No Nonsense Collection

[barleycorn]

Hello No Nonsense People:

Just wanted to post a few pictures of the new arrivals and the collection so far. Be patient I am a little slow with the tech stuff

 

First is a Yellow and Black Stainless Steel FP with at Stainless Steel and a Brass Targa for comparison.

It is well used but a rare find

 

 

 

 

Next is the collection so far. A few duplicates and a missing red see through model.

On the left are Vintage Red, Blue and Green next to a Le Black - thank you Ben, it arrived today.

 

 

 

Finally, a set of calligraphy nibs XF, F, M, B ,Oblique F, OM, OB, B4 and Shadow.

I made the oblique nibs from a used set of Italic nibs.

 

 

 

Edited March 21, 2013 by barleycorn

[barleycorn]

Sorry the pictures seem to have been lost. Here we go again.

Edited March 21, 2013 by barleycorn

[barleycorn]

Vintage and Le Black on top

Edited March 21, 2013 by barleycorn

[Sailor Kenshin]

Awesome!

[Spitzner]

I'm also a No Nonsense collector - absolutely love them! I have 79 (not counting doubles) different permutations! We should compare doubles some time. Need an orange one? Or a left-handed calligraphy set?

 

That yellow/black is indeed rare. I've never seen it.

 

Pam

[barleycorn]

I'm also a No Nonsense collector - absolutely love them! I have 79 (not counting doubles) different permutations! We should compare doubles some time. Need an orange one? Or a left-handed calligraphy set?

 

That yellow/black is indeed rare. I've never seen it.

 

Pam

 

There was a blue/black one sold about a year ago on ebay! I just started this as a side project when I picked up a mixed calligraphy set. My main focus is a modest targa collection - that factory oblique nib has escaped me once. I did not realize they made NN oblique nibs either right or left from the factory.

I also want to broaden my Sheaffer collection a bit at a time PFM, Connaisseur, Balance, etc.

[JonSzanto]

I also want to broaden my Sheaffer collection a bit at a time PFM, Connaisseur, Balance, etc.

You really owe it to yourself to have at least one vintage Sheaffer Flattop. Besides being the obvious precursor to the NN pens, they are so much more substantial. And while there are a lot of pretty beat up ones out there, with patience you can still find good examples. I just received a green jadite Lifetime the other day that cost only what many people pay for these Nonsense pens, and to see the beauty and size of that 14k Lifetime nib...

 

Well, you should have at least one. (And I'm a fellow Targa mini-collector as well!)

[barleycorn]

I also want to broaden my Sheaffer collection a bit at a time PFM, Connaisseur, Balance, etc.

You really owe it to yourself to have at least one vintage Sheaffer Flattop. Besides being the obvious precursor to the NN pens, they are so much more substantial. And while there are a lot of pretty beat up ones out there, with patience you can still find good examples. I just received a green jadite Lifetime the other day that cost only what many people pay for these Nonsense pens, and to see the beauty and size of that 14k Lifetime nib...

 

Well, you should have at least one. (And I'm a fellow Targa mini-collector as well!)

 

I may pick up one of those as well. I get a bit confused about size of the flat tops and original balances. My preference would be for a flex nib but they are pricey. Also the colour can fade especially the green flat tops. I have a Craftsman lever fill but it is too small for me. I think I would be hesitant to buy one on eBay rather than at a pen show or from the owner. Something that old might be in good shape or past saving.

[Harlequin]

<snip>Finally, a set of calligraphy nibs XF, F, M, B ,Oblique F, OM, OB, B4 and Shadow.

 

 

I made the oblique nibs from a used set of Italic nibs.

Is the XF actually a Callig. nib, or is it a regular nib?

 

There was a blue/black one sold about a year ago on ebay! I just started this as a side project when I picked up a mixed calligraphy set. My main focus is a modest targa collection - that factory oblique nib has escaped me once. I did not realize they made NN oblique nibs either right or left from the factory.

I also want to broaden my Sheaffer collection a bit at a time PFM, Connaisseur, Balance, etc.

So, are the oblique nibs available "factory", or did you make them? You kind of lost me...

[barleycorn]

I was referring to the XF italic nib. I do not think oblique nibs were available. I made mine by filing a set of used italic nibs using very fine grit metal paper. There is a picture of an oblique nib in the calligraphy booklet with the recommendation to not try this at home and contact a professional.

[Harlequin]

So, since the callig nibs on the NNS on literally huge (after all the 4B is a freakin' paintbrush almost), how wide would you reckon the XF italic is? I'm stilla little hazy on your meaning (I know, I'm slow), b/c there IS an XF nib available, just not in a callig set. I just haven't ever seen one, so I didn't know if the factory XF is a regular or italic nib.

