You described the whole process so beautifully, really loved it! I had mango chutney this afternoon to beat the heat here in India! Really appreciate that you include mango chutney in every writing samples.
16:10 🥲 (my name!) Thank you so much for the Kaigelu 316A fountain pen... and for putting an amazing CrowdPleaser® cursive italic nib grind on it! Thank you also for sharing your techniques & tips for nib tuning and nib grinding, as well as all the other stuff I've learned from watching your channel. You're talented, but you also have a generosity of spirit shown by your willingness to share your knowledge with others. You're a class act, Doodlebud 👍
Feeding the feeler gauge through from the underside of the nib will avoid marring and scratching the surface of the nib. From personal experience and from nibs worked on by others, the brass sheets can damage the edges of the slit on softer gold nibs, I use mylar sheet as a safer alternative. I also use mylar sheet/s for widening the slit as well as flossing. Great channel.
Love your videos, especially ones like this. My new mantra has been, " If it's broken already my trying to fix it will make it better or it will remain broken. " Kinda gives me courage to try more repairs. I have used the feeler gauges and will just put it in at a higher number and let it sit on my desk for a few minutes. It often avoids the need to realign the nibs
I really, really would like to thank you for this. I have had four pens I have been unhappy with. A Pelikan 400 OM, a big Kaweco F from the '30's, a Parker Junior F from the '50's and a Mabie Todd Swan M from the '50's. I couldn't use any of them with any pleasure. Then this showed in my feed and I watched it and thought of the OM which I really wanted to use. So I thought I would just try the adjusting part from the video and - WOW!!! I have a Pelikan OB I love for special ocassions and now I have an OM I canuse anytime. So then I thought of the other pens and over the last 2 days I have made them all a pleasure to use. The process is so simple even I could do it and extremely well explained. Thank you again. Now for some grinding - maybe.
I like the feeler gauge technique. Makes it measurable and takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. Dry writing pens annoy me and it seems like almost all of the new ones I buy are dry out of the box. As for the grind, nice work, but you're braver than I am, especially doing it on someone else's pen. 😁
When the nib is out I sometimes scrub the inside of the nib with kitchen cleanser and a Q-Tip. Just take the polish out. I feel it allows better ink flow. It could be just the last bit of machineing grease or it could be texture.
Thank you so much, now I know that there is a thing called "Feeler gauge" and now I can use this instead of brass shims to floss my nib, tune it because brass shims aren't available online in my area but Feeler gauges are.
Inspiration! I have a very sharp italic nib on one of my pens, which digs in a bit (I'm a leftie 🙄). I've got stones for knife sharpening, but I never thought to use them to round the corners to make it more manageable (and less of a chore).
I have a Conklin duragraph. Stub nib. It was tuned by the retailer. I found that the right to left stroke was drier vs the left to right. Also the line variance was not to my liking. Under the loop I noticed that the tines were asymmetrical. I did a complete regrind. Started with a medium stone to square it off. Started reshaping with a fine stone. Ran fine grit paper through the tines to improve flow. Followed up reshaping and refining with 1500, 2000, 3000, 5000, 7000 and then polished with micro mesh. Inked it up with Leonardo black. Probably my favorite nib right now.
"Egyptologist" as a single line of cursive is my mango chutney ;) A pleasure to watch you do it the traditional way - by hand on stone rather than with power tools, as I also do with my knives.
Knives & nibs are quite different. I use my stones for my knives & razors but a rotary system for nibs is far superior. It allows for more precise control & more difficult grinds. Reducing medium nib point to an XF for example is tricky with a rotary setup but extremely difficult just using stones. Basic nib grinds are ok on stones but rotary is much better.
@@Doodlebud ...apparently we have very similar taste in pens. I too prefer substantial weight with good girth and very fine nib, thus my modern cobalt blue steel PFM with XF - but I haven't attempted grinding from a wider to XF, only the other way to italic or stub. I especially enjoy an F italic these days and have a custom Binder on a Nuetenno Skipper as the second of my top 3. The stones are much more forgiving 😉 Just discovered your site (been on hiatus for a few years) so have some catch-up to get accomplished. I'm an artist rather than engineer but sure do appreciate you nerding out on the technical details. Your content is awesome!
Faaannntastic. Doodlebud, you've inspired me to get someone else to fix my nibs, because I am still too scared to do it myself! I think it's fair to say you can quit your day job and become a nibmeister.
Professional work is especially important with gold nibs! I have been using FP's for over 60 years, and I smooth nibs, but never will I try a DIY italic conversion.
Thanks for the refresher vid. I was practicing on some preppies and there is still some learning on my part to get a cursive italic grind. I still got some work to do to get it just right.
Since you get so many requests, time to make a bunch and put them up for sale! :D I could watch these type of videos all day long - they are addictive.
Prior to that, if you can, open the feeder and pass a needle along the upper channel to wider it a bit. Sometiimes they are shut of full of matter. Most cases it fixes a dry pen. Regards
Very Interesting. Makes me have the gall to try on my own cheaper nibs just micro mesh of course and a feeler gauge if the nib is drier. Love this video. Keep it up!!
Great job DB. Missing the VPC meetings. When we get back in person I’d like to meet you again and talk about nib grinds. I’ve done a few just like you. I can show you some of my grinds too!
@@Doodlebud Any reported/defined date when their kickstarter will launch? i been looking the past couple days? Will your video come out before or at the kickstarter launch? How much can you say time wise? God bless!
