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Vanishing Point Stub - Writing Angle? (Image Heavy)


LizEF

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All, I bought a stub as a spare nib for my Pilot Vanishing point. But it seems to me that it wants to write at pretty much a 90-degree angle - nearly perpendicular to the paper. Is this how they're supposed to be? Below are pictures, if a different angle will help, please let me know. (Sorry, they're not all the greatest... I could take pictures of my other stubs to show their more-rounded bottom-to-tip areas...)

 

My questions:

 

1) Is this normal? Is it really supposed to be used at basically 90-degrees? Or is that little sliver of the edge (see a couple pics below, with comment) really supposed to be the writing area? Am I missing something?

 

2) Does anyone see any problem (other than the obvious risk of screwing it up) with me trying to adjust the nib (via micromesh) to essentially create a sweet spot at an angle that's comfortable to me?

 

Side of the nib (so you can see it looks rather boxy - my other stubs are sort of rounded from the bottom toward the tip of the nib, so that you write at about a 45-degree angle):

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/side.jpg

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/side2.jpg

 

Bottom of the nib:

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/bottom2.jpg

 

...(above) I suppose that little tiny edge reflecting all the light could be intended to be the sweet spot, but it's nothing like the other stubs I have, and it's impossible to find / maintain while writing...

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/bottom3.jpg

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/bottom45degree.jpg

 

...I suppose that little tiny edge reflecting all the light could be intended to be the sweet spot, but it's nothing like the other stubs I have, and it's impossible to find / maintain while writing...

 

Tip of the nib:

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/tip.jpg

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/tip2.jpg

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/tip-angle.jpg

 

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My VP stub has the same geometry as yours, but I don't have any difficulty writing with it at a 40-45º angle. Note that I write mostly italic and other edged pen scripts, so I am accustomed to keeping a constant nib position relative to the page.

 

You didn't describe what happens when you write "normally" with this nib, but I wonder if you can solve your problem by avoiding rotating the nib around the long axis of the pen.

 

David

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Thanks, David. I forgot to note my writing experience (it's not inked at the moment, I'm just trying to decide what to do with it once I get time to do something - and the fill on the other nib runs out).

 

I've written with more than 20 nibs before this one (granted, only two others are stubs), and this is the first where I could not find the sweet spot. I use the Lamy stub a lot, and have no problem with the Karas Kustoms stub, so I don't think it's a rotation problem (and it's not that I lose the sweet spot, it's that I cannot find one). At 45-degrees, it feels like I'm writing with the corner edge where two sides of a metal box meet (see picture below comparing my three stubs) - and it would barely put down ink (but one of the other pics shows there's a gap between the tines, and it will put down ink at 90). At 90-degrees, it felt more like I would expect, except that's a ridiculous angle to write at. At 90-degrees, there's a large surface touching the paper (that whole flat tip on the right of the image below). At 45, it's just that edge / corner / sliver where the two red lines meet...

 

http://paradoxcommunity.com/vps/all3.jpg

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The photo of the nib is the best I could do with my iPhone.

 

If your problem persists, I would recommend exchanging the nib or, if you have access to a B&M shop with VP's, just trying another specimen. If you find the problem is still there, consider that it might be how you are positioning the nib.

 

I suppose another logical possibility is that you are using an ink that is way too dry for the nib, but I see that as relatively unlikely. It's most likely you have a faulty nib, with your positioning being second most likely, IMO anyway.

 

Good luck solving this. Do let us know the outcome.

 

David

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Thanks, David. That helps - especially the photos - thanks for taking the time to add those. When my current fill runs out (on the fine nib that's in the pen now), I'll ink up the stub with a nice wet ink and spend some more time experimenting to see what I can figure out.

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My experience has been that I have been able to get closer to 45 degrees as I have used it over the last year. At first it seemed as if I had to have it at 90 degrees but now I'm very close to my normal writing angle. The wetness of the ink is a large factor. If the ink is dry I have to hold the pen more upright. Wetter inks allow a flatter angle. I also find that the clip doesn't let me hold the pen quite as I would without the clip to keep the sweet at the right spot. I only need a very slight rotation from where the clip causes the pen to fall in my hand, only a degree or two, but it makes a lot of difference

To hold a pen is to be at war. - Voltaire
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My experience has been that I have been able to get closer to 45 degrees as I have used it over the last year. At first it seemed as if I had to have it at 90 degrees but now I'm very close to my normal writing angle. The wetness of the ink is a large factor. If the ink is dry I have to hold the pen more upright. Wetter inks allow a flatter angle. I also find that the clip doesn't let me hold the pen quite as I would without the clip to keep the sweet at the right spot. I only need a very slight rotation from where the clip causes the pen to fall in my hand, only a degree or two, but it makes a lot of difference

 

Thanks, Ted! That's extremely helpful. Clearly I'm going to have to bite the bullet and spend a lot of time practicing / experimenting with this thing to puzzle it out. I'll do that before going near the micro mesh. :)

 

The really difficult part is that I didn't expect to love this pen, the fine nib, and the ink in it as much as I do, so that I really don't want to go without that combo for long (it's now the one pen I always have with me). But the only alternative is a conundrum: Get a second pen body so I can test the nib long term to see if it's worth buying a second body. But if I don't like it so well, then it's not worth the price of a second pen body... :gaah:

 

Time to put this ink in another Pilot fine nib, I guess and see if I like it as well there...

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  • 5 months later...

THanks for this post. I just purchased the 1.0mm stub and was trying to figure out if it was me or the nib. When I tried writing at a 90 degree angle, I had more line variation that I would expect from a stub nib (although I feel like it's a 0.6mm or 0.8mm, not 1.0mm). When I write at my normal 45 degree angle, my nib is a bit dry, it's very scratchy, and I don't get the typical line variation I've come to expect from stub nibs. When I maintain that 45 degree angle, but rotate the pen so that it's resting about a half cm on the back of my hand where the index finger extends to the wrist, I get the same variation as a 90 degree angle. Normally my pen rests securely in the extra pad of skin between the thumb and index finger.

 

It's not quite comfortable, and I'm hoping that I break-in this pen a bit to get the writing style I want. Right now the nib seems a bit dry using iroshizuku ajisai (which boggled my mind) and much scratchier than my fine and medium nibs. I see a broad nib in my future, possibly with a custom grind to get the line variation that I want.

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It's not quite comfortable, and I'm hoping that I break-in this pen a bit to get the writing style I want. Right now the nib seems a bit dry using iroshizuku ajisai (which boggled my mind) and much scratchier than my fine and medium nibs. I see a broad nib in my future, possibly with a custom grind to get the line variation that I want.

 

Glad you found it useful. This nib does seem to be one that requires adjusting and experimenting to get comfortable with.

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  • 5 years later...

6 years after this topic l have the same issue. l got a stub nib for me existing pen and have been struggling with it since yesterday, till l tried a right angle and it is great at this angle. 

 

I remember a Goulet pens video saying this about vanishing point pens, that they are designed to write more vertically.

 

May be because the idea of a vanishing point is to take a quick note and you don't always have the chance of a relaxed angle. 

 

https://youtu.be/R0trOpHTvww

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