Crisp Italic Back To Cursive?

[welcmhm]

Hi all,

 

I'm considering purchasing a pen that has a double broad nib that I'm told has been ground to a crisp italic. I've used cursive italics and still find them a bit sharp on the edges for me and would prefer a smooth cursive italic (or even a stub). Is it possible to regrind the nib to a smooth cursive italic? I'd certainly be willing to give up some of the width of the nib to do so since it started as a double broad.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[FarmBoy]

You can grind and regrind a nib until you run out of tipping material.

 

Nib tipping is like car tires. If you do a lot of burnouts and skids they won't last long.

[pajaro]

If you buy a nib that has been ground, you will pay for that, and then if you regrind it again, you will pay again. What I mean is that the nib cost will figure in the cost to grind to a crisp italic, and then you will pay again to regrind it to a CI or a stub.

 

Why not just buy a stub?

[welcmhm]

Thanks for the advice. I was informed by Mike Masuyama that (as mentioned earlier in the thread) it depends on the amount of tipping material left from the prior grind. He mentioned that typically formal or crisp italics have plenty of tipping material, just a sharp edge, but occasionally customers ask for them to be ground thin which leaves them with little tipping material for a regrind. Luckily, it appears as though the pen I'm interested in has plenty of tipping material left for a regrind if necessary (it's unclear how crisp or smooth this pen really is and it's not local so I don't have the opportunity to try it first).

 

The reason that I'm purchasing a pen that has already been ground and may need a regrind is that both the pen and the nib have been discontinued, so it's tough to find.

[pajaro]

Sometimes to get a pen no longer made you have to take what you can get. That understandably makes it more expensive. You should be able to get the edges of a crisp italic softened.

[welcmhm]

Sometimes to get a pen no longer made you have to take what you can get. That understandably makes it more expensive. You should be able to get the edges of a crisp italic softened.

 

Agreed. There is some uncertainty as to how crisp or smooth the nib is. The original listing said it's ultra smooth, but then in my communications with the seller, it was called crisp, then it was later called not so crisp, not a stub, but more an italic with smooth edges. It seems like it could be usable to me as is, but pictures also show that there is a good amount of tipping material should additional work be needed, and the seller was nice enough to agree to discount the price a bit to account for the possibility that I need it reground.

 

Overall, very excited about the purchase.