Stub O' The Day

[dcpritch]

Very nice pen , I am going to receive the same pen than yours but in marbled grey and blue celluloid with a flexible fine nib, congrats on your pen.

 

Georges, have you received yours yet? Wondering how you like it.

[dcpritch]

Its been a while since I posted a pen here, not because I haven't been using any but just because summertime is always so busy with ... enjoying summer. I hope you are all doing the same (except of course our Southern Hemisphere friends - don't worry, your time will soon come).

 

Wirt BCHR eyedropper, 14k Warranted nib

 

This pen is really fun to use, not just because it writes so well, but due to its age. I'm no stranger to vintage pens, but its not often I use a 110 year old pen. The Wirt is in remarkable shape for its age - it required only a good cleaning of the feed, a little straightening of the tines, and it was off and running. The nib is most likely not the original nib, as I believe Wirt nibs were generally stamped as such and the early model nibs (such as would have gone with this pen) didn't have breather holes. However, the feed is original, with its odd shape and breather holes. I would guess that somewhere along the way the original nib was damaged and replaced at a pen repair shop. However it came together, the nib has nice width and flexes to an even wider width, good line variation, is quite smooth at any pressure, and is a joy to use. My experience is that original wide nibs on vintage pens are difficult to find but always worth the effort.

 

 

[Moxoftritonytes]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2e5ttas.gif

 

This is a fountain pen that I customized myself by regrinding the medium nib into a stub. It is now a very smooth writer and less dry than a Safari user is used to normally. I used a two-sided japanese wetstone for the rough shaping, some flintstone (i.e. vulcanic glass) for the first polishing and for the final polishing the glass surface of an old Montblanc inkwell. To get a highgloss polish at the end I used a dremel tool with felt cone and a tiny bit of polishing compound at a speed of 8500rpm. To control all steps taken I used an Eschenbach 12x magnifier.

I have turned several Lamy Z50 steel nibs into finer points, stubs, obliques or crisp italics already. It is a nice pasttime besides collecting fountain pens and writing with them.

[dcpritch]

I needed a signature pen today, so I inked this one:

 

Sheaffer Imperial 834 sterling silver diamond pattern

Inlaid 14k 1.2mm stub nib

 

The inlaid Sheaffer nib does not provide as much line variation as a custom modified nib, or as would be noticed on a vintage Pelikan or Montblanc nib, for example. However, what you give up in line variation you get back in smoooooothness. This pen has a nice heft, owing to the sterling silver barrel, and yet it is very well balanced, making it a fantastic writer.

 

 

Here's a shout-out for Iroshizuku kon-peki, a fantastic writing blue ink, with sheen!

 

[dcpritch]

http://i43.tinypic.com/2e5ttas.gif

 

This is a fountain pen that I customized myself by regrinding the medium nib into a stub. ...

 

Nice job! I've smoothed a few nibs but so far I haven't been brave enough to take one from a regular nib all the way down to a stub. Might you be a budding Pendleton Brown?

[Earthdawn]

 

How do you like the MS stub nib? I usually like a wider nib than a Medium, especially a Japanese medium, but this one looks intriguing.

 

It's great !!!

 

I know what you mean though. Its a stub but just not as wide as a broad nib stub that I am use to. BUT having it be a soft/medium there is flex so you can get some extra line variation when you want it beyond what it naturally has.

 

I have to add a writting sample & should have when I posted the pic... sorry about that.

[georges zaslavsky]

 

Georges, have you received yours yet? Wondering how you like it.

I love mine and it is a superb writer

[cadfael_tex]

So many great pens in this thread. Just ordered my first stub - a Peli 205 (toledo red) with a custom ground stub from Richard Binder.

[dcpritch]

Just ordered my first stub - a Peli 205 (toledo red) with a custom ground stub from Richard Binder.

 

That's gonna be a great pen - I hope you'll show a pic and writing sample once you get it.

[cadfael_tex]

Can't promise much from the writing sample as far as doing the pen justice but I'll take a pic of pen and chicken scratch and toss it up

[dcpritch]

I've had this pen for a few years and haven't inked it until now, partly because I wanted to get a different nib for it (originally it had a Purple keyhole nib and it took a while to find the Blue keyhole nib I wanted), and partly because it is such a lovely pen I wasn't sure I really wanted to ink it. My trepidation finally gave way to curiosity and interest; I inked the pen earlier today and am now kicking myself for waiting so long.

 

Waterman's Deluxe Ink-Vue in Emerald Ray, 14k No. 7 "Blue" keyhole nib

 

The Blue keyhole nib was referred to as a "blunt" or "broad" point, "for rapid writers" in the earliest chart of colored nibs, while later charts refer to the Blue nib as a "stub". This one is almost certainly of the latter variety. By today's standards it isn't all that wide - I would guess it to be around 0.8mm, but I've not measured it. The nib provides nice line variation and is quite smooth and easy to use in daily writing. It has a little bit of flex, more like spring, by my book.

