Question About Nibs Brause Rose, Pumpkin And 66Ef

[Monica B]

Hi guys,

I'm going to order some nibs... I'm looking for more flexibility and durability..

 

I'm interested in knowing the differences between the Rose and Pumpkin or so called Steno nib.... Is it in the swells???? And which one would wear out first? the Rose is almost double the price of the pumpkin...And I see the 66EF so I'm guessing this one is a smaller, finer nib is that correct?

 

I only have used a Hunt 101 and 103 for drawing and learning some calligraphy, although the 103

can't get it to hold ink. I have done everything, but putting on a flame...

 

And last question....how long does a nib last? When you buy a nib do you buy in multiples?

And in the place I'm going to order from, they only have these Brause, and Speedball nibs, and G pens, but I know these are more stiff, so I don't have any other choices...

 

Thank you guys

Monica

 

[smk]

Monica - the Brause 66EF is a lovely little nib. It is flexible enough, holds enough ink and I have found it to be quite durable. I can recommend it without reservations. You would, however, need a holder that can take this tiny nib. It is not the finest though.

 

The Brause Rose is just superb but is very flexible and therefore a bit harder to control. It takes a bit of doing to get it to hold ink too.

 

The Blue Pumpkin or Steno is a different design and the few I have are finer than the Rose but I don't think they swell as much. I prefer the Rose over a Blue Pumpkin but others might have different experience.

 

My go-to method to get nibs going is washing them with toothpaste (the white kind). Ken has had excellent experience with putting a bunch of nibs in the dishwasher after wrapping them in an old stocking (I'm sure a new stocking would work just as well :-). Try one or both of these with your 103.

 

The life of a nib depends on a number of factors like ink you use (is it acidic? e.g. Iron Gall inks for dip pens), the paper (is it rough and tough - I recently 'killed' a nice flex nib in 2 sessions on the wrong kind of paper) and the heaviness of your hand (how light are you on the upstrokes?). I have nibs I have been using for months and have definitely given me more than 20 pages, and others that are useless after 4.

 

BTW the 66EF is one of the more durable ones in my experience. The Rose nib lasts quite a while too and can take some abuse. This is just one person's experience though. With time, you will find out which nibs work best for you in terms of performance and durability e.g. get lovely results from a Gillot 303 but they don't last long for me, the 66EF produces acceptable results but lasts much longer in my hand.

 

I'll be looking forward to others' opinions/experience with nibs.

 

Salman

[Estefa]

Hi Monica, I would second what Salman wrote except that I find the 66F more difficult too control and the tines are more fragile because it is so small - is what was my experience. I have to add that the 66F was my very first flexible pointed nib so it is maybe because my hand was more heavy then.

 

I have now been using the Rose nib for some months. It is a very beautiful, smooth nib in my opinion, very responsive, not fragile at all (I use it mostly with iron gall ink). But now after some more practice and reading (many helpful hints in the"Learning Copperplate" thread here!) I found it even a little bit too flexible for smaller Copperplate.

 

What I did is I ordered first only two of each nib that interested me, and tried them, and from the one I liked most I then ordered 5 or 10. Shipping costs are not so terrible with these tiny objects

 

I never tried the Pumpkin nib.

 

Good luck with your decision!

[caliken]

I'm going to order some nibs... I'm looking for more flexibility and durability..

 

Have a look here

 

http://www.iampeth.com/lessons/tips_on_nibs/fine_and_flexible.pdf

 

for some detailed information on flexible nibs.

 

Ken

Edited September 11, 2013 by caliken

[Monica B]

Thank you guys, I'm going to ordered and see how it goes...

I am going to use HIggins etternal, but I also want to use waterproof calligraphy ink...

 

I'm going to order the Bienfang Graphics 360 paper, I was reading it is 100% rag...and is a little translucent so I can put guides on the back, as I'm learning. So I think this paper is not going to too rough on the pen...

 

There is so much to learn....

Monica

[nickryan]

Sorry for bringing this up, i have a small question, i'm using brause 66ef with a straight pen holder, now i intend to try an oblique holder, specificially a Speedball oblique holder, i wonder if the brause 66 ef nib fits with this holder. Thank you very much.

Edited September 25, 2013 by nickryan

[smk]

The Brass flanges on oblique holders (like the Speedball Deluxe) can be modified to take different sized nibs. Some places (like John Neal Bookseller) will do that for you - you just specify the nib you want to use with the holder.

 

Salman

[dhnz]

I don't think it does fit the standard Speedball oblique, but if you're currently using it with a normal straight holder with no problems you should be okay. I'll have a look tonight at mine.

[nickryan]

Thank you very much, i do use it with a plastic straight holder, but i don't know if it's a Speedball or not, i notice on the John Neal Book site, they do say it fits with the Brause Rose, but don't mention the 66EF

[smk]

The 66EF is a very small nib - much smaller than the Brause Rose. On John Neal's website you can specify the Speedball Deluxe holder (among others) to be adjusted to take the 66EF nib.

 

The plastic oblique holder (H23 - Hunt/Speedball for $1.89) does not take this nib.

 

I would recommend getting a holder with a brass flange as these can be adjusted for rake as well as for taking nibs of different sizes.

[MusinkMan]

Have a look here

 

http://www.iampeth.com/lessons/tips_on_nibs/fine_and_flexible.pdf

 

for some detailed information on flexible nibs.

 

Ken

Thank you for that referecnce, Ken. I had not seen it before on the Iampeth site. Made for extremely interesting reading and answered a ton of questions that always lingered in my mind.

[MoonMan]

I know this is a very old thread and my apologies for resurrecting it from the dead but just wanted to say, I have 2 beautiful wooden oblique holders that are holding a Principal and a Nikko G but I wanted to try my Brause Rose so I put it in the speedball plastic oblique holder. There seemed to be enough resistance even tho it felt loose. There is now a rather new Brause Rose #76 sitting at the bottom of a bottle of Caroube de Chypre.

 

Just wanted to save someone else the loss.

[smk]

Sorry to hear about that MoonMan. Maybe a magnetized screwdriver (washed clean) can be used to pick up the nib.

 

In general, it is a good idea to pour out some ink for dip pen use into a smaller wide mouthed container for dip pen use. This makes it both easier to dip and prevents contamination of the remainder of the ink if you want to use for fountain pens.

 

- Salman

[MoonMan]

Thanks Salman....never gave that a thought. I wonder if it would pull up much of the metallic bits in the ink with the nib? There's a lot of gold in those J.Herebin 1670 inks.

 

Yeah, I got into FP's first, dip pen more recently so I need to invest in some dinky dips as I'm not wild about going back to the big bottle to re-dip...dust and other contaminates concern me.

 

Jerry