[PolarMoonman]

I love these Sheaffer no-nonsense pens, there is a such a variety in the colors. I think my favorite is the seventh in the top row. The design on it is very cool....

[barleycorn]

I love these Sheaffer no-nonsense pens, there is a such a variety in the colors. I think my favorite is the seventh in the top row. The design on it is very cool....

 

This is called a Kaleidoscope pen. There were several designs from Sheaffer that were no branded pens. Mine was available with the Calligraphy set early in the Eaton era of ownership. Other designs include coloured rings and patterns.

[barleycorn]

So, since the callig nibs on the NNS on literally huge (after all the 4B is a freakin' paintbrush almost), how wide would you reckon the XF italic is? I'm stilla little hazy on your meaning (I know, I'm slow), b/c there IS an XF nib available, just not in a callig set. I just haven't ever seen one, so I didn't know if the factory XF is a regular or italic nib.

I am refering to the specialty nib set that included an XF, B4 and Shadow nib. It is not much wider than the regular medium nib but smaller than a broad if they had sold one. I have a set of the Pilot pens (1.5, 2.4, 3.8 and 6.0mm that is a paint brush!) The italic broad is about 2.0mm and the B4 about 2.4mm wide.

[Harlequin]

dern... i was hoping the XF was actually a regular (not italic) nib. Thanks for the info!

[bogiesan]

Hello No Nonsense People:.

...

I made the oblique nibs from a used set of Italic nibs.

 

Using the currently available (low-quality, stamped and knife-edged) Sheaffer calligraphy nibs, I have created a couple of obliques with a few light strokes on an Arkansas sharpening stone. I can't decide which, left or right, I like better. I can almost write with one of them but the others require too much care to avoid digging into the paper, especially on upstrokes. So they are only used for practicing decorative lettering.

 

Thanks for the great photos. Hope you continue to find interesting No Nonsense units.

[Harlequin]

Using the currently available (low-quality, stamped and knife-edged) Sheaffer calligraphy nibs, I have created a couple of obliques with a few light strokes on an Arkansas sharpening stone. I can't decide which, left or right, I like better. I can almost write with one of them but the others require too much care to avoid digging into the paper, especially on upstrokes. So they are only used for practicing decorative lettering.

 

Thanks for the great photos. Hope you continue to find interesting No Nonsense units.

Has anyone had any experience, or even heard of, trying to turn the standard italic NNS nibs into something closer to CI or stub nibs? I really mean just rounding the edges off into those styles, not necessarily any other aspect. I would definitely like to try and write with a CI/stub version of a NNS italic nib.

[2GreyCats]

A handsome collection!

 

By the way, there is a group of 5 NNs up for auction right now -- 4 with M nibs, and one with an italic F, I think. I'm not trying for it because for the most part, I have the ones I want, except for a cream/ivory one, and an original navy-blue one.

 

But I thought I'd give you fellow NN fanatics the heads-up: http://tinyurl.com/ajl7w9l

Edited March 25, 2013 by 2GreyCats

[barleycorn]

A handsome collection!

 

By the way, there is a group of 5 NNs up for auction right now -- 4 with M nibs, and one with an italic F, I think. I'm not trying for it because for the most part, I have the ones I want, except for a cream/ivory one, and an original navy-blue one.

 

But I thought I'd give you fellow NN fanatics the heads-up: http://tinyurl.com/ajl7w9l

 

Thanks for the tip. I won the bidding this morning - 4 more colours I do not have! I think I need to hide my card again. There is something else up later today.

[Scribero ergo sum]

Has anyone had any experience, or even heard of, trying to turn the standard italic NNS nibs into something closer to CI or stub nibs? I really mean just rounding the edges off into those styles, not necessarily any other aspect. I would definitely like to try and write with a CI/stub version of a NNS italic nib.

 

I mostly have, but in all honesty it was done in ignorance before I acquired the vocabulary for CI's, stub's, obliques, and the rest of it. I started off by wanting a normal $7 Sheaffer Calligraphy pen set (a NoN, but sold as the callig set at the craft store chains) to be able to write at least a little bit more smoothly than the fine ital nib wrote out of it's package. Fresh from its box, it was extremely scratchy, but I wasn't using it quite right, either. Jump ahead, and it's worked out ok; the pen is lots of fun to use, there are at least a half dozen properly done stub and CI nibs I want to try, from the TWSBI 1.1 stub they sell to one of Pendleton Brown's masterworks, and I still haven't destroyed that poor, original Sheaffer by (and I use the term loosely) "fine tuning" it using 2,000-grit polishing sandpaper. And it all originated with wanting to just slightly de-tooth the corners and edges of the fine ital nib, without even knowing I was diving into the realm of stubs and CI's and the rest of custom and modified nibs.