Glass dip pens

[Imzadi]

My glass nib seems to be scratchy. Could it be the cheap planner paper I'm using? Is there a way to smooth it out and perhaps make it closer to a fine point?

[nolagraph]

The nib on my glass dip pen isn't scratchy, per se, but it certainly sounds like it if you're just listening to it. It's a very different sensation than writing with a standard metal nib. I suppose if yours is scratchy the standard nib-smoothing techniques would work, but you'd have to be careful to apply it evenly to all sides of the nib since they are omni-directional. Perhaps some very fine grain sandpaper? I don't think you can change the size of the nib, since the glass is ribbed at the tip. I don't pretend to be the definitive glass nib expert, though.

[m00t]

My glass nib seems to be scratchy. Could it be the cheap planner paper I'm using? Is there a way to smooth it out and perhaps make it closer to a fine point?

 

The only thing that works well on glass for regrinding is diamond... if you've got some diamond files, you could conceptually make it a fine point, but it would be difficult. I imagine it's scratchy because there's a burr on the point - it might be possible to soften it by lightly polishing with a ceramic or aluminum oxide stone with a fine grit. Or you could try fire polishing, if you want to get a little closer to actual glasswork. Holding just the tip barely in the flame of a propane torch will quickly melt surface imperfections in the tip. Don't do it for too long or put anything but the very tip in the flame, though, as the nib needs the slightly frosty surface in order to transport ink to the tip. If you do it, keep some water nearby, and test the tip for smoothness AFTER it has cooled. You don't want any of the glass on the tip turning orange in the flame. You could probably even do this with a butane torch lighter - it doesn't take much heat.

 

An interesting thing about glass nibs is that they're made not by grinding, but using what's called an optic mold - a piece of solid graphite, with a larger version of the nib shape (that faceted cylinder/cone) impressed into it. Glass is softened, and pressed into the mold. Then, to make the point, the shaped glass is heated up again to soften just to the point of plasticity - once it's stretchable, it's pulled to a point using a punty, then broken. The tip is fire polished, the whole pen annealed to relieve stress in the glass, and the nib is dipped in an acid bath to create the frosty appearance. I don't think many people take it back to the flame after the acid bath, so the surface of the very tip has that same frosty texture. That last fire polishing, to make the very tip of the nib glassy smooth, would probably make a great improvement in the feel of glass pens in general. That frosty texture on the tip can create a fair amount of drag when writing, at least from what I can tell.

[Imzadi]

Wow. I didn't know all this. I guess I'll keep trying to get used to it.

[MYU]

m00t, thank you for sharing this information. It's a really interesting process how these nibs are made. And they're remarkably good writers. I found a Haro piston filler with a glass nib in my "junk pen" box. The glass nib has a sleeve around it, exposing just the tip. It really works well, once you find the sweet spot. And of course with the design, it is much more tolerable to a wide range of ink saturations.

[MYU]

Leigh made a great video of a glass nib drawing demonstration (nice sound track, too).

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Anyway, they can be scratchy if it has seen some abuse... maybe it wore down in an odd way. I do find that rotating the pen finds edges and sweet spots. And I have no idea if one can polish out the scratchiness... maybe try with some 12000 micromesh.

Edited November 25, 2008 by MYU

[wednesday_mac]

Some are scratchy, some aren't. I have one that's smooth as (pardon) glass (and that one cost the most), and two others that are nasty-scratchy that were under $20 each. I think it may depend on the workmanship in the process of making the pen.

 

 

[Blades]

Did you try different paper to test it?

[Imzadi]

Blades, yes I finally did. It works much better on cheap copy paper than my cheap notebook paper. I spent about $20 on it. I really like the concept of a glass nib and I want to buy a better quality one. Any ideas where?

[Blades]

Blades, yes I finally did. It works much better on cheap copy paper than my cheap notebook paper. I spent about $20 on it. I really like the concept of a glass nib and I want to buy a better quality one. Any ideas where?

 

Imzadi,

No I don't know where to get a better one, sorry. I have a glass dip pen that came in a "The Art of Writing" set, along with some metal nibs. I really like the glass dip pen, but I did find that on some paper it felt scratchy. I have looked at glass dip pens on Ebay, but I have no idea what makes a good one. Someone here might know, we'll see.

 

 

Jason

[Ink Stained Wretch]

My glass nib seems to be scratchy. Could it be the cheap planner paper I'm using? Is there a way to smooth it out and perhaps make it closer to a fine point?

Every glass pen I've ever used has been scratchy to the point of unusability. I'd thought a glass dip pen was going to be great for ink samples, but I've given up on them.

[Paddler]

I have two glass-nibbed dip pens. One came from an art supply store and the other was purchased from The Victorian Trading Company. Neither is scratchy. They both have quite a bit of drag, though. It feels like the ink doesn't lubricate the point very well. Neither pen shows any sign of being frosted. The ink seems to flow down the spiraling grooves by capillarity. I have to turn the pens slightly as I write in order to use up all the ink on the nib. Frosting would probably remove that feature.

 

I once saw some glass pens that were marketed by Pelikan. They were a bit pricey so I passed them up.

 

Paddler