I usually just stick two paper thin sheets of plastic into the slit, fold them over the tines so I've got two little tabs to grab onto and then it's really easy to pull straight side-to-side with a lot of fine control so you don't overdo it or lift the nib off of the feed accidentally. I've always been hesitant to take the nib out of the pen to work on the tines, because you can start twisting the entire nib geometry and then it doesn't sit on the feed properly anymore. If I were a nibmeister I'd have a set of feeds with the ends cut off so I could freely bend the tines in all directions while the heel and body of the nib are still supported as they normally would be.
Thanks for another detailed grinding video. I'm working up to stubbifying my Pilot custom 912. I've only practiced by grinding 3 steel nibs so far, but they turned out pretty good. I'll do a few more cheap steel nibs first to build up my confidence further. I've been loaned some of those diamond knife sharpening stones, which I think should work better than my aluminium oxide sharpening stones for nib grinding. I aim to keep as much tipping material as possible in the process; It doesn't matter for the steel practice nibs, but for the gold nib, I want to maximise the possibility of correcting any mistakes I might make, and to minimise wearing away the tip during writing once it's ground. I'm also thinking of making up some sort of jig for holding the nib at a consistent angle to the stone; At this stage I don't trust my hands to do that with enough consistency, although my hands are all I've needed so far with the practice nibs.
Just ensure on the diamond stones that they have are the correct grit. They also remove material very fast compared to other abrasives so be mindful of that. I did my MB 149 with this setup & it worked great. But yes, check continuously & leave tipping material in place.
@@Doodlebud Thanks DB. The guy who loaned me the sharpening stones mentioned that the grits/grades of the diamond stones don't correspond to those of wet/dry sandpaper or micromesh, but I don't have a sense of how they differ. Presumably silicon carbide and aluminium oxide stones also differ. Based on your advice I should probably start with the finer stones, then work my way back to the coarser ones, then back to the finer ones. For the moment, I'm enjoying the behaviour of the Pilot's nib in its stock state.
This is a good tutorial. Thank you. I do a lot of nib smoothing, but I will pass on making a DIY italic nib. 6:00 - "Pop out" the nib and feed? Well, you did not show us. The nib/feed unit magically came out. I wanted to see the unit removal! ~ 14:35 - I use micro-mesh pads for smoothing nib points, but I never use them with ink in the pen. I have never seen that before. ~ 17:05 ff - "Bite" on a nib is okay. I call it feedback, and it is something I like in general. My ideal feedback is about like the lead of a wood case pencil against paper. But if a FP nib has a little more feedback, I am still satisfied with it.
Awesome! Thanks doodlebud, now I might be able to fix my Lamy nibs! ❤ (And no, of course you are not responsible if I mess up, that’s obviously on me 😂)
Well Mr Doodlebud I just got my grind on, following your method. A Jinhao fine or medium. Can’t tell. Anyway, in fifteen minutes I made a lovely oblique. I was aiming for a stub! But it works wonderfully. Thanks for the inspiration
@@Doodlebud the oblique happened because I didn’t bother to check the nib alignment. On the next two Jinhaos I got nice crisp stubs. Then I ground a fine Pilot Metro to a super fine stub. Almost like a needlepoint. Love it.
@@Doodlebud So I ground about three or four Jinhaos. Then I moved on to a Pilot Metropolitan. Then a Delta I never used. All success stories. Turned them into crisp stubs, my fav nib. Emboldened, I moved on to my Pelikan M805's Italic Broad nib. I bought the pen with a lovely F nib--smooth, just great. A bit of spring. The IB, by contrast, is flawed. It is too broad for the feed. It's about a 1.5 mm. When it works, it's too wet. Or it hard starts or skips. And the line variation isn't great. I ground it into roughly a 1.2 mm stub. It's so much better. I took a chance and it worked. Again, thanks, Doodlebud. Now the nib size seems better suited to the feed. Sure, it's a bit wet (I like my nibs and feeds dry) but now the flow is reliable.
No, your method is right and will not be a mess. Infact it's perfect. It requires practice though and gentle handling. Thank you for the video. What is that thing which is there in the video at 11:13 ? I am interested in knowing it as I want to tune my Kaweco Bock Nib to wet from dry one. I am confident now in buying Pelikan M series fountain pens as the Pen nib suffer from Nib tines misalignment., for which this Video is perfect.
I did this with my Bock nib on my Ensso and the Bock is so hard as nails it just bent when I applied the lightest of pressure like you did here in your video. My eyeballz pooped. Lol. Bocks are already very straight points. And they don’t seem to have much bounce in them. If I touch them they bend upwards very easily and doesn’t help whatsoever with whatever is wrong with them. I’m going to have to send them to something. I just hope it’s fixable and isn’t just the way these particular Bock nibs are. Cheers
Hmmm, it must really need to be opened up. I've also done it just by removing the nib from the housing and grabbing the sides and opening up. It depends on the nib and how much its off. Some can really be a battle to work with. I've also used my shims (feeler gauges) to open the tines as well. But again, this needs to be something someone is comfortable doing. If you think you're going to do more harm than good, best thing to stop.
