Dip Pen Nib In A Fountain Pen?

[Pickwick]

makes me want to try, but i only have two flex dip pens, so i'd have to buy a box of vintage ones. at least they're inexpensive. i would fit them in the two unused sheaffer nononsense sections i have (i lost the pen itself ).

 

As I practise with this dip pen nib, I'm beginning to feel The response of it and I'm slowly improving my handwriting. I can also see the flow of ink running through the elongated hole of the nib which seems to give me a better interaction somehow. I know this sounds strange, probably just one of my many idiosyncracies which comes with ageing!

 

Moving on,

 

Pickwick

[notgiven]

Wouldn't corrosion be a problem?

[andybiotic]

E.S. Johnson 14k dip pen nib on modern Duofold

 

 

Modified vintage 14k dip pen nib on a Waterman 100 Year pen

 

 

Are those yours? Would LOVE to see some writing samples....

 

The Johnson 14 dip pen nib looks like it can flex like a super duper wetter than water over cooked mushy noodle! :roflmho: Just look at the length of those tines...

 

How does not having a vent hole effect its performance in a pen with a feed though? :hmm1:

[jbb]

Wouldn't corrosion be a problem?

When steel dip nibs are used in fountain pens corrosion of the nib happens in its natural course. I change the nibs as needed just like I would in a dip pen holder.

[Shangas]

If the nib is made of gold, then corrosion shouldn't be a problem. Steel nibs would need to be changed every few months due to rusting and whatnot.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Doesn't the ink dry out due to exposure to the air through those enormous breather holes :hmm1: ?

[jbb]

Doesn't the ink dry out due to exposure to the air through those enormous breather holes :hmm1: ?

I only use mine as dip pens so when my nib is dry I dip it in ink again.

[Pickwick]

Doesn't the ink dry out due to exposure to the air through those enormous breather holes :hmm1: ?

 

My experience so far has found the ink has never dried out. In fact I can see the ink flowing down the feed through the hole. Even leaving both the Waltham and Sheaffer desk pen {I keep the nib covered with an old fountain pen cap which fits nicely} a couple of days they write first time.

[Ink Stained Wretch]

Doesn't the ink dry out due to exposure to the air through those enormous breather holes :hmm1: ?

 

My experience so far has found the ink has never dried out. In fact I can see the ink flowing down the feed through the hole. Even leaving both the Waltham and Sheaffer desk pen {I keep the nib covered with an old fountain pen cap which fits nicely} a couple of days they write first time.

What ink are you using?

 

I have a dip pen very like that Chancellor, with a crescent shaped hole perpendicular to the nib slit. But the back end of that pen is so long that it'd have to be cut away to get the business end of the pen short enough to fit into a fountain pen.

 

I see that you've cut down the backs of the pens. What did you use to get that done? I don't know that I have anything around the house that would cut the steel without bending the part I wanted to leave alone unwarped .

[Pickwick]

Doesn't the ink dry out due to exposure to the air through those enormous breather holes :hmm1: ?

 

My experience so far has found the ink has never dried out. In fact I can see the ink flowing down the feed through the hole. Even leaving both the Waltham and Sheaffer desk pen {I keep the nib covered with an old fountain pen cap which fits nicely} a couple of days they write first time.

What ink are you using?

 

I have a dip pen very like that Chancellor, with a crescent shaped hole perpendicular to the nib slit. But the back end of that pen is so long that it'd have to be cut away to get the business end of the pen short enough to fit into a fountain pen.

 

I see that you've cut down the backs of the pens. What did you use to get that done? I don't know that I have anything around the house that would cut the steel without bending the part I wanted to leave alone unwarped .

 

I used a Dremel with a grinding wheel and holding the nib with small needle nosed pliers to cut through the back end which fits into the section with the feed, then rounded them off and thinned the metal slightly in order for it to slide in fairly easily along with feed into the section. The nibs I've been using, named Esterbrook, are made of hard steel which has a spring to it although I've discovered the back of the nib can be flattened to fit snuggly on the feed with a pair of pliers. I'm using Diamine Green/Black and Noodler's Manhattan Blue. Both inks are performing well and give a good flow without being too wet.

