Stub of Flex

[kivanck]

Hi, I've been using fountain pens for about a year and now I want to try something new and different with my handwriting. From what I read I conclude that a stub nib or a flex nib can be a good choice. So which one is a good starting point: stub or flex nib? And after that I'll ask about pens

 

Regards.

[DrPJM1]

Try a stub first. Flex nibs take time to master, and you definitely do not want to damage it.

[DrPJM1]

You can also try italic nibs.

[framebaer]

Hi,

Stubs, italics, and flex nibs are all great fun. I would say thet a crisp italic nib would be the easiest and most dramatic nib to start out with for fooling around. Flex nibs are harder to master imho unless you have some natural calligraphic skills. Stubs are nice but don't give the dramatic effects of an italic. Also width is important in italica the wider sizes are more dramatic than the fines. A .9 or 1.1 will be much less subtle. Go to Richard Binders website for much better detail on all this! click on reference info.

 

www.richardspens.com

Edited May 8, 2006 by framebaer

[Richard]

I'd suggest a stub italic for your first specialty nib. Stubs are easy to use, and they lend character to your everyday writing. You don't have to stop or even slow down to think about the pen -- this is as it should be, with the pen being an extension of your self, not a thing that interposes itself between you and your writing.

 

Cursive italics give more line variation but require more practice to establish proficiency.

 

Crisp italics are calligraphy nibs, and very few people can use them for ordinary writing. (I can write as fast with one of my crisp italics as with any other pen, but then I do this every day...) FWIW, my crisp italics are really crisp -- I lap them to an edge that is literally as sharp as a knife.

 

Flex comes last. Trust me on this.

Edited May 8, 2006 by Richard

[RonB]

I recently bought one of Richard Binder's .7mm Italic Cursives and it is very nice to write with and provides a lot of variation in line width. I love it.

 

My understanding is that there is a trade-off between the amount of line variation and the smoothness of the nib. I plan on next trying one of Richard's stubs for a smoother experience. Then, I want.......

 

Ron

[Stephen-I-am]

Is is true that a larger version of a stub in practise give a bit more variation?

 

Stephen

[Richard]

Is is true that a larger version of a stub in practise give a bit more variation?

Yes.

[Dan Carmell]

I recenly bought a Pelikan M200 with one of Richard's stub nibs from Dennis Bowden. Let me preface this by saying that I have used cursive italics ground by Richard, Mottishaw and several others. I struggle with them all, because I cannot break myself of the habit of rotating the pen as I write. However, this .5 mm (I think) stub is very easy to use and gives clear line definition. I don't have to think about or work at it and it looks darn nice!

 

best, Dan

[FrankB]

You have gotten excellent advice from the others. I will add a suggestion I have made to a couple of my friends who are also interested in trying different nibs. You might consider getting a Pelikan in the 200 to 400 range so you have the ability to interchange nibs. Richard's steel nibs are quite affortable, and you can try a range of custom nibs to see what suits you best. (Steel nibs are not gold nibs, true, but you can at least get an idea of what the various nibs are like.) - At the end of your experimentation, you can either have a nice pen with several custom nibs, or you can sell your pen, probably very easily, on one of the on-line pen boards.

 

I hope you have fun with your quest. Please consider posting your observations here as you experiment.

[kivanck]

Thanks to everyone, that really helped much. I had some idea on stubs but I think I had a misunderstanding on flex nibs, I should forget about them for a while, but that pelikan 140 was sooo beautiful

[chainwhip]

Just to add to the question - does anybody use a flexy stub?

[Michael Wright]

For a nib for a nice pen, a stubbish nib rather than a pure italic would be a good idea. OTOH, to try out an extreme italic, you can get one of the calligraphy pens that are widely sold. With a bit of hunting, you might find a cartridge-filling set with three nibs for about the price of a nice stub for a good pen. Names for calligraphy pens are Lamy (? Joy), Rotring Art Pen, Sheaffer, Osmiroid, Parker (less frequently seen).

 

The advice to get a Pelikan is excellent, if you want a better pen on which you can easily interchange nibs. Once upon a time, Pelikan made pure italics that would screw into a 200/400 -- I don't know if they're still made.

 

I wouldn't rule out a flex nib totally. You could start with a dip pen and a suitable nib -- a good art supplies place might be able to fix you up with both an italic and a flexy dipper. There are also quite a lot of pens around with semi-flex nibs, like a lot of Pelikans from the 1950s. You're less likely to get into trouble with one of those, and whilst you won't get the line variation of a wet noodle flex, they can make *very* pleasant every day nibs.

 

I have a couple of nibs that might be called flex stubs, but I have small handwriting and they just don't suit.

 

Best

 

Michael