Hourglass Or Straight Nib Holder?

[andybiotic]

 

Or you could do what I do and what many of the great penman of this and the previous era did to their holders, build up the grip with a little tape. (Note, I exclude myself from the list of great penman, past AND present.)

 

BTW, that 3/8 inch you measured is almost the same as the smallest diameter of most hourglass holders, so it's not really all that skinny. The straight shaft does, depending on how you think about it, allow one more gripping latitude along the length of the shaft, so that with snag prone nibs, one can flatten the angle of attack simply by gripping a bit further back, rather than bending the flange. If one changes nib models frequently, this might be a valid justification for having the straight shaft. N.b., the other PIA Adjustable holder (not the one in my photo) also has a straight shaft.

 

 

I think that is the way I am going to go with, if it is too thin, add tape. And I can cover the brass bit (for the blackwell) with tapes too if I decided that I don't like it!

 

That is a good point, Dan. The advantage of a straight holder is that you can move up and down the shaft to change the nib angle without changing the width of your grip.

 

I am after an easily adjustable flange since I am a beginner with these oblique holders and I want to try out a whole heaps of different nibs (recently acquired some "The Tank Pen no.5, haven't even heard of them!). It seems that the blackwell is the easiest one and is meeting many of my requirements, I am gradually moving towards it... :hmm1:

Edited April 13, 2012 by andybiotic

[amberleadavis]

Hey, I just saw this you tube video and thought of you.

 

 

 

[smk]

 

Beautiful work, Salman. You are a true artist!

 

Ken

 

Thanks Ken. Your appreciation means a lot to me.

 

Salman

[tdzb36]

I have been studying the effect of the design of the grip on performance for some time. What I have found is that the design is more or less irrelevant as long as the relative position of your thumb, forefinger and middle fingers are kept the same.

 

The fourth touch point is where the stem of the holder touches the area on or around the first knuckle. I have found myself to be able to us wildly different holders in this respect as long as the 'primary' three touch points are fairly standard.

 

As for the primary touch points (thumb and 2 fingers) - I found that a gently sloping profile provides better feel of how the holder is moving. It gives me more feedback rather than better control.

 

Here are some designs I have used:

 

 

No. 1: This is the Hunt oblique holder. A bit slim but allows for better 'forefinger on top' grip than the modern tripod grip. The plastic flange puts the nib a tad too steeply on the page in my opinion, but we're talking grips here :-)

 

No. 2: The Century oblique. I think this is the 'standard' holder as far as the grip goes. I don't like the slight weight towards the top but you hardly feel it when writing.

 

NOTE: The following 4 are my own designs and the results of various experiments.

 

No. 3: This is currently my favorite holder. The grip looks a bit thin but in fact is designed for finger placement identical to the Century oblique. As you notice the part that would touch the base of the forefinger is quite wide compared to the classic holder shape. Surprisingly this is not at all noticeable when writing with it. I must have somehow compensated for this in the angle of the flange.

 

No. 4: This is a modification of No. 3 to see if the flange angle makes much difference. I also made the grip a little thicker. You'll notice the slight difference in the tip and the curvature in the wood where the thumb would go. It feels quite a bit more substantial even though the thumb and the forefinger are less than 2mm wider apart than No. 3. The thing that makes the holder feel substantial is the distance between the top two (i.e. thumb and forefinger) and the middle finger under the holder. The difference there is also about 2mm or thereabouts but since it opens the grip radially (vs. circumferentially when you add distance between the thumb and forefinger) it makes a bigger difference.

 

This realization allowed me to carve No. 6 where there is a much larger distance between the thumb and the forefinger but the middle finger is as close as the No. 3 holder, thereby giving a pleasant feel and not at all 'oversized' - strange eh!

 

No. 5: This is a fairly standard design with only a slightly triangular profile. It places the thumb and forefinger quite close but the middle finger a 'standard' feel away and allows for easy switching between the modern and traditional tripod grips. Also, the heft in the middle ensure the center of gravity is such that the weight at the top is not felt.

 

No. 6: This was an experiment in a design that uses two strips; one to support the thumb and the other for the fore and middle fingers. The knowledge of how the gap between the top two fingers and the bottom finger works allowed for a grip area that looks outlandish but is surprisingly normal in feel. The curvature of the leaves was designed so the smooth and gently curving part touches the base of the forefinger.

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the grips:

 

The grip for No. 3:

 

The grip for No. 4:

 

The grip for No. 6:

 

I'm sorry for the long post but as this is an area of interest for me and I felt I could add something to the conversation with what I have found. Isn't it great to have a place where such things are discussed? Most people would look strangely at me if I brought any of this up.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Salman

 

The No6 holder is great？I like it so mush....

[smk]

 

The No6 holder is great？I like it so mush....

 

Thanks. Here's a link to the post where I showed it: Yet Another Oblique Holder

 

Andy - sorry for hijacking your thread :embarrassed_smile:

 

S.