This was a rare opportunity to regrind the nib to this limited edition Maki-e Poseidon fountain pen. As you can see, the pen was fitted with a broad nib, which I have now carefully ground to a smooth broad stub. The owner of this pen, a person with impeccable taste, wanted the nib to have variety in the line strokes, which I happily obliged.
Smooth stub with lots of ink!
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Detail of the dragon holding a mother of pearl globe
Have you ever wondered what the standard for a pen was that starts immediately? The answer is; the pen will write under its own weight. When I receive pens from many folks, they often have a light touch, and paper that is not very absorbing. So, the ultimate challenge for me to is make a pen that will start immediately on almost any surface.
People’s hands and pressure are all different, so what test could possibly be done by me to cover 99% of those folks out there, without having to see how they write? The solution, the Cradle Test. After I have worked my “magic” on the pen nib, I cradle the pen in the palm of my hand, making sure the tipping touches the paper. If the pen writes under its own weight on “reasonable” everyday paper, it passes. (Editors note: One does not have to have “inky” fingers to perform this test, as I do in the picture below to get good results Testing a vintage Montblanc 242
but it sure adds to the look and feel of the experiment, doesn’t it?)
So, you like flexible nibs, but don’t want to purchase a vintage pen, I have the solution for you. Did you know that Namiki makes a great 14K nib in their Falcon series? Yes, its a very nice pen, with a great nib, and a great introductory price of just about $150.00. It only comes in black, but who cares what the color is when you can do copperplate calligraphy with the nib, once its been modified by me! Check out the photos below:
Wow, what flow, what style, in a modern nib!
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I just received in the mail today a limited number of the first ever L.A. Pen Show Calendar. Packed with wonderful photos and contacts of many prominent people in the collectable pen business, including me Order now for just $10.00 which includes shipping Priority Mail today and you will see my April ad all month. I have just 9 of these calendars to sell.
Great size for your office or kitchen!
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Full close up of my ad to enjoy for the month of April
Okay, so you just took apart that vintage Parker Vacumatic and carefully knocked out the nib and feed for cleaning. You discover after cleaning that 50 plus year old ink off the nib that your nib has a tail crack. I can fix that for you! We all know that nibs in general are thin, but I have a process that “sews” up those cracks and makes it stronger for many more years of writing pleasure.
The underside; all repaired!
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Okay, so you have seen some really exotic retips on this site in the past month. I also perform retips that are standard, but not really that standard in their size. As you can see in the photos below, these five Parker 51 nibs are nicely retipped now with broad, rounded tips. When sent up in a pen, they would produce a nice, juicy 1mm line, suitable for daily use, signing checks, taking notes, etc.
Five Broad 51 Retips
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Fully symmetrical and balanced!
This was a fun nib to do, and another challenge. A client requested a retip of 1.2mm Oblique Italic to a modern Conklin nib. The challenge is to get the razor-like edge just right, and even! I actually have to make this nib a regular italic first, slit it, and then recut the nib to the oblique angle. Same charge for the extra work; just $60.00 plus postage, no “handling” charges with me as my overhead is low, and my customer service is high
Every so often I come across a retip that just defies explanation. Case in point; the Parker #12 nib pictured below. Seems that in the “olden” days folks tried various ways to put on a piece of iridium to a nib. In this situation, it is lead solder, ugh! Rather messy looking for sure, but I guess it worked back then.
We don’t have to suffer this today! No sir! After carefully removing all the lead solder from the nib, and making sure that the nib was absolutely clean, I was able to retip the nib to a standard fine and return this fine Parker #12 to its former glory. Please comment on this post/site and let me know what you think!
My website features nibs and pens for sale. Keep checking back often as I feature many great deals on loose nibs, and pens. Recently I had a few new Omas nibs that I put up for only $50.00 each. Ori from Israel saw my post with the nibs for sale and purchased two of them. He recently received them and below is what he said when the package arrived, THANKS ORI!
Dear Greg
You must know the joy of putting a pen back into working condition.
I has that joy doubled by the 2 Omas nibs bought from you recently .
I thank you for the nibs, the service , and the pens can only express their thanks in written words.
Best !
Ori
Israel
Just received this message from a new client named Ben. His comments speak for themselves, thanks Ben, I am glad you are very happy with my work!