Stub Nib - Please Help Me?

[Marten]

Good day.

 

I am contemplating having the current nib ground to a stub nib (True stub - Not italic) on an M805 Pelikan.

 

I am however in two minds over this...

After reading about and researching stub nibs, I am unsure if my writing style would allow for this.

 

I have therefore attached two images if someone would be so kind as to comment on this please?

From the images, it is evident that I tend to write at an angle exceeding 45 degrees. How would a stub perform at this angle please? (If at all)

 

Many thanks...

[liston]

Hi Marten,

 

Why not get youself a few Jinhao pens and have then stubbed and then practice?

 

It will be less expensive than using your M805, and if you are not happy with the results, then you have lost very little.

 

Regards,

 

Liston

[dms525]

Hi, Marten.

 

If you communicate with the nib technician you plan to do your custom grind before hand, they can do the work taking into account pen position, pressure, desired rate of ink flow, degree of nib crispness and other variables.

 

If you just send the nib off with a request to "grind it to a stub," it's a (bleep) shoot.

 

The ideal is to have the grind done at a pen show, where you can literally sit down with the nib technician and he/she can directly observe how you write and grind your nib accordingly.

 

Obviously, you will be better off having some one with lots of experience, knowledge and skill doing this work.

 

Best of luck and happy writing!

 

David

[Ghost Plane]

Marten, its not so much angle to the page (though that will be of interest to the person grinding to tweak the sweet spot to your preference). It is whether you can keep that stub edge flat to the paper.

 

Look at your writing style. If you are a finger writer and wobble your pen around its central axis, then you will find stubs problematic as you keep rocking up onto the corners, making them skip.

 

If your hand remains calm and relaxed, sort of sketching the letters via loose movements of wrist and shoulder so that the pen always stays at the same axis to the page with the nib always at the same spot it would fall under its own weight, then you will likely adore stubs.

[zaddick]

How wide of a nib are you starting with? This also will inform how hard it might be to maintain proper contact with the paper.

 

I think trying a cheap stub is a good place to start. The Jowo 1.1 #6 nib is a good stub to practice with if you have a pen that takes Jowo nibs.

[Marten]

Many thanks to both of you! (And I found your diagram indicating nib position for stub nibs in another thread thanks David. THAT was very helpful)

 

My problem is that I reside in South Africa... No pen shows. Nobody local that can do a re-grind. In fact, very few people actually use a fountain pen here. (I have not seen one used by anyone in years... Come to think of it, I am the only person I know personally who uses them. )

 

Maybe I should simply give it a miss as a bad idea for now. I do have a Bock 1.1 Stub Italic on its way but not exactly the same thing I suppose.

 

Regards,

 

Marten.

[Marten]

Marten, its not so much angle to the page (though that will be of interest to the person grinding to tweak the sweet spot to your preference). It is whether you can keep that stub edge flat to the paper.

 

Look at your writing style. If you are a finger writer and wobble your pen around its central axis, then you will find stubs problematic as you keep rocking up onto the corners, making them skip.

 

If your hand remains calm and relaxed, sort of sketching the letters via loose movements of wrist and shoulder so that the pen always stays at the same axis to the page with the nib always at the same spot it would fall under its own weight, then you will likely adore stubs.

 

I hear you yes! I am more of a "wrist writer" which I suppose equates to ... I don't know. But when writing, I keep my pen/fingers in the same position and only move my wrist.

But yes, I suppose I am attempting to run at full tilt and ignoring the crawling/walking stages here.

Like all of you have said, first try a cheaper option and then decide. Thanks also Zaddick. Yes, I forgot to mention width which will be a B...

[Chrissy]

From the way you write, you might benefit more from an oblique nib because you will then have the angle on the nib to almost match the angle that you write at.

[Driften]

Look at your writing style. If you are a finger writer and wobble your pen around its central axis, then you will find stubs problematic as you keep rocking up onto the corners, making them skip.

 

 

 

I am a finger writer and have never had issues with stubs, italics, or oblique italics. Maybe being an under writer and not a side writer like the OP makes the difference.

[Driften]

There are quite a few pens available with stubs you might like. Maybe a TWSBI 580 since you like piston fill pens like the M800. For the price of a regrind you have a pen with a decent stub and you can always order a replacement nib in something else if it does not work out for you. Actually a TWSBI Eco with the 1.1 stub is a good value and about $20 less. The Eco was my gateway into sub nibs.

 

You can order a replacement nib for your M800 in an IB but it's a wide stub. That also would cost much more then a regrind. I have the I nib for my M215 and it does not seem sharp enough for what I like in the difference between like widths. I might have that reground into a cursive italic.

[DipIt]

I have to go along with Chrissy in that an oblique nib might be useful.

[Marten]

Thanks yet again for the overwhelming input everyone.

@Dippit and Chrissy

Was also thinking along the lines of an oblique but just do not know enough. (Just love your ink reviews btw Chrissy!)

@Driften

Problem is that living here really limits what I can and can't get hold of. There is no place where I can even go try a pen out for instance and often it is purely and educated gamble.

To also be honest I don't even have the pen yet either. I am planning on ordering from the Writing Desk in the UK (Thanks Anna for tolerating my indecision and all my questions) Cannot decide on a M or B then realised they offer custom nib services so thought I would get an M805 in B but regrind the nib and then get an M400 in M with a spare M200 nib in F...

A Friend of mine just returned from Germany and whilst he was there Beaufort Ink mailed him a number of Bock nibs I had ordered. One of these is an Italic Stub in 1.1. I think I need to first try this and then decide. Purchasing these pens will be a once off opportunity and I have really scrimped and saved for this.

Edited March 23, 2018 by Marten

[sciumbasci]

I would order a Dollar 717 Qalam and see if it suits you. I write very much like you, except I'm left handed

[Driften]

If you have some Bock nibs coming and a pen to use them with, they try those first. You can always buy the Pelikan you want after you are clear about different nibs.

[aeba]

As I side writer, stubs are mostly moot for me. It just looks off when side strokes are wider than up-down strokes. Architect nib could be better for me, but getting one done is another story.

 

TL;DR: I too would suggest waiting for those Bock nibs, and seeing what "edged" nibs do, or doesn't do.

[Marten]

Okay... So this is the Bock 1.1 Italic Stub...

I know what you mean aeba.
Although I didn't really struggle from the get go, after a bit the nib started skipping and there were a number of hard starts. I need to practice a bit more before I can really form an opinion. The up/down strokes do look weird due to the way I hold the pen I suppose.

 

 

 

 

[Ghost Plane]

You can also turn the paper & sort of write uphill.

 

Key is letting the nib find its sweet spot on the page, then closing your fingers around it and letting it write under its own weight. Wobbling it around and oversteering rolls it up on a corner and trouble ensues.

[Marten]

Thanks Ghost Plane.

 

Been struggling with the stupid nib but appears not to be myself at fault but rather the nib. Ink flow is sporadic for some reason. I can write a bit and then it will suddenly start skipping or not writing at all, even though my angles remain the same.

[Ghost Plane]

That sounds like a feed issue

[Marten]

Jip... Been out in the sticks so not currently able to sort this. Will have a look upon my return to civilization. Or rather, our version of what passes for civilization.

Anyhow, at least it confirms that I am capable (To a certain degree) of using a stub nib so that is at least a bit of progress...