Problem With Nib (Stub?)

[Inksomnia]

I have Walh-Eversharp equi-poised fountain pen, it has stub nib. At least I think it is stub, nib leaves wide stroke down and thin sideways. But I just can't make it work with my handwriting! No matter how I try to hold it, it makes it look horrible... Nib is really flexible, wet and smooth. So nothing wrong with the nib, more about "user error".

 

How stub nib should be hold when writing? Do I need to write fast or slow? Also, is there some script that is suitable this kind of nibs?

 

If everything else fails, is it possible to regrind this stub to needlepoint? It has almost no tipping material at all. Also, I don't want to ruin perfectly good nib just because it doesn't fit my writing style. I would really love to learn write with this nib, I love the pen so much and nib is really nice writer, except I don't like the outcome...

 

Some pictures to help clarifying things.

 

[Erik Dalton]

If it's a stub, maybe the years have worn down the edges to where you basically have a broad writing nib. Then again it just may be a broad nib. We'd have to see the nib to tell more.

It can certainly be sent out to a nib meister to be cut down, tweaked, or re tipped.

Your writing is not that bad. If this was a stub, you would be seeing at least some line variation. Right now I don't see any.

[PaganArcher]

I see some line variation that would indicate a degree of stubbiness to the nib, but I have to wonder if how you're holding the nib to the page is eliminating any additional variation. A photo or two of the nib would also help folks assess the state of the nib.

[Inksomnia]

Line variotion is definitely there when I do down and side strokes, but not when I write, I just can't get it... I don't have proper equipment to get nice close ups, but here is hopefully something.

 

 

Tipping material looks like triangle, it is more like top of the tip than under. Nib has flat spot in slight angle at tip.

 

 

[Erik Dalton]

Looks more a Cursive Italic with a few years on it.

[ac12]

IMHO, it is your handwriting that has to be changed.

 

A stub/CI nib needs a hand that will show off the nib.

• A bit larger in both directions, so the strokes are clear.
  • What is the grid spacing of the paper you are using?
• Try slowing down and writing more deliberately.
  It looks like you are pushing to write fast, with the result that the writing quality suffers.

• The vertical strokes need to be clear and consistent in angle (your writing has the vertical stroke in various angles).

• The letter forms need to be clear. They look rushed.

I've used a Lamy 1.1 to do Christmas cards, in standard grade school taught cursive. So writing cursive with that nib is certainly doable.

If the nib has almost no tipping left, there is very little to grind. Also the base nib for a stub may be wider than a XXF, so you will hit the base nib long before you get to a XXF. So NO, you can't grind that nib down to a needle point.

 

Write with a LIGHT grip. A TIGHT grip increases the tension in your fingers and hand making is harder to write smoothly.

If you have a TIGHT grip, make a deliberate effort to loosen up. A habit is not easy to break, but if you try hard enough and long enough you can break it, I did.

 

In looking at the pix of the nib, depending on the angle you hold the pen,

• A stubish line, with some line variation, when you hold the pen at an angle that you are on the flat spot.
• You will get more line variation, when you hold the pen steeper or shallower than the flat spot.

[ENewton]

I have a stub nib that, if I hold it so that as to produce the widest line on a vertical stroke and the narrowest line on a horizontal stroke, looks nice when I print but not for cursive writing.

 

For cursive writing, it works best to rotate the pen slightly counterclockwise.

[Ted A]

It takes practice. How you learned to write probably did not involve careful and repetitive formation of the letters. And almost certainly not the letterforms that best take advantage of a stub nib. So you have to practice copying the forms to retrain yourself. I find it to be a lot of fun

[KellyMcJ]

Hold the nib at about a 45* angle to the horizontal lines on the paper.

 

Also use a very light hand. It doesn't quite look so judging by the ink but you could be obliterating any lunge variation with flex.

[Inksomnia]

Thanks all for these great tips. I tried some more writing and now it looks little bit better. I have really ugly handwriting, especially now that I don't need it daily anymore. I think I need to start just write more and really focus on letter forms. I still feel that this pen would get much more use with finer nib. I have to contact some nib experts and hear what is their opinion. Maybe I should try smaller italic nib, this is really wide.

 

And grid I use is 5mm.

[wingwiper]

Someone has over smoothed it where it is flat footed IMOP. I would have it re-tipped back to its original state. If you want a needle point there are already plenty of nibs already thin enough that can be massaged into that grind if it is what you really want? I would have that nib re-tipped with a little added flex maybe?

[mitto]

There looks sizable amount of tipping material on the nib.

[Honeybadgers]

Some italic pens really like cursive at an oblique angle. With my broader 1.1/1.3 stubs, I will actually sometimes rotate my hand until the pen is almost writing like an architect, with thin down and wise cross. I never go completely perpendicular, but 45-60 degree rotation can look really good

[Honeybadgers]

Some italic pens really like cursive at an oblique angle. With my broader 1.1/1.3 stubs, I will actually sometimes rotate my hand until the pen is almost writing like an architect, with thin down and wise cross. I never go completely perpendicular, but 45-60 degree rotation can look really good

[Mauricio]

Inksomnia,

 

The first picture in your post #4 shows very slight misalignment in the tines, but it might just be light reflection or the angle at which you took that picture. It also shows the "foot" of the nib (which is the metal area of the tipping that actually makes contact with paper) to be slightly uneven. The right tine has a more rounded (convex) foot, while the left tine is flatter. Both of those issues will provide for a less than perfect smooth writing experience.

 

Your nib has "stubbish" characteristics. It looks like it writes something like a BB line in the down strokes and a B line in the side strokes. But it has a very rounded profile. A true stub nib will show a more rectangular shape in its "foot"

 

You have made significant progress already by slowing down in your writings. In general, the thicker the lines a nib can produce, the larger the size of the letters you have to write so the lines in your letters are not on top of each other. Enjoy your nib!

[Bo Bo Olson]

It didn't look very stubbish to me...just flat footed. And at an angle that forces you to hold the pen high.

[Inksomnia]

Inksomnia,

 

The first picture in your post #4 shows very slight misalignment in the tines, but it might just be light reflection or the angle at which you took that picture. It also shows the "foot" of the nib (which is the metal area of the tipping that actually makes contact with paper) to be slightly uneven. The right tine has a more rounded (convex) foot, while the left tine is flatter. Both of those issues will provide for a less than perfect smooth writing experience.

 

Your nib has "stubbish" characteristics. It looks like it writes something like a BB line in the down strokes and a B line in the side strokes. But it has a very rounded profile. A true stub nib will show a more rectangular shape in its "foot"

 

You have made significant progress already by slowing down in your writings. In general, the thicker the lines a nib can produce, the larger the size of the letters you have to write so the lines in your letters are not on top of each other. Enjoy your nib!

Nib is buttery smooth, which I'm not huge fan. I like get some feedback from nib, but this has nothing...

I think this nib may be originally from another pen. It is unbranded "warranted 14K" nib. Also I was thinking was this nib used by left hand writer? Because this pen really likes to be held almost 90 degree angle with paper. Or someone who had huge handwriting.

 

But still, I don't like this nib at all... I have been thinking to sell whole pen, but feel really sad about it, because color is so beautiful and I like this more without the clip.