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Hi, This is a quick review of the DailyItalic custom grind from Indy-Pen-Dance of the Pilot Vanishing Point (VP) nib I received recently. The nib is the usual rhodium 18K gold that the VP line is known for. Some respected pen person (RPP) named Susan Wirth suggested that an Italic grind is game changer of an upgrade to one's pen enjoyment. Having only seen videos of her enthusiasm, I researched and found more RPPs in Mike and Linda at Indy-Pen-Dance whose work in nibs was well received and respected in the community. I've never had a nib ground and all my pens with exception of a few ebay vintage ones, have wrote out of the box to my liking. Nevertheless my endeared Pilot Fermo F seemed like the perfect candidate as the capless system ingeniously allows easy exchanges with the whole housing of nib, feed, ink holder between units. No screwing around, pulling of tines and what not. Indy-Pen-Dance DailyItalic appealed to my beginner sensibilities as it allows an easy transition from normal to slight line variation. I fully understood that a fine grind would be subtle as I tend to run/enjoy that line range. Indeed the line variation is subtle but perfect for my needs since I have many fine nibs already. The feel is even more smooth than the original untouched Vanishing Point nib. DailyItalic is described as a grind between cursive and stub italic On magnification, the DailyItalic appears similiar to Mike Masuyama Rounded Nose Cursive Italic. Is it worth it? For me, yes, a great intro to grinds. Would I do it again? Yes, but maybe to a nib that needed tuning and I would hold off on ordering now as the vendor is recovering. Overall, I am very pleased by the smooth forgiving writing experience with the subtle line variation that the DailyItalic offers. It really is a daily writing italic.

NOTE: this will not be a full-blown review like most others. There are countless reviews of the Pilot VP already, so I was aiming for more of a brief review of the nib itself, because I never could find much info on it prior to this purchase. I just received my Pilot Vanishing Point from Indy-Pen-Dance. I ordered it with their .8mm "DailyItalic" customization. I've been wanting to try a VP for a while to use as a notetaker during court/conferences/church. I tried to find some review and/or writing samples of this particular grind, but didn't really turn up much. However, I decided to roll the dice because I have read nothing but great things about Linda Kennedy's work. I ordered the pen last Wednesday and received it today (Monday). After a brief inspection I inked it up with Noodler's Apache Sunset (my go-to fun color at the moment). As to the pen itself, I wasn't sure how I'd like the clip being there. That concern was quickly dismissed, however, as I love the way the pen feels in my grip. I am extremely pleased with the overall design and quality of the pen. Now to the nib. Up to this point, the only custom grinds I've had were from Pendleton Brown (his BLS); although I have tried a Pilot factory stub (SU), a few oblique Esterbrook nibs, and a Goulet 1.1 stub. From what I gather, Pendleton's BLS is supposed to sit somewhere between a cursive italic and a stub, and that's also where this DailyItalic grind is supposed to fall. Linda told me it is intended to maintain the line variation of a cursive italic while having the ease-of-operation of a stub. I must say that she hit the nail on the head. In the photo below you can see there is a respectable amount of line variation. But as you can tell from my poor penmanship, the nib might perform better in more "capable" hands. As for smoothness, I think that's where this grind excels. It just glides effortlessly across the paper, like butter margarin. Really, I was surprised at how smooth it is; it's just fantastic! Comparing it to the Pendleton's BLS, I'd say it falls slightly more towards the stub end of the spectrum. I feel that I get slightly more line variation from Pendleton nibs, but this grind from Linda is definitely smoother and more user friendly than my last grind from Pendleton. With Pendleton's BLS I still have to be somewhat mindful of my technique and writing angle, else I might snag the paper a bit. This DailyItalic grind is more forgiving. If I get off angle too bad I just get unpleasant feedback, as opposed to outright snagging. The only negative (if you can even call it that) is that the nib isn't quite as wet as I'd like, but that's my fault for not thinking of mentioning that in my order. All in all, it is a wonderful nib and I am certain I will be getting another DailyItalic-equipped pen in the future. I also want to point out that the comparison of Pendleton's BLS to Linda's DailyItalic is not meant to say that one is any better than the other. Rather, they are just variations on the theme of italic/stub hybrids; each offers something a little different than the other. I do love both, and I actually have another Pilot in Pendleton's queue at the moment. So I make this comparison of the two only because I feel it may be useful to others who are familiar with Pendleton's work. Finally, I hope this "review" is helpful to others who are interested in Linda's DailyItalic grind. http://i463.photobucket.com/albums/qq352/lpdb185/IMG_1107.jpg