How Long Should The Average Nib Last?

[MidnightInk]

Hey guys! Just curious as to what the minimum amount of time a nib should last. I'm aware that that can vary greatly based on usage and the nib itself but is there a common minimum amongst them all? Thanks!

[ac12]

If you are talking about a tipped fountain pen nib, more than a lifetime, if treated correctly.

 

If you are talking about dip pen nibs, then "it depends."

I probably use mine longer than the pros would, but I write less, and mine have lasted for MONTHS. I think I only wore out one nib so far.

If you write a LOT and are critical of your writing, then a nib might only last a few days.

Edited December 27, 2015 by ac12

[MidnightInk]

If you are talking about a tipped fountain pen nib, more than a lifetime, if treated correctly.

 

If you are talking about dip pen nibs, then "it depends."

I probably use mine longer than the pros would, but I write less, and mine have lasted for MONTHS. I think I only wore out one nib so far.

If you write a LOT and are critical of your writing, then a nib might only last a few days.

Thanks! It's making a lot more sense now, as I've been heavily practicing and I'm finding my nibs are wearing out quite quickly.

[Algester]

one can never have too much dip nibs...

[Sasha Royale]

For a "ballpoint pen trog", the nib will be sprung within two years. For a fountain pen lover, the nib will last three lifetimes.

[DonLeone]

pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff.... 500 years?

 

Are we talking death by natural causes? So the metal giving up or eroding or whatever? Yeah 500-1000 years I guess?

 

Unnatural causes like hamfists, dogs, "omigowd bro wasdat? One of dem pens dat squirt ink? dayum bro can I try? hold ma beer bro", angry exes and the effects of gravity? hmmhmhmhmm YMMV

[Bo Bo Olson]

Back in the day before tipping was perfected in WW2...7-10 years of 8 hour a day use.

After that, add 3-4 years if you write 8 hours a day 40 hours a week.

 

In no one has One Pen any more but 5-10-30+....your life time...."Ball point trog"...ya I like that.

I cal them Ham Fisted Ball Point Barbarians my self....folks that can make a nail into a "Flex" nib....once.

 

Oh, the more you go grabbing your micro-mesh the less your nib will last....as a noobie with micro-mesh...a nib can last an hour or two to a full day ...sometimes.

 

Dip pen nibs, depend on use, and when you think the original package was 1/4th of a gross....not too long. I must admit I haven't used mine enough to find out...but there are guys here that resharpen/smooth them with micro-mesh.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Bo Bo Olson

[markh]

I remember reading some literature from Esterbrook, when they were selling their renew point nibs.

 

Remember, when they were writing this, your (single) fountain pen was used all day, every day. No computer, no iPhones.

 

If you were a person who used your pen as part of your job, that was a lot of writing compared with today.

 

The Esterbrook literature said that a 2000 series nib (with no iridium tip - just steel folded over and soldered) should last 2 to 3 years. A 9000 series nib (with iridium tip) should last as long as 15 years.

 

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[recluse]

Nakaya's website gives an estimate of 60-70 km of writing with their Irodismine tip. This is really good mileage, by the way. In pages this is about 15 000 full pages (Letter format) of writing. For some heavy writers, this is far from the lifetime.

[Bo Bo Olson]

No one in modern times uses just one pen...or not for long.

Today's danger is not writing for 15 years 8 hours a day, but over smoothing on micro-mesh. Looking for smoother than butter than a super slick paper with a well lubricated ink.

[tryphon]

There are so many variables that impact a nib's life:

1. Tipping material

2. Tip size

3. Writing pressure

4. Quality of paper

5. Lubricity of ink

6. PPD: pages per day of use

etc....

 

A good quality fountain pen nib, with a hard tip, properly used can last 75-100 years.

[margheriti]

There are so many variables that impact a nib's life:

1. Tipping material

2. Tip size

3. Writing pressure

4. Quality of paper

5. Lubricity of ink

6. PPD: pages per day of use

etc....

 

A good quality fountain pen nib, with a hard tip, properly used can last 75-100 years.

 

Immortality.

 

Do you know how long Dip Nibs take before they get worn out? I read a lot of them "wearing out" but what does this actually refer to? Is it running out of tipping material, or springing from repeated flexing?

[markh]

No one in modern times uses just one pen...or not for long.

Today's danger is not writing for 15 years 8 hours a day, but over smoothing on micro-mesh. Looking for smoother than butter than a super slick paper with a well lubricated ink.

 

 

If by modern times you mean now, that's probably true - most people have multiple pens. At least the kind of people that hang around FPN.

 

If you mean flintstonian times, maybe 80-100 years ago, I think many people had a single pen that they used. Which is why you can find "loaner pens" for people to use while their only pen was in for repair.

 

We all have a lot of (way too much) stuff in modern times.

 

 

,

[markh]

 

Immortality.

