How To Make A Broad Nib Into A Medium/fine At Home?

[bodobose]

Hi,

I have a Sailor Pro Gear 21k Broad nib pen. Though the nib is very smooth, but I find it a little broader than what I expected! Is there any safe way to make it a Medium/Fine nib at home? I live in India and sending it to a nibmeister is not an option. I need your help.

[Chrissy]

You could do a search for nib grinding techniques on You Tube.

 

I have narrowed down a couple of mine by using a fine carborundum stone followed by nib smoothing boards

[The Blue Knight]

I'd get a pro to look at it. It's too pricey of a pen to risk messing it up. I mean you could experiment with a load of cheap pens however the way 21k gold will vs stainless steel will behave is a lot different.

 

There must be some indian pen specialists out there hopefully hari will chip in.

[katerchen]

There must be some indian pen specialists out there hopefully hari will chip in.

 

^^^ This. In a country with such strong FP culture there has to be local nib grinders.

 

It is a fun hobby though to learn to do it on your own. My preferred tools are a micromesh set to do the mid-to-final smoothing and a diamond coated stone from my knife sharpener kit to do the rough initial shaping.

 

Also : get a cheap x450/x750 first and a 5 pack (or 3x 5-packs ) of nibs from eBay and practice, practice, practice.

 

BTW : by narrowing the nib, you will create sharp corners that you'll need to smooth down. How much, that depends on your taste, because in doing so you'll also add crispness to the line

 

-k

[Sasha Royale]

Modern technology allows a single human to DESTROY a nib

in the blink of an eye. Learn. Experience. Practice.

Proceed very slowly. It is always possible to grind away more material.

UN-GRINDING is nearly impossible.

 

Good luck.

Edited April 21, 2015 by Sasha Royale

[Freddy]

Hi,

I have a Sailor Pro Gear 21k Broad nib pen. Though the nib is very smooth, but I find it a little broader than what I expected! Is there any safe way to make it a Medium/Fine nib at home? I live in India and sending it to a nibmeister is not an option. I need your help.

 

You need my help? Ok..Learn to like that broad nib..Doin' it yourself

will surely destroy it...........Others will tell you otherwise..don't listen..

if you do continue this course of action..you will muck it up..No doubt....

Of course..if you believe in magical thinking..you just might succeed

and achieve the desired result.......................Good luck.......................

 

Fred

safe journey..................................................................................................

[Matt.Nethery]

 

You need my help? Ok..Learn to like that broad nib..Doin' it yourself

will surely destroy it...........Others will tell you otherwise..don't listen..

if you do continue this course of action..you will muck it up..No doubt....

Of course..if you believe in magical thinking..you just might succeed

and achieve the desired result.......................Good luck.......................

 

Fred

safe journey..................................................................................................

 

Looks like Fred typed this with a broad nib keyboard.

 

But yes I would concur odds are not in your favor for doing this modification yourself. I have tried myself with micromesh turning mediums into extra fines/italics and it is extremely hard to do correctly. Maybe see if someone in the marketplace has a medium or medium fine nib from the same pen they would swap?

Edited April 22, 2015 by Matt.Nethery

[pankaj]

I wouldn't like to play a self styled nib grinder first time on 21 K Sailor nib. The risk far over weighs the end result.

 

Sending to a pro to work on it might be prudent only when one just can't bear with a B nib, and it got to be an M or F. A bit of tolerance with B in place of an usual M/F nib might be a pleasurable experience, and could be pampered for occasional use.

 

Experience says many hard core M nib persons subconsciously convert to B nibs, once they they tasted the juice !

[Tresconik]

Don't do it. Buy a new pen if you want. Or sell your broad nibbed pen to me. I love broad nibs

[bodobose]

Many thanks for your advice. I was surely aware of the risk involved, but still I wanted to do it because, in my view, there's no point in having a beautiful pen unless you are happy with the way it writes. It's as good/bad as not having that pen at all. I l wanted to know if anybody could share some safer method to do what I had to do! Anyway, to cut a long matter short, with super careful grinding on sandpaper (forgive me!), I have been able to convert the B nib to an MF.... there were some tense moments and I was always reminding myself about your cautions here... in the end, I am happy! No more tweaking with this pen...

