Sharpened Italic Nib

[fayettemed]

I have been e-mailing Richard Binder about his custom nibs. I really enjoy italic nibs and thought his crisp italic might be what I was looking for. His feeling was that his crisp italics are so sharp that it might cause me too much difficulty with cutting into paper. He suggested a "sharpened" italic nib that would have slightly rounder edges. Does his "sharpened" italic nib differ significantly from his cursive italic nib? If so, how? Thanks

[fayettemed]

I did find some information on this site that seems different from my emails with Richard Binder. From the Writing Instruments FAQ:

Stub, oblique and cursive italic nibs - 7th post: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=10274

 

A normal or crisp italic has square/squarish edges, and is more difficult to write with. The sweet spot is quite narrow and distinct. It allows for more line variation, because it requires less tipping material, maybe about 3 to 4 or 4.5, depending on the nib width.

 

A sharp or sharpened italic often has its tipping about as thin as a knife edge, 0.1 or 0.2 mm. This makes it behave as a knife, too, if you press a little too hard, or hold it a little too much turned away from its even narrower sweet spot. Line variations are probably a max of about 10 (!).

 

 

This is from Richard Binder's most recent email:

 

"First, are you sure you want a crisp nib? My crisp nibs are quite

literally as sharp as a knife -- you can't see the edge where the end

and bottom surfaces meet even under 10X magnification. These nibs

require, for all practical purposes, zero writing pressure. No

commercial nib is this sharp.

 

I'd suggest you consider a "sharpened" italic, which will give

you good line variation without the digging in that you're likely to

get with a crisp. The sharpened nib has the same knife edge, but its

corners are rounded slightly so that they won't catch and dig in."

 

I am waiting on an email from Mr. Binder to clarify the issue. Can anyone here shed some light?

[PinarelloOnly]

This is what a crisp italic will look like…lots of line variation. I really like this nib and I use it for writing in Christmas cards

and such. Also, makes addresses on envelopes look very nice. BUT! You have to want this nib and it is very sharp however,

the results are worth it.

 

This nib is not for the faint of heart, impatient types, wimps, complainers, crybabies or people who insist on using cheap paper.

 

 

http://www.fototime.com/%7B65817E60-4D7B-40BA-A074-EFD7D78EFFEB%7D/picture.JPG

Edited August 29, 2007 by PinarelloOnly

[FrankB]

I like and use Richard's crisp italic nibs. His interpretation of "crisp" in indeed knife-like. I have a nib smoothing kit from Tryphon that includes some great extremely fine grit sandpaper. On a couple of Richard's crisp italic nibs, I have used that kit briefly to smooth out the corners and the writing surface to my own liking. That smoothing has done nothing to impede the wonderful line variation, and it has allowed me to increase my writing speed sufficiently that I am more comfortable with the nibs. I guess one might call that a double customization.

 

If Richard offers a smoothed variation of his crisp italic, it wll probably behoove you to try it. Otherwise, you might try what I have done and use your own initiative to personalize the nib. I feel Richard's nibs are worth the effort.

 

Good luck.

[Richard]

If Richard offers a smoothed variation of his crisp italic, it wll probably behoove you to try it.

That's what I refer to as a sharpened italic. It's sharpened to the same degree as a crisp, but then the corners are softened just enough that you can use it easily without digging in. It will still give you that delightful "Bartleby the Scrivener" skritching sound, though.

[fayettemed]

Thanks so much for the information.

 

Richard: How do I order the sharpened italic nib on your website........put it in the comment box or what? Would it be easier to just call and place the order?

[Richard]

Richard: How do I order the sharpened italic nib on your website........put it in the comment box or what? Would it be easier to just call and place the order?

Purchase the nib, purchase the regrinding, and specify sharpened italic in the Note field when you check out through PayPal. Calling is a nice idea, but we're not able to accept credit cards directly, so PayPal or a cheque or a money order is going to be involved at some juncture.

[kissing]

Wow...Would I bleed if I ran my fingers across one of these nibs on the sharp edge?

[fayettemed]

One final question. I am trying to decide the nib size for this sharpened italic nib. With regard to the stroke width chart on Richards web site and since Richard bases the order on the line produced rather than size of the nib, if I print that chart and compare the size of a line on that chart to a line width that I desire, will that accurately tell me the size I should order?

And.......what about these instructions from Richard's site:

 

"To choose a specialty nib of a size appropriate to your handwriting, measure the average height of your minuscules (lowercase, or “little,” letters). The width of an italic nib should be approximately 1/5 the height you measure. For example, if your minuscules average 3/16" (4.76 mm), a 0.9-mm italic is about the right size for you. This is not a firm rule, however, so you will have to judge for yourself what you think you will like."

 

If the width of the nib is 1/5 the minuscule height (let's say 3.5mm/5 = 0.7mm), does that mean the nib width is 0.7 and therefore should produce roughly a 0.5 mm line as indicated on the line width chart? (and would then order Richard's 0.5) or does it mean I should order Richard's 0.7?

 

Sorry to split hairs like this, but I am just trying to get it right the first time and not have to spend time sending a nib back for exchange or adjustment. Advise from anyone with experience ordering from Richard (or perhaps even Richard himself) would be greatly appreciated.

[jmkeuning]

Wow...Would I bleed if I ran my fingers across one of these nibs on the sharp edge?

 

Only if you were alive when you did it. :roflmho:

[Richard]

If the width of the nib is 1/5 the minuscule height (let's say 3.5mm/5 = 0.7mm), does that mean the nib width is 0.7 and therefore should produce roughly a 0.5 mm line as indicated on the line width chart? (and would then order Richard's 0.5) or does it mean I should order Richard's 0.7?

The stroke you want, as indicated by the x-height, is 0.7 mm. That determines the nib width, so you want a 0.7-mm nib. (The instructions are not clear, and I will edit them. Thanks for seeing the inexactitude and bringing it to my attention.)