Stub O' The Day

[tinta]

I read the whole thread and I am mesmerized by the wonderful stubs inside. I must try a flexy stub, an oblique stub and a flexy oblique stub! My contribution, a LAMY 2000 originally M, now stubbed by Pendleton Brown with his Butterline Stub mod and it is as great as the name describes.

Why don't you post a picture of the BLS nib by Pendleton & a sample of how the stub writes? There are a lot of pictures of pretty, open italics but relatively few pens like your Lamy 2000.

Please show us your stuff.

[Aristosseur]

I read the whole thread and I am mesmerized by the wonderful stubs inside. I must try a flexy stub, an oblique stub and a flexy oblique stub! My contribution, a LAMY 2000 originally M, now stubbed by Pendleton Brown with his Butterline Stub mod and it is as great as the name describes.

http://i.imgur.com/oY1kyZL.jpg

Is the image visible?

[tinta]

Thank you Aristosseur.

Yes it is visible,... but it would be even better, if you'd also include the nib of your 2000 pen in your image, to show off Pendleton's grind.

Edited September 10, 2016 by tinta

[jar]

Today's stub:

 

http://www.fototime.com/B53FD661D7E7EEE/medium800.jpg

[dms525]

 

[BillPorter]

The stub I was using earlier today.

 

 

[masterguns]

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s78/jenedla/IMG_3387_zpsiwdo50y4.jpg

 

http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s78/jenedla/IMG_3388_zpsgpwizext.jpg

 

[mehandiratta]

You are certainly getting a lot of your Wality nib!

Yeah..

The nibs are not that great.. Had to grind them..

[mehandiratta]

Vintage Aiken Lambert Mercantile ... flexible italic.

 

http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/misc%20brands/aiken_mercantile_greenitalflex_1.jpg

 

Here's the writing sample .... I just couldn't stop! KWZ Azure #5 on Maruman.

 

http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/misc%20brands/aiken_mercantile_greenitalflex_6.jpg

 

... and I did a little video too. https://www.instagram.com/p/BKGuG9HAImx/?taken-by=peytonstreetpens&hl=en

 

TERI

This is awesome

[Frank66]

Is the image visible?

Aristos, splendid pen, wonderful and subtle stub effect, very nice writing sample and excellent ink.

 

May I ask where can one get the KWZ inks from in Europe?

 

Best Regards.

 

Frank66 (Fotis)

[tinta]

This is my first effort using a Samsung Gallaxy V Neo phone. Seems Samsung has "dumbed down" a number of the real digital camera functions that were available on my former S III phone, or at least they've have hidden these functions when you turn on the phone cam. The white balance was difficult to adjust on this phone, so I tried to dial in an overall colour to match the sepia ink in my writing sample (Elements Editor). Though the APICA paper is off-white, it should not be this mushroom.

 

Anyway, this 14c Kaweco nib I'm writing with is a B size (butter-line-stub) that is leaning towards a forgiving cursive italic. On APICA notebook paper (used for my journals & letters) I get about a 0.6 mm line with most of the inks that I've tried.

Here it is with Visconti's sepia brown cartridge:

 

Tomorrow I will tackle my second 14c Kaweco stub, a reduced BB.

Edited September 15, 2016 by tinta

[tinta]

I finally found the most important photo adjustments on my new phone: the white balance, the exposure compensation & the metering pattern. Fared a little better today with photographing the writing sample below.

Not great, but at least a better rendering of the colour of the ink & the paper.

 

This second Kaweco/Bock 060 14c BB nib came with a huge dollop of tipping material & a number of manufacturing (QC) flaws. The tines were twisted & were set too far apart for any capillary action to take place. The nib's 060 feed was unable to deliver an adequate amount of ink to the nib. So initially, this nib did not write at all.

 

Thanks to Pendleton, the tipping was reduced in width & beautifully ground into his signature "butter-line-stub". In addition, he performed some surgery on the Kaweco 060 feed so that enough Pelikan blue/black ink would reach the writing edge. I asked for a "rolly polly" stub that's less position sensitive. Pendleton obliged with a very forgiving stub that writes about a 0.7 mm line on my APICA notebook paper.

This nib is set up for very dry inks (in international cartridges), like Pelikan b/b.

 

[eliweisz]

Pilot 78G B nib, Diamine Burnt Sienna, Rhodia R:

http://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8060/29663715696_f94627c7e0_c.jpg

[dms525]

Pilot 78G B nib, Diamine Burnt Sienna, Rhodia R:

http://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8060/29663715696_f94627c7e0_c.jpg

 

Very nice, Eli! Nice photo, italic handwriting, poem and pen. The 78G is an amazing value, isn't it?

 

David

[GregMinuskin]

Stub o' the Day

 

 

I've been reflecting on the fountain pens in my collection, trying to resolve a question, "What is my focus?" What I've come to realize is that I purchase nibs more than I purchase pens. Without doubt, certain pens attract me because they are lovely and I buy them because my resistance is low, but really my focus has for quite some time been on pens with wide nibs. I have some pens with narrow nibs, a few pens that qualify as nails and many that are flexible in varying degrees, but by far the most prevalent nibs in my pile of pens are stubs.

