Correcting Baby Bottoms

March 6, 2006

Nibmeisters,

Can a "Baby Bottomed" nib be corrected through smoothing methodology alone, or does it typically require removing more material and actual reshaping of the nib?

In other words, if someone "smoothed" enough with a pen in the normal writing angle, would enough metal be removed to cure the problem without damaging flow characteristics, etc.

Bill

March 6, 2006

Hi Bill,

This is always how I do it, by smoothing the nib. I do tend to try and take of the baby bottom first, by just smoothing the part where the baby bottom occurs, and then do a general smoothing.

If a baby bottom is so bad that you need to reshape the nib, it needs to be sent back to the supplier.

Also, a baby bottom may occur as a partial baby bottom, i.e., only at a specific angle, and most of the time, the angle you personally are writing at, and nobody else . This is dealt with in the same way, but you would only fix that particular point, and then smooth the whole nib again. BTW, I did find a nib once with 2 partial baby bottoms .

For fixing baby bottoms, I use 1 micron (approx. 8000 grit) and 0.3 micron (approx. 12000 grit) mylar, just as I do for smoothing nibs. And this shouldn't damage flow characteristics, if you do it properly, i.e., carefully, softly and smoothly.

HTH, warm regards, Wim

March 6, 2006

A light tap on the backside and a firm "No!" usually worked on my kiddo.

sorry - it was just too easy. :meow:

March 7, 2006

It usually requires removing a bit more material than normal smoothing, but can still be done with smoothing kit.

I recommend straight downstrokes, back and forth, and change the vertical angle (do not lean the pen sidways) so that you at least radius in the one direction. This should work out the baby bottom, without leaving you with a flat spot. Note that once you do this, you'll want to go back and radius out the whole nib again as Wim mentions.