 

I was just in a long meeting today using the pen for notes the whole time and it worked perfectly - so much so I was at times more interested in the pen than in the meeting, but I'm sure that sort of thing has never happened to you. One thing I noticed is that if I keep the pen in my shirt pocket it doesn't hold ink in the feed and needs priming in order to get going again - solved easily enough by keeping the pen horizontal on a desk or table, an easy fix and a small price to pay for such a lovely, nice writing vintage pen.

 

Enough typing, how about some pictures?

 

 

[OldGreyGuy]

Lovely looking pen.

[dcpritch]

Lovely looking pen.

 

Thanks OGG, I have been enjoying using it; the nib isn't really wide, but it is a stub.

[dcpritch]

Montblanc 149, 18C BBB nib

 

This pen was put together a couple of years ago by Eric Niksch, who married a 1970s body to a re-done 1960s nib. The nib was found "in the wild" and originally looked as though 120 grit sandpaper had been used on it by a prior owner. Eric sent the nib to Greg Minuskin who made it back into what it was supposed to be - a wonderfully wide, wet nib set in a very nice 149 body from a decade later. The nib has perfect flow and this is probably my favorite "signature pen" - I break it out when I want to have fun signing documents. The line variation is fantastic, it provides a little spring and, with some pressure, a wider line. It is super smooth - so much so that the nib provides that squeak one sometimes hears, especially with vintage German nibs.

 

 

 

[Earthdawn]

Montblanc 149, 18C BBB nib

 

This pen was put together a couple of years ago by Eric Niksch, who married a 1970s body to a re-done 1960s nib. The nib was found "in the wild" and originally looked as though 120 grit sandpaper had been used on it by a prior owner. Eric sent the nib to Greg Minuskin who made it back into what it was supposed to be - a wonderfully wide, wet nib set in a very nice 149 body from a decade later. The nib has perfect flow and this is probably my favorite "signature pen" - I break it out when I want to have fun signing documents. The line variation is fantastic, it provides a little spring and, with some pressure, a wider line. It is super smooth - so much so that the nib provides that squeak one sometimes hears, especially with vintage German nibs.

 

 

 

 

WOW... Awesome is a major understatement !

 

That is stunning and an amazing nib... triple broad eh' ...

[wacko1128]

This is in my pocket today:

[da vinci]

This is in my pocket today:

 

Lovely pen. I have several sheaffers within inlaid nibs but none with line variation - yet

[da vinci]

I've had this pen for a few years and haven't inked it until now, partly because I wanted to get a different nib for it (originally it had a Purple keyhole nib and it took a while to find the Blue keyhole nib I wanted), and partly because it is such a lovely pen I wasn't sure I really wanted to ink it. My trepidation finally gave way to curiosity and interest; I inked the pen earlier today and am now kicking myself for waiting so long.

 

Waterman's Deluxe Ink-Vue in Emerald Ray, 14k No. 7 "Blue" keyhole nib

 

The Blue keyhole nib was referred to as a "blunt" or "broad" point, "for rapid writers" in the earliest chart of colored nibs, while later charts refer to the Blue nib as a "stub". This one is almost certainly of the latter variety. By today's standards it isn't all that wide - I would guess it to be around 0.8mm, but I've not measured it. The nib provides nice line variation and is quite smooth and easy to use in daily writing. It has a little bit of flex, more like spring, by my book.

 

I was just in a long meeting today using the pen for notes the whole time and it worked perfectly - so much so I was at times more interested in the pen than in the meeting, but I'm sure that sort of thing has never happened to you. One thing I noticed is that if I keep the pen in my shirt pocket it doesn't hold ink in the feed and needs priming in order to get going again - solved easily enough by keeping the pen horizontal on a desk or table, an easy fix and a small price to pay for such a lovely, nice writing vintage pen.

 

Enough typing, how about some pictures?

 

 

Magnificent pen, thank you for the post

[watch_art]

BAMMO! That's gorgeous!

[Kelly G]

The Sheaffer material in question is Red Veined Grey Pearl produced from 1931 to 1935. If you wish to see an example, go to Richardspens.com and look in the Reference Pages section - Pen Model Profiles - Sheaffer's Balance. Scroll to the bottom for a sample of all the vintage balance colors.

 

I have a full length slender girth model - I'm not sure what price code - that has near perfect color. I'm a few hours away from the pen cave so no pics. The Sheaffer material is a bit different than the Strand but they are both striking pens.