Non-Caligraphy Dip Nibs

February 27, 2018

In addition to the 314 and 284 stub nibs I suggested, I would add the Spenceran Congressional. It gives more variation in line width than I can handle.

Edited February 27, 2018 by corgicoupe

February 27, 2018

The Esterbrook 313 Probate is a favorite of mine. Getting into robustness...search for the equivalent of flex stub in the 900s range. Like the 913 Esterbrook. However for the most flexible and robust of the Esterbrook, 956 that is blunted by grinding the tips to the width that suits you. Have fun doing it.

February 27, 2018

I've learn the hard way...that is not to burn bridges you have not used.

I don't like asking experts inane questions but the OP did have one that I thought would be good for the folks at TFF.

'Long beards' is an expression.

I think most TFF members are women and I wouldn't expect them to have beards.

February 27, 2018

I'm not going to waste antique nibs, someone out there's bound to be upset with me for wasting them and driving up the price. (Many of them are pricey enough already... $25 for an empty box, I ask you.) Until we figure out how to 3d print these things, I'm going to stick with extant products.

February 27, 2018

Nah! Nibs are to be used. Save them after you have used them, if you like. They were made in the billions, so there's always somebody out there that is hording them. Buy whay you need, leave the rest to the hoarders.

Re:TFF the forum was created to ask any question. What is knowledge if not shared? Go ahead post away and many will answer.

Believe it or not...I collect boxes...look at that design...They dont make them like that anymore! Yes...I know...no nibs!

Edited February 27, 2018 by _InkyFingers

March 7, 2018

My order arrived! Two weeks late, and at the wrong mailbox, but they knew it was mine anyway. I have a lot of nibs to play with now!

http://burningsmell.org/images/i/new-nibs.jpg

My favorite is (predictably) the Brause Rose. It's as flexible as everyone says it is, but not atom-splitter sharp. It's also no worse at starting than the Hunt 99. Or maybe the hunt 99 is just as bad and I'm used to it.

The runner up was a bit more surprising: The Hiro Crown. It's a very very very smooth writer for something without an iridium point, with a ball tip and a comfortable amount of flex and even a kind of shock-absorber neck.

And I received a proper folded ruling pen!

http://burningsmell.org/images/i/ruling-pen.jpg

It is hard to describe. Imagine a tip that's anything from a 1mm stub to a 15mm steel brush depending on the angle you tilt it. In skilled hands it can be used for almost anything, but it's a very wild instrument, tending to lay down ink fast and thick and reveal the texture of the paper. It may be the answer I've been looking for for left-handed underhand blackletter, but will need a LOT of practice, meanwhile it will be great for painting with.

March 8, 2018

I am going on a holiday to this particular city , and I have a camera and what lens I must use ????? I have 50mm. 28 mm wide and I have a Zoom too. what lens I must take with me ???

The question is like to me the same as above.

Why mot use your experience when you move froward ?

March 8, 2018

I am going on a holiday to this particular city , and I have a camera and what lens I must use ????? I have 50mm. 28 mm wide and I have a Zoom too. what lens I must take with me ???

The question is like to me the same as above.

To me it felt more like, "Here are wide-angle lenses, here are microscope lenses, but what if I want to take a picture of a squirrel. Surely there must be something in-between!"

It turns out that there isn't. The rise of fountain pens, then the rise of ballpoints, replaced nearly every nib except ultra-sharp spencerians, ultra-wide italics, and a handful of well-loved classics which artists clung to. All the rest, mostly writing nibs - now that I know the term - disappeared.

I have, luckily, found a few microscopes which can zoom out all the way to squirrel

May 9, 2018

Just ran across this thread.

A couple of suggestions in vintage nibs. None are rare or particularly valuable. Keep an eye out and you may be able to buy a box for relatively cheap.

Esterbrook 453: often called the Business & College, or School Medium Flexible. This is a great, flexible, durable, smooth pen with a medium/fine line. I love these pens. Even the later "Made in USA" versions are great to use.

Eagle E470 Magnum Elastic: Not as common, but I recently bought two boxes, close to full, for about $25 each box. This is a larger version of the E370 College, which is another great pen, but is better known because it fits into an oblique holder. Again, like the Esterbrook, it's not the finest line, but the tip is smooth, the nib is durable, and there's quite a lot of flex (about 4x+)

The Esterbrook 788 spoon pen is extremely common, and cheap, has a turned-up tip so is very smooth, and has some flex. Not sure exactly how much flex you want, but these are cheap enough it's worth trying to see if it would work for you. The spoon pens also hold a great deal of ink.

The stub suggestions above are good. Spencerian also makes a good Society Stub, but sometimes the sellers got over excited because of the gold wash and so price them ridiculously. Esterbrook's 239 Chancellor and Hunt's equivalent 62, are great, small stubs that are some of my favorite.

So, there are a few suggestions from the vintage line. These are all fairly common pens, so no worries about using up precious antiques. Not for a while yet.

Andrew

July 10, 2018

As AAAndrew suggested Vintage is the best choice. If you explore the vintage market you can always grab something on a good deal. I didn't know anything about vintage nibs. But my curiosity drove me to attract in the vintage nibs. So I ended up into make a " collection " of dip nibs. I was constantly in bidding for Vintage nibs. And all the time I got something on very a cheap price per a nib. They were on sale as lot 25/ 50/100/ or half box or dozens or some times as set of three. When I got to know about one nib and already tried then I knew how to value a lot of the same nibs on sale. So I bid on them and got them.

Now I have about thousand nibs Vintage and all I need to have time to test them and keep on writing.

I have categorised some nibs as sharp point ( Non flexible ) and some medium point and semi-Flex / and pencil point ( which is my favourite ) These nibs are all to for my writing style , Cursive writing. My favourite nibs are Falcon type nibs from English/French/ and European pens.

I have found some vintage nibs naming after Post office are great in writing and perhaps in drawing. They are not flex nibs. There are series of vintage Brause nibs very flex -to medium. There are several Gillette nibs( Public Pen 293 ) which is great in writing and suits oblique holders. When you choose Vintage nibs you have to consider which type of a holders you goner use. It is because vintage nibs are like spoon type long nibs and the are less comfortable on a oblique holder. If use a straight holder then it is not a problem.

So when I thought to shoot the squirrel I did not wait to shoot with what I had and understood there wasn't any visible to the normal eye. But my intuition told me to magnify it and then saw what was going on. Then I changed in to the other lens I had. Now I can shoot anything

July 11, 2018

Get yourself a mixed bag of vintage nibs and go from there.

But beware, it can be addicting. I have the house to myself this week so I'm actually doing a full inventory. I'm torn between wonder and terror. it also reinforces why I'm doing this when the wife is out of town. After spending about 8 hours over the last few days boxing up and adding a bunch of strays to my collection I've been throwing into a box, I now have days and days worth of inventory to do. I estimate that I'll be up to over 800 types once I'm finished.