@@Doodlebud yeah that’s what I was worried about doing more harm than good. So I put them down several months back. I’m considering picking it back up and working on it myself or sending it to someone and just getting it professionally done. It is a Bach I don’t know if I want to mess with it too much. Period. I do have two of them so maybe the one that’s bent already I could mess with and see if I can get anywhere again with that particular nib. It feels particularly hard to work with. That is at least how I feel about it. Or felt about it at the time. I’ve been going through a lot of medical issues so it could be that I wasn’t in the right state of mind to deal with it at that time either. Either way thanks for the response and your replies. Cheers
@@Doodlebud I'm thinking of trying this myself now but I have a question. After the initial shaping on the 1000 grit stone, why do you polish on the 4000 grit whet stone instead of the lower grit micromesh? (I'm assuming whet stone and micro mesh grits are not the same)
I am very happy that I found your channel. I too need to make some adjustments on my Pilot Vanishing Point. The ink flow from the nib is very random. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thank you.
Assuming the nib snaps back a bit, couldn't you use the metal from a diet coke can. It is aluminum (soft) and a precise 4/1000 in. to spread the tines a bit?
0.004" is way to thick. I hear you on trying to use it, can always give it a try, but I would pick up some brass shims or feeler gauges and use those. They will be a tool you'll use for a long time and are very affordable.
You seem like the best person to ask - do you know of (or do you make) a fude nib for lamy pens? I have the lamy joy with a medium nib (z53) but I miss the ability to flip (or hold vertical) the pen and get a super thin line .. and equally just get a very thick line to fill areas quickly .. would appreciate a response, thanks! 🙏
I had to watch because of your thumbnail. I need better thumbnails hahaha! Also, did you use a knife sharpening stone for the initial grind? I had not thought of using those--I have a bunch of them.
LOL, I couldn't resist myself with this one 😆. Yup, I sharpen knives & rasors with them and one day thought "Hey, I bet I could grind a nib with these." I find they work pretty well then just smooth out the nib on the micromesh pads. Love your videos btw 👍
@@Doodlebud 'Just The Tip' ?!?!!! Really? That one goes right along with 'I'll go slow & keep everything under control.' And the next thing you know, you've been screwed!
Doodlebud, I just purchased dip pens for me and my wife. They have nibs like the one you're working on but says " iridium point Germany" on them, mine is letting ink flow too fast onto the paper. Please sir any advice would help because idk what to do! I've never used one before.
I have a fountain pen with a 2mm broad nib. When I start writing , it works fine, but after some time the ink starts thinning until it only flows in a thin line from the slit in the nib. I don't know what could be the problem, any suggestions?
I enjoy your nib grinding videos, thank you! Have you ever tried grinding a Pilot Parallel pen? I was looking at doing one down to a .5. They are such good pens but too wide for normal everyday writing.
Question: (and I’m not a nib grinder just a fan of fpen) wouldn’t it make more sense to grind the nib first then adjust the gap width and tines? Just thinking that after a grind the gap/tines could get out of alignment during the process then you have to recheck the gaps etc or is yours a better practice based on exp
Guess its personal preference. But my rational is to get the pen properly aligned and tuned & flowing first then grind. If those are out to begin with and you have to adjust afterwards, it can mess up your grind and will need more work. So far I haven't had to adjust a nib after I grind when doing it this way. Ensuing tine gap is key before grinding because this regulars ink flow. I test out the nib as I go to see how its looking & feeling, and if it doesn't have proper ink flow this will throw off my assessment of the nib and I could end up grinding it wrong to compensate for a poor flowing nib.
If I'm not filming anything it would only be about 15min now. My first nibs took longer of course. And if it's a gold nib I go slower to really keep an eye on ensuring I leave tipping material in place
Thanks for the great video. I just received my first set of feeler gauges. They are all coated in oil. Do I need to clean the oil off before trying to use them the way you did in this video? Just worried the oil might mess with the nib, feed, ink flow. Thanks again.
Don't oil the feed, it will make your fountain pen illegible.. if you have oiled the feeder by mistake, make cloth detergent warm water diluted mixture, I use Ariel detergent for cleaning the feeder which skips really bad. Don't use hot water as it can damage your feeder. Leave the feeder overnight and after 24 hours, clean the feeder under tap water with soft brush, I use Sensodyne soft Toothbrush and gently clean the feeder. Then pat it dry and leave for another 12 hours to dry naturally. Don't use hair dryer to dry in a hurry as the feeder component might melt. BEWARE.
