Baby's Bottom

[garythepenman]

I have often seen "baby's bottom" refered to. What is this phenomenom apart from a delicately powdered rear end ?.

If one was to suffer from 'Baby's bottom" what is the cure ?. Please don't say "ointment".

Sorry for the stupid question.

Gary

[chainwhip]

I have often seen "baby's bottom" refered to. What is this phenomenom apart from a delicately powdered rear end ?.

If one was to suffer from 'Baby's bottom" what is the cure ?. Please don't say "ointment".

Sorry for the stupid question.

Gary

Gary-

 

I asked the same question in another thread, but I found this:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/nib_primer.htm

 

From Richard's Nib Primer Article:

Hard Starting: This is the condition that occurs when a nib does not start laying down ink immediately upon contact with the paper. The most common nib-related cause of hard starting is slit edges that are improperly ground. Look at the shape of a round nib in cross-section, shown at the left below. Note the slight rounding of the edges where the slit is cut through. If these edges are not rounded, the nib is likely to be scratchy. Many inexpensive modern pens, and some not so inexpensive, have nibs that suffer this fault. But if the slit edges are rounded too much, capillary action will hold the ink too far away from the paper instead of drawing it toward the paper as intended, and the nib will have trouble starting. This condition is shown on the right in the figure here:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/ref_info/nib_primer/pad_round.gifhttp://www.richardspens.com/images/ref_info/nib_primer/too_round.gif

 

 

If your nib starts after a little extra push and then writes well, the fault may well be slit edges that are too round. Nibs with too-round slit edges tend to be very smooth, so there is a delicate balance between too round and just right.

 

When in doubt, consult the Oracle of Nashua.

[wimg]

Hi Gary,

 

Just to make it more complicated: you can have a partial baby bottom, too. This results in the pen skipping only when held at a certain angle, and is often noticed in downstrokes, especially when they are executed fast. You'll find that many people turn their wrist down to do a quick downstroke, which obviously alters the angle the pen makes with the paper.

 

To find out if that is the case, you have to try writing keeping the pen at a constant angle, and every so often change the angle a few degrees, for example starting at about 90 degrees, and going down to 30 or 40. Just write a few lines with every downward step. You'll notice very quickly where the problem angle is, if that is indeed the case.

 

It is something that can be fixed fairly easily, with some very fine mylar.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[garythepenman]

Thanks Wim,

 

You are always a fountain (excuse pun) of knowledge.

 

Gary

[refillczar]

Also European nibs tend to have bigger baby bottoms than Japanese ones. Just from my observations.

[mulrich]

Gary-

 

I asked the same question in another thread, but I found this:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/ref_info/nib_primer.htm

 

From Richard's Nib Primer Article:

 

 

When in doubt, consult the Oracle of Nashua.

 

 

The link to Richard's nib primer changed:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/ref/nibs/primer.htm