Lamy 2000 Custom Nib Grind.. Eeef?

[Finalist]

My days old Lamy 2000 ef is now a valuable member of my collection. Like many, many reviews state on the L2K the nibs tend to write bigger than stated. I like a variety of nib sizes, but for this ultra modern design I have a specific task for it. I want my L2K to be a daily drawing pen than can produce very thin lines, and perhaps slightly thicker (not flex), and have the tip take a beating. My favorite FP is my Namiki Falcon with John Mottishaw's Spencerian grind. The Falcon can produce very thin lines, but the added flex means the tines spread easily, and so some care is required on up strokes as to not stab the paper. Easily done, but not a daily workhorse product. Long story short.... My L2K fullfills my needs. I polished the sides of the tipping down a hair and basically copied the Mottishaw Falcon tip as best as I could. The L2K is now SERIOUSLY thin with light pressure, yet it can release some real wet juicy lines with some pressure. The L2K is also just as smooth and makes my TWSBI ef feel scratchy even though that too was smoothed a bit for more glide. Take a look...

 

For comparison here are some samples. The TWSBI mini ef is about twice as thick as the lightest pressure L2K line. The Falcon looks a hair thicker, but it's also wetter and has really cool feedback. The L2K produces the thinnest lines with light pressure and while they are not as wet as the Falcon's the L2K nib is MUCH smoother.

 

 

 

 

 

Check out the thin cross strokes in the shoulder versus the outline strokes:

 

 

 

 

[Finalist]

please excuse the bad handwriting. I wanted to crank out this demo before lunch!

[hardyoyo]

Wow, I've never had the guts to go for a needlepoint, though I have smoothed and adjusted many nibs. Mind if I ask for links to the resources you found most helpful in your research? I've got a Hero 329 on my desk that really seems to want to be a needlepoint.

[Finalist]

I didn't get nearly as much help from the internet as I did by looking at my Mottishaw Falcon needle point. The web just confirmed to go slowly... It took me two days of work- i took my time and barely ground anything off with each stroke on the foam covered sand paper (can't remember the technical name of those pads). I have 3,200 to 12,000 grit. At first the point was more of a true ef architect point which was very very cool. The down strokes were a needle while the cross stroke was a traditional western ef. However, i wanted all needlepoint, so I really studied the Mottishaw grind and kept at it. I also really think that I didn't loose any smoothness. This L2K is MUCH smoother than the Falcon needle point probably because the L2K nib is stiffer and the tines won't slip on each other like the Falcon can do on up strokes.

Edited June 24, 2014 by Finalist

[JemC]

Nice job!

 

I've converted a lot of pens to Needles over the last couple years. Caution and practice certainly help, but referencing other successful nibs is definitely the main thing for me as well. I don't have any Nibmeistered pens (yet), so I've been very curious to see the small details and deviations.

 

I think the current state of my L2K is probably quite similar to yours. I'll have to take some pictures to compare.

 

Pelikan nibs also work really well for this purpose.

[Finalist]

JemC,

I'd love to see some pics. Especially if you could take some macro shots of the tipping. Do you see the tipping, and then secondary built in "tipping" that is part of the nib's design?

 

 

One question I have about the L2K is the tipping. The nib is gold, with some sort of tipping and then it's all plated. It looks like the gold portion is forged to have a tip built into the nib design and then a smaller ball of Rhodium or something is added because there is a visual step between the traditional rhodium tipping material and then a larger "tip" that is part of the gold. Make sense? Basicaly grinding too much off will take off all of the rhodium tipping and then you can start to grind gold thinking you are still working on rhodium tipping if you don't look very carefully.

 

I think this extra "bump" in the gold nib is what makes L2Ks write fatter than standards... Along with wetness and some flex. (I wouldn't say it flexes, but it does offer about three size variations)

[Betweenthelines]

Well done! From what I understand, because of that very tipping situation L2K's are notoriously difficult to grind. Looks like a big success.

[Bo Bo Olson]

It's a Lamy EF exactly as stated.

It is not a Parker, Sheaffer, fat Sailor or skinny Pilot EF. It is a Lamy.

Each company has it's very own standards. Parker don't make nibs the same width as Sheaffer or their customers could start buying Sheaffer pens ....if they were the exact same. The Standards came from customer feed back, back when there were corner pen shops with qualified help. Parker customers liked a nib a tad wider than Sheaffer and got it.

 

Conway Stewart has a real wide standard. Japanese printing nibs, Pilot the thinnest.

 

In everyone knows Japanese nibs are skinnier than western, I do not understand why those who 'must' have the narrowest printing nib available, wastes money buying a fat western cursive nib....and then complains about it.

Buy Pilot and nothing else for your spiderweb and baby spiderweb lines. They do print better.

For skinny nibs buy Japanese and save your money and irritation.

