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Nibmeisters needed

essayfaire

By essayfaire
in Of Nibs & Tines

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essayfaire Antique

essayfaire

Posted
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I have a beautiful new Benu that sparkles and glows in the dark.  Unfortunately, the pen's nib is very underwhelming.  I really do want to use this pen regularly (I only buy pens I plan to write with) but the contrast between its very pedestrian nib and the eye-appeal is enormous.  I suspect that if a nibmeister were to tune the pen for me, I would be quite happy with it. It looks as if it would be a heavy pen, but is actually pretty lightweight and sits well in my hand.

 

Is there any sort of list of nibmeisters by region, city, etc.?  I know of none.  I can make figure eights if I have to, but I'd rather give this to an expert.  

 

Thanks!

Festina lente

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

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TgeekB Rare

TgeekB

Posted
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It would be nice to have a list. Does one exist on this site?

Current lineup:

Pilot Custom 743

Montblanc 146 LeGrande

Lamy 2000

Platinum 3776 Jade

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silverlifter Vintage

silverlifter

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11 minutes ago, Ron Z said:

The list is missing Linda Kennedy.

 

Well, I did say it was an incomplete list...

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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Ron Z Museum Piece

Ron Z

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But she's good too.    A colleague that I know well and respect.

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A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful vintage pen repair...

Please use email, not a PM for repair and pen purchase inquiries.

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silverlifter Vintage

silverlifter

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I don't doubt that. It's just your comment came across as critical. I spent some time compiling the list/links and wasn't claiming that it was authoritative.

Vintage. Cursive italic. Iron gall.

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Ron Z Museum Piece

Ron Z

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Relax.  I wasn't being critical.      I just didn't want Linda to be left off the list since I know how good she is, and Mike and Linda are good friends.

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Visit Main Street Pens
A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful vintage pen repair...

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peroride Vintage

peroride

Posted
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Great thread and great list ! Let's support the pen experts.

 

Good to see Linda Kennedy from IndyPenDance added.

 

I have 3 of her nibs (2 EFs and Daily Italic) and appreciate the attentive quality.

 

It is best to shop around as wait times can be a consideration, though some do have express service for an additional fee. 

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BlueJ Extremely Rare

BlueJ

Posted
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Please add

Dan Smith (nibsmith.com)

Pendleton Brown (not sure if he is still active)

Pablo at FPNibs.com in Spain (but he only works on nibs or pens bought from him)

John Mottishaw (nibs.com)

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A Smug Dill Museum Piece

A Smug Dill

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On 4/7/2021 at 3:08 PM, BlueJ said:

Pablo at FPNibs.com in Spain (but he only works on nibs or pens bought from him)

 

Not according to this: https://fpnibs.com/pages/nib-repair

Quote

We do offer a nib repair, customization and modification service for your own pens and nibs, modern or vintage.

even if the terms of the service may deter many a would-be customer.

 

 

On 4/7/2021 at 3:08 PM, BlueJ said:

Dan Smith (nibsmith.com)

 

I thought it is Dan Smith who only works on nibs and pens he sells, for now and has been for as long as I've been aware of him: 

https://nibsmith.com/product/nib-work/

Quote

NOTE: The Nibsmith has temporarily suspended accepting pens for nib work. This page will be updated to accept orders when we reopen our queue. At this time, we don’t have an estimate for when that will be.

 

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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BlueJ Extremely Rare

BlueJ

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The quoted policy at FPNibs.com is a recent change, or at least I do not remember seeing it when I searched their website and began buying nibs from them 2-3 years ago.  Dan Smith has worked on some of my pens in the past and it appears possible he may return to offering such services; he only added new pens sales to his business after he was established as a nibmeister.

 

As for Danny Fudge, he is excellent for cosmetic restoration and filling system repair, and his prices are very reasonable, but he only does a limited range of nib work, or such is my understanding. The best way to find out is to contact him, of course.

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essayfaire Antique

essayfaire

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12 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

 

I thought it is Dan Smith who only works on nibs and pens he sells, for now and has been for as long as I've been aware of him: 

https://nibsmith.com/product/nib-work/

 

Yes, I saw the same thing when I started looking up everyone on the list.  I've decided to work with the nibmeister who is physically closest to my location, even though neither of us are traveling at this juncture.  I'm so glad that the FPN community so now there is a list.  We need to figure out how to pin this list somewhere on the site in a way it can be added to.

Festina lente

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

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A Smug Dill Museum Piece

A Smug Dill

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8 hours ago, BlueJ said:

Dan Smith has worked on some of my pens in the past and it appears possible he may return to offering such services;

 

Sure. I was merely pointing out that he has been declining to take on mail-in nib work since no later than first half of 2019,

http://web.archive.org/web/20190518014617/https://nibsmith.com/product/nib-work/

and, to the best of my recollection, when I first looked at Nibsmith.com back in 2018 and ordered a pen from him.

 

There are no snapshots of that particular web page I can find for all of 2018 or the second half of 2017, so I don't know more precisely since when; but the change certainly was not recent.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

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TitoThePencilPimp Extremely Rare

TitoThePencilPimp

Posted
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From my experience, I prefer xf/f and fine cursive italic, and I would go with either Mr. Masuyama or Barcas. I had work done by 5 people on different pens, and not all on the same pen (at least 2 nibs each before I figured whose work suited my taste). From my experience, Masuyama work was of a higher quality, with Barcas coming in a very close second. I would be happy to have either of them work on my nibs. Not sure if Mr. Masuyama still has a long wait period, but the last nibs I had work on I sent to Barcas. Since, Barcas was (not sure if he still does)  able to return the pens to me a lot faster.

 

I would not recommend Hiller...

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essayfaire Antique

essayfaire

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17 hours ago, TitoThePencilPimp said:

From my experience, I prefer xf/f and fine cursive italic, and I would go with either Mr. Masuyama or Barcas. I had work done by 5 people on different pens, and not all on the same pen (at least 2 nibs each before I figured whose work suited my taste). From my experience, Masuyama work was of a higher quality, with Barcas coming in a very close second. I would be happy to have either of them work on my nibs. Not sure if Mr. Masuyama still has a long wait period, but the last nibs I had work on I sent to Barcas. Since, Barcas was (not sure if he still does)  able to return the pens to me a lot faster.

 

I would not recommend Hiller...

I'm sending them to Barcas.  I decided to have him smooth a nib on a Kaweco XF and get a grind on an inexpensive TWISBI to try to figure out what I want on the Benu since I know nothing about nib tuning.  I was told my writing style (and I also prefer XF/F) suits a cursive italic and might also be good with a hybrid. Time will tell (now in only I could find a decent watch repair shop in town...).  Thanks.

Festina lente

Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence

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