Can Writing On Non-Fp Friendly Paper Ruin Your Tipped Nib?

[FPNewbie888]

Dear FPN,

 

I'd like to ask if writing on non-FP friendly paper can ruin your nib?

 

When I say non-FP friendly paper I mean slightly rough, off white / brown paper, like a "smoother" doggy bag or manila paper like feel.

 

Reason I'm asking is that I have a notebook which have pages like these and still love writing on it. No bleed-through or ghosting, no feathering and it has a certain "bite" or feedback which I'm looking for when writing compared to a very smooth Rhodia. It's smooth but not as smooth as the FP recommended papers. Seems a little less smooth than a Travelers.

 

Paper works great really, just concerned of damaging my nibs.

 

Thank you for your response.

 

FP Newbie

[Chrissy]

To a degree it depends on your nibs. Untipped steel nibs will wear more quickly than tipped gold nibs if writing on rough paper, but it would take a long time.

[Torrilin]

Cellulose isn’t a very hard material. I doubt it would even register as a 2 on the Mohs scale. Steel is variable but even soft steel is gonna be at least a 5. So the main issue with paper is how effective an abrasive it becomes when you add ink, and mostly even the very coarsest paper is not a good choice for an abrasive.

 

So the most delicate nibs will take a LOT of use on rough paper to experience damage.

 

If you’re curious and want to compare, it’s pretty easy to carve a dip nib out of wood. This was the cheap nib option for most of history. A feather was the expensive one, and takes a bit more effort than a wood nib. Either sort will wear down if used often, and will wear more if you write with a heavy hand. (Just if you try it, make sure you keep the ink for it separately from your regular ink, so the dip pen can’t spread mold)

[KLscribbler]

Very unlikely to do any damage. Back when I was a schoolkid, I used a Parker Super 21 on terrible paper at school (and I do mean really terrible - the paper had an almost rag-like texture and paper fibers would often lift off of the page and get stuck between the nib tines). It was what the school used for exam sheets and the like, so I didn't have a choice. After several years of writing on that, no ill effects were caused, and the pen still writes exactly the same as it did in the beginning.

 

Nowadays, I also have this somewhat peculiar habit of liking to write on watercolor paper (I kind of like the bite of the paper...). I have been habitually journaling in hardbound watercolor paper sketchbooks for some six years now, again with no ill effects to my nibs.

 

There is one possible exception, but this is hearsay - I have heard it said by FP users from China that there are certain kinds of cheap paper commonly used by students and in schools there, which has a very high clay content. The problem with those papers is that the clay content is abrasive and wears down nibs faster than other paper types. Since I have not heard about similar paper issues from FP users of other nationalities, I'm unsure whether high clay content paper is primarily a Chinese thing, or whether such papers might actually be in the market in other countries. Alas, I have not had the opportunity to examine the offending papers, since I don't live in China. The problematic papers tended to be described as having a hard smooth surface like coated paper, and to be of an off-white greyish color, so perhaps avoiding smooth-surfaced greyish papers might help.

[Martinsroom]

Unless it's sandpaper or another type of abrasive sheet you're safe. Brown packing paper has been discussed many times as a way of helping to smooth a nib as it's rough surface may be very slightly abrasive but even then it's pretty much fine.

[Erik Dalton]

It’s true that we use brown paper bags to smooth a scratchy nib. Here, we’re using light pressure putting the nib to paper.

Everyday writing requires little or no pressure on the nib. Even on rough paper like this, normal writing should not be a problem. Worst case, you may get some paper fibers stuck up in the nib slit after writing a bit. These can be cleared with the occasional use of brass shims.

The paper you are describing is no where as course. Just keep up on your periodic maintenance and pen hygiene program. you should have no problems.

[OMASsimo]

You are safe. Fountain pen nibs are practically all tipped with a super hard alloy and you could write for years before you see significant use. There is always some abrasion most notably on the edges of the tip. This is why you can polish a tip at all.

 

I've read countless times that people are afraid of writing on cheap rough paper. But if you think twice, this could be less abrasive then expensive fancy paper. The cellulose fibers are the least concern but they give the rough appearence. The fillers are way more abrasive because they are mineral based (e.g. lime stone, clay, titanium dioxide). Particularly TiO₂ is super hard and abrasive but it's only used in top quality paper.

[Runnin_Ute]

I wouldn't worry about it to much. Most of what you are feeling is just a light texture on the paper. Many of these papers are fairly absorbent. (such as sketchbook papers) It feels rough because it sucks the ink out of the pen so quickly the "pool" of ink you have on more FP friendly papers never really forms. In order for these papers to work correctly with most of the media used on them (watercolors etc), they need to have a rough surface. Open pores in the paper suck up the media- whether it is watercolor, or just pencil. Pencil on a slick paper like Rhodia just doesn't work well.

[Zdenek]

Beware of sandpaper. ... Sorry, I couldn't resist.

[senzen]

Aaaand since you should't be pressing on the nib anyway, it would take 30,000 years of continuous writing...

[mars37]

The tipping on fountain pen nibs are really hard so I don't think the risk of ruining a nib on less than perfect paper is high.

For me the issue with some cheap paper is that tiny paper fibers get caught in the tines and I constantly have to remove them...

[amberleadavis]

I went looking for an image of sandy paper in Las Vegas. *and fell down the rabbit hole*

 

Anyway, I've been using some of my FPs for years on that recycled school paper mentioned above. I wouldn't use my expensive pens on it, but that Sheaffer from the 1960s is still writing well.