In Praise Of... Binder Arabic Nibs

[kushbaby]

After the new Visconti 23K palladium nibs came out, I got two Wallstreet LEs from Bryant, one with an XF nib in red, and another with a BB nib in grey. And while I found the BB nib fantastic, yummy, luscious, (insert your favorite big nib adjective here), it just didn't get much use. At all. But I loved the pen, so I decided to send it off to Richard Binder to have an Arabic nib ground from it (I had wanted to send a 149, but there wasn't enough vertical tipping to work with - it was too stubby already).

 

I have just recently gotten it back... and it is a dream! Writes perfectly, of course (as expected), and also is, I think, the favorite of the three Binder Arabic nibs I have. (Maybe that's because of the pen.)

 

Anyhow, here are some photos. (Forgive the mistake in the written description - the palladium nib is 23K. I haven't had enough coffee yet this morning. :embarrassed_smile: )

 

 

[USMCMom]

Very nice!! I wondered how the Arabic nib would do for regular writing. Now I know. Thank you!

[Edgar Allan Bo]

cool, I love arabic/hebrew nibs and use them for regular writing like in your pictures, but, as a student, not having money to afford one from mr. binder I've ground few flat italic nibs to an extreme left oblique angle and then just rotate the pen - the result is pretty much the same.

[SamCapote]

That is beautiful.

[Ghost Plane]

Hmm. Now I know why my left handed over writer loves my OB and OBB nibs for his Farsi and Arabic. For him, they're matching your grind [Just thinking about the geometry made my head hurt]

 

Loving BB nibs as I do, this gives me an idea for when I get serious about learning that darned alphabet :embarrassed_smile:

[experiment626]

Reading things like 'Arabic nibs are meant for languages where the horizontal strokes are thicker than the vertical ones' totally doesn't translate until you see it in action. That is beautiful, and really super appealing. Dangit, yet another thing to put on the masterlist of 'someday'...

[yachtsilverswan]

It would be interesting to see the same text written by the same writer using a Western Cursive Italic (thicker vertical strokes and thinner horizontal strokes) side by side with an Arabic/Hebrew nib (thicker horizontal strokes and thinner vertical strokes). I have a suspicion that an entirely different impression would result from the two nib styles side by side, particularly if the two nibs had the same maximal stroke widths.

Edited November 6, 2011 by yachtsilverswan

[experiment626]

It would be interesting to see the same text written by the same writer using a Western Cursive Italic (thicker vertical strokes and thinner horizontal strokes) side by side with an Arabic/Hebrew nib (thicker horizontal strokes and thinner vertical strokes). I have a suspicion that an entirely different impression would result from the two nib styles side by side.

 

I like this idea. :clap1: I AM fond of my italic nib, but I'd love to see how it'd compare to an Arabic nib within a relatively controlled test.

[fuchsiaprincess]

Hmm. Now I know why my left handed over writer loves my OB and OBB nibs for his Farsi and Arabic. For him, they're matching your grind [Just thinking about the geometry made my head hurt]

 

Loving BB nibs as I do, this gives me an idea for when I get serious about learning that darned alphabet :embarrassed_smile:

 

Plus, you know what to get him for his birthday - a Binder Arabic nib

[kushbaby]

It would be interesting to see the same text written by the same writer using a Western Cursive Italic (thicker vertical strokes and thinner horizontal strokes) side by side with an Arabic/Hebrew nib (thicker horizontal strokes and thinner vertical strokes). I have a suspicion that an entirely different impression would result from the two nib styles side by side, particularly if the two nibs had the same maximal stroke widths.

 

 

I can do that... See below. (Photo at an angle because of light.) The top sentence is the Arabic nib, ink is Noodlers Apace Sunset. The bottom sentence is with a Twsbi B nib made into a nice CI by 777 - ink is Noodlers Antietam. Sorry it's a bit messier and not as pretty - it's oddly hard to write with one right after the other - your hand sort of gets used to it after a few lines... (And of course, harder to write prettily when you really, really want to. :embarrassed_smile: )

 

Edit to add - I think it's more stub than CI. But it's what I have inked right now...

