I didn't know anything about Oblique nibs until I walked into a Montblanc boutique and bought a 146. I usually prefer Japanese EF/F nibs and on a rare occasion a UEF that is on my Century #3776. So having the OB really is opposite. I can say after two years, it really has been enjoyable. Whenever I have some down time, I'll just mess around with it and do calligraphy. It's good to understand more about these types of nibs.
For folks in the US that want to try obliques, Birmingham Pen Co will put a Knox Oblique nib on any applicable pen for a slight up-charge. Get a Jinhao and Nick will put an oblique on there for you and you should still be under $20.
Montblanc offer both OM and OB as a standard nib option for their 146 and 149, and if you have access to a Montblanc shop, they also have pens inked up with all their nib sizes that you can try out. The Montblanc OB, by the way, is beautifully smooth (as one would expect at that price!)
I have the Lamy 2000 in a Med, Broad, and oblique BB. I love them all. But that OBB writes verywet and smooth and my writing looks fabulous with it. Put that pen with a nice shading ink on Tomoe River paper, and you have a work of art even when you have just written a letter! Even better if the ik has a bit of sheen to it! Ooo, la la! Also, the lamy gold nib that fits an Al-Star, etc., is great as an oblique in broad. Those gold nibs are worth the price. I put one on my Vibrant Pink Al-Star. Now that pen could not be more special to me. It is one of my absolute favorite writers. All in all, I love oblique (and true Italic) nibs.
Kanwrite nibs of India offer all kinds of grinds, oblique, italic, etc. I have the Italic and the right oblique. I can write with the italic grind, but have not been able to write properly with the oblique grind. Your video shows how to write with oblique nibs. Will try tomorrow. BTW, wish you'll a very Happy New Year!
I'm reminded of the old line, " too soon old, too late smart"! I wish I'd seen this video, oh, 20 years ago when I bought an oligue (medium) Parker Duofold. I tried and tried to like it and every once in awhile stumbled on the right "hold" but it was so finicky that I eventually replaced the nib with a cursive italic.
I read that oblique nibs are better for left-handed writers, but your vid suggests it’s more about the angle of the pen. I suppose I do hold the pen at an odd angle (after years of smudgy frustration!)
I keep hoping that either the 2000 or Vanishing Point will eventually feature stubs as standard options. I know Pilot has them, but only in three matte colors as far as I can tell. I’d buy the blue in a heartbeat if I could get it with chrome accents. I would love if companies had a “pen builder” on their sites where customers could order specific configurations of body, trim (when applicable), and nib. I’m basically hooked on stubs now, but I can’t afford a $70-$100 nib service on top of the base pen price. I guess I’ll always have Twsbi 🙂
Obliques are my favorite nibs hands down. My best writer is an aurora optima with a broad nib ground by John Mottishaw to a flexible oblique. It has much more character than a stub, or even a stub ground to italic cursive. A lot has to do with how the pen is naturally held. I just found a1990 Mont Blanc with an original factory broad oblique with ebonite feed... it is a wonderful gem of a writer... ultra smooth and lots of line variation without fiddling with flex nibs and the often concurrent problem with railroading.
Since I rotate every pen counterclockwise I only write with left foot obliques. That’s especially important with the Lamy 2000, because of the small and unforgiving nib they use. Oblique has nothing to do with line variation, it is just about how you hold the pen!
Mr Pen of Italix Pens from England offers a full range of obliques, 15, 20 and 30 degrees left and right with their standard pens And they are not expensive at all, and he offers a full return on the nib if you do not like it
Love his grinds! The true italic is so smooth, it's a joy to write with Getting the Parson's Essential (I think it's called) with an oblique or italic grind is a great and not overpriced way to try these grinds. It's a great pen, too!
I have several pens from Mr. Pen and they are all fabulous. From order to delivery in Atlanta only 8 days every time. The nibs are so smooth and the quality of the pens is amazing specially when you factor in the price. I’m a big support of them.
I suspect the left oblique may have started as an adaptation for lefties. The cranked-point nibs they sold 30 years ago for lefties were bent or angled to the left. For Arabic and similar writing, though, it probably would be right foot for lefties.
