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Thread: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

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    Default Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    I've been rather taken, lately, with stub nibs, and am keen to do some further explorations. It started with the addition of a 1.1mm stub to a Lamy Al-star, and proceeded, from there, to a Pilot Prera with "CM" (cursive medium) nib. I like both pens, but prefer the somewhat more subtle line variation and smoothness of the Prera. The pen itself, however, is SO strangely small -- to the extent that it's slightly awkward to use. I've now taken to dip pens, and have been liking the narrow Brause stub nibs. I had a TWSBI stub, but didn't particularly care for it because I felt that there wasn't enough difference in line width between the narrow versus wide stroke.

    I'm wanting to branch-out a bit more, but from what I can tell so far, there don't seem to be a lot of options available. It seems that the narrowest stub that's most widely available is a 1.1mm -- Jowo has one in a #5 and #6, for example. I would like to try something a bit narrower than that, however, and don't know what to get. I've been wanting a Pelikan M200, and am now thinking of getting it in their italic nib, but don't know much about it.

    Other than that, I'm wondering about custom options, and what to ask for in a custom grind. I'm thinking about perhaps having my Lamy 2000 reground into a cursive-italic, but hesitant because I don't know how it will turn out.

    Can someone with experience in one or more stub/italic nib offerings, or in having pens customized to stubs give me some opinions or observations that might be helpful? I'd particularly love to hear about additional options that I have yet to try.

    Thanks...

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    You can try Pendleton Brown. He's well known for his very smooth BLS (Butter Line Stub) nibs that he custom grinds. His website is pendletonpens.com and you can also buy complete pens that he custom ground at:

    https://www.ebay.com/sch/pendletonsp...p2047675.l2562

    I have a broad nib on an el cheapo used Bexley that he ground for me and it is great! BTW, he will be taking a break for summer so he's not taking any more custom nib work.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    I would recommend getting an Architect Grind from Mark Bacas over at Nibgrinder.com

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Mark Bacas ground my Lamy 2000 into a cursive smooth italic and it is one of my favorite nibs.

    I also have a cursive italic from Mark and one from Pablo at FPNibs. If you are new to italics, you might find Mark's smooth variant a little more forgiving.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    I particularly like Lamy 1.1mm stub nibs and have several on my Safaris, and Nexx pens. They are all really smooth to write with.
    Italic nibs aren't the same as stub nibs - they have sharp corners where stub nibs have smoothed off/rounded corners. So I find Italic nibs crisper to write with.

    I've made a couple of broader stub nibs narrower just by slightly smoothing down the side edges using a nib smoothing board. It's fairly straightforward to do this.

    Favourite stub nibs include a standard Sheaffer and a standard Bexley.

    My own preference is for nibs with tipping, but Lamy stub nibs are good enough without tipping.
    Last edited by Chrissy; May 28th, 2019 at 12:37 AM.
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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Nemosyne has 0.6 and 0.8 mm stubs. You could also look at Italix and Franklin-Christoph.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Waterman 7 blue nib.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    @michaeldoleman, if you have a pen that takes a Jowo #6 then I fully recommend fpnibs.com for whatever grinds you may be interest in. Their costs are low enough to enable most people to at least sample a few different types. And yes, I am a more than happy customer of theirs! I have two custom pens that have their medium stub and medium cursive italic nibs fitted and they are a joy to use.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Esterbrook and Osmiroid ranges of nibs are hard to beat and are still widely available.
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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice


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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    FWIW Pilot offers a factory stub (0.7mm) in its Vanishing Point line. Last year I ordered a VP Crossed Lines model from nibs.com with the factory stub. It writes very nicely and there was no extra cost for the nib.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Another vote for Pendleton Brown's BLS nib. I had a Safari ground by him and it's my favorite nib.
    Last edited by VertOlive; May 27th, 2019 at 02:45 PM.
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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    A cursive italic can be difficult to write with -- I still haven't completely mastered one that I had John Mottishaw grind for me on a Pelikan M800 broad nib.