Edited June 28, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[Finalist]

Bobo,

chill out.

I dont care if you don't like it. I love the Lamy 2000, and I love it even more now.

1. Nobody is complaining about anything

2. Your statement about brand nib size variation is already known.

3. I customized a pen that I own with my own skills. In my mind that makes it better than anything you could lecture me on.

4. Emoticons, underlining statements, bolding statements and acting like some authority that needs to lecture people is a waste.

 

Now I'm off to doodle a picture of a face palming emoticon with my smooth xxxf, Makrolon goodness, perfectly curved German L2K. It's a good day!

[discopig]

Great job on the grind! I never bought a Lamy 2000 because even the EF is too fat for me and I'm pretty sure I'd ruin the nib if I tried to grind it down.

[Finalist]

Thanks!

I've tried several different inks now and they all perform well. Earlier I was calling the tipping material rhodium. It's iridium. The iridium isn't as long as My Falcon's needle point, but it has a very similar shape. At one point the L2K grind was more like a very thin architect's point with fatter cross strokes and very thin down strokes. It made really cool letters, but I shaved down the very front by flipping it over and bringing the very tip down towards the writing surface. That was a big help and what the Falcon looks like.

[Betweenthelines]

Hey Finalist,

 

Any way you could shoot me a macro of the underside of your nib? I'd love to see how it looks.

 

I had a Lamy 2K medium ground to a stub and it seems that there's barely any tipping material left on it (though I love the lines it produces). As I said in my previous post, it seems that the lack of tipping on the 2K nibs is why some nibmeisters will only grind certain sizes (say, medium and up), and why others simply refuse to grind them at all.

[Finalist]

 

 

This is the only pic I have at the moment -- ithe L2K is at home and I'm away. You can see the little portion of tipping on the top. Knowing the writing angle and being able to just see that tiny little spot is the hardest part. I did a lot of grinding while the nib was upside down and held at an angle to evenly create a cross stroke that matches the down stroke.

[JemC]

JemC,

I'd love to see some pics. Especially if you could take some macro shots of the tipping. Do you see the tipping, and then secondary built in "tipping" that is part of the nib's design?

 

 

One question I have about the L2K is the tipping. The nib is gold, with some sort of tipping and then it's all plated. It looks like the gold portion is forged to have a tip built into the nib design and then a smaller ball of Rhodium or something is added because there is a visual step between the traditional rhodium tipping material and then a larger "tip" that is part of the gold. Make sense? Basicaly grinding too much off will take off all of the rhodium tipping and then you can start to grind gold thinking you are still working on rhodium tipping if you don't look very carefully.

 

Before I ground down my L2K I took a few sub par macro shots. Apparently one of them illustrates exactly what you're talking about.

 

I thought the architect's point effect was enjoyable for writing, but it doesn't quite suit me. I had wondered if that was something unique to my pen, or if most/all L2K nibs shared that character.

 

I've seen some Masuyama nibs that indicated a down-hook, but ended up doing more grinding from below than above. I'll probably slope it down more on the next one I pick up.

 

I'll get the post-grind pics up tomorrow (hopefully ).

[Finalist]

Thanks for the pic.

Mine has more of that writing surface shown in your pic taken away from the top part of the tipping if held normally, and more off the sides of the iridium. There is really no iridium where I don't need it. It sounds like you know what I mean. Sort of like a falcon's beak... Funny because it's modeled after what I see in the Namiki Falcon spencerian grind.

Edited July 2, 2014 by Finalist

[Finalist]

I have a video ready to upload to youtube, but I'm waiting for a wi-fi connection for HD quality. The video shows the pen in action using only it's own weight to draw a face and then at the end I write SUPERFINE as shown in this pic.

 

Pictured:

1. Karas Ink with a Pilot Hi-Tec C .3mm. Fantastic refill choice, but it always needs a few seconds of scribble to get going each day.

2. TWSBI Mini EF with Noodler's Eel Turquoise. I think the ink is making the nib a hair juicier than it could be.

3. Namiki Falcon with the JOhn Mottishaw Spencierian grind and Iroshizuku Tsuki-yo. Needle point with added flex. The line is super consistent, but writing this slow and small allows the tines to flex just a hair and John slightly increased flow.

4. Lamy 2000 with needle point grind. The tipping is still there, on all sides... but just barely. Shaping this dang thing took a LOT of work.

 

 

 

video to come later tonight.

[Finalist]

 

The pic in the previous post shows the text Inwrote at the end of this video.

[hari317]

 

very interesting thread, well done!

[penultress]

Agree, nice thread! I just happen to be in the market for a Lamy2K and did a search.

[Finalist]

 

I've posted this shot in other threads, but here it is for this thread. If you do this grind be sure not to grind the gold shelf plated in rhodium.