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Thread: After market stub nibs

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    Default After market stub nibs

    Another question from me

    Can anyone let me (the rest of us) know what the relative differences are between a Masuyama stub nib and an FPNibs.com stub? Not looking for "this one is better" opinions, just performance differences - line variation, smoothness, flow, that sort of thing.

    AA, TIA


    Edit: should probably include the SIG nib in this question.
    Last edited by Empty_of_Clouds; November 12th, 2019 at 02:30 AM.

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    Senior Member Robert's Avatar
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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    I own both "varieties" - Mike M. ground my Visconti HS (Full size) medium nib to a stub several years ago, and it's one of my finest writers. I have (at least) three nibs.com stubs - a Pelikan M600 (med.), a Pelikan M101n (med.) and a Sailor 1911 (Large) (med.). All write quite well - smooth and moderately wet flow - but those are the qualities I specify when ordering custom grinds. Line variation is pretty much - well, "stubby." I am happy with each and every one of these pens.

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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    Ah, that's a good point. I have had some other grinds from FPNibs, but I only asked for the grind and never thought about specific qualities beyond that. I didn't know you could do that.

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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    Ah, that's a good point. I have had some other grinds from FPNibs, but I only asked for the grind and never thought about specific qualities beyond that. I didn't know you could do that.
    Yes, you can. You may provide specifics concerning your handwriting (pressure, flow desired and . . . whether you're a lefty and, if so, what type of lefty). Useful for me, as I am a hopeless "overwriter."

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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    Alert! Stupid question incoming.

    How do you know about these things? The pressure, flow and whatnot.

    I use virtually no pressure when I write - at least not that I can tell.

    Flow - ink goes on the paper. If a pen was drier and the ink was finding it difficult to transition from pen to paper, I may notice. If there was more ink then I would have thought that the writing would simply be messier and broader. How you go about describing that flow is beyond my comprehension (I'm such a noob, even now).

    Left/right hand - I am right handed. I don't rotate, and tend to adapt my hand to the pen rather than expecting the pen to conform to my hand. If that makes any sense.


    In a nutshell, I pick up a pen and write with it. If it works okay, great. If it doesn't then I don't really spend any time thinking about why, I look for a different pen. I have tons of shortcomings like that.

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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    For my own future reference, are you two talking about FPnibs.com or nibs.com? (I have yet to try either.)

    I do have a couple of 'stock' Masuyama nibs from Franklin-Christoph — a medium cursive italic and a broad stub. The stub seems wetter and has a bit less line variation, as you might expect.

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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    catbert - - I was referring to nibs.com in Los Angeles. I've never dealt with FPnibs.com. When I (mis)read the original post, I "saw" nibs.com.

    E_o_C - Pressure/ink flow are matters treated on the nibs.com website. Also, the work order form I downloaded from Mike M's website some years ago allowed one to specify personal preferences. I, too, have a light hand, and I prefer a more generous ink flow: on a 1 to 10 scale (with 1 being really stingy and 10 a "gusher", I ask for a flow of 6-to-7). Granted, there is a bit of subjectivity involved here, but so far I've been lucky, and pleased, with the end product.

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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    I understand the scale but do not know how it relates to the actual flow experienced. How is a 'gusher' described in this light? Does it flood the page with ink upon first contact? Sorry, I just have no experience of this. All my nibs have been mostly well-behaved.

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    Default Re: After market stub nibs

    Quote Originally Posted by Empty_of_Clouds View Post
    I understand the scale but do not know how it relates to the actual flow experienced. How is a 'gusher' described in this light? Does it flood the page with ink upon first contact? Sorry, I just have no experience of this. All my nibs have been mostly well-behaved.
    I have a Pelikan 400 with a medium flex-nib that, even without pressure, will put down a line that takes several seconds to dry. If I flex it, the pooling is large enough to have a domed quality and may take up to a minute to actually dry (on clairefontaine). If I use Pelikan or a similarly 'dry' ink, the flow is much more manageable, but still fairly heavy.

    As a contrast, I the fine cursive italic from Mr. Masuyama that is very, very dry. Even with inks that are known for shading, I can barely get any color variation out of an ink.

    So,

    wetter = broader line width (generally), longer dry times, and better for shading/sheen

    Dryer = dries faster on the page (good for cheaper paper, generally), no shading/sheen and ink can appear lighter in color unless it is already very saturated.

    Hope this helps.

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