You seem skilled with ink quills! I dream of a Jinhao X159 (similar to the Montblanc 149) because I want to use it to sign my books at my book readings. BUT: it has a #8 nib in fine and I want a wider one, M or B. Do you know where to buy a #8 nib? That would be awesome, right? Regards from Roland, germany
Hya @Doodlebud i was watching this vod again and I was wondering what nibs do you buy for the pens you do grinds for people with? I know it will depend on the pen itself because of different feeds, housings, and sometimes sections of its a friction fed pen. But I imagine you’re not using a cheap $1 pen are you? Either way I would appreciate if you would share the nib brands and were to purchase them. And also where do you like to purchase the cheap nibs you were saying to use for learning how to grind with? I always appreciate your insight and info. Cheers
Just to be clear I don't do grinds for other people or sell ground nibs. I did a giveaway where I ground a bunch of nibs for fun. For those I just used a Jinhao #6 style nib as it is low cost, reasonable quality, & fits a wide range of pens. The nibs I simply bought on Aliexpress
@@Doodlebud I’m sorry. Yes, you are right of course. I should’ve been clearer. I do understand you do not work on nibs for most people and you do not do this as a job. Absolutely.I meant for the people you have, let’s say, gifted a nib grind of yours and they give away, etc. OK, that’s great. Thank you so much. I was wondering about Jinhao nibs. I tend to “think” that they’re pretty good nibs myself. Because I’m not an expert, and I don’t really know what, “great” nibs are, I wasn’t sure if my thoughts on this had any merit. I guess for my limited exposure to pen nibs, I wasn’t too bad of a judge on that. Awesome. AliExpress. That’s cool. I just recently bought my Jinhao X159’s from there. I’m fairly new to that sight, but I’m glad to find out from you that they sell nibs and nibs units separately. Thanks so much again for everything you do I often rewatch many of your videos just because I love fountain pens so much. And it may sounds kind of weird but it’s a kind of comforting to just put your videos on and watch them in a playlist. But I guess it’s like with em anything we enjoy, we want to be around it or talk about or listen to someone sense talk about it! Lol. Thanks again, for your info and insight. It is always much appreciated. Cheers
No reason to apologize LOL. I just mentioned it as I get numerous emails asking me ot grind nibs or restore pens. The Jinhao nibs are great for practicing with but nib point size selection is limited. Good to hear you're finding my vids helpful & hope your nib tuning/grinding goes well
These are whetstones that I use so just lubricate with water. I also sometimes just leave the pen inked as its water based. So water on the stones and some ink will come out the pen too
For sandpaper, I just go to a local tool store which has an autobody section with paper up to 2000 grit. However, I don't really use sandpaper for my nibs. The micromesh pads can be found online in many places, I got mine at a local store called Lee Valley Tools. For the stones, again many options. I bought one from a store locally called House Of Knives, one from Lee Valley Tools, and also online from an online retailer called Chefs Knifes To Go.
I know this not relevant to this post but I was wondering if someone can help me ? I put some permanent ink in a pen not realizing it . What are its characteristics and is it bad if I’ve been using washable inks in the pen ???
Did this with a couple gold nibs & turned out great. Did it on my MB 149 & now its a wonderful writing Fine CI nib. Only removed tipping material to reshape it & left enough in place for writing. If someone doesn't have the hand skills to do it, then definitely stay away from gold nibs.
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You described the whole process so beautifully, really loved it! I had mango chutney this afternoon to beat the heat here in India! Really appreciate that you include mango chutney in every writing samples.
Good to hear you enjoy eating your mango chutney 😁
@@Doodlebud who doesn't like mango chutney 😊
16:10 🥲 (my name!) Thank you so much for the Kaigelu 316A fountain pen... and for putting an amazing CrowdPleaser® cursive italic nib grind on it! Thank you also for sharing your techniques & tips for nib tuning and nib grinding, as well as all the other stuff I've learned from watching your channel. You're talented, but you also have a generosity of spirit shown by your willingness to share your knowledge with others. You're a class act, Doodlebud 👍
Glad that you're enjoying the pen 😊. You put a bunch of work into the VPC so it's a small thank you for your efforts
@@Doodlebud Aww, thanks so much for that (and a great new pen for me to write with 😊!)
Feeding the feeler gauge through from the underside of the nib will avoid marring and scratching the surface of the nib. From personal experience and from nibs worked on by others, the brass sheets can damage the edges of the slit on softer gold nibs, I use mylar sheet as a safer alternative. I also use mylar sheet/s for widening the slit as well as flossing.
Great channel.
Thx for the tip
Glad to see I'm not the only fountain pen channel who struggles with camera focus. The struggle is real. LOL
And never ending!
Wow, I've been hating my fountain pen since I got it as a gift and was very disapointed, this video literally changed my life!!! Thx a lot!
Good to hear 👍 Glad it helped
Love your videos, especially ones like this. My new mantra has been, " If it's broken already my trying to fix it will make it better or it will remain broken. " Kinda gives me courage to try more repairs. I have used the feeler gauges and will just put it in at a higher number and let it sit on my desk for a few minutes. It often avoids the need to realign the nibs
Good tip
I really, really would like to thank you for this. I have had four pens I have been unhappy with. A Pelikan 400 OM, a big Kaweco F from the '30's, a Parker Junior F from the '50's and a Mabie Todd Swan M from the '50's. I couldn't use any of them with any pleasure. Then this showed in my feed and I watched it and thought of the OM which I really wanted to use. So I thought I would just try the adjusting part from the video and - WOW!!!
I have a Pelikan OB I love for special ocassions and now I have an OM I canuse anytime. So then I thought of the other pens and over the last 2 days I have made them all a pleasure to use. The process is so simple even I could do it and extremely well explained. Thank you again.
Now for some grinding - maybe.
Hey that's excellent news! That's why I made this video. Glad it was able to help 👍😁
I like the feeler gauge technique. Makes it measurable and takes a lot of the guesswork out of it. Dry writing pens annoy me and it seems like almost all of the new ones I buy are dry out of the box. As for the grind, nice work, but you're braver than I am, especially doing it on someone else's pen. 😁
Rarely they are too wet. I've found it pretty common for nibs to run a bit dry
When the nib is out I sometimes scrub the inside of the nib with kitchen cleanser and a Q-Tip. Just take the polish out. I feel it allows better ink flow. It could be just the last bit of machineing grease or it could be texture.
Thank you for your incredibly helpful videos!
Thank you so much, now I know that there is a thing called "Feeler gauge" and now I can use this instead of brass shims to floss my nib, tune it because brass shims aren't available online in my area but Feeler gauges are.
