Glass Dip Pen Recommendation

[DNC]

I would like to give two friends (A mother and 8 year old daughter) a glass dip pen each. Can anyone recommend a brand? Thank you

[Chrissy]

J Herbin. I bought mine from Bureau Direct and I love it. It's so easy to write with, and the small amount of ink in the twisted glass writes for much longer than you expect.

[bobje]

Are there any that are just glass nibs in an unbreakable holder, so that the whole assembly is less fragile?

[Chrissy]

Are there any that are just glass nibs in an unbreakable holder, so that the whole assembly is less fragile?

 

I suppose it's possible, but if there are I've never seen one. I suspect most of the fragility lies on the point that you write on.

[aeba]

Edited for in-topic:

Personally I don't have much experience on glass dip pens, but hey. I have one of the Rohrer & Klinger dip pens. It writes wet. And pretty broad. Something like Kaweco stainless steel BB or Pelikan BB. But my understanding is, that R&K glass pens are hand made, and possibly hand grinded so there may be differences in how they write.

 

 

 

Sidetopic:

Are there any that are just glass nibs in an unbreakable holder, so that the whole assembly is less fragile?

There is / was pens with glass nibs. Like Visconti Calligraphy set, which I think is just a dip pen if used with the glass nib. A push button filling Penol no.2 which I think was made somewhere around 1930's. And so on.

 

But "unbreakable"? Unlikely. I would agree with Chrissy that the glass nib is inherently... "fragile" to some extent. It is soda-lime glass or borosilicate glass after all.

Edited December 28, 2016 by aeba

[bobje]

I guess what I'm getting at is that it's easier to protect a 2-centimeter piece of glass than a 14-centimeter wand.

[inkstainedruth]

I've heard that the ones that R&K made are better than the Herbin ones. I have one of the Herbin glass pens and couldn't get it to write for squat....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[PS104]

I just returned from New Orleans a month ago. The pen & ink mecca I went to was Papier Plume​ in the French Quarter. I bought my self a beautiful glass pen that wrote as smooth as any metallic nib I've written with. The gentleman who took care of me packaged the pen and several bottles of their ink so that they could travel safely in my suitcase. They arrived home safe and sound and now is a source of fond memories. Their website shows the pens better than my description.

Edited December 28, 2016 by PS104

[ENewton]

I have a J Herbin glass dip pen and have had no trouble writing with it, although it produces quite a broad line and therefore isn't practical for some applications.

[aderoy]

Did Visconti not have a glass pen set? Arte della Scrittura if old memory cells serve right (had peeked a little bit ago). May not be best for the little one unless used as a gateway item.

 

The Herbin models or any handmade pen will via in nib tip size pen to pen.

[Water Ouzel]

I've heard that the ones that R&K made are better than the Herbin ones. I have one of the Herbin glass pens and couldn't get it to write for squat....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

I've got a couple R&K dip pens, and they're not so bad to use. One tip is to wipe excess ink off the tip after dipping to control the wetness/width of the line. Secondarily, to rotate the pen in your hand as you write.

 

Still, they're not anything close to a steel nib, much less a fountain pen, for writing utility.

[Pichak]

I only got one glass dip pen that brought from www.aliexpress.com at about $5.

[DNC]

Thank you to all who responded to my post. I sincerely appreciate your advice. Happy Holidays

[knarflj]

I have a J. Herbin glass pen, and it was lovely until I managed somehow to chip the tip. I'm normally very careful with my tools, and still don't really know how I did it, but I have not so far managed to make the pen really useable again.

 

If you have the budget, you might look here: http://www.glasspens.com/pens.html

I don't own one of these (yet - they've been on my radar for a few years, but I need to save up…), but I have read excellent reviews of them, and they have a lifetime warranty.

 

Jenny

[dcwaites]

Are there any that are just glass nibs in an unbreakable holder, so that the whole assembly is less fragile?

 

Yes, some years ago I was able to buy 5 or 6 stand alone glass nibs. I bored out a dip pen holder and wrapped the end of the nib in teflon tape to fit. It worked quite nicely.