    Pelikan's stock Italic Broad writes more like a stub. Best of luck with whatever you eventually decide upon.



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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    I'm interested in exploring CI/stub/italic nibs too.

    You might want to check out some of the vintage stub/italic dip nibs, like the Esterbrook #942, if you haven't.

    You probably know Lamy nibs come in 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9mm. I haven't tried them yet.

    I found a seller on Etsy that is selling Jinhao nibs, 1.5mm - 2.9mm

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by silverlifter View Post
    Mark Bacas ground my Lamy 2000 into a cursive smooth italic and it is one of my favorite nibs.

    I also have a cursive italic from Mark and one from Pablo at FPNibs. If you are new to italics, you might find Mark's smooth variant a little more forgiving.
    I've contacted Mark about turning my 2000 into a CI, and I think I have all but decided to go that route. I've never 100% liked the way my 2000 writes, but love the pen. I think if it were a fine italic, I would write with it a lot more. Thanks for the input.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by Robert View Post
    FWIW Pilot offers a factory stub (0.7mm) in its Vanishing Point line. Last year I ordered a VP Crossed Lines model from nibs.com with the factory stub. It writes very nicely and there was no extra cost for the nib.
    Yes, I've seen those. I almost bought one at one point, but I just don't care for the design of the VP. I had a chance to demo one, and didn't like the way it felt in my hand. I do like the CM nib on my Prera, but that pen is SO dinky.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    I have a Lamy 1.1 and 1.5, each attached to an Al-Star. Those make for nice pens, but even the 1.1 is a bit fat for my taste, for everyday cursive writing. I want something more along the 0.7 to 1.0 range. My Pilot Prera is very close to what I want, but it has other characteristics that are not quite right.

    I've also tried a few dip nibs, and I do like those. They make for a nice experience, but dip pens are less "my thing" than a nice fountain pen with the nib that I want to go-to again and again.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by catbert View Post
    Nemosyne has 0.6 and 0.8 mm stubs. You could also look at Italix and Franklin-Christoph.
    Thanks for that -- I didn't know Nemosyne had those nibs available. I've never really paid too much attention to their pens -- I'm a bit wary, as they look a bit like a "cheapie/knockoff" type brand, but I certainly have no experience with them. Fanklin-Christoph seems like an interesting option.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Quote Originally Posted by michaeldoleman View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by catbert View Post
    Nemosyne has 0.6 and 0.8 mm stubs. You could also look at Italix and Franklin-Christoph.
    Thanks for that -- I didn't know Nemosyne had those nibs available. I've never really paid too much attention to their pens -- I'm a bit wary, as they look a bit like a "cheapie/knockoff" type brand, but I certainly have no experience with them. Fanklin-Christoph seems like an interesting option.
    Nemosyne pens don't appeal to me either, but since the nibs can be had separately and I'm also on a stub/italic kick at present I will probably investigate.

    I do have a Masuyama medium cursive italic from Franklin-Christoph and like it a lot. It's much crisper than a Lamy 1.1, though.

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    Default Re: Italic / Stub Nibs -- Favorites & Advice

    Franklin-Christoph Masuyama stubs and cursive italic nibs are really smooth and the fine ci provides enough line variation to make my writing more interesting. Nemosine nibs are a good value for the money, you can buy just the nib and use it on a Jinhao x750 for an cheap Stub to play with. FPNibs has several pens for purchase and will grind a nib into a stub or cursive italic I’m very happy with the ci they ground on my Kaweco Al Sport. FPNibs also sells nibs and nib unit, I bought a #5 Jowo nib unit and had them grind it to a ci with semi-flex and a #6 Jowo nib unit with a stub grind with semi-flex, I’m thrilled with both of these nibs and will probably order from FPNibs again. Nibs.com ground several Nakayas and an Aurora into stubs and cursive italics for me and the Nibsmith ground two pens into stubs for me, I don’t hesitate to recommend both of these businesses.

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