Efforts highly appreciated. Love the indepth videos like these.
Thanks for the video. Nice to see how you tackle nib tuning!
Inspiration! I have a very sharp italic nib on one of my pens, which digs in a bit (I'm a leftie 🙄). I've got stones for knife sharpening, but I never thought to use them to round the corners to make it more manageable (and less of a chore).
I find for smoothing out a nib the micromesh pads are a bit more forgiving
@@Doodlebud I agree with Doodlebud. Micromesh is the only material I use for smoothing nibs!
Me too
I have a Conklin duragraph. Stub nib. It was tuned by the retailer. I found that the right to left stroke was drier vs the left to right. Also the line variance was not to my liking. Under the loop I noticed that the tines were asymmetrical. I did a complete regrind. Started with a medium stone to square it off. Started reshaping with a fine stone. Ran fine grit paper through the tines to improve flow. Followed up reshaping and refining with 1500, 2000, 3000, 5000, 7000 and then polished with micro mesh. Inked it up with Leonardo black. Probably my favorite nib right now.
Great to hear your pen is writing wonderfully
Thanks so much! I had a brand new non-writer pen which is working great now after tuning it.
Very interesting and useful video!
Thank you DB !
(Mango Chutney for ever!)
Excellent demonstration. Well done, as usual. Thanks. Cheers from Oz.
Glad you enjoyed it
"Egyptologist" as a single line of cursive is my mango chutney ;)
A pleasure to watch you do it the traditional way - by hand on stone rather than with power tools, as I also do with my knives.
Knives & nibs are quite different. I use my stones for my knives & razors but a rotary system for nibs is far superior. It allows for more precise control & more difficult grinds. Reducing medium nib point to an XF for example is tricky with a rotary setup but extremely difficult just using stones. Basic nib grinds are ok on stones but rotary is much better.
@@Doodlebud ...apparently we have very similar taste in pens. I too prefer substantial weight with good girth and very fine nib, thus my modern cobalt blue steel PFM with XF - but I haven't attempted grinding from a wider to XF, only the other way to italic or stub. I especially enjoy an F italic these days and have a custom Binder on a Nuetenno Skipper as the second of my top 3. The stones are much more forgiving 😉
Just discovered your site (been on hiatus for a few years) so have some catch-up to get accomplished. I'm an artist rather than engineer but sure do appreciate you nerding out on the technical details. Your content is awesome!
Great video. Thank you. Last time I used my fueler gushes was on a 1966 Pontiac GTO. Times for me have changed!!
I love the stacked lights on those GTO models
Faaannntastic. Doodlebud, you've inspired me to get someone else to fix my nibs, because I am still too scared to do it myself!
I think it's fair to say you can quit your day job and become a nibmeister.
Professional work is especially important with gold nibs! I have been using FP's for over 60 years, and I smooth nibs, but never will I try a DIY italic conversion.
It's something I enjoy doing here & there, but don't think I'd like doing daily.
Thanks for the refresher vid. I was practicing on some preppies and there is still some learning on my part to get a cursive italic grind. I still got some work to do to get it just right.
Yup takes a bit of practice & patience
Since you get so many requests, time to make a bunch and put them up for sale! :D
I could watch these type of videos all day long - they are addictive.
I don't mind doing a nib here or there but don't know if I'm cut out to do batches
Nice work!
Prior to that, if you can, open the feeder and pass a needle along the upper channel to wider it a bit. Sometiimes they are shut of full of matter. Most cases it fixes a dry pen. Regards
Very Interesting. Makes me have the gall to try on my own cheaper nibs just micro mesh of course and a feeler gauge if the nib is drier. Love this video. Keep it up!!
Great job DB. Missing the VPC meetings. When we get back in person I’d like to meet you again and talk about nib grinds. I’ve done a few just like you. I can show you some of my grinds too!
Absolutely, will be great to see everyone again
Very nice informational video DB, thanks for always showing us something new and interesting. Keep up the great work. Stay safe.
Glad you liked it, hopefully it helps someone with a nib one day
Always fun to watch that stroke of a Genius DB shares with us all. Free nib grinding workshop, nib meisters beware! What's the deal with that ensso?
If anything, I think this video will leave nibmeisters comfortable knowing their jobs are secure 😆. Will be doing a video shortly about the ensso
@@Doodlebud Any reported/defined date when their kickstarter will launch? i been looking the past couple days? Will your video come out before or at the kickstarter launch? How much can you say time wise? God bless!
I usually just stick two paper thin sheets of plastic into the slit, fold them over the tines so I've got two little tabs to grab onto and then it's really easy to pull straight side-to-side with a lot of fine control so you don't overdo it or lift the nib off of the feed accidentally. I've always been hesitant to take the nib out of the pen to work on the tines, because you can start twisting the entire nib geometry and then it doesn't sit on the feed properly anymore. If I were a nibmeister I'd have a set of feeds with the ends cut off so I could freely bend the tines in all directions while the heel and body of the nib are still supported as they normally would be.
Yup, many ways to adjust nibs. The best way is the way that works for you 👍
In my country there is a joke referring to "just the tip."
I believe it may be a restaurant joke.
Ahhhh yes, who doesn't love a good restaurant joke!
Great video, thanks for your useful work. Greetings from Mexico.
Thanks for watching!
