Tale of a nib grind

[troglokev]

I've had my current Mont Blanc 149 for a year or so, and have been less than satisfied with its performance. Despite having an EF nib, it wrote like a medium (a common complaint around here). With no great chance of improvement on a nib exchange, I decided to do something about it and grind the nib.

 

Before:

 

The nib had a quite large contact area, which made it far too broad for my hand, but there's plenty of tipping material there, so I came up with the following cunning plan:

The idea was to grind a flat area at my normal writing angle with the nib reversed (which gives me a medium point if I ever want it) and at the same time reduce the contact area of the nib in the normal writing position. I'd need to shave a little off the base and sides as well. I used the pink part of a nail buffer for bulk material removal, and checked the line thickness frequently, as I didn't want to go too far with this. When I was getting close on line width, I moved to the finer grades.

 

The result is seen in the samples with the plan. I'm a lot happier with the way it writes, now.

 

Here's the "after" image:

 

Still plenty of tipping material there, but it's always important to know when to stop, and that's about as far as I want to go.

 

[J-san]

Very well done! I like the plans you laid out prior to the grind. I'm a habitual grinder of nibs because I can only use XF or finer nibs due to my small writing. Just about every pen that has made it into my rotation has gone to the grind wheel for some modification. I never drew up any plans for a grind, but just took it slow and frequently checked the shape and made corrections until the desired final outcome. It really is a good feeling to know you have modified your pen to write exactly the way you like. It adds a fun new dimension to pen collecting.

[Maine Vintner]

Nice job. Bold! Thanks for the pics and the process.

 

Regards,

Vintner

[troglokev]

Thanks for the kind comments, guys.

 

If there's one thing I've learned from a career in engineering, it's that you need a plan (or in this case, a couple of elevations ).

[RevAaron]

Do you keep a really static angle relative to the paper? Seems like you'd catch on the edges- rather, I would as I use different angles depending on if I'm standing, sitting, pad on lap, etc.

 

Looking at the photo pre-grind all I gotta say is: that's an EF?! I've broads with finer tips! But great work!

Edited October 5, 2008 by RevAaron

[troglokev]

Do you keep a really static angle relative to the paper? Seems like you'd catch on the edges- rather, I would as I use different angles depending on if I'm standing, sitting, pad on lap, etc.

 

Looking at the photo pre-grind all I gotta say is: that's an EF?! I've broads with finer tips! But great work!

 

Well, it was finer than the fine point I tried when I bought it. I couldn't write with that one at all! I have ... opinions ... on the current state of nib manufacture at Mont Blanc. They do seem to have lost the plot over the last ten years or so.

 

As far as catching on edges is concerned, I've been writing with it all day, to try it out on various types of paper, and haven't had a problem. The photo makes the writing surface look a lot flatter than it does under a loupe, too. Given that I'm happy with the result, I'm not going to risk mucking around with it.

[skma]

Wow, bad boy's job eh? Nah..just kidding..

 

Well done! I must admit that i myself would not be able to garner enough courage to start similar workings on my 149

[FrankB]

Thou hast more fortitude than I. I would never attempt a regrind myself. Congrats!

[stevlight]

You just used a regular emery board/ nail buffer??? And it worked?? If it does my wife is going to have alot fewer emery boards/nail buffers around.

[Rob G]

I've redone all of my Sonnets to italic, from XF to BB. I also redid a 75 (fake, of course) to look like a Pilot 78G Double Broad. (There's no iridium on it, and it's one of my favorite writers.)

 

I usually bring them down to a chisel point, then I get the width where I want it, then I scribble circles and figure-eights on a piece of wet/dry 1500 paper. Once the size of the stroke is good, I take some really fine abrasive and round off any sharp edges, followed by flossing the tines with a razor blade.

 

Have I wrecked any nibs? Lord, yes. I would not do this to any pen whose nib could not be replaced, but Sonnet points are widely available.

[georges zaslavsky]

Nice job I smoothened the nib of my 1977 MB 149 and also lightly regrinded the nib after I bought it in march 2008. The results were far better I expected, not only the ink flow is better but the nib glides on the paper and it is one of my very best writers.

Edited October 11, 2008 by georges zaslavsky

[troglokev]

You just used a regular emery board/ nail buffer??? And it worked?? If it does my wife is going to have alot fewer emery boards/nail buffers around.

 

Yes, and a loupe, so that I could check progress and keep everything symmetrical.

 

An emery board would be okay for the early part of the process, but you need something finer towards the end, to get a smooth enough surface for writing. The four step nail buffers have a polishing surface that is fine enough for the final finishing. I used the coarse grade for bulk (!) material removal, and worked my way to the finer grades, as I got closer to the final version.

 

And remember: if you've taken off too little, it's fixable. If you take off too much, it's not.

 

My apologies to your wife.

Edited October 11, 2008 by troglokev

[skma]

I've redone all of my Sonnets to italic, from XF to BB. I also redid a 75 (fake, of course) to look like a Pilot 78G Double Broad. (There's no iridium on it, and it's one of my favorite writers.)

 

I usually bring them down to a chisel point, then I get the width where I want it, then I scribble circles and figure-eights on a piece of wet/dry 1500 paper. Once the size of the stroke is good, I take some really fine abrasive and round off any sharp edges, followed by flossing the tines with a razor blade.

 

Have I wrecked any nibs? Lord, yes. I would not do this to any pen whose nib could not be replaced, but Sonnet points are widely available.

Nice to hear your work of regrinding nibs even from EF to BB! Hard to imagine. Would the ink flow feels scratchy without the iridium?

[Daedalus1]

You are brave man. I would not dare.....

[AJP]

Ok. I have a 149 that is a fine and it writes like a medium, almost a bold in my taste. After seeing your post I think Im gonna go for it.

[Rob G]

Nice to hear your work of regrinding nibs even from EF to BB! Hard to imagine. Would the ink flow feels scratchy without the iridium?

 

No, not in the least. The "75" writes like a double-broad 78G - like driving on wet ice.

 

The important thing, to me, at least, is not how hard the tip is, but how smooth. Some may disagree, but the results speak for themselves.

 

[surlysimon]

I posted this in another topic but I thought people might be interested here.

i have ground a fair number of nibs down mostly to XXXF size which is what I prefer

 

I use Diamond Laps to do the rough work and then prgress down through 1200 Wet and Dry to ultra fine Abrasive films

 

Works for me

 

Simon

[troglokev]

Having tried a couple of SurlySimon's pens, I can vouch for his work!