A New 1.0Mmm Stub Nib From Fountain Pen Revolution

[Jamerelbe]

I've been a repeat customer of the Fountain Pen Revolution website for maybe a year now, and have purchased a number of their pens and nibs in that time. One of my frustrations with their earlier offerings was the #5 "Fine Stub" nib - I bought two or three pens with this nib on board, and always found it scratchy.

 

When the new #5.5 nibs came out - a significant improvement in almost every way - my question of Kevin (the proprietor of FPR) was when he would be adding a stub nib to the line-up. I didn't get an answer at first - but in the past few weeks they've been listed as on their way, and last week (or was it the week before? - on March 26 2015), they were finally available for $7ea plus postage. I took advantage of the offer - which now seems to have disappeared from their website! - to buy a Serwex 1362 demonstrator with the new stub nib for $9. $2 extra, and you get a pen thrown in? I ordered two!

 

The new pens arrived yesterday. I swapped the nib from one straight into a FPR Indus (burgundy coloured), inked it up with Diamine Red Dragon... and filled the other demonstrator with Noodler's Baystate Blue (it only cost me $2 - so why not?)...

 

Appearance:

Here's a picture of one of the nibs - with apologies for the lack of focus:

 

http://i.imgur.com/CRFD5qR.jpg

 

The first thing I noticed about these nibs was the tipping - unlike my JoWo nibs (which cost at least twice as much), these nibs are tipped with iridium. They're also, as the picture below demonstrates, somewhat smaller. The nibs shown, moving clockwise from top left:

 

Goulet 1.1mm stub (JoWo #6), in a Jinhao 159 - inked with Pelikan 4001 Black

Lamy 1.1 mm stub, in a Lamy Safari Neon Coral - inked with Diamine Hope Pink.

FPR 1.0 mm stub, in a FPR Indus - inked with Diamine Red Dragon

TWSBI 1.5mm stub (JoWo #5), in a TWSBI 540, inked with De Atramentis Sherlock Holmes.

 

http://i.imgur.com/j8is7tF.jpg

 

And here's an initial writing sample - beginning with a TWSBI M nib for comparison:

 

http://i.imgur.com/5f9xvap.jpg

 

Writing Experience

I really enjoyed writing with these nibs. They definitely lay down a thinner down-stroke than the TWSBI 1.5mm and the Goulet 1.1mm - and marginally less than the Lamy 1.1mm. More significantly, the writing experience was much, MUCH smoother. The nibs glided over the page, and were more forgiving than their untipped counterparts. They also allowed me to write smaller - closer to my normal writing style.

 

http://i.imgur.com/5f9xvap.jpg

 

There was a trade-off for this improvement: not only are the downstrokes (thick lines) thinner than for my other stubs, but the side-strokes (thin lines) are just a little thicker - at least, that's the way it looks with my writing - so that the 'italic' look (line variation) is diminished. For mine, that's a very acceptable trade-off - especially given the smoothness of the writing experience - but it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

 

Close-Up

In the following two photos, I'm comparing just one FPR stub nib (left), to the TWSBI 1.5 mm nib (top), the Goulet 1.1mm (bottom) - while the nib to the right is a FPR Broad. The latter has a visibly rounder tip - gives little or no line variation when writing.

 

http://i.imgur.com/QUSD6Yg.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/ERF39t9.jpg

 

Summing Up

For the price, these stub nibs are an absolute steal - and a great pleasure to use. I'd be more than happy to recommend them. Though they're billed as a #5.5 nib (to differentiate them from the earlier #5 offerings), they'll fit onto pretty well any 5mm-diameter feed (i.e. #5 nib pens) - including (so I'm told) the TWSBI Diamond 580. The Serwex pens I ordered them on had gold-coloured furniture, so were installed with two-tone nibs to match - but you can also buy them as straight stainless steel.

 

Standard Disclaimer: though I have previously received free review pens from FPR (the new Indus pen, in blue and Demonstrator), I purchased these nibs (and pens) with my own money - and have not been solicited or compensated in any way for this review.

[rwilsonedn]

Thanks for the detailed review! I couldn't wait to order one of these either, but mine hasn't arrived yet. Now I am even more eager to try it.

I had better luck with the earlier #5 fine stub. Mine is smooth, and actually shows a wonderfully subtle line variation on my clumsy cursive script. You almost don't see the variation, but still the loops in particular look a little bit more interesting than with an F or M nib.

ron

[Randal6393]

I enjoy the FPR pens a lot. Am glad to see such a good review on the new nib. Guess I will order a few to add to my collection.

