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Thread: Reground a PenBBS fine to *actually* be fine!

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    Senior Member awa54's Avatar
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    Default Reground a PenBBS fine to *actually* be fine!

    My newest PenBBS arrival (a 480 in Verdure) came with a poorly ground nib, it was scratchy and had a big flat spot in the curvature of the writing surface, so I decided to have a go at narrowing the tipping and giving the lower face a longer radius curve, sort of a half-architect grind. The result is very smooth and is a true fine point now, but doesn't show more than the barest hint of a wider cross stroke, compared to the unaltered "standard" nib.

    I may eventually go even farther and do a for-real architect grind, with EF width or finer, but for now, I'm leaving it alone as it does write very nicely.
    David-

    So many restoration projects...

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    azkid (January 14th, 2020), Sailor Kenshin (January 15th, 2020)

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    Senior Member awa54's Avatar
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    Default Re: Reground a PenBBS fine to *actually* be fine!

    Somewhat interestingly, I received a couple 480s today with standard nibs and both are noticeably finer writers than previous PenBBS nibs I have...

    Maybe it's just sample variation, but also possible that there's a shift in production standards?
    David-

    So many restoration projects...

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    Jon Szanto (January 15th, 2020)

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    FPG Donor ♕ KrazyIvan's Avatar
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    Default Re: Reground a PenBBS fine to *actually* be fine!

    No idea, but I recently received a PenBBS 268 and it writes like a western fine that is very smooth. Admittedly it is my first pen from the brand but I believe PenBBS is raising the bar when it comes to Chinese pen quality.
    Fountain Pen Sith Lord | Daakusaido | Everything in one spot

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    Senior Member awa54's Avatar
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    Default Re: Reground a PenBBS fine to *actually* be fine!

    I got another PenBBS fine that had seemingly been ground to shape while the tines where slightly misaligned.

    Watchmaker loupe, check. XXF diamond hone, check. 3micron lapping film, check. 0.5micron lapping film, check!

    This time I aimed for an architect profile, but the initial EEF down stroke was too sharp and it shaved paper in both directions of cross stroke. An additional challenge was that the slit is cut at a bias (looks like / rather than | when viewed head on), so tuning the writing surface to its minimum possible width was a task that needed more magnification and smaller abrasive tools than I have available right now.

    So, I reground the writing surface to be flat and then rounded edges inward until it wrote smoothly... It *looks* like it should be an EF down stroke and a M cross stroke, but on paper it's disappointingly closer to a regular F

    It does have some cross to down variation, but it's subtle, it is very smooth though, so I think I'll write with it as it sits for a while, maybe until I can set up my stereoscopic microscope.
    Last edited by awa54; February 2nd, 2020 at 03:52 PM.
    David-

    So many restoration projects...

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    Default Re: Reground a PenBBS fine to *actually* be fine!

    So when these nibs are sent out, what are they specified as? F or EF?
    Regards, Chrissy | My Review Blog: inkyfountainpens

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    Senior Member awa54's Avatar
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    Default Re: Reground a PenBBS fine to *actually* be fine!

    They are marked with an "F" and suggested to be 0.5mm line width. In my experience about a third are equivalent to a western fine, another third are medium line width and the balance somewhere in between.

    The round tipped medium is about the same width as the upper end of the upturned fines, while the EFs are definitely finer than the thinnest fine and equivalent to a western EF.
    David-

    So many restoration projects...

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