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Notes

for

Richard Binder’s Nib Smoothing

Workshop


Notes for Richard Binder’s Nib Smoothing Workshop

©2016RichardF.Binder

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Version2,revised7November2016


NibSmoothingWorkshopNotes Page1of10

I. Anatomy of a Nib

Mostnibsarefirmnibs.Shownaboveisatypicalfirmnib,withitspartscalledout.Learntherightnamesforthepartsofanibsothateveryonewillbetalkingthesamelanguage.Mostespecially,rememberthatanib,justlikeaperson,hasaleftsideandarightside.Leftandrightalwaysrefertothesidesofthenibasshownhere.(Whenyouarelookingattheundersideofanib,itsrighttineistoyourleft.)

Asshownbythetwodrawingsbelow,flexiblenibs(left)havelongerslitsandlowershouldersthanfirmnibs,andhencelongertinesthatcanflex.Rigidnibs(right)havevery short slits and high shoulders,making their tines very short and stiff; thesenibsaresometimesjokinglycalled“nails.”



II. How to Examine a Nib for Tip Alignment

The first thing to do when you’re smoothing a nib is tomake sure the tines arealigned.Withthatdone,youhavetomakesurethetwosidesofthetiparealigned.(Sometimestheywon’tbe.)Thisdiagramshowsthecorrectwaytoexamineanibtoseewhetheritstipisaligned.

Whytheoddangle?Sometimes, the twotipswerenot finishedto thesameshape,andsometimesthey’reworn.Whenthishappens,thetinescanbeperfectlyaligned,but the tipswon’t touch thepaper together.Youneed to seewhether the tipsarealignedwhere they will touch the paper, so that they will touch it together. Theydon’ttouchthepaperrightattheveryendorallthewayaroundontheunderside.”Become onewith the paper, Grasshopper.” By placing your eye as shown in thethirdview,youareineffectplacingitsothatitisrightonthesurfaceofthepaper,andthiswayyoucanreallytellwhetherthetipsarealignedastheyshouldbe.

Ifyouaretuninganib foryourself,youcangetsomeonetoobservehowsteepanangleabovethepaperyouholdthepen,andthenyoucantunethenibspecificallyforthatangle.Whenyoudothis,adjusttheangleatwhichyoulooktoseewhetherthetipsarealigned; forexample, ifyouhaveasteephold,thenholdthepenmorenearlyverticalwhencheckingalignment.

Thealternativeistoreshapeoneofthetipssothatthetipswilltouchthepaperto-getherwhenthetinesarealigned,butthat’sbeyondthescopeofthisworkshop.



III. Tine Alignment Issues

Thefirstthingtolookatwhenyou’resmoothinganibisitstinealignment.Forthis,lookatthenibstraight–onfromtheend,asifyouweregoingtopokeyourselfintheeyewithit.Thisiswhataproperlyalignedniblookslike:

The tine tips are very slightly separated (approximately 0.001"/0.025mm). Theyarenottouchingbecauseiftheyweretouchingandperfectlyaligned,therewouldbenoplacefortheinktopassbetweenthemandgettothepaper.Varyingthesepara-tionvaries thenib’s flow; simplyby adjusting the tine gapyou canproduce anibthatflowsverydryly,verywetly,oranywhereinbetween.Thereisoneexceptiontotheno-touchingrule,andthatisflexiblenibs.Theirtipmustbetouchinggently.

Outofthebox,nibsareoftenmisaligned.Youwillseeallofthefollowingfourtypesofmisalignment:

OnetineupordownSlittightlyclosed

GrandCanyonslitInvertedGrandCanyonslit

Asyouare lookingatthefirstofthesenibs, therighttine isup—orthe left tine isdown. It reallydoesnotmatterwhichwayyou identify it, thenibstillwon’tworkproperly. I always call thesemisalignments “right tine down” or “left tine down”problems,justforthesakeofconsistency.



The second nib shows the slit tightly closed. The only type of nib thatwill workproperlywith theslit like this isa flexiblenib,whichneeds tostart capillary flowbeforethetinesbegintospread.Thesolutiontothe“noinktothepaper”problemisalittleextraroundingoftheslitedgewherethenibtouchesthepaper.

Thethirdnibshowswhatcanhappenwhenthetinesarebentdownwardalittletoclosetheslit,asisdoneduringmanufacture.Asthetinesarebentdown,theytendtomoveinwardaswellbecauseofthecurveacrossthenib’sbody.Icallthisprob-lemaGrandCanyonslit.Especiallyonbroadnibs,aGrandCanyonslit isoftenac-companiedbyaslightcuppingoftheundersurfacethatcanlifttheslitclearofthepaperandmakethenibahardstarter.

