Guide to writing with flexy gold nibs?

[wansmith]

Hi there, i'm fairly new to fountain pens, and I'm quite interested in learning how to writing with pressure to achieve line variations. I haven't really had much success. Is there a source that provides the info i am after? I have a lamy 2000 and a Pilot elite 18K.

Cheers

[Ondina]

I'm no expert and but we have a few this forum. Look for the posts of Caliken at the Penmanship subforum, the videos are just amazing.

[Lloyd]

Be careful: neither of these pen's have flexible nibs. These nibs are semi-semi-flex, at best.

[wansmith]

ohh right right i see. Okay well in that case, with reference to those two pens, is there anything line width related handwriting that i can experiment with? Or should i just use the constant pressure? What do people who have gold nibs similar to mine usually do?

Cheers!

(sorry if this is in the wrong forum, I've only just found out about then penmanship subforum.)

[Garageboy]

Just use constant pressure or get it ground into a stub or an italic (take a peek into richard's page www.richardspens.com )

Edited May 21, 2008 by Garageboy

[Lloyd]

What do people who have gold nibs similar to mine usually do?

Cheers!

FYI: Gold has little to do with a nib's flexibility. Both gold and steel nibs can run the gamut from "over-cooked pasta" flexible to nail rigid.

While you should feel comfortable varying your pressure a little to see some line variation, be careful to not over flex your nib or it'll probably be ruined. I'd recommend first trying to reduce your writing pressure from your normal pressure (which might be heavier than necessary) to zero pressure - occasionally missing the paper due to lifting the pen too high. Now, slowly increase pressure until you are just barely denting the topsheet of a notepad. This process will reveal the range of linewidths your pen can yield.

To see what can be achieved with truly flexible nibs, do a search for Spencerian and Copperplate.

Edited May 21, 2008 by Lloyd

[Songwind]

If you get yourself a flexible FP or want to try a dip pen, you can find exercises, videos, and other materials for flex pen writing over at IAMPETH.org

[Greg D]

I learned using Tamblyn's Home Instructor in Penmanship. It takes many hours of practice. I bought mine at a B&M store but you can get it here:

 

<http://www.zillerofkc.com/>

 

Good luck.

 

Greg~