So you wanna grind yer own nibs...

[tandaina]

Woohooo! Bought the stone kit (I'd been trying to use emory boards, hint, they don't work). And I did it. I ground a Varsity into a usable stub. Every Varsity I own is getting ground. And I've got a 10 pack of Hero knockoffs (Parker 51 "tributes" let's call them). Though they have such tiny amounts of iridium and such fine nibs I'm not sure how much I can do with them. But it'll be fun!

[Lamyrada]

Woohooo! Bought the stone kit (I'd been trying to use emory boards, hint, they don't work). And I did it. I ground a Varsity into a usable stub. Every Varsity I own is getting ground. And I've got a 10 pack of Hero knockoffs (Parker 51 "tributes" let's call them). Though they have such tiny amounts of iridium and such fine nibs I'm not sure how much I can do with them. But it'll be fun!

Congratutalions! It is nice to see people learning… Wahooo!

Since I already own a Dremel - I ordered a few tools ( I went overboard) with the soft polishing tips and I hope to be able to do some grinding soon. I thank you, Dneal for such a nice tutorial! Now I don't have to be stuck with nibs that arrive crooked!

I was put down for trying on the other forum(i have the same username there) ! What a mistake, that made me try harder! LOL Oh, my , some people want to see others failing so much! I am also ordering some Varsities for more practice.

[tandaina]

OK, so question. I've got the italic thing down pretty well, at least starting with big iridium balls. And got it smoothed with micro-mesh. It's not Pendleton quality yet, but it's very usable.

How would you go about doing this grind with an oblique cut added? I rotate my pens, and I like very sharp italics, but they need to be cut with a left-foot oblique or they just don't work well for me. So the next step would be learning that. I'd love some tips on getting a consistent angle?

[dneal]

OK, so question. I've got the italic thing down pretty well, at least starting with big iridium balls. And got it smoothed with micro-mesh. It's not Pendleton quality yet, but it's very usable.

How would you go about doing this grind with an oblique cut added? I rotate my pens, and I like very sharp italics, but they need to be cut with a left-foot oblique or they just don't work well for me. So the next step would be learning that. I'd love some tips on getting a consistent angle?

When you do cut 3, also lean the pen left (or right, depending on the oblique you want) as you drag it back. Consistency in each stroke is key.

--edit--
"I'd love some tips on getting a consistent angle?"

Sorry, I missed this part. In general - Experiment with using the rougher stone for the initial shaping. Since it requires fewer strokes, there's less opportunity for angle variation. Use very light pressure, letting the stone do the work. More specifically, and I'm addressing cut #3 - Rest your wrist on the work surface (table top, whatever...). Adjust the pen angle and your grip so that you will be grinding the tip of the nib at the angle you want. Now keep your hand in that position through the stroke (although there's no need for a "death grip" on the pen). Resting your wrist should give you the added stability for more consistency. Make sure your elbow and shoulder are the pivot for the grinding stroke, and not your wrist.

[tandaina]

So the oblique thing is hard. Pendleton makes it look so easy.

I can get an Oblique cut, but it never gets line variation. Or I can get a lovely italic. Not sure how to combine them. I think maybe because I'm trying to hold it at an angle I'm also tipping it BACK as I do the 3rd cut? Maybe? These poor Varsity pens are going to get butchered until I figure this out because darn it a regular italic isn't comfortable without that magic oblique angle...

[dneal]

It's a little more difficult because you're cutting a compound angle when you do the end cut. Still, you should get line variation.

The grind on the top of the nib is not important. That's just for aesthetics. The grind on the bottom and the end are what creates the sharp edge that gives line variation. All you're doing is making that sharp edge have an oblique angle (when viewed from the top or bottom of the nib).

On the 3rd cut, you don't have to lean the pen back. I do it slightly because it reduces chatter.

When you do the smoothing step, you have to hold the pen at the same oblique angle as when you made the initial oblique grind.

If you have a good oblique angle, but no line variation, see if you can redo the bottom flat grind (if you have enough tipping left). This will help restore the sharp edge. Alternatively, you could do the bottom and top grinds after you get the oblique angle that you want (do cut 3 first, cut 2 second and cut 1 last).

Again, make sure you hold the pen at the oblique angle when you do the smoothing step.

[Chrissy]

I know that I shouldn't ask, but I'm going to anyway:

Can you please show us what an architect grind looks like, and how it's achieved?

[dneal]

I know that I shouldn't ask, but I'm going to anyway:

Can you please show us what an architect grind looks like, and how it's achieved?

