Tips for writing with a stub

[RocketRyan]

Evening all, I really like the character that a stub nib can add to handwriting, but I really struggle to write for long with them. Any tips?

[Vespagirl]

What do you find challenging about using them for a long time?


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[RocketRyan]

I find without serious concentration in can barely write with them. Holding them properly just doesn't come natural to me.

[Robert]

As a lefty (handedness, that is) I position the top of the nib in a more or less 6 o'clock position. This enables me to achieve the line variation a stub offers. All of my stubs ( 5 or 6) write quite well in this position.

[penthesilea]

Have you tried practicing lines and curves on a grid? Sometimes it helps to fill an entire page with strings of cursive "m" and "u" to get a feel for the optimal grip and angle. It's not natural to hold a pen almost perpendicular to the paper, but that's just conditioning from grade-school. I remember the day I broke free from the chains of Zaner-Bloser lettering, and since then life has never been the same.

[inklord]

Hello - how do you hold your pen? The most common "traditional" hold being to cradle it on top of the end digit of your middle finger, held there by the thumb and index finger tips laterally on top of the pen with the nib including an angle between 45 and 60 degrees. This is the grip suggested by the triangular grip section of a Lamy Safari and other German school pens. Other pen holds often lead to continual rotation while writing - hence many a writer's struggle with a pen's "sweet spot". A stub (and even more so, a [cursive] italic nib) essentially has a very defined "sweet spot" or rather plane in which it will work - otherwise the writing surface of the wide contact area lifts off the paper, the nib slit looses contact with the same and the ink will cease to flow...
So my humble suggestion (if you hold your pen other than described above) would be to try to adopt a grip conducive to a consistent angle of the nib to the paper first (maybe practice with a more forgiving nib) and let that do its magic! And, at any rate, relax your grip of the pen - writing should be effortless. If the ink doesn't flow freely at the lightest touch of the nib to the paper, your pen may need some tweaking rather than your pen hold. Have fun, and don't invite frustration to the party!

[Sailor Kenshin]

I have trouble, too, as a southpaw hooker. I yearn for a small (smaller than a 1.1 Lamy nib, for example) stub that will give my writing an interesting character. I wonder whether some sort of oblique would help.

[Chrissy]

I'm not that keen on broad stubs either.

I have a couple of OM nibs in Montblanc pens, and I don't need to turn those while writing. For me they write better than the conventional M nib.

I have no OB nibs because I can't get into the habit of turning my hand to write. So I tend to prefer stubs because they can be used in the traditional 6 o'clock position, but I still tend to use finer ones.

[RocketRyan]

Although i use a traditional grip I tend to have my finger on top of the pen, so rotated slightly. I also tend to roll the pen a little bit, and write from a 3.30-5 o'clock angle. Wow now i write it down I realised what a freak I am.

[Vespagirl]

What type and size of stub do you have? With the unique writing angle you prefer ([emoji6]) maybe you just need a different type of stub. I find even nonstub pens are easier or harder based on the brand and nib. Have you tried may stubs? Just thinking of possibilities.


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[RocketRyan]

Personally I have 3 a Lamy vista with a 1.5, a jinhao with a goulet 1.5 and a pilot metropolitan with a 1.0 stub (really struggling with this one). The reason I ask really is I have borrowed a waterman carene, which has a factory stub ( unsure of size) , it can really smarten up my writing, but as with the others I just find it hard work to keep it in the sweet spot.

[Vespagirl]

It sounds like it is how you rotate your wrist while writing. Brian Goulet has a fountain pens 101 video you can find on YouTube where he recommends trying the Pilot Parallel and using that to help train your wrist to use a stub. These are flat plates (rather sharp) and not very forgiving. You can make some cool script, but I certainly cannot write with them long term. They are pretty cheap (maybe in the Metropolitan price range).

I have not tried the Lamys (they were mentioned in the Goulet video as being a little less forgiving), but I do have a metropolitan stub and I do find that I have to think a little more when using it. I also put a wetter ink in so it was a little smoother and that helped me.

I have a Parker stub that is so rounded it is almost a broad but it's smooth as glass and very easy to write with.

One day I might get to touch a Waterman [emoji6]

I guess the point is that you have some options: modify your writing style (if this interest you), try out other pens to fine the one that fits you best (I'm a big believer in that), or try a broad or flex (not sure about this for you) nib which you might enjoy more.

This is supposed to be fun!


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[RocketRyan]

It's just frustrating me. I love it when I get it right.

[Vespagirl]

I think we all do. If you find the magic wand to make us all prefect; please send my way immediately! I'll pay the shipping [emoji6]


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[BayesianPrior]

You may want to consider an Arabic/Hebraic/Architect grind. It adds character to your handwriting in a similar manner as the stub, but makes thinner down-strokes and broader cross-strokes. The challenge with such a nib is not preventing unintentional rotation of the nib, but rather to maintain a consistent angle of contact between the nib and the plane of the paper. I find this easier to achieve.

[Cob]

If you are right-handed, then it is considered good practice to hold the pen at 45° to the line of writing, keeping the elbow away from the body. In this way you will obtain maximum effect from the stub's characteristic.

And do not do what I do - which is turning the pen as I move along the line; I cannot break this annoying habit!

Cob

[RocketRyan]

I will try all this advice tomorrow. I suppose mileage will help, but 90% of my writing is quick note taking.

[Bisquitlips]

Hey Ryan,

The beautiful thing about stubs is that they are designed to be easy to use.

A stub is really just an Italic nib that has had the two corners of the tip rounded and smoothed so that the writer doesn't have to worry about positioning the nib so that the corners don't dig the paper. If you are having issues writing with a stub, could you possibly be having physical issues with the nib?

I have many Stubs and also Italics. The Italics always give me some grief until I retrain myself to use it, (just takes a few seconds to remember how to angle the nib), but the stubs flow regardless of angel, arm position, and so forth.

Are you having problems with flow, wetness, skipping, or ??? You say you having problems using them for a length of time. This sounds to me like you are having to fight with the pen, so if you could elaborate a bit more about what exactly you are struggling with we may be able to focus on what is actually happening. The problem may not be you, but something going on with the nib that an adjustment can remedy.

[Fermata]

I am a complete numpty with itallacs, i write too quickly and rotate the pen to the left, so medium obliques were sent from heaven for me. I had thought that stubs were (almost) as bad as itallics, as far as I was concerned but I bought a TWSBI 1.1 stub and I find that it is training me!

It has taught me to take my time and think about the tri - relationship between the nib, the line and the shape of the letter, and it seems to be working.

[RocketRyan]

I have put some serious practice in this week, and also swapped to a much wetter ink... And i seem to be making some progress. I am hoping with time that my new grip and writing angle will just become muscle memory.

[Blue Note]

I used my Parson's Essential with medium cursive stub exclusively for 3 weeks and I gradually got used to how the nib had to be oriented to the paper and now it just happens automatically when I use the pen. I agree that a good wet ink helps to enhance the line variation. Practice makes perfect as they say.

[RocketRyan]

I can agree that practice is indeed the only way.