Does anyone make their own nibs?

[tfwall]

I have made a couple and am generally very happy with them, but using the finest jewelers saw blade that I can find still makes a rather wide slit. They work but I would love to make a narrower slit. Does anyone know where to get a even finer blade than a jeweler's supply house? Does anyone know how nib slits are cut in the real world?

 

A few years ago, Nathan of Noodler's Ink was mucking around with an old Soviet era machine that cut nibs for fountain pens. He had it running in some form or another for a while, but then the whole ink business took off.

 

You might email him and see if he cares to help you.

[Vargouille]

I have made a couple and am generally very happy with them, but using the finest jewelers saw blade that I can find still makes a rather wide slit. They work but I would love to make a narrower slit. Does anyone know where to get a even finer blade than a jeweler's supply house? Does anyone know how nib slits are cut in the real world?

 

A few years ago, Nathan of Noodler's Ink was mucking around with an old Soviet era machine that cut nibs for fountain pens. He had it running in some form or another for a while, but then the whole ink business took off.

 

You might email him and see if he cares to help you.

 

Really? Any pictures of it?

 

Nice nib, by the by.

[tfwall]

Really? Any pictures of it?

 

I'll take a look around, but if memory serves it was almost 10 yrs ago. So, don't hold your breath.

[btboone]

Sounds like something I'll have to try when my new laser comes in. It's a couple weeks out as it is coming from overseas. It will be able to cut through any thin metal like gold or titanium with a tiny .001" kerf. I have a sheet of titanium ready for playing with. Anodizing titanium is pretty easy to do, although the oxide is pretty thin and can wear off if it's in contact with other metals. It's probably fine for a nib which should always have the protection of a cap.

[beginnersmind]

Sounds like something I'll have to try when my new laser comes in. It's a couple weeks out as it is coming from overseas. It will be able to cut through any thin metal like gold or titanium with a tiny .001" kerf. I have a sheet of titanium ready for playing with. Anodizing titanium is pretty easy to do, although the oxide is pretty thin and can wear off if it's in contact with other metals. It's probably fine for a nib which should always have the protection of a cap.

Too cool! I envy you with such a neat "toy" on the way!

[professionaldilettante]

I would not be surprised if people could make their own nibs based on some restoration photos of nibs. Some are basically built from the ground up around a little scrap of what was a nib. Congrats.

[richardandtracy]

Sounds like something I'll have to try when my new laser comes in. It's a couple weeks out as it is coming from overseas. It will be able to cut through any thin metal like gold or titanium with a tiny .001" kerf. I have a sheet of titanium ready for playing with. Anodizing titanium is pretty easy to do, although the oxide is pretty thin and can wear off if it's in contact with other metals. It's probably fine for a nib which should always have the protection of a cap.

Wee.

That sounds good.

Would you consider subcontract pen work to keep the machine paying for itself? I'm thinking mostly little bits like cutting out thin sheet for P61 arrows (the ones that keep dropping out & getting lost). I have a local industrial laser cutting company nearby with a 3kW laser, but they say 'Yes' right up to the point I want to place any order, when it suddenly becomes a 'No'. The same happens even for the company I work for when they approach them for other laser profiling work.

 

The other thing I'd love to know is the power of a machine that will cut metals. I've taken a look at some of the little 40W lasers, but the sellers rarely make any claims that they'll cut metal

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[btboone]

Hi Richard. I likely can check into work like that. It will take some time to learn it and really see what it can and cannot do, and I will be very busy getting new rings onboard, but I would imagine after a while I should get ahead of it. I believe it should cut thin sheet fairly easily. It's an 80 watt YAG laser. The industrial lasers are CO2 lasers, which have a wavelength around 10 times longer. They cut through metal by brute force even though their wavelength is not ideal for metal. The power density is incredible for the near infrared YAG and fiber lasers. The spot size is on the order of 25 micrometers.

[richardandtracy]

Thanks Bruce.

I shall have to draw them up then, but obviously it's not something that could ever take precedence over even 'unimportant' stuff!

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[manojd]

I would like to know more about the process. How do you get the shape once you have the metal cut up?

[richardandtracy]

With laser cutting you put in a flat sheet of metal, and draw round all the edges with the laser, cutting it as you go. This then gives a flat profile of the shape you want. If curvature is needed (as with a nib), then in a home workskshop you'd bend the profile over a mandrel of the correct diameter - with fingers, a hammer or whatever comes to hand to do the job (pressing the nib into a carved/drilled groove in a block of wood with a rod is one way of getting a relatively controlled curve) .

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[ethernautrix]

Finally looked at this thread. I don't have any advice, but wow, those nibs are cool! Nice job!

[Ondina]

Your work is admirable, I agree that there's business in making custom nibs, very specially in the flexible field. Congratulations and thanks for posting it.

[Titanic9990]

im not sure if anyone else has posted this, but from what i have seen about how they make pens in the big comapnies is that after the feed hole is punctured and the metal is curved into the correct shape some sort of ionized metal thread which is super fine is threaded through the hole and guided to the end of the nib, thusly cutting it - now i doubt all nibs are made this way and doubt that it is a feasible task unless you have a factory in your backyard but i didnt see anyone else post about it lol

[mattlowe]

Youtube of "How it's Made" for fountain pens, goes through one company's process for making nibs.

 

[UltraMagnus]

I always assumed they used a resistance welder to weld the iridium on, I guess I know for sure now.

 

They dont seem to ever cut a slit in the tipping in that video though, that cant be right?

[Pen Is Mightier]

Very cool video mattlowe thanks for posting.

 

As for UltraMagnus, I didn't catch that but your right I don't think they ever did cut a slit into the iridium.

[ticoun]

Very cool video mattlowe thanks for posting.

 

As for UltraMagnus, I didn't catch that but your right I don't think they ever did cut a slit into the iridium.

 

in this show, they sometimes tend to skip some parts of the manufacturing process.

[djkpens]

i have made nibs 3-4 mm wide and 40 mm in length for using india ink

using sterling with a stripe of 10k yellow gold soldered on and wrapped around

slit cut w jewelers saw after forming around a round rod

vintage hr feed and section

these nibs work well and deliver a large amount of ink

even under rapid drawing in the field -

cleaning with ammonia is necessary after clogging up

ink tank might hold 5-25 cc

delrin eydropper body encased in fabricated non ferrous metals

are newer design experiments

[wftrier]

wow. I was just poking around FPN looking into handmade nibs. this thread is a goldmine. Thanks.

 

Oh. if a 8/0 blade is too wide...just use a sanding disc to make it thinner. You'll wreck the tooth offset but for a small project, it'll do.

 

I've been a jeweler for twenty years and I'm really looking forward to trying this.

 

so many ideas, so little time.