Nibs.com (John Mottishaw's site) has a picture of an Architect grind at the bottom of the nib customizations page.

I haven't ground one, because they don't interest me. Looking at it though, it's just grinding each side down to an edge (instead of the top and bottom) and flattening the foot. You would need a nib with a lot of tipping material (especially on the under side). You should be able to do it with a Varsity pretty easily, since it has a nice blob of a tip.

[Chrissy]

I know that I shouldn't ask, but I'm going to anyway:

Can you please show us what an architect grind looks like, and how it's achieved?

Nibs.com (John Mottishaw's site) has a picture of an Architect grind at the bottom of the nib customizations page.

I haven't ground one, because they don't interest me. Looking at it though, it's just grinding each side down to an edge (instead of the top and bottom) and flattening the foot. You would need a nib with a lot of tipping material (especially on the under side). You should be able to do it with a Varsity pretty easily, since it has a nice blob of a tip.

Thanks for the quick reply. I had only seen it from the side before. It looks strange front on.

[Woody]

Dneal. Amazing instruction piece. Thank You. Just stubbed a broad and medium today. I've found the dremel works best for my top and bottom cuts, then I go into manual mode for the rest. Now on to smoothing. I'm a little rusty at that. Thanks again.

[ms8109]

I don't understand the smoothing portion, can someone explain it to me / is?


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Best Regards,
Mike

[Woody]

I like this post so much. I'd like to see it pinned but a bump will suffice for now.

[dneal]

I don't understand the smoothing portion, can someone explain it to me / is?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Best Regards,
Mike

So on Cut 4, you're "rounding" the ~90 degree angle you've cut. The sharper it is, the more thin the horizontal line. The more you round it, the thicker the horizontal line.

The problem is that you're doing nothing to the left and right edges of the tipping. They're still at an acute angle. SO, when you're ready to begin smoothing, you rotate the barrel of the pen so that you're rounding off those sharp corners on either side of the nib tip.

When I say rotate, I mean for you to rotate the barrel a few degrees, and repeat the motion that creates cut 4. One or two strokes. Then, rotate it a few more degrees and repeat the motion again. Do this on both sides of the nib.

Only do this a couple of times with the finest stone. Then you can move to the Mylar lapping film or buff stick and repeat. You can do this with an inked pen, and periodically check how smooth it is on a notepad. The key is to constantly vary the angle so you don't wear a flat spot or a foot on the tip.

[ms8109]

Thank You!


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Best Regards,
Mike

[miggy6278]

How can i turn a nib to a fine one? not a fine stub or anything just a fine one.

[Woody]

How can i turn a nib to a fine one? not a fine stub or anything just a fine one.

At the start of this thread it shows you how to reduce the size of the nib. Grind on either side of the nib for reduction then smooth a bit. Works with a medium or broad nib.

[dneal]

How can i turn a nib to a fine one? not a fine stub or anything just a fine one.

Reducing the size is a little more difficult than cutting a stub, because there's a lot more fiddling with multiple radii. Practice this with Pilot Varsities quite a bit, and get comfortable with it before you do it to a "good" nib. You should have a loupe and I would recommend looking at a lot of factory nibs from different manufacturers, in different sizes, to get an idea of the variety of profiles they use.

Wetness and paper absorbency will of course affect line width, but those are two different variables that are independent of grinding. They're still something to keep in mind when you're examining your results.

This first diagram demonstrates that a large gentle radius creates a broad vertical and horizontal line.



To narrow the width of the vertical line, you grind down the sides, gently tapering as you get closer to the nib slit. This is pretty easy to do. You don't want squared angles. The radius from one side of the nib tipping to the other is now smaller, meaning that less tipping material is in contact with the paper. This alone does not change the thickness of the horizontal stroke, just like grinding a stub doesn't change the width of the vertical stroke.



The hard part is thinning the horizontal stroke. The end goal is to have a more acute radius at the nib tip where it touches the paper. The principle of thinning as you would for a stub applies, but the execution is more difficult as you manipulate the shape. Since you're removing the bottom of the nib tipping that you've narrowed, you're also "inadvertently" widening the vertical stroke, and have to touch that up as you go as well.



An option is to grind a stub first, and then narrow the width.

[Amanda]

No!!! I came back to this thread to follow the instructions. Hate PhotoBucket.

[Chrissy]

Darn it! At least on here I think you can always edit, so hopefully 'dneal' might get around to doing that one day and reposting the images.

[grainweevil]

Hate PhotoBucket.

I believe this sentiment may be the only thing the entire interweb has ever agreed on.