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eachan
February 14th, 2021, 10:06 AM
When I was in school (a very long time ago) we wrote with pencils at first. Then, at the age of seven, we were introduced to the joy of writing with a dip pen. I didn't do well with that! Perhaps my touch was too heavy. In any case, the nib, which was very pointed, would dig into the paper and send a spray of blots across the page.

Our teacher, who had been trained in the School of Sadism, indicated her displeasure with a crack across the knuckles with the edge of a ruler. My hand, now paralysed with pain, did not do a better job. The result was that any mention of dip pens brought on an attack of post-traumatic stress, to this very day!

Some time ago I bought a charming little wooden pen box which held a somewhat chewed dip pen and a tiny wooden box of nibs, some used, others in an unused condition. I of course put them away and tried not to think of them again.

This afternoon, fortified with a couple of stiff drams of Laphroaig, I daringly attached one of the nibs - an Esterbrook Relief - to the holder and found, to my great surprise, that I could actually write with the thing. There were some very pointed nibs too, and with great daring, I tried one of those. In the absence of Mrs. Stuart and her punishment ruler, I was able to apply a very light touch and found that I could write with this delightfully flexible nib too. The experience has been cathartic and I have, at the age of 70, been able to banish the ghost of my hideous old teacher who made my life such a misery when I was seven. May she rest in peace.

An old bloke
February 14th, 2021, 11:03 AM
Well done that man!

Nicely written too.

Yazeh
February 14th, 2021, 12:58 PM
Thank you Eachan for sharing such a touching and cathartic story. I'm glad you can enjoy the joys of dip pens and their panoply of nibs. The next step will be to do it without the dram ;)

eachan
February 14th, 2021, 01:57 PM
Thank you Eachan for sharing such a touching and cathartic story. I'm glad you can enjoy the joys of dip pens and their panoply of nibs. The next step will be to do it without the dram ;)

But why???

Yazeh
February 14th, 2021, 02:04 PM
Thank you Eachan for sharing such a touching and cathartic story. I'm glad you can enjoy the joys of dip pens and their panoply of nibs. The next step will be to do it without the dram ;)

But why???

Too face miss Stuart's ghost without the help of liquid sunshine.....and then to celebrate after with a dram or two ;)

eachan
February 14th, 2021, 03:49 PM
She has gone already, swept away with a confident stroke of a pointy nib! She was a dreadful embittered old crone really, more to be pitied than feared - unless of course you were a little kid in her realm. Single teacher schools were a fine institution unless you were unlucky enough to attend one that was the lair of a monster.

Chrissy
February 15th, 2021, 04:00 AM
Thank you for the touching story. I'm so pleased that your attempt at writing with a dip pen nib was a success. :)

Sadly, having recently tried it myself after having broken the tip off of my glass dip pen, I couldn't do it and ended up with blots across the page just as you described in your first paragraph. :(

I've bought 6 new glass dip pens from Amazon. :)

eachan
February 15th, 2021, 04:31 AM
There are many people here who could give advice from much greater experience than me, I'm sure! However, I can say that the Esterbrook Relief nibs were very easy to write with, Chrissy. The nibs with long, flexible tines and a sharp point are much more of a challenge. A very light touch is required and I think it would take lots of practice to do well with such a nib. Deb is more committed to using the dip pen than I am. I'm perfectly content with my Swan 1060.

Anyway, enjoy your new glass dip pens! Nobody says we have to use metal nib dip pens!

manoeuver
February 15th, 2021, 07:07 AM
Well done Sir.

jbb
February 15th, 2021, 04:49 PM
I enjoyed your story Eachan thanks for sharing it. I write with flexy dip pens as my primary writing form and encourage anyone who wants to try.

eachan
February 15th, 2021, 11:59 PM
Now that I've made a start I will persevere.

Yazeh
February 16th, 2021, 09:24 AM
And show us your achievements..... :)

eachan
February 16th, 2021, 03:02 PM
I'm not ready yet to do much more than a hen scratch. Once I've had a bit of practice...

Yazeh
February 16th, 2021, 03:20 PM
An idiotic question: What is the difference of Esterbrook Relief nibs (https://www.ebay.com/itm/ESTERBROOK-VINTAGE-314-RELIEF-NIBS-TEN-MINT-UNUSED-MADE-IN-THE-U-S-A-/383950920001) from the Esterbrook Relief pens (http://www.esterbrook.net/relief.shtml)?
Were the nibs exclusively for dip pens or could they be used in the respective fountain pens too?

jbb
February 16th, 2021, 03:35 PM
An idiotic question: What is the difference of Esterbrook Relief nibs (https://www.ebay.com/itm/ESTERBROOK-VINTAGE-314-RELIEF-NIBS-TEN-MINT-UNUSED-MADE-IN-THE-U-S-A-/383950920001) from the Esterbrook Relief pens (http://www.esterbrook.net/relief.shtml)?
Were the nibs exclusively for dip pens or could they be used in the respective fountain pens too?
I'm pretty sure the nib is the same shape/style, one just has a feed.....well and, the nibs on fountain pens are stainless steel so they won't rust. Here's the fountain pen version: https://www.etsy.com/listing/882429164/esterbrook-2314-m-relief-renew-point?ref=listings_manager_table

eachan
February 16th, 2021, 06:03 PM
As well as the screw-in relief nib, Conway Stewart made Relief pens for Esterbrook. You'll find them here:
http://conwaystewart.wesonline.org.uk/csbook/page10.htm#cusrelief

