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The Flexible Writer .... This Means You. =]


pb2

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A recurring urge to "coach" comes up for me as I sit at my Pen Show tables across the country each month. It's especially true with those new to the wonderful joy of fountain penning.

 

Susan Wirth and John Martinson have a wonderful calling, a vocation to coach this need. And Richard Binder's professorial mantle comes into play a-plenty in it.

 

It's a simple bit of know-how that comes naturally to some; others of us simply need to be clued in.

 

 

Put simply: Whether the nib is flexible or not ... the writer ought to be.

 

Every pen and nib is quite unique and a high degree of pleasure and success can be attained by adjusting and being flexible to find the best attributes of the pen and nib: ergo, adjust thyself to meet the nib's uniqueness. A lot of us are locked into one place of pen position and posture and we lock out the excellent attributes of many great pens.

 

 

A successful baseball player at bat is one who adjusts his swing to hit the ball and go for that "sweet spot" with the bat.

And, if a baseball catcher did not adjust his glove hand to meet a 90+ MPH pitch, he would not last an inning.

Whether the nib is flexible or not ... the writer ought to be.

 

A better analogy might be a golfer who uses a variety of clubs to achieve success. If one used the same swing with each golf club off the tee as on the green, the same swing with a putter as one does with a driver, the experience would be ... unpleasant. So too, each pen and nib requires adjustments in each of us to allow those pens/nibs to accomplish their best! Whether the nib is flexible or not ... the writer ought to be.

 

Most of us use a variety of pens; a "rotation". Hey, the more, the merrier! And although there is nothing wrong with enjoying all XFs or all BBs, variation in size and line shape can be a very enjoyable diet. And even each XF or BB has it's nuances, it's best angle of approaching the paper and dispersing the flow of ink to it's utmost capability ... and WE , Yes! WE the PEN PEOPLE .... ooops.... getting melodramatic ... again ... rolleyes.gif ... we get to find the best way that each pen can write. ... the sweet spot is the sweetest place where writer and pen unite, and it varies from nib to nib.

 

 

One last point: a lighter hand is best for a writer's hand. Some of us could gouge Rhodia with a crayon. So before dismissing a nifty nib with the "S" word (scratchy) practice reminding oneself to lighten up, the pen will help you to enjoy it. thumbup.gif

 

 

 

Your semi-humble nibster ~

 

 

Pendleton

http://i871.photobucket.com/albums/ab272/pendletonII/Spring%202012/Summer%202012/bfdeb31d.jpg

 

 

Let's meet at the Dallas Pen Show Sept 21 & 22

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by pb2

pendletonspens.com

 

~ May the Lord smile on you ~

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Good post, Pendleton.

 

And different pens and nibs may work better with different styles of writing.

 

May I add that if one is not happy with one's handwriting, well, it is not that hard to change it or take up a new form. My original D'Nealian cursive was just plain ugly. :blush: So (like many of today's generation) I reverted to printing. That wasn't pretty either. Then came italics, and things began to get better. Old German script and round hand, real Palmer, and eventually I was able to revisit cursive to the point that it doesn't offend my eyes quite as much. To be clear, I am by no means a calligrapher, but now my scribble gets complimented often enough.

 

I believe that if more people learned how to write better, fountain pen demand would increase automatically.

 

Will

-----------------

 

Will von Dauster

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I was so excited to read this to learn more - but when I click on the links they don't work?

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For me it's not so much the nib but the ink flow influencing the ink color. I find various fountain pens deliver the same color ink very differently, and here I give you an example: My dip pens write a nice dark blue/Black, an old Waterman Ideal eydropper gets pretty close, A Sheaffer striated balance turns the same color to a blue. A Rotring Initial is middle of the road, and the rest of my collection a light Blue.I tried adjusting the feed but to no avail.

 

So is it the nib alone influencing this phenomenon?

They came as a boon, and a blessing to men,
The Pickwick, the Owl and the Waverley pen

Sincerely yours,

Pickwick

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I was so excited to read this to learn more - but when I click on the links they don't work?

 

Please forgive the confusion Stompie... the underlined portions are not links, just added for emphasis and for the sake of those among us ( myself often included) who normally only have time to skim the key points. It seems that some of us guys are more interested in the headlines than the details. rolleyes.gif

 

 

 

pendletonspens.com

 

~ May the Lord smile on you ~

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For me it's not so much the nib but the ink flow influencing the ink color. I find various fountain pens deliver the same color ink very differently, and here I give you an example: My dip pens write a nice dark blue/Black, an old Waterman Ideal eydropper gets pretty close, A Sheaffer striated balance turns the same color to a blue. A Rotring Initial is middle of the road, and the rest of my collection a light Blue.I tried adjusting the feed but to no avail.