 

Do you know how long Dip Nibs take before they get worn out? I read a lot of them "wearing out" but what does this actually refer to? Is it running out of tipping material, or springing from repeated flexing?

 

 

In the old days, iron-gall ink was quite acidic, and steel making was not as sophisticated as modern technology. The nib would literally disintegrate in the acid ink after a few weeks of use. One reason for gold nibs.

 

If you use a modern non-tipped steel nib for any amount of time, the tip shape will change. Paper is quite abrasive.

 

I have used the modern pen (I don't remember the brand) where you can fit a (very sharp, flex) steel nib into a reservoir pen. It doesn't take all that long for the tip to dull, making it harder to write. I've tried sharpening these, but if there must be a trick I don't know. I couldn't get any good results.

 

Not to mention that if you leave the nib in the pen, it will corrode (as in rust). It's necessary to dry off the nib when not in use, it you want it to last as long as possible.

 

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[tragique]

Nakaya's website gives an estimate of 60-70 km of writing with their Irodismine tip. This is really good mileage, by the way. In pages this is about 15 000 full pages (Letter format) of writing. For some heavy writers, this is far from the lifetime.

 

Another good reason to distribute the wear among your pens if you are a heavy writer. Unless you always write with the same pen you shouldn't write through the nib tipping in your lifetime.

[dcwaites]

Traditionally, a clerical dip pen nib would last several days to a few weeks, depending on how much writing was done.

A feather quill was said to last a bit longer, but then you had the option of re-cutting the end to give yourself a new nib.

I have read of one person who bragged about how long he could get his quills to last. He bet his mates he could write a whole book with one quill, and won.

 

H.P. Lovecraft used to replace his pens every several years, which goes with what Bo Bo Olsen said in his first post, above.

[recluse]

 

Another good reason to distribute the wear among your pens if you are a heavy writer.

 

Exactly. That's my scientific justification for buying pens. I don't write nearly as much as back in the day but I don't see how's this circumstance relevant. On a bit more serious note, I've managed to use up one pen in my life. Not to the point when the feed started to touch the paper, of course, but the line gradually went from decent fine to generous broad, which was too wide for my preferences. I don't remember how long it took, I guess two-three years but we wrote a lot. In our team it was the common knowledge that pens have finite lifetime. The pen was nothing special and I probably left it in my then office. Now I regret that decision.

[Bo Bo Olson]

You bought steel dip pen nibs by the 1/4 gross (36) in a little box.

 

I don't have general store or the then 'new' department store prices, but do have semi-wholesale prices from the 1894-5 Montgomery Ward and 1904 Sears. The steel nibs there were going from 14-20-22 cents a quarter gross.

 

They were not expected to last long.

 

Gold nibs had what they called at first 'diamond' tipping, which was real iridium. That was then and still is the rarest of metals. It comes from the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs. At the time it was mined from a layer of earth that was often less than an inch thick in Italy.

 

It was real rough and lumpy compared to what we have today.

 

1902 Sears

Gold pens...the name for a nib back then... for a 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,&8

In 10K were $0.35,45,50,60,75,90 and $1.10.

In 16 K were,$0.45,50,65,75,90m $1.00, 1.20, & 1.45.

To repoint, $0.30 each plus 2 cents mailing.

So repointing was not sharpening or smoothing, but putting new iridium tipping on.

 

In my reading here there was a good article about how lumpy, and how chunks or lumps from teen, 20-30's nibs just fell out of the tipping before tipping was perfected in WW2.

That was was with much 'better' rare earth mixtures than the old pure iridium with its more primitive methods of attaching lumps of iridium to the pen tip, as even the '20-30s. Not only were the other rare earth minerals cheaper but the pen companies were trying to find a better mix and longer life and smoother nibs.

 

Pen companies kept improving tipping with in the company, in the competition never slept. One needed to convince The One Man, your pen was most up to date, in filling, feed, and tipping than Jone's new up to date pen; in it was still One Man, One Pen....that he buy and use your pen for the next 7-10 years.

 

After WW2 there were none of those lump&chunk problems...then it was how cheap can I make my tipping and still keep up with the Jones.

 

As you notice that re-pointing/re-tipping of 1904 was very expensive....and the work was dirt cheap.

It was not anything your local jeweler could do, lacking the scarce and very expensive iridium; much more than gold or the new kid on the block; platinum and lacking the then 'modern high tec' nib factory..

Edited January 4, 2016 by Bo Bo Olson

[Chris]

My school pens initially were Platignum cartridge pens. The tip if the steel nib was simply folded over! Using them non-stop at school every day on standard exercise book paper the tip would wear away to the point where the folded over part just dropped off. That made it somewhat scratchy! This took between six months and a year to achieve. Time to buy another pen...

 

I saved up and bought a Parker which lasted for the rest of my school career and were it not for a failure of the plastic section and feed (for which I blame Quink) it would still be going strong half a century later.

 

I still have the bits. I think it was a 65.

Edited January 6, 2016 by Chris