Platignum Italic Oblique

[DasKaltblut]

So I was going through my father's desk at his office on the occasion of his retirement and found this set. I cleaned it and inked it up with one of the nib units that isn't cracked (3 of 5 are, I might tape them and try them anyway, don't know if they will just leak everywhere) and I have a couple of questions. The pen cape doesn't meet the body when screwed on, might there be a missing ferrule or metal ring? And, The set is left-foot oblique, but labeled "left-handed" although I am a righty. I can write with it just fine since I have a tendency to rotate my pens counterclockwise anyway, but then I get really funky lettering because the fattest part of the line is at the horizontal, and the skinniest at the vertical. You can see the result in my handwriting sample. So, if I don't rotate, the nib doesn't work at all, and if I do rotate, I get weirdness. Any suggestions?

[jmnav]

[...] And, The set is left-foot oblique, but labeled "left-handed" although I am a righty. I can write with it just fine since I have a tendency to rotate my pens counterclockwise anyway, but then I get really funky lettering because the fattest part of the line is at the horizontal, and the skinniest at the vertical. You can see the result in my handwriting sample. So, if I don't rotate, the nib doesn't work at all, and if I do rotate, I get weirdness. Any suggestions?

 

 

If you think about it, what you get is the expected result. Yes, many (right-handed) people tend to let the nib "fall" counter-clockwise and, because of that, they feel comfortable with a left oblique nib when writing in their standard position -not trying calligraphy (so much so that the left oblique is the "standard" oblique and the only one you can find in common nib catalogues nowadays). But then, the result is the one you get: the width of the nib basically runs vertical to the writing direction so you will get wide horizontal lines and thin verticals, and the wider the nib, the bigger the contrast. Once you get accustomed to that, it doesn't look weird, just peculiar (oh! you'd get the same effect using an "architect" nib too).

 

In order to get the usual "horizontal thin / vertical wide" out of a left oblique, you "need" to be a lefty (usually, overwritter); then the nib falls proper onto the paper with the nib running on the writing direction.

 

If you can "rewire" a bit your brain so instead of rotating the pen towards "9 o'clock" you do it clockwise towards "12 o'clock" you could use a right-foot oblique (one cutted to the other side) and you'd naturally get what you expected. I don't know exactly why, but "right-footed" obliques have been always the exception (and today, you basically need to ask a nibmeister to regrind one out of a non-oblique for you, as I'm not aware of any en-masse builder selling them).

Edited January 13, 2018 by jmnav

[oneill]

I was watching a video about Railways last night and this episode was about a Fountain pen manufacturer in

Birmingham UK. They used to be leaders in the market with names such as John Mitchell, William Mitchell, Joseph Gillot who used to produce thousands of Nibs and were responsible for making

Fountain Pens for Her Majesty The Queen. This is now a Museum with thousands of pens ,nibs and

everything you need to keep if you are interested in this kind of thing.Trust Me, Oneill

Edited January 13, 2018 by oneill

[DasKaltblut]

This is interesting becase I have a left foot OBB nib (not italic) on another pen that I write with that gives me the thinnest line at 135 degrees. I think that is a 15 degree oblique though, whereas this one is a 30 degree I'm guessing.

 

If you think about it, what you get is the expected result. Yes, many (right-handed) people tend to let the nib "fall" counter-clockwise and, because of that, they feel comfortable with a left oblique nib when writing in their standard position -not trying calligraphy (so much so that the left oblique is the "standard" oblique and the only one you can find in common nib catalogues nowadays). But then, the result is the one you get: the width of the nib basically runs vertical to the writing direction so you will get wide horizontal lines and thin verticals, and the wider the nib, the bigger the contrast. Once you get accustomed to that, it doesn't look weird, just peculiar (oh! you'd get the same effect using an "architect" nib too).

 

In order to get the usual "horizontal thin / vertical wide" out of a left oblique, you "need" to be a lefty (usually, overwritter); then the nib falls proper onto the paper with the nib running on the writing direction.

 

If you can "rewire" a bit your brain so instead of rotating the pen towards "9 o'clock" you do it clockwise towards "12 o'clock" you could use a right-foot oblique (one cutted to the other side) and you'd naturally get what you expected. I don't know exactly why, but "right-footed" obliques have been always the exception (and today, you basically need to ask a nibmeister to regrind one out of a non-oblique for you, as I'm not aware of any en-masse builder selling them).