 

So is it the nib alone influencing this phenomenon?

 

Nib and writer, like a horse and rider together make the trail an adventure. happyberet.gif Deep huh?

Edited by pb2

pendletonspens.com

 

~ May the Lord smile on you ~

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One last point: a lighter hand is best for a writer's hand. Some of us could gouge Rhodia with a crayon. So before dismissing a nifty nib with the "S" word (scratchy) practice reminding oneself to lighten up, the pen will help you to enjoy it. thumbup.gif

 

 

 

I think you touch the most important truth here. The answer is more often penmanship than pen. To follow your golf analogy, with the exception of the putter (and to a lesser extent, the wedge) the same swing is used for all the other clubs. Changes in grip, swing plane, alignment have predictable and repeatable results, allowing the skilled player to "work" the ball and the duffer to spray it all over the course. There are natural variation due to physicality and kinesthetic sense, certainly, but at the point were ball and club collide, physics is physics. The same is true with the pen. Ones mastery of the basics and personal variance from the norm drives the hardware choices. Of the two, mastery is by far the more important parameter.

 

Obviously, the style (hand) one chooses, is also important, but I think a discussion of that subject is off the main thrust of your post.

Edited by Mickey

The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press; but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous or illegal, he must take the consequence of his own temerity. (4 Bl. Com. 151, 152.) Blackstone's Commentaries

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Please forgive the confusion Stompie... the underlined portions are not links, just added for emphasis and for the sake of those among us ( myself often included) who normally only have time to skim the key points. It seems that some of us guys are more interested in the headlines than the details. rolleyes.gif

 

Well then, looky here, I just learnt more! :thumbup:

 

But I do agree with a lot of what has been said here in that it is the penmanship, the worker and that old adage about a bad workman blaming his tools (which saying I am led to believe was first heard in a divorce court) and that is why I do not have that many pens, I have my 3 "must haves" and a few others that I enjoy but am now settling down to work on the actual craft itself, with those tools.

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An excellent post, Thanks Pendleton. I'm sorry but I can't make the Dallas show, will you be at Columbus?

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Good words of wisdom, thank you, Mr. Brown. :thumbup: What was said, certainly goes hand in hand with patience.

"Have fountain pen, will travel."

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... "at the point were ball and club collide, physics is physics. The same is true with the pen."

 

Good point Mickey. Hitting the ball "flush" is analogous to holding the nib "flush" to the paper to get the best result. And to enjoy the best "rush"! thumbup.gif

 

Good flush = good rush? ... now that could lead us off-topic as well. roflmho.gif Just think "flush" = "sweet spot".

Edited by pb2

pendletonspens.com

 

~ May the Lord smile on you ~

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:thumbup: Amen, bro' pb2.....well said....

 

 

 

 

FP Addict & Pretty Nice Guy

 

 

 

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It's nice to have this thought so clearly articulated. You've handed people the key to enjoying 125 years worth of pens.

 

...no, wait, then everyone will be after MY pens! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! HE'S CRAZY!

Ravensmarch Pens & Books
It's mainly pens, just now....

Oh, good heavens. He's got a blog now, too.

 

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It's nice to have this thought so clearly articulated. You've handed people the key to enjoying 125 years worth of pens.

 

...no, wait, then everyone will be after MY pens! DON'T LISTEN TO HIM! HE'S CRAZY!

 

:ltcapd:

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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What a lovely post! Thanks for these thoughtful and wise words.

I can't stop buying pens and it scares me.

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Spot on, PB.

"When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick; and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

~ Benjamin Franklin

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A reasonable man certainly adapts him self to the world but ...

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?

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An excellent post, Thanks Pendleton. I'm sorry but I can't make the Dallas show, will you be at Columbus?

 

 

Yes! Let's link up in Columbus!

 

 

 

pendletonspens.com

 

~ May the Lord smile on you ~

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Thanks for the reminders, Pendleton. (I confess to having needed them!)

 

I think I'd benefit from having your words of wisdom read at least daily. Probably every time I pick up a pen and before I start writing each sentence.

 

David

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Great post, Pendleton!

 

And, I'm so glad you'll be at the Dallas Pen Show! I look forward to meeting you in person.

 

 

Jay

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