"shaded Writing" With A 9048 Nib

[corgicoupe]

I have a lovely red Transitional J Esterbrook with a 9048 nib, which is supposed to be designed for "shaded writing". My first question is: What does shaded writing look like? Any examples available?

 

 

My second question is whether this can be accomplished with the standard Waterman, Sheaffer, Parker, and Pelikan inks?

 

My third question is whether there is something in the design of the 9048 that produces the shading, or is a special technique required?

[pajaro]

I have a 9048 mib in an LJ. It's an extra flexible fine. So, shaded is flexed? It takes a good bit of pressure to flex the 9048, in my experience.

 

http://www.esterbrook.net/nibs.shtml

[corgicoupe]

That's helpful info, thanks. I will try pressing a bit more.

[EMQG]

I have a 9048 mib in an LJ. It's an extra flexible fine. So, shaded is flexed? It takes a good bit of pressure to flex the 9048, in my experience.

 

http://www.esterbrook.net/nibs.shtml

 

 

That's helpful info, thanks. I will try pressing a bit more.

 

Don't press too hard. Estie flex nibs weren;t actually very flexible - they're best used as normal nibs. If you want shading, get a broad nib.

[pajaro]

 

 

 

Don't press too hard. Estie flex nibs weren;t actually very flexible - they're best used as normal nibs. If you want shading, get a broad nib.

 

Agree. Flexible is misleading on these nibs, and I only flexed it once or twice. It's better as a fine.

[gweimer1]

 

Agree. Flexible is misleading on these nibs, and I only flexed it once or twice. It's better as a fine.

 

- the closest thing to a flex I've seen is the 2048 nib.

[corgicoupe]

How does it differ from the 9048?

[gweimer1]

The 2048 seems to be more a descendant of the dip nibs. It has a longer and narrower profile. It's really not just a cheaper version of the 9048.

[corgicoupe]

I requested the 9048 on the last J I got, so I guess I'll have to request a 2048 on the next one.

[pajaro]

 

- the closest thing to a flex I've seen is the 2048 nib.

 

I have that one too. Another fairly stiff nib. The 9128 is a bit more like a flex nib. Well, just a wee bit. Of course, being a left handed over writer, I haven't much facility with flexible writing.

[gweimer1]

 

I have that one too. Another fairly stiff nib. The 9128 is a bit more like a flex nib. Well, just a wee bit. Of course, being a left handed over writer, I haven't much facility with flexible writing.

 

Preach it, fellow leftie!

[AAAndrew]

The x048 is a "descedent" of the original 048 Falcon Esterbrook dip pen. This was their standard, every-day writing pen, and their top seller for 70 years. As the others pointed out, it gets its shading via some level of flexibility.

 

the x128 nibs are "descendants" of the 128 EF Elastic dip pen. This was a more flexible pen so I would expect the fountain equivalent to be more flexible than the 48's.

 

That all said, I've yet to find a Renew-point nib that's a fraction as flexible as the dip pen originals. By the time the fountain pen nibs came along, the desire for flexible nibs was greatly reduced, and the market small. That's one of the reasons the nibs are less common.

 

Almost all of the renew-point nib numbers are based on Esterbrook's old dip nibs. I have a chart somewhere I put together to show the "correlations" between the two types of nibs. You can also look at The Esterbrook Project which lists all known models of Esterbrook dip nibs and see if you can find the number that corresponds to your renew-point nib.

 

If I can find the chart I'll try and repost it again. Right now the FPN search is not working for me. It's telling me I'm illegally accessing the API.

[corgicoupe]

Fascinating. Thanks.

[Tweel]

The 2048 seems to be more a descendant of the dip nibs. It has a longer and narrower profile. It's really not just a cheaper version of the 9048.

 

I've had a single, seemingly NOS, 2048, and that one was frankly nasty. Sharp as a butterfly pin out of the box, so that upstrokes were impossible, and then the stainless steel was so soft that it wore to a tiny "italic", or rather wood chisel, literally in the course of a single page. I'm not a heavy-handed writer. I hope others are better, but I'm disinclined to find out.

 

Right now the FPN search is not working for me. It's telling me I'm illegally accessing the API.

 

I've noticed that. I think that FPN has dropped its Google subscription. But you can still use the site's built-in search engine by clicking the "Google Search" button and choosing e.g. "Forums" instead. Or you can use Google outside of FPN.

[gweimer1]

You have to look closely, but if you find one of the teardrop nibs, they have a much different, and slightly more flexible profile than the common nibs.

 

[corgicoupe]

The difference is quite obvious in the photo

[Ron Z]

"Shaded writing" is Esterbrook's description of the nib, and how it appears on their nib charts.

[gweimer1]

The difference is quite obvious in the photo

 

I guess what I meant is that when you're searching for pens, especially on eBay, look at photos closely. The one I got wasn't noted other than just a nib. I've got a few of the frosted nibs the same way.

[EMQG]

 

I guess what I meant is that when you're searching for pens, especially on eBay, look at photos closely. The one I got wasn't noted other than just a nib. I've got a few of the frosted nibs the same way.

"Frosted" nibs?

[Venemo]

You have to look closely, but if you find one of the teardrop nibs, they have a much different, and slightly more flexible profile than the common nibs.

 

I have never seen that "teardrop" style yet. Is that some variant that they made of their nibs, or was there a period when they made nibs in that style?