[bodobose]

Ohh... forgot to mention, this pen now has that minutest bit of feedback that makes writing (for me) such a pleasurable exercise!

[Bo Bo Olson]

Japanese B=M in western.

 

 

If you want it to write skinnier, use Pelikan 4001 ink (a dry ink) and better paper, at least 90g. Fugi-Xerox is reputed to be good fountain pen paper.

 

What ink and paper are you using?

 

Pelikan 4001 green is a very good shading green-green ink. I went through a Green phase, buying 11 different green inks in a year. R&K Verdura beat MB Irish by a nose, Pelikan 4001 by a neck. Pelikan being cheaper is a 'best' buy.

 

The brown is interesting too. the Blue-black is well liked. The black is a good solid black (until Noodlers the second blackest black after Aurora.) The blue fades. Turquoise 4001 is a good turquoise that can shade.

The 4001 inks shade if you have good to better paper.

It is my understanding Pelikan is readily available in India.

 

You could ask Hari what the best Indian made inks are; which are dry.

Edited April 24, 2015 by Bo Bo Olson

[cellmatrix]

Maybe I'm totally wrong but I would think that in grinding a broad down to a fine, you would lose the iridium coating on the sides of the nib leaving you with bare gold on the lateral sides of the nib. That's why if I were ever to do something like this I'd send it to a nibmeister who knows how to re-tip with iridium.

[ethernautrix]

Many thanks for your advice. I was surely aware of the risk involved, but still I wanted to do it because, in my view, there's no point in having a beautiful pen unless you are happy with the way it writes. It's as good/bad as not having that pen at all. I l wanted to know if anybody could share some safer method to do what I had to do! Anyway, to cut a long matter short, with super careful grinding on sandpaper (forgive me!), I have been able to convert the B nib to an MF.... there were some tense moments and I was always reminding myself about your cautions here... in the end, I am happy! No more tweaking with this pen...

 

Congratulations!

 

I have certainly learned to proceed slowly, but I also have had surprisingly great results with rage-induced filing. However, I would never suggest this. I indulged the impatience ("rage") when I decided that if I wrecked the nib, I would have to buy a new nib, which is not practical, but common sense doesn't always prevail. So now, even though I had two instances of loving the results, when I feel the impatience kicking in, I put the pen away. I just clean it and put it away.

 

I'm glad you had a good outcome that you're happy with! It's a wonderful feeling to use the pen with the improved nib.

[jar]

Maybe I'm totally wrong but I would think that in grinding a broad down to a fine, you would lose the iridium coating on the sides of the nib leaving you with bare gold on the lateral sides of the nib. That's why if I were ever to do something like this I'd send it to a nibmeister who knows how to re-tip with iridium.

 

The tipping is not a coating but rather a blob of material welded on to the end of the tines. It is tipping material all the way through.

[bodobose]

It's so wonderful to read about other fountain pen lovers' views... I learn so much everyday just browsing the topics here... since long I have been using fountain pens, I was so happy with Chinese pens and some Parkers here and there (as Parkers are readily available here in Calcutta) but very recently the "hobby" thing has kicked in... and once it got in, there's really no escaping as you'd surely agree. Fountain pens are so personal experiences that no two persons can have the identical "feeling" even using the same pen with other factors constant. Even as regards broadness of a nib, apart from the nib itself, I think - as Bo Bo Olson mentioned - there are several factors which determine the ultimate result - the ink used, the paper, the particular angle of writing of the person, the pressure used while writing... all these determine the end result. So theoritically a medium nib for me may be a broad nib for another or with a different ink/paper. Long ago I wasted the nib on a cheap Parker pen that I love a lot by what ethernautrix mentions as Rage-induced Filing! Later I had to save the day by using a Chinese nib onthat pen and it still remains one of my favourite pens... but that experience of the long past has taught not to be angry while doing any such delicate things. And I checked my results often... this time I went so slowly that my wife came to check thrice to see what I was really up to! :-P

Edited April 24, 2015 by bodobose

[cellmatrix]

 

The tipping is not a coating but rather a blob of material welded on to the end of the tines. It is tipping material all the way through.

I appreciate learning this, thanks.