 

Thanks,

[Jamerelbe]

  On 4/8/2015 at 5:22 PM, rwilsonedn said:

Thanks for the detailed review! I couldn't wait to order one of these either, but mine hasn't arrived yet. Now I am even more eager to try it.

I had better luck with the earlier #5 fine stub. Mine is smooth, and actually shows a wonderfully subtle line variation on my clumsy cursive script. You almost don't see the variation, but still the loops in particular look a little bit more interesting than with an F or M nib.

ron

Glad to hear you had better luck with the old stub nibs - I was a relatively new fountain pen user when I bought them, and wasn't game to try and smooth them. I agree, though, they gave a subtle line variation. I suspect you'll get a more visible line variation with these ones, especially if you're more skilled than me at wielding a stub nib!

[Jamerelbe]

  On 4/8/2015 at 9:06 PM, Randal6393 said:

I enjoy the FPR pens a lot. Am glad to see such a good review on the new nib. Guess I will order a few to add to my collection.

 

Thanks,

Let us know what you think when you've had a chance to try one? I'm a fairly messy writer (see above!), and would love to see what these nibs can do in a more 'disciplined' hand...

[Shubhranshu Das]

Thank you... Have you tried the FPR nib on a TWSBI as yet... Very interested in that option...

Encouraged to buy extra nibs for testing... I prefer the stubs and italic nibs ... Recently started experimenting with flex nibs

[Jamerelbe]

  On 9/28/2015 at 7:20 PM, Shubhranshu Das said:

Thank you... Have you tried the FPR nib on a TWSBI as yet... Very interested in that option...

Encouraged to buy extra nibs for testing... I prefer the stubs and italic nibs ... Recently started experimenting with flex nibs

I did try a stub nib on my Eco, and found it sat a bit too loosely between feed and housing, but others have managed to transplant them successfully. I might give it another go... The tighter fit within a 580 nib assembly would almost certainly work.

[Shubhranshu Das]

Ok... Thank you... need to check the web site again... A #6 nib may fit better...

[Highbinder]

My FPR Jaipur arrived just this morning. My experience so far mirrors yours - compared to my Lamy Safari with 1.1 italic it is smoother with less line variation. Just as a stub should be compared to an italic! Compared to my other stub, a 1960s MB OB, it is almost as smooth but less broad with less line variation.

 

Heres a quick snap, excuse my mad scrawl. Inked with Cultpens deep dark brown ink.

 

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e25/HBinder/DSCF3728-2.jpg

[Jamerelbe]

  On 9/29/2015 at 7:07 AM, Shubhranshu Das said:

Ok... Thank you... need to check the web site again... A #6 nib may fit better...

Nope, a #6 nib would be way too big - the #5.5 is a pretty good fit, but seemed to fit just a little bit loose the last time I tried it. Will certainly try again though, to see if I can get it to work!

[Jamerelbe]

  On 9/29/2015 at 11:29 AM, Highbinder said:

My FPR Jaipur arrived just this morning. My experience so far mirrors yours - compared to my Lamy Safari with 1.1 italic it is smoother with less line variation. Just as a stub should be compared to an italic! Compared to my other stub, a 1960s MB OB, it is almost as smooth but less broad with less line variation.

 

Heres a quick snap, excuse my mad scrawl. Inked with Cultpens deep dark brown ink.

 

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e25/HBinder/DSCF3728-2.jpg

Glad you like the nib - I've got several of them now, and find them very generous writers! Wish the line variation was just a little more pronounced - but that's a relatively small quibble...

[Randal6393]

My, a good revisit on this thread. Yes, I have a Jaipur and a Guru, both with the 1.0 mm stub. Sharpened both stubs to a cursive italic, write very well indeed. Both pens perform as well as any that I have in my pen box. That includes a Lamy 2000, broad nib sharpened to an italic, and a Pelikan M200, broad sharpened to an italic.

 

The 1.0 nib is a bit finer than several of my other italic nibs, works out very well for writing a 2-mm miniscule. Makes my normal italic cursive stand out well. And does a great job for the Carolingian writing I am currently studying.

