The Truth About Oblique Nibs?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Back in silver dime days when many school kids still wrote with fountain pens, some canted their nibs.

 

It was completely natural, there was always a few kids who did. Not enough to be 'normal', just enough to notice. I'd asked some one I knew well in tenth grade why he held his nib 'wrong' he said, it felt natural. Made the same marks on paper as my 'normal' hold.

 

 

Perhaps they are left eye dominate, and need to see the nib better?????? Just a idea out of nowhere.

 

Back then with the US kids, we were so ignorant of fountain pens. I had never heard of oblique nibs. (stubs, or Italic either)

Of course we bought the cheap school pens at Woolworth. So nib widths were M's.

 

IMO in I had a modern Oblique nail, it was so designed for folks that naturally canted their pens, in there was 'no' line variation I noticed.

Of course it could be I was using the wrong ink.

The pen was put in a box, only after it was made CI did it come out of the box.

 

Yep some folks hold their nibs 'wrong'/canted and always will. Modern Obliques are good for them.

Wouldn't want them to go back to ball points now would you?

 

I do recommend vintage pre'66 Obliques over modern. They are more fun.

[AltecGreen]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXoNE14U_zM

[Mickey]

I do not believe, and I don't think Michael suggests it in his original post, that oblique nibs were invented to account for the rolling of the pen. I think it's a tool that is meant to make a specific task easier. The fact that the design of the nib also helps people who, for whatever reason, roll their pens is IMO not the reason for its existence.

 

 

As to why obliques were developed, we are in complete accord. Our only possible area of disagreement is that obliques offer any other advantage other than facilitating certain scripts and that the business about accommodating grip anomalies is anything other than marketing, i.e., someone, either from ignorance or desire to increase sales of a slow moving product, cooked up the rolled grip nonsense. I say it's bunk, at best placebo.

 

How about we produce a new car (hybrid, of course) with the front end cut on the bias to allow eccentric drivers to stare at the left front tire rather than the road?

Edited October 13, 2012 by Mickey

[Biber]

... I think it's a tool that is meant to make a specific task easier. The fact that the design of the nib also helps people who, for whatever reason, roll their pens is IMO not the reason for its existence.

 

Isn't that really the bottom line? One must decide what line variation is the goal (ie., in which direction the thinest and thickest lines should be: vertical, horizontal, left diagonal, right diagonal) and what shape nib will allow you, or at least help you, achieve that goal.

 

Rotating or rolling the nib falls into this category too, I would imagine. As for it being a bad thing, it's really a moot point. If you rotate and the pen still writes well, good for you (Parker 75s even allowed for a dialed in preset rotation afterall). If it doesn't write then you shouldn't rotate as much. With obliques and angled nibs, rotation only comes into play with regard to which side of the nib, right side up or up side down, you end up writing with.

Edited October 13, 2012 by Biber