 

Edited November 6, 2011 by kushbaby

[Ghost Plane]

Hmm. Now I know why my left handed over writer loves my OB and OBB nibs for his Farsi and Arabic. For him, they're matching your grind [Just thinking about the geometry made my head hurt]

 

Loving BB nibs as I do, this gives me an idea for when I get serious about learning that darned alphabet :embarrassed_smile:

 

Plus, you know what to get him for his birthday - a Binder Arabic nib

 

If I can pry my Chatterley IB out of his hands. He keeps muttering something about it writing like a properly cut reed...

[kushbaby]

OK, here's another one - both nibs are narrower, yet sharper. (FWIW, I like the wider Arabic nibs.). Sorry the pic is kinda dark.

 

Top sentence is a Binder Arabic nib (0.7) on a Pelikan, ink is Sailor Jentle Epinard.

Bottom sentence is a Twsbi with a M nib ground to a crisper CI by Pendleton, ink is MB Racing green.

 

[experiment626]

Thank you kushbaby! :clap1: The Arabic nib is DEFINITELY going on the wishlist - I *really* like the bold horizontal lines with the thin vertical lines. I thought it might just be the shading, but the second set you posted with the Racing Green and Sailor ink....I still prefer the Arabic to the CI.

[MicheleB]

Very educational post. Thanks.

[dfollett_98]

Kushbaby:

 

Your handwriting is stunningly beautiful. Thanks for sharing your wonderful newly ground nib.

 

Don

[Edgar Allan Bo]

OK, here's another one - both nibs are narrower, yet sharper. (FWIW, I like the wider Arabic nibs.). Sorry the pic is kinda dark.

 

Top sentence is a Binder Arabic nib (0.7) on a Pelikan, ink is Sailor Jentle Epinard.

Bottom sentence is a Twsbi with a M nib ground to a crisper CI by Pendleton, ink is MB Racing green.

 

 

it's only missing the 15 degree OB and 30 degree OB, it would show how the normal italic writing goes slowly towards the arabic. that's the way how i came to the arabic/hebrew nib before I knew something like that exists - i started with italic, then started to change the nib angle and ground it to an oblique (left and right, 5, 15, 30, 45 degrees, etc.) only to find out that the opposite of where I started works best for me. :hmm1:

Edited November 7, 2011 by Edgar Allan Bo

[fuchsiaprincess]

Kush, do you use it for regular, everyday writing?

[kushbaby]

Kush, do you use it for regular, everyday writing?

 

Oh, absolutely! In fact, at least with my cursive style, it's a lot easier to use it for everyday writing than a cursive italic or stub (where I have to write larger for it to be cleanly legible - I do use stubs/CIs, but more for personal lists). Even a pretty fat Arabic nib... (I have a 0.9 one in a Vanishing Point that is outstanding!!!)

 

I would like to get a Pelikan Green o' Green with a 0.9 Arabic, but Binder doesn't seem to be carrying them...

[PBW]

This may now be on my list. I think it would fit my handwriting since I have a tendency to make the vertical loopy letters to tight. They always seem to run together with a stub or italic nib.

 

Just what I need, another pen.

[kushbaby]

This may now be on my list. I think it would fit my handwriting since I have a tendency to make the vertical loopy letters to tight. They always seem to run together with a stub or italic nib.

 

Just what I need, another pen.

 

If you happen to already have a Pilot Vanishing Point pen (or body), Binder will sell a nib unit with an Arabic nib on it that you could swap in (rather than buy an entire new pen). I have one of these in 0.9 Arabic - extremely happy with it. In case that helps.

 

Oh, and the Pelikan Green o' Green has just been added to Binder's site, so I'm totally getting one with a nice wide Arabic nib... :bunny01: