Nib Grinding on the Cheap ?

[frogbaby]

here in Canada everything seems to cost so much more than the use and shipping is brutal

 

can anybody suggest inexpensive nib grinding options ?

 

like will finger nail files work or do you actually have to have a grinding stone ?

 

I guess brass inserts for the slit is a must but what else is mandatory ?

 

I got a couple of majohn a1's (Chinese vanishing points) which I would love to try and grind down but don't want to invest in a big setup for just a couple tries on some inexpensive pens

[arcfide]

If you just want to play around, I'd look at any set of typical stones or grinding papers from your local hardware store or craft store. They ought to have the stuff necessary, and may have absorbed the shipping costs. 

[kestrel]

Diamond Cosmetics makes a Four Way Buffer and a Seven Way Buffer that you can find in a lot of drug and grocery stores.  They are inexpensive and the finest grit is comparable to very fine Micromesh.  I attached a screenshot for the four way buffer below with the company stock number.  You can also search for nail buffers at Amazon or large discount chains. 

 

I still prefer Micromesh but the buffing surface on the four way buffer is pretty good.

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, frogbaby said:

can anybody suggest inexpensive nib grinding options ?

 

Sure. Try using the emery board or four-sided smoothing/buffing block you might use with your nails; that's as inexpensive an option as it gets. (For the record, I've used those items to reshape a lot of my nibs, including expensive gold nibs. That said, the risk is your own to take — or choose not to — and don't blame me if you ruin a nib with a DIY job, as I've also ruined a few of mine.)

[frogbaby]

thanks everyone

found some 12000 grit paper and brass inserts for the slits that I has squirrelled away

got some emery board too

gonna give it a go!

[Ron Z]

It's remarkably easy to kill a nib.

 

Before you do anything, read Richard Binder's instructions on "beginning nib tuning."  There's also a link to the handout that he uses in his nib classes.  And above all else, don't do this on a good nib on a pen that you like until you have not only ruined a bunch of nibs, but also managed to get at least one the way you like it.  Pay attention to the materials that the professionals use (hint: it isn't a nail file/buff stick from the grocery store).  You don't think we'd be paying good money for the stuff we use if we could get something that works as well, or nearly as well, cheap do you?

[Karmachanic]

I suggest starting by mangling a dozen inexpensive Jinhao nibs fron aliexpress.

You may find this link helpful:

http://www.marcuslink.com/pens/aboutpens/ludwig-tan.html

[amk]

In France I've found the best source for fine (600, 1200) grit sandpaper is automotive repair shops! 

[dipper]

I find this kit to be adequate:

 

1 ) A small fine wetstone or oilstone (a real piece of smooth flat stone, of a fineness suitable for sharpening a traditional flat razor, not the gritty composite types used for sharpening woodwork chisels).

2 ) Some sheets of 3M brand wet&dry paper, grit grades from 400 to 1200.

3 ) Micromesh sheets, grades 8000 and 12000.

4 ) A 10x loupe.

 

Learning to use that kit is a more difficult matter.

 

I did not start by practicing on cheap spare stainless nibs.

I started learning decades ago by learning to use hand tools, and especially metalworking hand tools, for general projects making things that were much larger than pen nib tips.

 

When I started working on pen nibs, all that previous experience was invaluable.

The first thing I realised was how ridiculously tiny the tipping on a pen nib is! I could not see or measure the results of say, five strokes of the nib over the fine wetstone. ---- Introducing the 10x loupe fixed that issue, with the limitation that I have to work in very short steps, stopping frequently to examine the nib tip under the loupe to assess progress, five more strokes, examine again ... etc.

 

I suspect that one advantage of the elaborate nib grinding equipment used by professionals, with spinning abrasive wheels and polishing wheels mounted at eye height, is the near constant view of what is happening to the nib tip as it is brought into contact with the spinning wheels.

 

The second thing I realised was that nearly everything I had learnt previously about larger scale metalworking was equally true in the teeny tiny world of a nib tip. Metal is still metal, and abrasives still work like abrasives - though "rough shaping" of a table leg with a rasp and 40 grit paper now becomes "rough tip shaping" with 600 grit Wet&Dry paper.

 

The reason I am rambling on at length about my learning path is to comunicate how easy and how difficult the task is.

Also, to raise awareness of the fact that though tools are important, of far greater importance is how the tools are used.

 

In one sense it is easy: All that you are doing is shaping and finishing a piece of metal to some degree of precision. How difficult can that be?

In another sense it is hard: The piece of metal is actually two pieces of metal, each welded at the tips of two delicate metal tines, at a precise spacing. And the whole tipping thing is less than 1mm in size. So this is going to be a challenge!

How much of a challenge will depend on your previous experience with larger workpieces.

[es9]

Different grades of emery impregnated rubber disks can also be useful.  

[Karmachanic]

6 hours ago, dipper said:

I suspect that one advantage of the elaborate nib grinding equipment used by professionals, with spinning abrasive wheels and polishing wheels mounted at eye height, is the near constant view of what is happening to the nib tip as it is brought into contact with the spinning wheels.

 

And then there are those who use hand held tools.

[amberleadavis]

I don't work on my own nibs. However, I do own loupe glasses so I can stare at my nibs. 

 

[dipper]

6 hours ago, Karmachanic said:

And then there are those who use hand held tools.

(Professionals included.)

 

There is an episode of the podcast "Tokyo Inklings" in which the presenters were reporting on a pen show/event in Japan that they had recently attended.

 

One observation that they reported was of an unusually large number of nib grinders, all attending the same event. The grinders were all being kept very busy through the day, working on customers nibs.

And in those grinders they noted that one individual used no machinery at all. His equipment was a set of small wet-stones, used entirely by hand - moving the nib tip over the surfaces of the stationary stones.

 

(If can't recall the episode number, or if the presenter CY was himself doing nib grinding at that show.)

[es9]

I have not really veered into grinding much at all — at least not intentionally. But I do wonder if something like a foredom machine or a clamped dremel would make for more consistent grinding. I’d personally be a little worried that I’d wobble the nib when grinding by hand. 

[Ron Z]

9 minutes ago, es9 said:

I have not really veered into grinding much at all — at least not intentionally. But I do wonder if something like a foredom machine or a clamped dremel would make for more consistent grinding. I’d personally be a little worried that I’d wobble the nib when grinding by hand. 

 

It does indeed, very much so!  I've seen nib work done freehand, but it makes me very uncomfortable.  The major pen techs use a firmly fixed device so that they have absolute control over then nib and grinding wheel,

[FarmBoy]

I’d add a zero to the 600 and 1200 grit for starters. 
 

I’d also leave the Dremel at Sears. 

[Ron Z]

I recently did some nib repair for a client.  I won't go into details, but the nib had impact damage, exacerbated by using an abrasive on the nib.  I explained why the repair was more than expected (grinding and shaping/smoothing VS straightening).

 

Their response in part:

Quote

Stupid me tried to fix the pen myself after watching the YouTube videos.

 

I understand the temptation.  But before you start grinding or working on your nibs, please  take the time to read material written by recognized nib experts and pen mechanics.  Richard Binders articles, or the Marshall/Oldfield repair books are a good place to start.  It can at least save you money, or save a nib!

[Bo Bo Olson]

I only smooth up and old sat in the  back of the drawer a couple generation nibs just a bit; smoothing old micro-corrosion/iridium-rust off the nib, and don't reshape mine...but your use of or need of a brass shim puzzles me. In I'd not read of that in basic nib grinding.