stub nib and eyedropper

[jofpn1236]

I've often come across these terms, but to this day, I still don't know what they are. Pardon me. I swallowed my pride...(gulp)

 

What is a stub nib?

 

What is an eyedropper pen? I know what an eyedropper is. Is it the squeeze/press bar converter for filling a pen?

 

Thanks folks.

 

---Joe

[George]

Ok... a stub nib is a nib that the iridium (the tip) is flat, instead of round. Imagine a Calligraphy pen. An eyedropper is not squeeze fill, but it is the simplest fountain pen. You unscrew the section, and WITH an eyedropper, you manually take ink form a bottle, and with the eyedropper itself, squeese the ink into the pen. very simple mechanish.

Edited February 5, 2007 by George

[errantmarginalia]

Hi, Joe. Let me direct your attention to Richard Binder's invaluable glossary, where you'll find the answers to your question and plenty besides:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/glossary/A.htm

 

In short, a stub is a rounded (as opposed to crisp) italic nib that gives some line variation while retaining the ease of use that crisper italics lack, while an ED pen is a pen that has no dedicated filling system: the barrel of the pen, which is usually filled with an eye dropper, contains the ink, and some sort of seal (O-ring, teflon tape, etc) maintains the seal between barrel and section. HTH,

 

David

 

Edit: oops, a little late on the reply...

Edited February 5, 2007 by parrhesia

[helius]

Richard Binder (who goes by the username of "Richard" here) has this website.great glossary over on his website. A veritable treasure trove of fountain pen related information. First place I stop by for information.

 

Anyway, as per Mr. Binder's website...

 

Stub: (More correctly, stub italic.) The nib shape that is characterized by a moderately wide thin tip ground straight across, for creating broader strokes in a generally up-and-down direction than in a generally sidewise direction. A stub nib is narrower and produces less line variation than an ordinary italic or oblique italic. Stubs are also ground to be relatively smooth in use. Read a tutorial on nibs here. See also italic, music nib, nib, and oblique.

 

Eyedropper Filler: (colloquially shortened to eyedropper, abbreviated ED) Retronym indicating a fountain pen that has no self-filling mechanism; most such pens are filled by unscrewing the section from the barrel to allow filling with an eyedropper. Until the advent of self-filling pens, the term was unnecessary. When self fillers appeared, many manufacturers referred to eyedropper-filling pens as regular models to differentiate them from self-filling models. View a description and filling instructions here. See also eyedropper, Jointless.

[jofpn1236]

Thanks all. I will also check out Richard's website.

 

I think I can sleep better tonight.