible takes a bit longer."

Kwahoo, the best way to make a nib like yours wider, if Kcat's suggestion to increase the flow won't do what you want, is to trade it for a broader one. If you can't do the work, find a professional repairer you can trust. (Not all of the "I can do that" guys really can do it, at least not right.)