Very fine stubs/cursive italics

[Love]

I'm toying with the idea of getting one of these but not sure what to go with. I'd found this thread over at FPN which had some great writing samples but the images are gone now! Typical! I was hoping to send the image to my chosen nibmeister as a reference. Tried contacting the member who posted it, but to no avail.

http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...italic-points/

I'm not looking for much variation, so was wondering about a 0.3-0.4mm stub for the extra smoothness. The nibmeisters I have contacted are naturally apprehensive of a stub this small - which is why I could do with a reference image to show them what I'm looking for. I need a narrow downstroke as I write in all caps and very small (2.5-3mm high). I also want it to be as smooth as possible. Mike Masuyama suggested his rounded nose cursive italic, but the downstrokes look a bit wide for my tastes.

Does anyone have any photos/scans of writing samples of nibs of this type?

I've posted this over at FPN as well, apologies for duplication for anyone that frequents both forums.

[Jeph]

This is a Pelikan M600 custom ground to .4 mm down x .3 mm across by Pelikan in Hannover.
Those dimensions were verified with an Edmund Optics Optical Comparator.

M600 XF Stub.jpg

Our very own Dan does custom grinds and I know that he offers .4mm stubs. Have you talked to him about what you want?

[jde]

Did you see this FPN thread about small stubs?

The 3 people I trust for stubs, among the many I've used: Deb Kinney, John Mottishaw, Richard Binder. (I've never used FPGeeks's Dan Smith just because I'm happy with what I've got!)

I've had several small stubs at around .3-.4mm done by Deb Kinney. Sadly, I let those pens go and don't have any samples from them. (I've nothing under a .5mm at the moment.) Contrary to what folks say about variation, there is still enough variation to give your handwriting some good flair. I prefer stubs because I write very quickly, and they keep up, are smooth, and give that flair to my scrawl.

With Masuyama I've had great luck with his .5mm stubs found in Franklin-Christoph's stock, but in the past when I tried to get tiny stubs from him, he always pushed me towards cursive italic. He's a master, and I've used him for many nib grinds, but personally he's not my go-to for a stub grind. I just don't get on well with cursive italics and the like. A friend of mine uses his cursive italics at .3mm and he loves them. I can give you his info if you want to ask him about them.

Deb is my go-to for tiny stubs, or any stub.

Recently I had a chance to try a Binder stub, and his "stock" .6mm and that's an outstanding super smooth stub with great variation.

In the UK there's "Oxonian" who is supposed to be great. Maybe you've already contacted him? Search FPN there for him.

Best,
Julie

P.S. Ultimately whether you like someone's work or not, it's a pretty subjective experience, IMHO.

[pica pica]

I think that grinding a nib to 0.3-0.4 italic makes perfect sense, specially if someone writes in small and caps. The only thing is to keep the nib relatively dry or to aim for 0.1 mm horizontal strokes to achieve good line variation.

I played a bit with a nib on the Super5 and the downstroke is approximately 0.4 at the moment. The lines can be quite inconsistent as I never finished my little project. However, the nib writes smoothly and I think I could easily downsize it even more.

I'm attaching the sample; not the greatest one though. I guess that the line variation could be better if I had managed to limit the ink flow

italic2.jpg

Rhodia squared (5mm x 5mm) paper 80g/m2.

[Love]

Some great replies thank you. That link to the FPN small stub thread had exactly what I was looking for in it. Thank you all, and particularly jde!