XXXF and XXXXF Round and Italic Points

[Momomar]

What a well assembled and photgraphed post, especially informative to newbies. Thanks so very much.

 

I have to wonder, though, do you wear glasses and do you write for a living?

 

Thanks again for an exceptional post.

[caliken]

As some of you may know, last week I received ten pens from Richard Binder, with freshly customised XXXF and XXXXF nibs, and I have had more than a few requests for something to be posted about them!

 

This is a list of the pens I had Richard customise:

 

<IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/PenList-01.gif" ALT="" WIDTH="565" HEIGHT="196" BORDER="0">

 

I am really happy I had these nibs altered. The time, effort and money were well-spent - each nib is now perfectly suited to my tiny handwriting!

 

The pens I sent are fairly standard... nothing obscure. Most of them appear below:

 

http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Group-01.jpg

 

Nib Shots: (Click to enlarge!)

 

<TABLE CELLSPACING="2" CELLPADDING="2" BORDER="0" WIDTH="565"><TR><TD ALIGN="center"><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/02s_EFs-01.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/02s_EFs-01t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="160" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Gray;"></A><br>Sailor, Pilot, Omas, Pelikan</TD><TD ALIGN="center"><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/03s_02s-02.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/03s_02s-02t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="160" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Gray;"></A><br>Pelikan, JP Lepine, Lamy, Omas</TD></TR><TR><TD ALIGN="center"><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/03s_02s-01.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/03s_02s-01t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="131" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Gray;"></A><br>JP Lepine, 2x Omas, Lamy</TD><TD ALIGN="center"><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Assortment-01.jpg"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Assortment-01t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="131" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Gray;"></A><br>Omas, 2x Pelikan, JP Lepine, Lamy, Omas</TD></TR></TABLE>

Writing Samples:

 

Samples from about 25 of my pens appear here. The thumbnails link to large image files - 300DPI, non-resized scan. The first two images are the primary samples, written on 5mm Square grid/graph paper as a control.

 

I use such small nibs because my writing is so small. My lowercase letters average 1mm in height.

 

<TABLE CELLSPACING="2" CELLPADDING="2" BORDER="0"><TR><TD><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Graph_01.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Graph_01t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="201" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Silver;"></A></TD><TD><EM>Round Nibs.</EM><br>2.8MB.<br>Spirax Graph Paper, 5mm Squares.</TD></TR><TR><TD><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Graph_02.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Graph_02t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="81" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Silver;"></A></TD><TD><EM>Mostly Italic Nibs.</EM><br>1.4MB.<br>Spirax Graph Paper, 5mm Squares.</TD></TR><TR><TD><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Basildon_OCM.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/Basildon_OCMt.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="189" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Silver;"></A></TD><TD><EM>Paper Differences with Wet-Writing Nibs.</EM><br>700K.<br>I have a few Fine and Medium nibs I can't write with on ordinary paper. I use these pens exclusively on Crown Mill 'Pure Cotton' paper, which is heavily sized, thus making the pens write 'dry'.</TD></TR><TR><TD><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/OCM_01.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/OCM_01t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="147" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Silver;"></A></TD><TD><EM>Ten Binder Points.</EM><br>700K.<br>Crown Mill 'Cream Laid', Grey.</TD></TR><TR><TD><A HREF="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/ThankYou-01.jpg" TARGET="_blank"><IMG SRC="http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/ThankYou-01t.jpg" ALT="" WIDTH="200" HEIGHT="83" BORDER="0" STYLE="border: 1px solid Silver;"></A></TD><TD><EM>Hi and Thank You.</EM><br>200K.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That’s it! I have no idea if this is a good format in which to present this data, but I’m hoping it is, and that the samples are useful!

 

(If this post format has issues, let me know.)

 

Cheers,

L.

 

PS: No comments about my handwriting! I do know that I miss letters, joins and other bits!

[/quote

 

I know you say 'no comments' but I have to say how impressed I am by your tiny writing. It is absolutely consistent right across the range of pens and is very even, attractive and legible.

Thanks for posting it.

caliken

Edited May 21, 2007 by caliken

[Velma]

I just got an XXXXF nib for my grey-and-magenta Pelikan M200 in the mail today. The receptionist called me to tell me "Velma, another one of your pen boxes has arrived," and I went skipping up to the front desk. My boss keeps glancing over at my cubicle with a half-bemused, half-worried look on her face, because I'm giggling to myself.

 

Richard's work has an amazing ability to make a bad day better, and a good day almost terrifyingly wonderful.

 

(The Private Reserve Plum is a bit darker than the magenta in the pen body. I must find or create a slightly lighter color.)

 

[Phthalo]

Thanks for the comments folks!

 

Momomar: I do wear glasses, but only for TV and driving - I'm short-sighted. I don't write for a living, but I do type for one - I'm a technical writer, though I trained originally as a Cartographer... Rotring Rapidographs with tungsten carbide .18 points got me hooked on tiny nibs.

 

caliken:Thank you!

 

Velma: Pictures please!

[kmpens]

Just beautiful - I am not a big fan of fine nibs (and anything smaller than M in general) but I must reconsider - looks very stylish and refined. and very very beautiful pens indeed.

[MicheleB]

Hi Laura!

 

This is a tremendous contribution and your time and effort are appreciated. I would like to ask what is the custom burgundy ink you used on the round nib sheet? Have you noted any inks that still shade with these extra fine nibs? Thanks again.

[FrankB]

I am rather late to this party, but I am glad I took the time to read the review. This is another great review, Laura. Thanks.

 

I am not a user of super fine nibs, but it is always useful to have some around for special tasks. I really like the product on paper from the 0.3 mm crisp italic. I think I will have Richard customize one of those later in the year.