@@denisewenke8323 I think you're right. An oblique is the preferred nib of islamic scribes (probably not allowed to be left-handed) writing right-to-left, and in the hand of a southpaw, it's quite good for writing left-to-right (THAT gave my inner spell checker a workout!). This means that a "Dollar"-brand, Pakistani-made model no. 717 is a VERY cheap way for a southpaw to try broad-nib calligraphy!
Lamy 2K oblique lacks the crispness, the best oblique I've used is a lamy steel broad I converted into an oblique myself 😂 not so sound like a narsassit, but I did it according to my holding angle and it's perfect! It's really Crisp without being scratchy or toothy it's super smooth but it's one oblique I adore!
The benefit is comfort for writing, because it makes the same work as traditional tools, for example usually when you use traditional bamboo kalam, it must be cut stub with angle, for writing it must be hold with an angle of 45 degrees, it makes easier to write and rotate for write the descendant bellies, the letters have different thickness, so angled makes easier to write than a straight stub nib. Arabic, farsi and urdu languages are written from left to right, so the oblique and angled are nicer for it.
Really, obliques are for people who already write at that angle, rather than those who have to adapt to it. Peter Ford at Mr Pen, has a wide selection of ground nibs for his Italix pens.
As a child I was taught to write with a reed pen with a left oblique cut (I'm right handed). After over 50 years it is still my preferred writing nib.
My Mont Blanc 149 came with an oblique broad nib stock. 30 years ago Mont Blanc offered this as a custom order option. My favorite pen and nib!
I didn't know anything about Oblique nibs until I walked into a Montblanc boutique and bought a 146. I usually prefer Japanese EF/F nibs and on a rare occasion a UEF that is on my Century #3776. So having the OB really is opposite. I can say after two years, it really has been enjoyable. Whenever I have some down time, I'll just mess around with it and do calligraphy. It's good to understand more about these types of nibs.
For folks in the US that want to try obliques, Birmingham Pen Co will put a Knox Oblique nib on any applicable pen for a slight up-charge. Get a Jinhao and Nick will put an oblique on there for you and you should still be under $20.
Montblanc offer both OM and OB as a standard nib option for their 146 and 149, and if you have access to a Montblanc shop, they also have pens inked up with all their nib sizes that you can try out. The Montblanc OB, by the way, is beautifully smooth (as one would expect at that price!)
I have the Lamy 2000 in a Med, Broad, and oblique BB. I love them all. But that OBB writes verywet and smooth and my writing looks fabulous with it. Put that pen with a nice shading ink on Tomoe River paper, and you have a work of art even when you have just written a letter! Even better if the ik has a bit of sheen to it! Ooo, la la! Also, the lamy gold nib that fits an Al-Star, etc., is great as an oblique in broad. Those gold nibs are worth the price. I put one on my Vibrant Pink Al-Star. Now that pen could not be more special to me. It is one of my absolute favorite writers. All in all, I love oblique (and true Italic) nibs.
This was an excellent video. I'd really appreciate a detailed series on nib grinds, characteristics, benefits, disadvantages, etc. Thank you.
CAN U MAKE A VIDEO ABOUT THE LAMY CURSIVE NIB? PLEASE :)
Kanwrite nibs of India offer all kinds of grinds, oblique, italic, etc. I have the Italic and the right oblique. I can write with the italic grind, but have not been able to write properly with the oblique grind. Your video shows how to write with oblique nibs. Will try tomorrow. BTW, wish you'll a very Happy New Year!
I'm reminded of the old line, " too soon old, too late smart"! I wish I'd seen this video, oh, 20 years ago when I bought an oligue (medium) Parker Duofold. I tried and tried to like it and every once in awhile stumbled on the right "hold" but it was so finicky that I eventually replaced the nib with a cursive italic.
Knox makes a BB steel nib that Birmingham used to sell very cheaply. It's also glassy smooth. I have one and it's one of my favorites.
For those who have trouble with the “sweet spot” on the Lamy 2000: Try the Oblique nib in M, B or BB.
I read that oblique nibs are better for left-handed writers, but your vid suggests it’s more about the angle of the pen. I suppose I do hold the pen at an odd angle (after years of smudgy frustration!)