 

I've ordered some Hunt nibs to see how well they work.

[Scrawler]

I am glad I found this thread. It has become a bit of a hobby for my doing this. I have built Frankenpens based on several Esterbrooks, Wearever and Remington with a variety of Esterbrook, Banks and Hunt nibs. It seems there are quite a few people interested in this idea (it is the only way I will ever get the flex I desire). The next trick will be to gold plate and iridium tip an Imperial #101 to produce a long lasting superflex nib.

[marigolds]

I am glad I found this thread. It has become a bit of a hobby for my doing this. I have built Frankenpens based on several Esterbrooks, Wearever and Remington with a variety of Esterbrook, Banks and Hunt nibs. It seems there are quite a few people interested in this idea (it is the only way I will ever get the flex I desire). The next trick will be to gold plate and iridium tip an Imperial #101 to produce a long lasting superflex nib.

 

Wow. I want to hear how that goes!

[Scrawler]

I am glad I found this thread. It has become a bit of a hobby for my doing this. I have built Frankenpens based on several Esterbrooks, Wearever and Remington with a variety of Esterbrook, Banks and Hunt nibs. It seems there are quite a few people interested in this idea (it is the only way I will ever get the flex I desire). The next trick will be to gold plate and iridium tip an Imperial #101 to produce a long lasting superflex nib.

 

Wow. I want to hear how that goes!

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/221942-my-frankenpen/page__view__findpost__p__2353496

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/232529-fester/page__view__findpost__p__2497208

[Flaxmoore]

I've come across a somewhat amusing set of instructions from a 1913 Popular Mechanics issue on making your own fountain pen (from a pair of spent 38-72 rifle cartridges...) that uses a "steel pen", i.e. a dip pen nib.I mean, hell, there have been tipped dip pen nibs since (at least) the 1860s, so I imagine the distinction between a "dip nib" and a "fountain pen nib" was, early on, pretty academic.I have a couple gross of old very flexy Spencerian pen points somewhere, and a nice ebonite pen from Noodler's whose factory nib leaves a lot to be desired. And a Dremel. Hmmn...

Apologies for the necromancy, but considering I was planning to do this, it would be worth mentioning that 38-72 Winchester hasn’t been made since 1936. Some online firms make obsolete brass, but you’re talking 80 bucks for twenty. I’m working numbers to see what dimensions would be used to adapt the directions to 375, or something at least able to be bought.

[sidthecat]

I’ve spent a fair amount of time and money putting a handful of gold dip nibs into a handful of ringtop pens. The result is an astonishing amount of flex and something probably recognizable as addiction.

So go carefully, but go.

[dwattsjr]

Boston Pen People member Pier Gustafson, was a participant in December's BPP meeting ("Seminar Sunday") and did a talk on the frankenpens he creates using dip pen nibs in fountain pen bodies for his calligraphy work. He has a couple videos on the BPP Web site (http://bostonpenpeople.org/Boston_Pen_People/Videos.html) that you might want to check out - "The Frankenpen" and "Frankenpen NIb Study" There is also a video featuring Ted Clausen.

[Goudy]

Interesting videos. I notice that Pier doesn't seem to be using the filling systems of the fountain pens, just dipping them and using the feeds to retain ink.

 

When I put a vintage dip nib in a fountain pen body, my goal is to get the pen working without dipping, but I'm not always successful. It doesn't much bother me, though. It just becomes a "feature" of that particular frankenpen that I have to dip it occasionally.

[sidthecat]

The expedient seems sort of useless if you’re not actually putting ink in your fountain pen. I’d rather not have to schlep the impedimenta of dip pen use to my office and back.

[InkDog]

Then there was THIS!

[sidthecat]

Well, I hope you brought one for everyone.