Great video. RS. Canada
Thanks for another detailed grinding video. I'm working up to stubbifying my Pilot custom 912. I've only practiced by grinding 3 steel nibs so far, but they turned out pretty good. I'll do a few more cheap steel nibs first to build up my confidence further. I've been loaned some of those diamond knife sharpening stones, which I think should work better than my aluminium oxide sharpening stones for nib grinding. I aim to keep as much tipping material as possible in the process; It doesn't matter for the steel practice nibs, but for the gold nib, I want to maximise the possibility of correcting any mistakes I might make, and to minimise wearing away the tip during writing once it's ground. I'm also thinking of making up some sort of jig for holding the nib at a consistent angle to the stone; At this stage I don't trust my hands to do that with enough consistency, although my hands are all I've needed so far with the practice nibs.
Just ensure on the diamond stones that they have are the correct grit. They also remove material very fast compared to other abrasives so be mindful of that. I did my MB 149 with this setup & it worked great. But yes, check continuously & leave tipping material in place.
@@Doodlebud Thanks DB. The guy who loaned me the sharpening stones mentioned that the grits/grades of the diamond stones don't correspond to those of wet/dry sandpaper or micromesh, but I don't have a sense of how they differ. Presumably silicon carbide and aluminium oxide stones also differ. Based on your advice I should probably start with the finer stones, then work my way back to the coarser ones, then back to the finer ones. For the moment, I'm enjoying the behaviour of the Pilot's nib in its stock state.
I swear you have a twin brother who does power tool reviews on UA-cam. Ave
LOL I've heard that a few times. Guess we have similar engineering thinking or something. I take it as a compliment 😂
Awesome video as always!
This is a good tutorial. Thank you. I do a lot of nib smoothing, but I will pass on making a DIY italic nib.
6:00 - "Pop out" the nib and feed? Well, you did not show us. The nib/feed unit magically came out. I wanted to see the unit removal! ~ 14:35 - I use micro-mesh pads for smoothing nib points, but I never use them with ink in the pen. I have never seen that before. ~ 17:05 ff - "Bite" on a nib is okay. I call it feedback, and it is something I like in general. My ideal feedback is about like the lead of a wood case pencil against paper. But if a FP nib has a little more feedback, I am still satisfied with it.
I did the full review of the pen just before this vid so the full disassembly (including nib removal) is there if you like
@@Doodlebud Oh, okay. I will look that vid up. Thank you. I am very interested to see that process.
Awesome! Thanks doodlebud, now I might be able to fix my Lamy nibs! ❤
(And no, of course you are not responsible if I mess up, that’s obviously on me 😂)
Do you have a video on how to do an architect grind? ( my new FAVORITE!)
Have only done one architect grind so far. Will have to do a few more before I post a how to vid
Well Mr Doodlebud I just got my grind on, following your method. A Jinhao fine or medium. Can’t tell. Anyway, in fifteen minutes I made a lovely oblique. I was aiming for a stub! But it works wonderfully.
Thanks for the inspiration
Glad it sorta worked out 😆. Keep trying & playing around and you'll get exactly what you're looking for
@@Doodlebud the oblique happened because I didn’t bother to check the nib alignment. On the next two Jinhaos I got nice crisp stubs. Then I ground a fine Pilot Metro to a super fine stub. Almost like a needlepoint. Love it.
@@Doodlebud So I ground about three or four Jinhaos. Then I moved on to a Pilot Metropolitan. Then a Delta I never used. All success stories. Turned them into crisp stubs, my fav nib. Emboldened, I moved on to my Pelikan M805's Italic Broad nib. I bought the pen with a lovely F nib--smooth, just great. A bit of spring. The IB, by contrast, is flawed. It is too broad for the feed. It's about a 1.5 mm. When it works, it's too wet. Or it hard starts or skips. And the line variation isn't great. I ground it into roughly a 1.2 mm stub. It's so much better. I took a chance and it worked. Again, thanks, Doodlebud. Now the nib size seems better suited to the feed. Sure, it's a bit wet (I like my nibs and feeds dry) but now the flow is reliable.
Great video!
Super nice job
Thanks
Much appreciated 😀
No, your method is right and will not be a mess. Infact it's perfect. It requires practice though and gentle handling.
Thank you for the video.
What is that thing which is there in the video at 11:13 ?
I am interested in knowing it as I want to tune my Kaweco Bock Nib to wet from dry one.
I am confident now in buying Pelikan M series fountain pens as the Pen nib suffer from Nib tines misalignment., for which this Video is perfect.
I did this with my Bock nib on my Ensso and the Bock is so hard as nails it just bent when I applied the lightest of pressure like you did here in your video. My eyeballz pooped. Lol. Bocks are already very straight points. And they don’t seem to have much bounce in them. If I touch them they bend upwards very easily and doesn’t help whatsoever with whatever is wrong with them. I’m going to have to send them to something. I just hope it’s fixable and isn’t just the way these particular Bock nibs are. Cheers
Hmmm, it must really need to be opened up. I've also done it just by removing the nib from the housing and grabbing the sides and opening up. It depends on the nib and how much its off. Some can really be a battle to work with. I've also used my shims (feeler gauges) to open the tines as well. But again, this needs to be something someone is comfortable doing. If you think you're going to do more harm than good, best thing to stop.