 

Of course, others are likely to have far more pens with stub nibs than I do, and better examples. I'm also quite sure I will continue as time goes on to find some amazing stub nibs that are not yet in my collection - no doubt such discoveries will empty my wallet. However, I currently have a fair number of pens with stub nibs that are just a pleasure to use, and I would like to share with my fellow FPNers my love of stub nibs.

 

Some of you may be wondering what I mean by "stub" nibs. The most informative explanation I have seen is Richard Binder's reference work on nibs, found here. By the way, the reference pages found at RichardsPens.com are a marvelous wealth of information, and I recommend the site highly as a place to begin research on almost any pen related topic.

 

I tend to like stubs more than italic nibs because the stub shape is more forgiving and, to those (like me) with little or no training, easier to use. This is because the edges of a stub nib are smoother and less angular than found on an italics nib. However, while they are smoother and easier to use, stubs also provide less line variation than italics nibs, and I covet line variation in my writing, so occasionally I will use a nib that is more of an italic than a stub.

 

Disclaimer: There are many here on FPN whose writing makes me stop and stare with gaping mouth at its sheer artistry; you will not mistake my writing for anything like that. My writing, unfortunately, is not of the quality I would like it to be and so I am unable to illustrate what any of my pens could truly do in the hands of a master. I will, however, attempt to show what I can of each nib's ability to create line variation and, if applicable, flexibility.

 

I plan to add an entry to this thread as often as I am able and each time I hope to provide photos and a writing sample. I don't have any set plan or order for showing these pens, just an off-the-cuff approach based on pens I have inked and am using. Also, I am completely unable to rank my pens in terms of what I like best; as one FPNer put it, try asking someone to say which of their children they love best. Please feel free to add comments and information. I hope this will be a thread that is useful to those who have an interest in wide nibs.

 

****************

The Strand Pen

 

The first pen I'll show is a fairly obscure British pen sold back in the day by W.H. Smith and Sons, Stationers, as the "Strand Pen." The model I have is, based on my limited understanding of styling and materials, from the late 1930s.

 

It has a Warranted 14k "1st Quality" nib with a heart shaped breather hole and a wide, stub tip that still has plenty of iridium. The nib writes a medium to broad line and is both stubbish and flexible, in my mind the best of both worlds. The nib is a joy to use. At normal writing speed the nib performs flawlessly with the line variation common to stub nibs, and if one wants a wider line then a slower hand and more pressure will yield a line two or three times as wide as the nib.

 

The pen is smallish at 128mm capped and is made of a striking grey and black marble with red flecks and swirls; the barrel imprint proudly reads: "Strand / British Made." It has white metal furniture that may at one time have been gold plated, though none remains, and peaked ends. The hard rubber cap top has mellowed with age to a dull, greenish brown, providing a patina I find quite attractive and which makes me comfortable using the pen when I'm out and about because it already is something less than perfect.

 

I quite like this pen and hope you might someday have opportunity to find one for yourself.

 

Here are a couple of pictures:

 

[url=https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/uploads/imgs/fpn_1358980281__strand_pen_1_1024x767.jpg][/url]

Excellent Stubs! I make quite a few for English pens, including Parker 51 nibs in the 1.10mm to 1.40mm range.

 

Greg Minuskin

www.gregminuskin.com

greg@gregminuskin.com

[eliweisz]

 

Very nice, Eli! Nice photo, italic handwriting, poem and pen. The 78G is an amazing value, isn't it?

 

David

 

Certainly it is! Thank you or your kind words, David.

[BillPorter]

Excellent Stubs! I make quite a few for English pens, including Parker 51 nibs in the 1.10mm to 1.40mm range.

 

Greg Minuskin

www.gregminuskin.com

greg@gregminuskin.com

It was very pleasurable to read about this pen. Thanks for sharing this post.

[ian1964]

Turning a very good pen into an super pen. I love the Jinhao 159 and with the Bock 1.1 Stub nib added this has become one of my favourite work pens.

[eliweisz]

Excellent Stubs! I make quite a few for English pens, including Parker 51 nibs in the 1.10mm to 1.40mm range.

 

Greg Minuskin

www.gregminuskin.com

greg@gregminuskin.com

Don't be shy, Greg - your range is wider. Here's an excellent 0.8 stub you made for my English P51:

http://c4.staticflickr.com/9/8454/29763729891_8beb04f371_c.jpg

(No affiliation, just a happy customer)

[dms525]

Pelikan M400 Special Edition with IB nib

 

 

 

 

Comparison of the M400 IB and the M800 IB nibs.

(The M800 nib has been ground by Michael Masuyama to a crisper CI.)

 

And a writing sample with comparisons with other stock italic nibs:

 

 

Enjoy!

 

David