Adding Tooth To A Nib?

[ironwampa]

I have been learning nib smoothing on a Jowo nib and I have gotten it to the point that the nib is way too smooth and my hand writing suffers from lack of control. None of the links from the pinned trhead mentions adding tooth.

 

I can figure that I can make a nib rougher by using a lower grit micro mesh but that seems to me like a good way to rub off all the tipping material.

 

Does anyone know of an article or have advice adding tooth to a nib in a crontrolled incremental manner?

[wimg]

I have been learning nib smoothing on a Jowo nib and I have gotten it to the point that the nib is way too smooth and my hand writing suffers from lack of control. None of the links from the pinned trhead mentions adding tooth.

 

I can figure that I can make a nib rougher by using a lower grit micro mesh but that seems to me like a good way to rub off all the tipping material.

 

Does anyone know of an article or have advice adding tooth to a nib in a crontrolled incremental manner?

 

Which grit did you use last to make it as smooth as it is now?

Use the next roughest (smaller grit number) to make it less smooth. Essentially just work the mylar or MicroMesh or whatever you use just once or twice around the tipping, and you should be fine.

 

And if that doesn't provide the effect you require, try the next rougher grit size, etc.

 

Having said that, if you have no control over your writing with a smooth nib, I honestly suggest you analyse your handwriting. For me, a nib can't be smooth enough, smoothness does not make me lose control.

If you write by just moving your hand, I could understand why you would lose control, essentially because you have much less control. Writing should be done with the whole arm, and involves the shoulder as well.

 

Just check whether you move your hand episodically only, IOW, write for a bit, then move your hand because you can't reach anymore, or whether you move it continuously when writing, going from left to right that is.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[Fountainer]

I would never add tooth to any nib, but you do what you like. I know some people here like it.

 

An extremely good thing you can achieve by making the nib coarse, is that you may be able to get rid of the drop of ink usually left behind when you pull off the nib from paper. Or at least reduce it. I don't know how it works and i have tried this only once when i was grinding a nib and tested it when not finished. It must be some capillary thing. Those micro grooves spread the ink so fast that the feed can't deliver excess ink i guess. So i assume if you try this, you should make those grooves perpendicular to the slit. Of course, you lose the shading effect that is important to some, not to me though. And you may add an annoying noise to the nib. It starts to squeak!

[Jeff_H]

I have successfully done exactly what you're asking by using the next rougher grit mesh or paper than what you finished on. I like a smooth nib, but I do like a bit of feedback, like comes with my Mont Blanc's. I don't like a pen to feel like it's ice skating all over the paper. You will not rub the tipping material off unless you grind and grind and grind...a lot. Just a few seconds on the rougher grit should do the trick for you.

 

Let us know how it turns out.

[rwilsonedn]

Before you roughen the tipping on your nib, you might check to be aware of how much pressure you are using when you write. Sometimes when people find a super-smooth nib hard to control, it is because they are pressing down on the pen rather than resting it on the paper without pressure. The issue might be an unconscious writing habit rather than the surface of the nib.

ron

[ironwampa]

Thanks! I feel kind of dumb for not thinking of just going backwards one grit at a time. The last grit I used was .3 micron mylar paper by the way. I will also consider what you guys said about writing habits though the problem I was having only occurred with the one nib I had done a lot of smoothing on.

 

Thanks.

[markh]

I have a different opinion in how a nib gets more or less "tooth."

 

A nib that where the surface is rough by using coarser abrasive can have have a less smooth movement over the paper. Usually its less pleasant to write with, and may drag. Actually, a little surface texture can actually increase the flow. When I tune a nib, the almost final step is to buff the writing surface on a wheel with a cotton buff with very fine abrasive, designed for final polish on stainless steel . If the nib is too shiny/smooth, ink can sometimes have trouble flowing. So I slightly roughen it using SIO2 lapping film (from Nishimura) and the flow is improved.

 

Tooth is something else. I define nib tooth as feeling the texture of the paper, and having that texture provide feedback to your hand, helping you control the movement of the pen. The paper can't be completely glass smooth, or no ink will flow, so there is always some texture on the surface.

 

If you imagine two nib shapes,

 

at one end, inner edge rounded <------------------------------>at the other, the inner edge very sharp.

like a baby's bottom

 

 

The baby's bottom end writes with smooth, wet ice on wet ice feeling. Of course, with a baby's bottom nib, there are flow problems.

 

At the sharp end - the ink flows with no pressure at all. but the nib inner edge can catch or tear the paper. Very hard to write with.

 

In reshaping the nib, you can imagine moving to the middle from both extremes. There is a range where the nib writes well. At one end of the range, the nib is very smooth, and the texture of the paper isn't felt. At the other range the nib communicates the texture of the paper to your hand.

 

Anywhere within this range is "correct" - it's just a matter of preference.

 

I prefer to tune nibs so there is a little more feel - so I frequently sharpen the nib slightly (by removing material) But I have had nibs that were too sharp, so I remove feel by slightly rounding the inner edge of the nib. A tiny amount of difference is notable, always remembering that once you abrade tip material you can't put it back.

 

Just my 2c worth.

 

 

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