Dip nibs and caligraphy

[Laurie]

Not sure if this is the right place to post but it seems to fit better here. I have recently renewed my interest in fountain pens and my last venture was to experience flex pens. On advice from forum members that it would be better to buy some flex dip nibs and feel the experience. They wisely advised that it was much cheaper than buying a pen with a flex nib ( may only be softy or springy and not really flex).

So I took that advice and am waiting on an ebay purchase of about 10 various nibs and pen holders. Some of the nibs are fine pointed flex nibs and others are italics. I have been doing a bit of research to determine appropriate nib holders, inks etc. Interestingly I discovered the oblique holder and more interestingly there is a very interesting youtube article on how to make your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNuvi-fdutE. You may notice at the end of this video he does not show how to fit these oblique holders onto the pen itself. I sent Christopher an email and he was very responsive and advised me of how to do it. Originally his method was flawed in that ink and water when washing got into the end of the pen holder causing swelling and ruining the wooden pen holder. He now attaches it differently using flue and brass pins and creating a water proof barrier.

The making of the oblique holders appears fairly straight forward and does not require the purchase of many tools such as the bailing pliers. However making the actual wooden pen holder is more challenging for me. Without a lathe and lathing skills I imagine it would be hard. I couldnt find anywhere to buy blanks and maybe there is an easier solutions (e.g. buying dowel and whittling and sandpapering) Any ideas on this area would be appreciated.

In my research I found another interesting site: http://www.paperinkarts.com/calligra...n-holders.html. You will see that the holder and oblique attachment is very well thought out and made and has even been slightly offset to give the correct nib angle (there is some talk about the things they considered in designing this holder). I live in Australia and the cost of having this pen holder and having it shipped is about $38 AUD which I think is reasonable. By the time you buy the tools, brass etc it would be little if any savings. The only advantage would be that you could have most of the commonly used nibs set up in the oblique holder and have individual wooden holders for each nib so it would be just a matter of switching over. The alternative doesnt seem that bad and you just insert the nib into the single purchased pen holder via the screw section.

I am opening up a whole new world in my pen experiences and now that has led me into the world of caligraphy. It seems that these flexy and italic dip nibs would be wasted on my ordinary scribbly handwriting and so I have decided to undertake some self education in various handwriting styles. This is where I would appreciate a little advice. My first thoughts was to learn copperplate writing and then some italic writing followed perhaps by some old english or gothic styles. Does anyone have any wise input into this as I have found my research very confusing. Are there other styles that I should consider. I would prefer a cursive type of writing and not a print style.

I have ordered an old Copperplate tuition book (Gordon Turner "The Technique of Coppperplate Caligraphy") and having joined a Caligraphy forum where I may be able to get some free online lessons.

I would appreciate any suggestions and comments on the matters raised in this post as i am very overwhelmed and unsure where I am going at this point of time.