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Adventures In Grinding A Stub (Jinhao)


majolo

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I managed to convince myself to try out nib grinding, following the procedure (more or less) from this Ludwig Tan article. I used a cheap Jinhao 250 and some micromesh pads I got from Anderson pens. I should have done before and after shots, but I didn't. I started with the 1500 grit for large scale shaping and then moved to 3200 and 6000, smoothing on 12000 and mylar.

 

Pics of the nib, various angles, afterward:

 

fpn_1463861301__one.png

fpn_1463861425__two.png

fpn_1463861460__three.png

fpn_1463861501__four.png

 

And here's a sample of the line variation (Diamine Sapphire cart on Rhodia):

 

fpn_1463861570__drew040.jpg

 

Any comments from those more experienced? It seems to write acceptably so far, but has a sort of dry-draggy feel, though not scratchy. I should learn more about smoothing/polishing perhaps?

 

Also anyone else who grinds their own, feel free to jump in and show off!

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You have achieved some decent line variation, but did you do Tan's Step 3 process? You seem to have honed this nib to a triangular point, which will mean that you will achieve the greatest line variation by holding the pen higher toward vertical when you write.

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in ludwig's tutorial he says to grind the nib flat. in the first photo you to much angle. next time try to get the iridium parallel with the nib body. the top doesn't look to bad so 30 degree angle or so is fine. at the end of step 2 the top and bottom should be parallel. step 6 is where you start to make the slight curve area that contacts the paper. the writing sample looks like you accomplished the basic and got good line variation. what micron (grit) did you use on the mylar paper? you can go all the way to 1 micron if you desire. most the nibs i've polished start to fell pretty smooth around the 9 micron range.

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Yes, I see that the bottom of mine looks more like Fig. 5b rather than 5a in Tan's tutorial... but I'm not sure I can physically hold the pen at a low enough angle to bottom it out in writing. I also don't understand the real need to take so much material off the top. As long as the front-bottom edge is correctly shaped, what would it matter if the upper surface of the tipping is left more rounded? (Assuming I don't want to write inverted, of course.) Just trying to understand this whole process better, so thank you both for the tips!

 

On the mylar question, I have a 2-sheet set from Goulet which says they are 1-micron and 0.3-micron. I have to say, they don't feel like abrasives at all.... Should I look for another sheet that is coarser to start?

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depends on what 12000 grit is in terms of micron size. i go from 1000 grit stone to 15 or 30 micron paper and work up to 1 micron. the whole process of sanding/polishing takes about 5 mins.

here is a nice set of papers http://www.amazon.com/Zona-37-948-Polishing-11-Inch-Assortment/dp/B001BHGC7G?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00

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Yes, I see that the bottom of mine looks more like Fig. 5b rather than 5a in Tan's tutorial... but I'm not sure I can physically hold the pen at a low enough angle to bottom it out in writing. I also don't understand the real need to take so much material off the top. As long as the front-bottom edge is correctly shaped, what would it matter if the upper surface of the tipping is left more rounded? (Assuming I don't want to write inverted, of course.) Just trying to understand this whole process better, so thank you both for the tips!

 

On the mylar question, I have a 2-sheet set from Goulet which says they are 1-micron and 0.3-micron. I have to say, they don't feel like abrasives at all.... Should I look for another sheet that is coarser to start?

not sure that it would matter, as long as the grind works for the angle with which you hold the pen

 

i tend not to be all that consistent with how i hold a pen; my hand gets tired and it slouches, like i do on the couch

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Looks like a great start. I aim for an L shape on the tip and smooth that depending on italic or stub.

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