What is a "stub" nib, exactly?

[sdmason]

This is a Jowo medium that is my first attempt at a stub.

[velo]

I'm not sure I trust myself to grind my own nibs.

[KrazyIvan]

I'm not sure I trust myself to grind my own nibs.

Niether did I, so, I started practicing with cheap pens.

[kemuri]

I'm not sure I trust myself to grind my own nibs.

Niether did I, so, I started practicing with cheap pens.

Hello, folks!

I just love this kind of DIY stuff. I was insecure about doing this myself and with some "odd" tools.

I used a very cheap pen (got it for $5 dolars), nail tools (don't know the name in english) to scrub the nib and some oil used to sharp knifes.

Turn out great, very similar to the stub nib I got from a Pilot 78g (broad, stub nib).

It takes some time till it get ok...

Thanks!

-kemuri

[Sailor Kenshin]

That's what I did. Chewed-up garage sale nameless lever pen for one dollar was subjected to nail clippers and nail buffers. Made a scratchy italic to practice on.

[KrazyIvan]

That's what I did. Chewed-up garage sale nameless lever pen for one dollar was subjected to nail clippers and nail buffers. Made a scratchy italic to practice on.

I have to give you props, I have not had the um, bravery to go at a nib with nail clippers. I guess tearing into them with a Dremel is about the same or worse but for some reason nail clippers have not made it into my fountain pen tool box.

[Sailor Kenshin]

That's what I did. Chewed-up garage sale nameless lever pen for one dollar was subjected to nail clippers and nail buffers. Made a scratchy italic to practice on.

I have to give you props, I have not had the um, bravery to go at a nib with nail clippers. I guess tearing into them with a Dremel is about the same or worse but for some reason nail clippers have not made it into my fountain pen tool box.

Heh... It was literally dog-chewed. And one dollar. I decided to ledge-walk. ;-)

[tandaina]

I'm not sure I trust myself to grind my own nibs.

Niether did I, so, I started practicing with cheap pens.

I've tried it... And either I am doing something wrong, my cheap Indian pen's nib is made of space age steel, or my nail boards are WAY wimpier than those of tutorials I've read online... But 20 minutes at it and my emory boards were toast, nib seemed utterly unchanged. So umm, I'm a failure at nib grinding.

[KrazyIvan]

I'm not sure I trust myself to grind my own nibs.

Niether did I, so, I started practicing with cheap pens.

I've tried it... And either I am doing something wrong, my cheap Indian pen's nib is made of space age steel, or my nail boards are WAY wimpier than those of tutorials I've read online... But 20 minutes at it and my emory boards were toast, nib seemed utterly unchanged. So umm, I'm a failure at nib grinding.

That's exactly what I found. It was just taking too long to cut the nib shape I wanted. 45 minutes is about how much time I would work on a weak stub. I moved on to honing stones and now Dremel powered stones. With the Dremel it's 5 minutes tops to rough out the shape and smooth down/polish with the triple grit nail file. Messing up also comes at a very fast pace. I was not paying attention to the rotation direction of the stone once and I touched the nib to the stone just slightly. Instantly the right tine was gone about 3 mm's above the tipping. Luckily it was a cheap pen and I do not make that mistake anymore. I just need to draw an arrow with a Sharpie on the tool so I can skip the rotation check.

[scrivelry]

I did this with a pen that came to me with part of the tine broken off - cheap nib, absolutely no reason to think I'd ever want it professionally repaired, so nothing to lose. It's ok, but I am looking for the sharpening stones I know I have somewhere for the next one.

T

[raging.dragon]

An italic nib has a rectangular (instead of round) contact patch between nib and paper so it produces thick vertical lines and thin horizontal lines.

Historically: a stub was an italic nib with the rectangular contact patch perpendicular to the long axis of the nib, a hebrew nib was an italic with the contact patch parallel to the long axis of the nib, and an oblique nib was an italic nib with the contact patch at any angle in between. This terminology is still used in the context of dip pens and calligraphy pens and nibs. Regardless of the orientation of the contact patch, it may have sharp corners (to maximize line variation) or rounded corners to allow cursive writing.

In the modern fountain pen community the terms often have a different meaning. Italic, cursive italic and stub nibs all have a rectangular contact patch pependicular to the long axis of the nib. An italic or crisp italic has sharp corners. A cursive italic has slightly rounded corners allowing careful cursive writing. A stub has more rounded corners making it more forgiving when held less than perfectly aligned with the paper. An oblique has an angled round contact patch to accomodate writers who rotate their pen, but will have little if any line variation. Thus you could have an oblique stub, which would be a contradiction of terms in contexts using the historic meanings of these words.