[Phthalo]

I do actually get shading/variation with my inks and these very fine nibs. Looking at a few of my pens which are currently inked, R&K Alt-Goldgrün, R&K Alt-Bordeaux, R&K Sepia, J.Herbin Pousierre de Lune, PR Gray Flannel and Noodler's Apache Sunset give very nice results.

 

Pelikan Brilliant Brown is quite unexciting in my round nibs, but I used that ink for dip-testing the italic points and with the Lepine 0.3 Stub shading was particularly nice! Ditto for Noodler's Golden Brown in the Lamy 0.3 Cursive Italic.

 

Unfortunately I can't tell you much about my custom Burgundy ink. More than a year ago it started off trying to be a replacement for Penman Ruby, but that didn't work out, so over time I kept adding leftover reds to it, and now it's more accurate to call it Burgundy Soup.

[MicheleB]

I do actually get shading/variation with my inks and these very fine nibs. Looking at a few of my pens which are currently inked, R&K Alt-Goldgrün, R&K Alt-Bordeaux, R&K Sepia, J.Herbin Pousierre de Lune, PR Gray Flannel and Noodler's Apache Sunset give very nice results.

 

Pelikan Brilliant Brown is quite unexciting in my round nibs, but I used that ink for dip-testing the italic points and with the Lepine 0.3 Stub shading was particularly nice! Ditto for Noodler's Golden Brown in the Lamy 0.3 Cursive Italic.

 

Unfortunately I can't tell you much about my custom Burgundy ink. More than a year ago it started off trying to be a replacement for Penman Ruby, but that didn't work out, so over time I kept adding leftover reds to it, and now it's more accurate to call it Burgundy Soup.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have experience with Alt-Bord and Poussiere only so this is good info. Burgundy soup is a great name and I understand. I took a bunch of leftovers from Pear Tree samples that weren't much alone, mixed em all up and got a decent blue ink with some waterproof properties since some Noodler's were in there. - M.

 

[Jared]

Your handwriting is wonderful, and even better seen on the originals. In addition to your writing I enjoy seeing how the ink you chose writes with these pens. Thank you for sharing this with us.

 

Jared

 

I use such small nibs because my writing is so small. My lowercase letters average 1mm in height.

[rroossinck]

At one point in time I'd looked at Laura's handwriting and thought that I could hold a candle, from a size perspective.

 

I now request the ability to retract that statement, as it was/is utter hogwash. She wrote me a letter which I have been enjoying for several days now - every time I re-read it, I keep noticing more and more interesting things...and more tiny things. I'm certain that nothing in my stable would allow me to match her stroke for stroke. If I had an XXXF, perhaps. But there's nothing that I own right now that would do the trick. Hoping to change that soon.

 

Again, Laura, thanks for the outstanding post.

 

Mods, if you can, bookmark this one either in the "Threads for Beginners" or elsewhere. This is a seminal work, of sorts.

[chibimie]

I do actually get shading/variation with my inks and these very fine nibs. Looking at a few of my pens which are currently inked, R&K Alt-Goldgrün, R&K Alt-Bordeaux, R&K Sepia, J.Herbin Pousierre de Lune, PR Gray Flannel and Noodler's Apache Sunset give very nice results.

 

Pelikan Brilliant Brown is quite unexciting in my round nibs, but I used that ink for dip-testing the italic points and with the Lepine 0.3 Stub shading was particularly nice! Ditto for Noodler's Golden Brown in the Lamy 0.3 Cursive Italic.

 

Unfortunately I can't tell you much about my custom Burgundy ink. More than a year ago it started off trying to be a replacement for Penman Ruby, but that didn't work out, so over time I kept adding leftover reds to it, and now it's more accurate to call it Burgundy Soup.

 

Thanks, Laura, for this great posting, which I just saw; as someone else noted, maybe it should be moved to a more prominent site (?) Can you tell me what ink you used for the samples written using two shades of green?

 

Jim

[rroossinck]

Chib, thanks for bringing this one back to the top. Reminds me how much I LOVED this post!

[Wizergig]

I just saw it for the first too, and I am facinated how much a nice hand writting brings out the real quality of Richards work. I keep hoping that if I practice enough, someday.....

 

Thanks for the post Laura. I had to download the pictures and save them for future reference.

[playpen]

Wow Laura, what a fantastic post!

[Phthalo]

I just saw it for the first too, and I am facinated how much a nice hand writting brings out the real quality of Richards work.

 

It's the other way around - without the tool, you have nothing (or at least I don't!). Give me a ballpoint and ask me to write something - you'll get small scrawl. Give me a Binder 0.3 Stub... and it's totally different world.

[rroossinck]

Hey Laura...why don't you give ME that 0.3 Binder Stub (preferably the Omas, but I'm not terribly picky) and let's see if it holds true!

[Wizergig]

I just saw it for the first too, and I am facinated how much a nice hand writting brings out the real quality of Richards work.

 

It's the other way around - without the tool, you have nothing (or at least I don't!). Give me a ballpoint and ask me to write something - you'll get small scrawl. Give me a Binder 0.3 Stub... and it's totally different world.

 

Laura, you're to humble, and it is refreshing, but even a Stravarious is just a box with strings (admittedly a remarkable one) until the musician brings it to life.

 

[Phthalo]

Hey Laura...why don't you give ME that 0.3 Binder Stub (preferably the Omas, but I'm not terribly picky) and let's see if it holds true!

 

Mouaha... I see you haven't forgotten about that Omas!

 

It is true that it's Saft Green celluloid beauty and tiny, shiny nib is a sight to behold...!

[Brian]

Thank you. This is very informative and we're fortunate for having collectors like you spending the time to share this.