What do you think of having a nibmeister grind a O3B to a BBB?

[Centurion]

Since the 3B nib on a 149 is not part of the Complimentary Nib Exchange Program, and a 3B nib under the Bespoke Nib Program is $1 500, what do you think of having a nibmeister grind a O3B to a BBB? How close would it be to an actual 3B nib under the Bespoke Nib Program?

[NoType]

8 minutes ago, Centurion said:

Since the 3B nib on a 149 is not part of the Complimentary Nib Exchange Program, and a 3B nib under the Bespoke Nib Program is $1 500, what do you think of having a nibmeister grind a O3B to a BBB? How close would it be to an actual 3B nib under the Bespoke Nib Program?

@Centurion These are questions I also have pondered.  Perhaps a member here can shed some light on this proposition.  To my mind, grinding away the oblique angle of an O3B would leave the nib shorter than a factory 3B, but perhaps this concern only reveals how little I understand the nibsmith’s craft.

[Dillo]

It can indeed be done, but it does remove quite a bit of tipping. There are some variations in the way the tipping is attached to the OBBB Montblanc nibs. Some of them have the tipping material attached at an angle, and some of them have the tipping placed squarely on the tip of the nib then ground at an angle. If you have one of them where the tipping is attached at an angle, it will look strange when you have it ground squarely to a BBB. On the ones that have the tipping placed squarely, you will end up with a strip of tipping material which would be likely sufficient, but it might not necessarily look the way a factory nib would at the tip.

 

I think that if you care about something looking the way it is "supposed to", your most risk free bet is going through the Bespoke Nib program. Also, of note is that I don't know of anyone tipping nibs and accepting nibs from the public. The last person who I used to ask has closed his doors, and I found out that he will not entertain any ideas to tip nibs wider like this when I asked.

[NoType]

@Dillo Thank you for this fulsome reply.  That there is variation in the way tipping is applied to O3B nibs caught me by surprise.  I presumed that the tipping was always applied parallel to the nib’s oblique cut.

 

23 hours ago, Dillo said:

Some of them have the tipping material attached at an angle, and some of them have the tipping placed squarely on the tip of the nib then ground at an angle. If you have one of them where the tipping is attached at an angle, it will look strange when you have it ground squarely to a BBB. On the ones that have the tipping placed squarely, you will end up with a strip of tipping material which would be likely sufficient, but it might not necessarily look the way a factory nib would at the tip.

I confess that I failed to follow this.  I expected that when the square tipping is ground to an angle that it would be ground to the same angle as the tipping that was applied at an angle to begin with, and that both these angles would be equal to one another and parallel to the nib’s position oblique cut.  That being the case, why would the tipping look different for each application method after grinding the O3B nib to a 3B.  Clearly, I am misapprehending something.  If you could illustrate your assertions with an image or two, perhaps I might understand.

[mulrich]

Does the OP have a OB3 nib on a 149? Seems like you might be able to find someone that has a BBB nib who'd be willing to trade. 

[Dillo]

@NoType I struggle adding pictures here, but if the tipping is applied squarely to the nib tips and you grind it to a straight cut BBB, you will have a thin bar of tipping left. The thin bar will be identical in shape and size on both tips of the nib. A factory BBB with have more tipping.

 

If the tipping is applied parallel to the oblique cut, when it is ground to a straight cut BBB, you will get one tip with more remaining tipping than the other. It won't affect the writing experience because the tips that touch the paper have the exact same size and shape, but it will look strange to some and somewhat lopsided to others.

 

Montblanc is not known for any significant consistency in how they do nibs. I've seen these variations even across the same model.

[NoType]

2 hours ago, Dillo said:

@NoType I struggle adding pictures here, but if the tipping is applied squarely to the nib tips and you grind it to a straight cut BBB, you will have a thin bar of tipping left. The thin bar will be identical in shape and size on both tips of the nib. A factory BBB with have more tipping.

 

If the tipping is applied parallel to the oblique cut, when it is ground to a straight cut BBB, you will get one tip with more remaining tipping than the other. It won't affect the writing experience because the tips that touch the paper have the exact same size and shape, but it will look strange to some and somewhat lopsided to others.

 

Montblanc is not known for any significant consistency in how they do nibs. I've seen these variations even across the same model.

@Dillo Thank you very much for this explication of your point.

[Centurion]

On 11/14/2024 at 10:32 AM, mulrich said:

Does the OP have a OB3 nib on a 149? Seems like you might be able to find someone that has a BBB nib who'd be willing to trade. 

Yes, O3B on a 149 😊

[DimitriDiak]

Very interested in this thought process since I naturally enjoy right obliques to the standard left oblique when offered a choice.  Nonetheless I have a 149 OBBB on a 1952 model and I am waiting on an OBBB on a new 149 Origin fountain pen.  Even though both are standard left obliques they are different, it seems as though Montblanc has reduced the angle of the oblique to my delight from the older/vintage obliques (from 30 degrees to 15 degrees if I remember correctly?).  

 

On 11/14/2024 at 7:11 PM, Dillo said:

If the tipping is applied parallel to the oblique cut, when it is ground to a straight cut BBB, you will get one tip with more remaining tipping than the other. It won't affect the writing experience because the tips that touch the paper have the exact same size and shape, but it will look strange to some and somewhat lopsided to others.

 

I agree with the excellent explanation from @Dillo and from my experience I would be hard pressed to say that the new BBB will be very close to an original Montblanc BBB in appearance.  Nothing against nib misters but most will not be able to make them look the same.

On 11/12/2024 at 7:44 PM, Centurion said:

How close would it be to an actual 3B nib under the Bespoke Nib Program?

 

 

Here are some photos that may help us better visualize the problem (not my own photos).

 

 

 

[NoType]

24 minutes ago, DimitriDiak said:

I naturally enjoy right obliques to the standard left oblique when offered a choice.

@DimitriDiak I share your preference for right-foot obliques because of the extreme right lean of my pen in hand.

 

 

26 minutes ago, DimitriDiak said:

Montblanc has reduced the angle of the oblique to my delight from the older/vintage obliques (from 30 degrees to 15 degrees

@DimitriDiak Yes, this is what I understand to be the case, and it suits me as well as it does you.

 

Finally, thank you for these images, which indeed do assist in visualisation of the aesthetic challenges a nibsmith faces when grinding an O3B to a 3B.