Non-Scratchy Dps?

[Noihvo]

 

To the OP, do not buy into the kind of baseless myth that these nibs are only for calligraphers, because it really is just a myth.

 

I use pointed pens and italics. I am not trained, and I have no innate skills at all, but if I can make them work then I am sure anyone with a bit of willingness to try will have no problem either.

 

Just grab them and have some fun.

 

Positive Mental Attitude

 

I agree with you completely, oh Mysterious Shape In A Blue Sky. I found that I could write quite quickly and comfortably in my normal hand with those obliques, and have no real desire to learn calligraphy. To me, the experience of putting words on paper is more important, together with the words' meaning and the actual textural feel of a ream of sheets filled with words, stories and history. I just like the variety of using both fountain and dip pen, and the new opportunities in sensations and ink types that dip pens bring.

[Noihvo]

Well I've tried other alternatives and came upon the same site. However, I'm beginning to wonder if they are still active as the page appears. I found a message that the site had crashed in 2006! Trying to follow links on the page I find a block. Looks as if I ended up in a cul-de-sac!

 

Ha! I found it, Pickwick! It's here: http://hans.presto.tripod.com/steel001.html (this being the Swedish original version of nibs.tk)

 

Actually, I think it was here that I ordered my Leonardt nibs, all those years ago.

[Pickwick]

 

Ha! I found it, Pickwick! It's here: http://hans.presto.tripod.com/steel001.html (this being the Swedish original version of nibs.tk)

 

Actually, I think it was here that I ordered my Leonardt nibs, all those years ago.

Yes, that's the very same site, glad you found it!

[Noihvo]

I just got the nibs and the Seven Seas notebook, and they are all quite wonderful (with an incredibly fast 3 day delivery). After a few seconds of getting used to the requirements of the nib, it wrote with just the right amount of flex and tooth, "lagom" in all ways. The notebook is great as well, though I have a few other paper products to go through first before my diary will enter Tomoe River Heaven.

 

Edited August 26, 2015 by Noihvo

[AAAndrew]

Glad to hear it. Have fun!

[domnortheast]

Hi Noihvo,

I've also found, in my limited experience, that if writing a fair amount it doesn't take long for a steel nib to wear down to a point that it starts snagging the paper. I usually either touch the nib up with an ultra fine whetstone or switch out the nib for a fresh one when this happens.

I have a box of old D.Leonardt ball-pointed nibs that are not scratchy at all. Being a medium size though they produce a somewhat fatter line than I currently favour. So I've gone back to using Geo W Hughes 'White Horse' No. 312 nibs. These are very smooth for the first couple of weeks of use and then start to require attention.The lighter the hand when writing, the longer they last.

 

Dom

[Noihvo]

I had always wondered why you could often buy nibs by the dozen, and at such low prices for what (today) is an exclusive specialty writing instrument. If they wear out that fast, that certainly explains things. I have never noticed my nibs getting significantly scratchier, even though I wrote with only a couple of nibs daily for a year and a half. But maybe I were just ignorant, or not sensitive enough.

[AAAndrew]

Some nibs are most definitely more robust than others. Stub nibs, especially, are known to last longer, one of the reasons for their popularity. The finer, more flexible nibs, it seems, wear out more quickly. Unless they get sprung from over-flexing, I still think you can bring one back to life with a quick shaping and polishing, but since they were made in bulk, the habit since the beginning was to just throw away ones that no longer write like they used to.

 

But since these vintage nibs are no longer being made, or the modern ones are not quite finished to the same level of quality, it may make sense to get better at restoring old nibs. When it comes to the more desirable and rare ultra-flexy vintage nibs, it especially becomes worth the time. And since steel is softer than iridium, it shouldn't require quite the level of sophisticated materials. 2000 grit wet-dry automotive sandpaper is quite good enough to get a mirror shine on high-carbon steel tools, I would imagine it would work on nibs as well. Fine oil stones or Japanese water stones should also be more than adequate as they're used to develop the sharpest edge on steel tools.

[domnortheast]

Some nibs are most definitely more robust than others. Stub nibs, especially, are known to last longer, one of the reasons for their popularity. The finer, more flexible nibs, it seems, wear out more quickly. Unless they get sprung from over-flexing, I still think you can bring one back to life with a quick shaping and polishing, but since they were made in bulk, the habit since the beginning was to just throw away ones that no longer write like they used to.

 

But since these vintage nibs are no longer being made, or the modern ones are not quite finished to the same level of quality, it may make sense to get better at restoring old nibs. When it comes to the more desirable and rare ultra-flexy vintage nibs, it especially becomes worth the time. And since steel is softer than iridium, it shouldn't require quite the level of sophisticated materials. 2000 grit wet-dry automotive sandpaper is quite good enough to get a mirror shine on high-carbon steel tools, I would imagine it would work on nibs as well. Fine oil stones or Japanese water stones should also be more than adequate as they're used to develop the sharpest edge on steel tools.

Yes, I use a Japanese water stone, the honing / finishing grade, very fine. And yes, while I have been buying 1 gross boxes of nibs I am acutely aware they are a finite resource although I believe the Birmingham Pen Museum here in the UK (penroom.co.uk) has a number of origial presses and tools and can make nibs, I buy boxes of vintage nibs from them as well as dippennibs.co.uk. With 144 nibs in each box and an average of a new nib every month say then a box should last 12 years...I reckon 5 boxes will outlast me 😄 Edited August 27, 2015 by Stanley Howler