Writing with the nib upside down?

[dizzypen]

Recently, I've found myself writing with my nibs upside down. It may be because I have several juicy nibs that I love, but are sometimes too wide for what I'm doing. My Sheaffer's Desk pen writes a Medium line (according to Binder's chart) but when I flip it over it writes an XXF line.

 

Am I just being strange and nonconformist or is this a fairly common practice amongst FPNers? If you write with your nibs upside down, please tell us which nibs you do this with and what the two line widths are?

 

Thanks.

[publius]

I have a Platinum pocket pen adjusted for a wet flow, which writes a juicy Japanese F normally. The other side is a dryer XF, which is handy for making notes.

[Nikhil]

Recently, I've found myself writing with my nibs upside down. It may be because I have several juicy nibs that I love, but are sometimes too wide for what I'm doing. My Sheaffer's Desk pen writes a Medium line (according to Binder's chart) but when I flip it over it writes an XXF line.

 

Am I just being strange and nonconformist or is this a fairly common practice amongst FPNers? If you write with your nibs upside down, please tell us which nibs you do this with and what the two line widths are?

 

Thanks.

 

where can i find this chart

[Paddler]

You can look at Sheaffer nibs from back in the heyday and see that many of them are ground to write fine on the flip side.

 

Many Esterbrook Renew-Point nibs, especially the 1XXX and 2XXX series that are worn flat on the "good" side, will write as stubs or italic on the flip side. Some 9XXX series nibs will do this too, even without evident wear. I have a 9968 that writes a nice fine italic (3:1) line variation on the flip. It is a round B on the good side.

 

Paddler

 

[CraigR]

I do write with both sides of several of my pens. I have several Esterbrooks that are great for this. /Craig

[Tweel]

Your poll questions don't suck, but don't quite fit. I think the closest might be "I DO make a habit of it, as a limited occasion." I have a notebook that I do this in regularly, with certain lines XF. I also flip a pen on postcards when the ink is right, but the line is too broad. The pens I do this with are F rightside-up, XF upside down, and not specifically manufactured as duo-points.

 

-- Brian

 

[Kabe]

I do it all the time with my broad nibs

Edited July 22, 2009 by I am not a number
Corrected comedy typo...

[spotted and speckled]

I flip the nib over whenever my pen starts putting out too much ink for whatever I am doing. I find that slows the ink flow and makes me more purposeful in what I am doing, just in case I started pressing too hard and that's what made the inkflow heavy.

 

 

Yes, I confess to being an emotional writer. There's a support group somewhere I suppose....

[penandinkcalligraphy]

Well, I'm new to FPs, but I do know that I prefer the Sheaffer italic fine pen upside down. Right side up, I find that even the fine sized nib is a bit too wide for me, but upside down it is better. The difference isn't tremendous, just a bit finer and a little drier. Still too wide I find, but better.

[effika]

My Lamy Al-Star has a F nib that is more like an M, so I flip it over and it writes like a crisp italic XF-F with perfect flow! It's scratchy as all get out, but I love it. I hardly ever write with the front of the nib anymore.

 

I have a couple of Pilots and their nibs just aren't as suited to writing on the back with, but that's OK. Their line widths match what they should be, and if I reeeeaaalllyy needed a very dry XXF off the back of my Pilot Knight (Asian M) I can sort of get it to do it. My Custom 74 with #5 nib hates writing upside-down.

[eilu]

My Pilot Decimo is the wettest writer I have. It's an M, writes somewhere between an F and an M, but I flip it if I need something finer an drier.

[ZeissIkon]

After regrinding my Hero 257 to a light-medium cursive italic, I discovered that when inverted, the back side of the chisel point lands perfectly flat on the paper, and the pen writes as a super-broad -- I'd call it about a BB, roughly like a Sharpie with a square tip -- and rather wet even for that size. Quite a surprise, previously it wrote rather finer upside down than the regular way. Now it's got me wondering if I could grind a nib to a common italic and have the back a "Hebrew" -- vertical, rather than horizontal hairline. Could be tricky with the tools I have...

[bitterwonder]

It is just another way to get more out of one's pen. If you draw it is a useful way to , simply put, get more out of the tool.

[grimakis]

If I need to write in a tiny box? Sure!

[darkgreen]

where can i find this chart

 

There are 2 useful charts comparing nib widths:

 

Richard's Pens: http://richardspens.com (Home page), click on "Nib Repair, Adjustment & customization" and then scroll down to the Adobe chart half-way down the page.

 

Classic Fountain Pens also has a useful nib size comparison chart: nibs.com

Edited July 23, 2009 by darkgreen

[RayMan]

I have a couple of pens that write more reliably with the feed side up, but that is only a short term solution. I'll be sending them to a nibmeister soon for adjustment.

[krz]

I call it a falsetto line in my pen jounal

 

My lifetime flattop i carry has a nice XF and a smooth XXF on the flip side.

 

[PAKMAN]

I do on ocassions write with the back of the nib. I have an Italifine from Richard Binder that is specifically made for this. I have several factory nibs that were clearly set up as duopoints.

[BMW]

I do this, only when writing appointments in my Moleskine Pocket Diary. My Parker Sonnet Mk1 has a fine nib and turns extra fine when I do this. This suits the Moleskine very well!

 

Otherwise, I just use the pen as designed.

Edited July 23, 2009 by BMW

[stevlight]

I flip my nibs all the time when I am drawing and need a finer line for details. I have a Richard Binder Pelikan M805 made to do this. All my favorites flip--MB 149's and pelikan polar lights --even my Namiki falcons are thinner and great when flipped. I look for nibs that do this for line variation in my drawings.