The nibs on these pens are gold and made by Esterbook. Like the dip pen nibs the angle is only slight and they are very comfortable to write with.

eachan
February 18th, 2021, 07:57 AM
An effort, with a scratchy stub nib I won't use again.

https://images12.fotki.com/v1667/photos/2/3815032/14358355/IMGP1178-vi.gif (https://private.fotki.com/sempilch/private/imgp1178.html)

Cyril
February 26th, 2021, 09:54 AM
@eachan good story and the truth is what happens in our childhood will the life we will be living to the end of it.
Primary Schooling and the experience we learn/ undergo will be ended up to the living of the life-hood. Good that you reset it to back.
I got into ink and pens and I am going up the ladder. It is a great fun use dip pens and now I am into collecting all dip nibs too.
It is very interesting thing to learn all the history of writing and what instrument they used too. I find it more fun to write with a something else than a normal fountain pen,

jbb
February 26th, 2021, 10:02 AM
...I got into ink and pens and I am going up the ladder. It is a great fun use dip pens and now I am into collecting all dip nibs too. It is very interesting thing to learn all the history of writing and what instrument they used too. I find it more fun to write with a something else than a normal fountain pen,
I'd love to hear more about your interest in dip pen nibs. As a dip pen writer as well I have a wide variety.

FredRydr
February 26th, 2021, 10:06 AM
I was just blessed with the surprise arrival of a passle of Pennsylvania Railroad nibs. They will be an interesting experiment.

jbb, what is your favorite ink for dip pens?

jbb
February 26th, 2021, 10:26 AM
I was just blessed with the surprise arrival of a passle of Pennsylvania Railroad nibs. They will be an interesting experiment.

jbb, what is your favorite ink for dip pens?


Wait?! Does "Pennsylvania System" on some of those nibs refer to the Railroad or the penal method???? Hahaha, I thought the latter... which is funny because I have several other railroad nibs and know that was a "thing."

My go-to dip pen ink is a mixture of homemade iron gall ink and the remnants of many other black inks that have gotten thrown together over the years. Iron gall ink lets you get nice thin lines but my homemade ink is never as black as I like, hence the additions. Occasionally I add more gum Arabic too for glossiness.

FredRydr
February 26th, 2021, 10:52 AM
...I have several other railroad nibs...
I just might be able to tweak them to prevent railroading.

jbb
February 26th, 2021, 11:03 AM
...I have several other railroad nibs...
I just might be able to tweak them to prevent railroading.

haha :haha:

Cyril
February 26th, 2021, 11:13 AM
@JBB
I am hunting FOR THE most rare " DREAM NIBS " So far I have few lucky ons. Never had a chance to find a MUSSELMANN but few ZANERIAN FINE WRITERs.
I found a set of Joseph Guillott Principality it an special edition.
These kind of nibs I never use just

Cyril
February 26th, 2021, 11:29 AM
Some of my recent ones in the collection.

jbb
February 26th, 2021, 11:39 AM
Wow Cyril!!!!!! I love the handwriting in purple and the packaging of those nibs with its artwork!!!! WOW!!!

calamus
March 4th, 2021, 02:37 PM
I like black Quink for dip pens.

Regarding the question about the difference between an Esterbrook nib and Esterbrook pen, it may have something to do with the fact that nibs used to be called pens, and nib holders were called pen holders.

And moving right along, the next step is to learn to cut and use quills, as everyone who could write used to do for centuries. (Hint: the trick to writing with a quill is to use an EXTREMELY light touch, much lighter than for a metal pointed nib.

Yazeh
March 4th, 2021, 03:17 PM
I like black Quink for dip pens.

Regarding the question about the difference between an Esterbrook nib and Esterbrook pen, it may have something to do with the fact that nibs used to be called pens, and nib holders were called pen holders.

And moving right along, the next step is to learn to cut and use quills, as everyone who could write used to do for centuries. (Hint: the trick to writing with a quill is to use an EXTREMELY light touch, much lighter than for a metal pointed nib.

Thanks for the info on quills.
I tried it with iron gall/ walnut and some other "antique" dip pen inks and it took me sometime to get used to it... I was writing on a textured paper, which made it even more difficult to write with. I have some pre-cut quills, which for some reason write very wide lines, 1.5 mm.
I read or saw somewhere, a recommendation when writing with quills one needs to write preferably on a slanted table, 30°. What are your thoughts on that?
Also how can we achieve fine lines with quills?

Chip
June 30th, 2021, 11:52 AM
Travelling in the US, New Zealand, and Ireland, I searched for dip-pen nibs and ended up with quite a few, eventually losing track of what was what. So I wrote test pages to remind me of the qualities of each nib.

https://i.imgur.com/d4SL6AB.jpg
My consistent misspelling of Leonardt gives me a chuckle. Here are a couple shots of part of the collection.

https://i.imgur.com/EdQZD3f.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/9nkCEJA.jpg

I've been using Windsor & Newton and Ziller inks.