@@Doodlebud yeah that’s what I was worried about doing more harm than good. So I put them down several months back. I’m considering picking it back up and working on it myself or sending it to someone and just getting it professionally done. It is a Bach I don’t know if I want to mess with it too much. Period. I do have two of them so maybe the one that’s bent already I could mess with and see if I can get anywhere again with that particular nib. It feels particularly hard to work with. That is at least how I feel about it. Or felt about it at the time. I’ve been going through a lot of medical issues so it could be that I wasn’t in the right state of mind to deal with it at that time either. Either way thanks for the response and your replies. Cheers
Really good educational content!
🤓
@@Doodlebud
I'm thinking of trying this myself now but I have a question. After the initial shaping on the 1000 grit stone, why do you polish on the 4000 grit whet stone instead of the lower grit micromesh? (I'm assuming whet stone and micro mesh grits are not the same)
I am very happy that I found your channel. I too need to make some adjustments on my Pilot Vanishing Point. The ink flow from the nib is very random. Any suggestions would be welcomed. Thank you.
I have a full playlist of nib tuning and adjusting vids. Give those a look and that should help guide you to finding the problem
Dooooooddllee BUUUUDDD!! HELL YEAH !!! :)
🤘😈
Just hammered a steel nib on a table and got it writing I don't even know what grinding is, this is interesting
i had no idea AvE had a relative that is into fountain pens
Like a cross between AvE and Elementalmaker
Honestly I suspect that most Viewers would say "Yes make more Video" even if you've done it before and more than once.
Assuming the nib snaps back a bit, couldn't you use the metal from a diet coke can. It is aluminum (soft) and a precise 4/1000 in. to spread the tines a bit?
0.004" is way to thick. I hear you on trying to use it, can always give it a try, but I would pick up some brass shims or feeler gauges and use those. They will be a tool you'll use for a long time and are very affordable.
You seem like the best person to ask - do you know of (or do you make) a fude nib for lamy pens? I have the lamy joy with a medium nib (z53) but I miss the ability to flip (or hold vertical) the pen and get a super thin line .. and equally just get a very thick line to fill areas quickly .. would appreciate a response, thanks! 🙏
A quick good search and you'll find lots on the topic. www.reddit.com/r/fountainpens/s/sNJIn3ddvC
👌👌👌😍
Great video!
Question: would heating the nib release some of the stresses?
Hey DB! Thanks for this very informative DIY'er. I'm new to FP's, so this is great Intel. Question > where do you buy that device?
Which devices are you referring to?
@@Doodlebud I’m guessing he means the feeler gauge. Yes where do you find one, it looks automotive.
Could you please add links to places to purchase your tools, such as the stone and rhe micro mesh pads? Otherwise, thank you for the video!
I purchased those items here at local stores. But a quick google search and they are readily available in many places.
You can buy 5 factory nibs all the same size and they all write differently. My theory is: When you've seen one nib, you've seen one nib. 🤣
They're all snowflakes ❄️
"When you've seen one nib, you've seen one nib." That is clever and accurate. With your permission I'd like to appropriate that insight.
I had to watch because of your thumbnail. I need better thumbnails hahaha! Also, did you use a knife sharpening stone for the initial grind? I had not thought of using those--I have a bunch of them.
LOL, I couldn't resist myself with this one 😆. Yup, I sharpen knives & rasors with them and one day thought "Hey, I bet I could grind a nib with these." I find they work pretty well then just smooth out the nib on the micromesh pads. Love your videos btw 👍
@@Doodlebud 'Just The Tip' ?!?!!! Really? That one goes right along with 'I'll go slow & keep everything under control.' And the next thing you know, you've been screwed!
Doodlebud, I just purchased dip pens for me and my wife. They have nibs like the one you're working on but says " iridium point Germany" on them, mine is letting ink flow too fast onto the paper. Please sir any advice would help because idk what to do! I've never used one before.
Tough to say without getting a bunch more info, but give this video a look. Might help you out
ua-cam.com/video/Yo6vefMOkwI/v-deo.html
I have a fountain pen with a 2mm broad nib. When I start writing , it works fine, but after some time the ink starts thinning until it only flows in a thin line from the slit in the nib. I don't know what could be the problem, any suggestions?
I enjoy your nib grinding videos, thank you! Have you ever tried grinding a Pilot Parallel pen? I was looking at doing one down to a .5. They are such good pens but too wide for normal everyday writing.
Haven't done it yet
Can you sacrifice one of your gold nib to the sacrificial home grind altar?
I did to my MB 149, but never recorded it. Also my Lamy Dialog 3 14K EF to an architect EF, but also didn't record it 😕
where can I buy those gap size checkers?
I have links in the description
👋👋👋👋
Question: (and I’m not a nib grinder just a fan of fpen) wouldn’t it make more sense to grind the nib first then adjust the gap width and tines? Just thinking that after a grind the gap/tines could get out of alignment during the process then you have to recheck the gaps etc or is yours a better practice based on exp
Guess its personal preference. But my rational is to get the pen properly aligned and tuned & flowing first then grind. If those are out to begin with and you have to adjust afterwards, it can mess up your grind and will need more work. So far I haven't had to adjust a nib after I grind when doing it this way. Ensuing tine gap is key before grinding because this regulars ink flow. I test out the nib as I go to see how its looking & feeling, and if it doesn't have proper ink flow this will throw off my assessment of the nib and I could end up grinding it wrong to compensate for a poor flowing nib.
I just purchased a feeler gauge, it’s very oily. Should I dry off some of that oil?
