Search the Community

What are the requirements for retipping a nib ? Can it be done using affordable machine ? Share your experience ! I have recently bought a Chinese welder for 100$ does it do the job or does it need more sophisticated tools both for gold and steel nibs. Thank you in advance

Just visited Richard Binder's site, and came across his statement about closing the retail side of his business down. Seems like a true heavyweight of the pen scene is leaving us, which will be a big loss for us all, especially those of us who were yet to try one of his magic nibs. Which led me to think if we, on this forum, should consider sponsoring or creating some kind of scholarship for members interested in learning from the great nib-meisters?! Even if a hundred members donated $10 each, that could go a long way to creating such a scholarship. It would be a real shame if these skills don't get passed on to the next generation. If we do manage to put something together, you can count me in with $200 as my contribution..!

I hope that getting a nib reground won't be a frequent need. In fact, if I sensibly stop with the pens that I've got, then I may never need it again. However, I really wanted the Montblanc Noblesse (or Noblesse Oblige, not sure) shown at the bottom of the picture to be a usable pen. It came to me having been reground as a left oblique, and it just didn't write very well. I don't think it was just me, as I have a couple of other left oblique nibs, but regardless, it wasn't working out for me. It just came back to me from Greg Minuskin, along with the Waterman, which only had to be aligned. He reground the Montblanc back to a "normal" .6 mm nib for me. I'd thought that this would surely involve re-tipping as well, but he told me it was not necessary, still enough tipping material for him to work with. I appreciated that, as the re-tipping would have added noticeably to the price. I got these back yesterday, and am very happy with both of them, but I can't stop writing with the Montblanc. It is now very smooth, just wet enough, and with the line width that I was aiming for. Well, actually I can stop, since I'm typing this, but you know what I mean. While the pens were gone, I remembered a Pelikan converter I had lying around, and wondered if it would fit the Montblanc. It does, which will spare me having to refill cartridges.