I keep hoping that either the 2000 or Vanishing Point will eventually feature stubs as standard options. I know Pilot has them, but only in three matte colors as far as I can tell. I’d buy the blue in a heartbeat if I could get it with chrome accents. I would love if companies had a “pen builder” on their sites where customers could order specific configurations of body, trim (when applicable), and nib. I’m basically hooked on stubs now, but I can’t afford a $70-$100 nib service on top of the base pen price. I guess I’ll always have Twsbi 🙂
Obliques are my favorite nibs hands down. My best writer is an aurora optima with a broad nib ground by John Mottishaw to a flexible oblique. It has much more character than a stub, or even a stub ground to italic cursive. A lot has to do with how the pen is naturally held. I just found a1990 Mont Blanc with an original factory broad oblique with ebonite feed... it is a wonderful gem of a writer... ultra smooth and lots of line variation without fiddling with flex nibs and the often concurrent problem with railroading.
Please show how a normal pen user hold a pen versus an Oblique user would.
Conway Stewart offer both left and right oblique nibs, in addition to stubs and italic.
Since I rotate every pen counterclockwise I only write with left foot obliques. That’s especially important with the Lamy 2000, because of the small and unforgiving nib they use. Oblique has nothing to do with line variation, it is just about how you hold the pen!
Mr Pen of Italix Pens from England offers a full range of obliques, 15, 20 and 30 degrees left and right with their standard pens
And they are not expensive at all, and he offers a full return on the nib if you do not like it
Love his grinds! The true italic is so smooth, it's a joy to write with Getting the Parson's Essential (I think it's called) with an oblique or italic grind is a great and not overpriced way to try these grinds. It's a great pen, too!
I have one as well - the prescriptor I think, love it
I have several pens from Mr. Pen and they are all fabulous. From order to delivery in Atlanta only 8 days every time. The nibs are so smooth and the quality of the pens is amazing specially when you factor in the price. I’m a big support of them.
@Apparatchic i am interested in arabic calligraphy/writing, if possible, please share the model(s) you use for it. thanks in advance
Wow, never knew this before. Thanks Brian.
It is the case for me: my handwriting can’t go with stubs - oblique nibs are so mich fun for me.
Question about oblique for left handers. Which side should the grind be on for lefties?
I suspect the left oblique may have started as an adaptation for lefties. The cranked-point nibs they sold 30 years ago for lefties were bent or angled to the left.
For Arabic and similar writing, though, it probably would be right foot for lefties.
@@denisewenke8323 I think you're right. An oblique is the preferred nib of islamic scribes (probably not allowed to be left-handed) writing right-to-left, and in the hand of a southpaw, it's quite good for writing left-to-right (THAT gave my inner spell checker a workout!).
This means that a "Dollar"-brand, Pakistani-made model no. 717 is a VERY cheap way for a southpaw to try broad-nib calligraphy!
Oops, just read through the last bit of your post... no, the 717 is a left-foot nib.
Lindauer seems to offer oblique nibs for most of their pens and they're not terribly expensive.
Can left handers use these without any issue?
Lamy 2K oblique lacks the crispness, the best oblique I've used is a lamy steel broad I converted into an oblique myself 😂 not so sound like a narsassit, but I did it according to my holding angle and it's perfect! It's really Crisp without being scratchy or toothy it's super smooth but it's one oblique I adore!
Can you get oblique nibs on other Lamy pens, like the Dialog 3?
Can left handers use oblique nibs?
Yes. They need to get right oblique
Fun fact :obliques and angled stubs are good for The Arabic language
That's really cool. What is the benefit?
The benefit is comfort for writing, because it makes the same work as traditional tools, for example usually when you use traditional bamboo kalam, it must be cut stub with angle, for writing it must be hold with an angle of 45 degrees, it makes easier to write and rotate for write the descendant bellies, the letters have different thickness, so angled makes easier to write than a straight stub nib. Arabic, farsi and urdu languages are written from left to right, so the oblique and angled are nicer for it.
Very helpful thank you!
Really, obliques are for people who already write at that angle, rather than those who have to adapt to it. Peter Ford at Mr Pen, has a wide selection of ground nibs for his Italix pens.
Helpful, thanks.
Nice Hallelujah!
Montblanc sells Oblique nibs.
Kanwrite India offers Oblique L/R, Affordable and very good quality