Use Caution: Getting A Butter Smooth Nib With Household Items

[minddance]

Thank you all very much, finally some very sensible answers and real help. I am here to get educated and I know I am in the right place

[georgeb]

I visited a nibmeister (Stephen Pustilnik) at Dromgooles in Houston, TX who worked on a very toothy Nakaya nib. He first used the normal high-quality sandpaper but finished smoothing the nib using some type of whetstone designed for nibs (note – don't use a normal whetstone to smooth a nib). This was the first I've heard of a whetstone designed for nib smoothing (it was also the first time he'd tried it). The result was terrific, and made a previously awful nib into a terrific writer. I think he said he got the stones from someone in Arkansas but I don't remember more than that. I'm not sure if you can source a similar stone in the UK but it wouldn't hurt to shoot an email to Dromgooles to learn more about the whetstone.

There are whetstones called Arkansas stones. Google Arkansas stone to see a bunch of them for sale. You just need to know the grit of the stone he used.

[Ron Z]

I will admit that I wince every time I see the title of this thread.

 

Household items may work, but they are IMPO more likely to cause damage.

 

Let me ask a question. Do you think that professional repair people and nib techs would spend the money on nib smoothing films etc. if there were a cheaper alternative? Isn't it possible that the reason that we spend the money is that we know that these materials will give us predictable results without unnecessary risk to a clients, or our own pens?

[mulrich]

There are whetstones called Arkansas stones. Google Arkansas stone to see a bunch of them for sale. You just need to know the grit of the stone he used.

I looked at a few and none had very high grit ratings so this may not be a viable option after all.

[Ron Z]

 

 

Last point - I would very, very strongly suggest that you do not use nail buff sticks on your pens. In the vast majority of cases the particle sizing is nowhere near as consistent as decent sandpaper. This can lead to very uneven results when polishing nibs.

 

I think that the exception to this is the Micromesh buff stick which most of us use to one extent or another. I've purchased a couple of the drugstore variety buff sticks just to see what they're like. Great for nails, not good for nibs.

[TheGreatRoe]

I have locked this thread as it has wandered drastically off course, and become needlessly contentious.

 

I have hidden the vast majority of the posts in this thread as being either potentially destructive to pens, antagonistic, rude, or part of the off-course branches (and would have made no sense if they were left visible because everything around them is now hidden). If your post is gone and you do not feel it was potentially destructive, antagonistic or rude, then you may assume it was deemed part of an off-topic branch of the conversation.

 

I have made every attempt to leave the remainder of the thread in a state that gives answer to the original question, as well as enough of the back-and-forth to give voice to multiple opinions. I have also edited the title to suggest that people use caution when taking the advice of this thread.