 

Best of luck,

[Jamerelbe]

  On 9/29/2015 at 4:21 PM, Randal6393 said:

My, a good revisit on this thread. Yes, I have a Jaipur and a Guru, both with the 1.0 mm stub. Sharpened both stubs to a cursive italic, write very well indeed. Both pens perform as well as any that I have in my pen box. That includes a Lamy 2000, broad nib sharpened to an italic, and a Pelikan M200, broad sharpened to an italic.

 

The 1.0 nib is a bit finer than several of my other italic nibs, works out very well for writing a 2-mm miniscule. Makes my normal italic cursive stand out well. And does a great job for the Carolingian writing I am currently studying.

 

Best of luck,

Thanks for posting this - would be interested to know what adjustments you made to the nib to sharpen to cursive italic!

[Randal6393]

  On 9/30/2015 at 3:49 AM, Jamerelbe said:

Thanks for posting this - would be interested to know what adjustments you made to the nib to sharpen to cursive italic!

Ground the 45 degree angle behind the writing edge so as to thin the tip of the nib. That was after grinding the nib so it was straight across, with no rounded corners. Flossed the nib with a brass sheet to maintain the nib slit. Checked to make sure the space between nib and feed was adequate but not too wide.

 

Enjoy,

 

PS: Work slowly, don't overdo it, and write with the pen on a test paper often. It's easy to ruin a pen -- that's why I use a hand stone rather than a power grinder.

[Shubhranshu Das]

Appreciate the details given on the adjustments made to the nib.... Very useful...

Thank you

[Jamerelbe]

  On 10/31/2015 at 10:49 AM, Shubhranshu Das said:

Appreciate the details given on the adjustments made to the nib.... Very useful...

Thank you

 

I haven't tried Randal's technique yet - I need to buy a hand stone or some coarser grit micromesh - but am keen to have a go when life gets a little less crazy (half my home-office is packed right now, ahead of a move). Make sure you post something here if you adjust your stub nib - I agree with the comment you made on another thread, it would be nice if the line variation on these nibs was a bit more pronounced!

[Shubhranshu Das]

  On 10/31/2015 at 11:07 AM, Jamerelbe said:

I haven't tried Randal's technique yet - I need to buy a hand stone or some coarser grit micromesh - but am keen to have a go when life gets a little less crazy (half my home-office is packed right now, ahead of a move). Make sure you post something here if you adjust your stub nib - I agree with the comment you made on another thread, it would be nice if the line variation on these nibs was a bit more pronounced!

Hi, I certainly will upload what I finally get... In fact I'm on my way to see if I can get a hand stone and micro mesh or every very fine Emory...

[mhguda]

It would also be good to write to Kevin and let him know you're a bit disappointed with the stub. It's a pity these comments were posted after I ordered and received my Jaipur. I was so disappointed with the line variation that the stub nib gave that I've swapped it out and put a completely different nib in - this one is a flex from a European vintage pen.

It works well, so my adventure ends well, but I've written to Kevin to let him know, and he seemed surprised. If others pipe up maybe they'll do something about the nib...

[Jamerelbe]

  On 10/31/2015 at 1:41 PM, mhguda said:

It would also be good to write to Kevin and let him know you're a bit disappointed with the stub. It's a pity these comments were posted after I ordered and received my Jaipur. I was so disappointed with the line variation that the stub nib gave that I've swapped it out and put a completely different nib in - this one is a flex from a European vintage pen.

It works well, so my adventure ends well, but I've written to Kevin to let him know, and he seemed surprised. If others pipe up maybe they'll do something about the nib...

 

I can understand why you might be disappointed with these nibs - though if you check my original review, I made the comment there that the line variation was not as significant as for my other stub nibs - but having bought several of them now (I think I have at least 6!), I have to say that it's not as big an issue for me. I'd prefer it if the line variation were more pronounced; but I'm happy enough with them as they are.

[Shubhranshu Das]

An update on the FPR Jaipur stub grind.... Thanks to Randal 6393 I was directed to the article by Ludwig Tan on grinding a tipped nib to an italic... It took me quite a while to get the Arkansas stone ... By then by some quirk of fate I ordered a second Jaipur with a stub nib...

 

My experience with the 1 mm FPR stub was a bit disappointing as there was no line variation, a very wet and smooth writer.. But the writing results were similar to a standard broad...

 

Using Ludwig Tan's article I have managed to grind the nib to deliver a more differentiated line variation... I will work on it some more to improve the shape and smoothness and hopefully if I don't destroy the nib, show the effects of the grind

Regards