Yeah give it a cleaning, don't want to get oil on your nib and/or feed
@@Doodlebud Thank you
Thanks for the instructive video. Could you post what microscope you have, please?
I did a video on some accessories & have a link to it in the description
ua-cam.com/video/9FJbGjlaajM/v-deo.html
@@Doodlebud Thanks again!
Thanks for that -30 to 40 mins the whole process
?
If I'm not filming anything it would only be about 15min now. My first nibs took longer of course. And if it's a gold nib I go slower to really keep an eye on ensuring I leave tipping material in place
Thanks for the great video. I just received my first set of feeler gauges. They are all coated in oil. Do I need to clean the oil off before trying to use them the way you did in this video? Just worried the oil might mess with the nib, feed, ink flow. Thanks again.
Yeah just give them a wipe
Don't oil the feed, it will make your fountain pen illegible.. if you have oiled the feeder by mistake, make cloth detergent warm water diluted mixture, I use Ariel detergent for cleaning the feeder which skips really bad.
Don't use hot water as it can damage your feeder. Leave the feeder overnight and after 24 hours, clean the feeder under tap water with soft brush, I use Sensodyne soft Toothbrush and gently clean the feeder.
Then pat it dry and leave for another 12 hours to dry naturally.
Don't use hair dryer to dry in a hurry as the feeder component might melt. BEWARE.
should have said "catch you next tine" in the end
You seem skilled with ink quills!
I dream of a Jinhao X159 (similar to the Montblanc 149) because I want to use it to sign my books at my book readings. BUT: it has a #8 nib in fine and I want a wider one, M or B. Do you know where to buy a #8 nib? That would be awesome, right?
Regards from Roland, germany
Hya @Doodlebud i was watching this vod again and I was wondering what nibs do you buy for the pens you do grinds for people with? I know it will depend on the pen itself because of different feeds, housings, and sometimes sections of its a friction fed pen. But I imagine you’re not using a cheap $1 pen are you? Either way I would appreciate if you would share the nib brands and were to purchase them.
And also where do you like to purchase the cheap nibs you were saying to use for learning how to grind with?
I always appreciate your insight and info. Cheers
Just to be clear I don't do grinds for other people or sell ground nibs. I did a giveaway where I ground a bunch of nibs for fun. For those I just used a Jinhao #6 style nib as it is low cost, reasonable quality, & fits a wide range of pens. The nibs I simply bought on Aliexpress
@@Doodlebud I’m sorry. Yes, you are right of course. I should’ve been clearer. I do understand you do not work on nibs for most people and you do not do this as a job. Absolutely.I meant for the people you have, let’s say, gifted a nib grind of yours and they give away, etc.
OK, that’s great. Thank you so much. I was wondering about Jinhao nibs. I tend to “think” that they’re pretty good nibs myself. Because I’m not an expert, and I don’t really know what, “great” nibs are, I wasn’t sure if my thoughts on this had any merit. I guess for my limited exposure to pen nibs, I wasn’t too bad of a judge on that.
Awesome.
AliExpress. That’s cool. I just recently bought my Jinhao X159’s from there. I’m fairly new to that sight, but I’m glad to find out from you that they sell nibs and nibs units separately.
Thanks so much again for everything you do
I often rewatch many of your videos just because I love fountain pens so much. And it may sounds kind of weird but it’s a kind of comforting to just put your videos on and watch them in a playlist. But I guess it’s like with em anything we enjoy, we want to be around it or talk about or listen to someone sense talk about it! Lol.
Thanks again, for your info and insight. It is always much appreciated. Cheers
No reason to apologize LOL. I just mentioned it as I get numerous emails asking me ot grind nibs or restore pens. The Jinhao nibs are great for practicing with but nib point size selection is limited. Good to hear you're finding my vids helpful & hope your nib tuning/grinding goes well
Thanks for this. Quick question: what is the liquid on the stone?
These are whetstones that I use so just lubricate with water. I also sometimes just leave the pen inked as its water based. So water on the stones and some ink will come out the pen too
@@Doodlebud Thanks. And thanks for your great channel. Just discovered it, after taking a break of a few years from pen review sites.
Hope you get something out of my vids 👍
Where do you get the various grits of sandpaper and stone from?
For sandpaper, I just go to a local tool store which has an autobody section with paper up to 2000 grit. However, I don't really use sandpaper for my nibs. The micromesh pads can be found online in many places, I got mine at a local store called Lee Valley Tools. For the stones, again many options. I bought one from a store locally called House Of Knives, one from Lee Valley Tools, and also online from an online retailer called Chefs Knifes To Go.
@@Doodlebud awesome thank you, I couldn't think of the name of the micromesh, as I did not feel like using just normal sandpaper
I know this not relevant to this post but I was wondering if someone can help me ? I put some permanent ink in a pen not realizing it . What are its characteristics and is it bad if I’ve been using washable inks in the pen ???
Do you watch AvE? You remind me of him
LOL, I didn't know about him until a year ago or so when someone said I sound like AvE. Great channel!
I see what you did with the thumbnail title
😉
Don't Do This With a Gold Nib!
Did this with a couple gold nibs & turned out great. Did it on my MB 149 & now its a wonderful writing Fine CI nib. Only removed tipping material to reshape it & left enough in place for writing. If someone doesn't have the hand skills to do it, then definitely stay away from gold nibs.
Rest in peace rhodium tip... We had to make a Lamy whatever it cost... 🫡