Grind And Rescue

[alexwi]

Hi y'all,

 

Got a Parker 45 recently and it had a broken nib, so last Sunday I figured that I might grind it like there's no tomorrow. After all, I had nothing to lose. (I was in a grinding mood anyway, as I sharpened three knives earlier that day.)

 

Started with a diamond knife sharpener I had lying around, to shape the nib, and then followed with the entire gamut of micromesh. the most challenging part was to get a flat section out of a concave object (remember, the tip of the nib was missing).

 

The pictures show the result of each step, first with the sharpener and then as I polished with the micromesh (I love this stuff and hate that I barely have any time to indulge in this).

 

I'm not sure that I have a pen smoother than this one now. After narrowing the tip of the nib as much as possible, I turned it into a stub or italic or whatever that's called. Symmetry could be a bit better, but it works, so I ain't touching it further.

 

And without further ado, the pictures!

 

alex

[PAKMAN]

Good nibs to try out grinding! Looks like you got the result you wanted! Congrats!

[alexwi]

Thank you! My first grind, and having absolutely nothing to lose really helped A LOT.

 

My only previous experience modifying a nib was smoothing a Pilot Metro and a Parker 75 with a nail buffer, which turned out quite well, but for this I went for the micromesh ("it can't be that much better," I mistakenly thought).

 

I was hoping to get a finer italic, but there's just so much I was able to remove from the sides of this nib, considering how it was broken.

 

I have a broad 45 nib that will become that fine italic at some point, and am wondering about "italicizing" a 180, but my grandiose plans will have to wait a bit more, as I have a lot of "promises to keep and miles to walk before I sleep."

 

I had ordered three Wing Sungs to practice on, but they're way crappier than I was expecting, so they're going back, which is a pity, because I really like those pens' weight and balance (model 3003).

 

alex

[Ron Z]

The nibs on these are very easy to replace. The nib unit unscrews from the section, and then the collar round the nib and feed can be pushed back to release the nib. Complete nib units run maybe $10 for a steel nib, less for the nib itself.

[CS388]

Nice job!

[alexwi]

Thank you both!

 

I know that the nibs are easily found, but I wanted to learn and took the opportunity to do so.

 

alex

[CS388]

Thank you both!

 

I know that the nibs are easily found, but I wanted to learn and took the opportunity to do so.

 

alex

 

...and ended up with something unique. I like the line it lays down.

The fact that it's housed in a harlequin is the icing on the cake!

 

Congratulations - and all power to your future grinds.

[ac12]

Rather than a 180 nib, do it to a "Classic" nib.

The 180 and "Classic" nibs will interchange between pens.

[alexwi]

Hi ac12,

 

I do have a Classic lying around that I ended up never using 'cause it's too dry, so I might take the challenge. It wasn't until recently that I learned that ink flow can be adjusted.

 

I just took a close look at that nib and noticed that it's an F. I always thought it was an M, so that explains a lot. I also just took it apart and the way the nib, feed, and hood assemble together is quite interesting, from an engineering point of view. I've a feeling that the people behind the 45 had something to do with how the 180's nib "evolved" into the classic.

 

Any particular reason for doing this to a classic instead of a 180?

 

Thanks!

 

Alex