Thefourthnibillustratesaproblemmostoftenfoundoncheapnibs,butanynibcanhaveit.Youcanreducetheslitspacingbysqueezingthetinestogetheralittle.Thisreducestheflow;butifyougotoofar,youneedtospreadtheslitagain.Youdothisbyspreadingtheshoulders.Whenyouspreadtheshoulders,theytendtorise,andwhentheydothis,thetipcanendupwithaninvertedGrandCanyonslit.

Whatmakesthesituationpotentiallyworseisthatyoucanencounteranibthathasthreeofthefourproblemsatthesametime.

Tocorrectthetine-upsituation,startbyforcingthehightinedownwardonthefeed.Useafingerunderthefeedtosupportit,andpushdownwardoverthefeed,notpastitsend.Pushingdownpastthefeed’sendcanbendthetinesharplydownwardrightattheendofthefeed,andwhenyoutrytobendbackupyou’llendupraisingthetinefartheroffthefeednearthebreatherhole.Thisproducesa“knee,”andcorrect-ingitonceit’sthereispainful.

Correctthetine-downsituationbygentlypushingupontheoffendingtinealongsidethefeed,notpastitsend,usingathumbnail.Holdthebodyofthenibdownonthefeedwithafinger.

Spreadjammed-togethertinesbyspreadingtheshouldersalittle.Becarefulnottogotoofar,oryoucanendupwithaninvertedGrandCanyonslit.

GrandCanyonslits,ineitherdirection,aremoredifficult.Sometimesyoucansolveaminoronebysqueezingorspreadingthetines,buttheseproblemsoftenrequiretheuseofplierstotwistthetinesintoposition,andthereisasignificantriskofmarringthesurfaceofthenib(morewithgoldorpalladiumthanwithsteelortitanium).



IV. Slit Alignment Issues

Fountainpens rely on capillary action to draw ink to the tip of thenib, and fromthereontothepaper.Capillaryactiondrawsaliquidtothenarrowestpartoftheslit.Anidealslitistaperedfromthebreatherholetothetip:

Cheapnibssometimeshaveaslitthatisn’ttapered(left,below).Capillaryactionhasahardtimedecidingwhereitwantstopulltheink,andflowcanbeunreliable.Theslitmaybetoowide;flowwillbeverywet,butthenibcanloseprimewhenthepenisheldnibupward.

Whenanibhasbeensprung,evenifthetinesaren’toffthefeed,theslitcanbecoun-tertapered,widening fromthebreatherhole to thetip(right,below).Anibwithaslitlikethiswon’tflowatall.



V. Tip Shaping Issues

Tipshapingcanbeaseriousissue,evenwhenanibisjustoutofthebox.Oneofthemostcommonproblemsisanasymmetricallyslitnib.Sometimes,thetippingmate-rialwasweldedontotheniboffcenterandtheslittingmachine(orperson)hasac-countedforthisbycenteringtheslittingsawonthetippingmaterial.Aniblikethismaylookalittlelessthanperfect,butitwillworkwellwhenit’sproperlytuned.Butsometimesthemachineorpersondoingtheslittingwillmissthecenterofeitherthetippingmaterialorthenibbody,andthisiswhatresults:

Lookingcloselyatthetip,youcanseethatthelefttineisshorterthantherighttine.Itisalsosmallerfromtoptobottom,anditwillberelativelydifficult—butnotim-possible—tomakethisnibwriteproperly.What isrequired is toremovematerialfromtherighttine’stippingmaterialuntilit’sassmallasthatonthelefttine.Thenyoucansmooththetip.Thenibwillbefinerthanadvertised(XFinsteadofM,per-haps),butitwillnotbewasted.

Evenwithasymmetricaltip,therecanbeproblems.Herearethreepossibilities:



Thefirstnibshowswhatyougetrightofftheslittingsaw—andinasurprisingnum-berofinexpensivenibs.Theedgesoftheslitaresharp,andthenibisscratchyeventhoughitisperfectlyaligned.Thesolutiontothisproblemistoroundtheedgesoftheslitveryslightly,justenoughtobreakthesharpedges.(Flexiblenibsneedatinybitmoreroundingthanfirmorrigidnibs,sothattheinkcansneakalongtheedgetoget to the paper before the tines spread.) The most important area to round iswhere the tip contacts thepaper (thewritingpad).However, youalsoneed to godownunderthetiptohandlelow-angleholdsandaroundthetip,allthewaytojustalittlepasttheveryend,tohandlehigh-angleholdsandalsotopreventthenibfromfeeling draggy (“pushy”) on push strokes. This last aspect is something every nibmanufacturertodaymisses.

Thesecondnibshowswhatyouwilloftenseeoutoftheboxwithanexpensivepen.Makersofexpensivepenswanttheirnibstobeextrasmooth,andtothisendtheyround the slit edges too far, creating a shape that’s called “baby’s bottom.” A nibwithbaby’sbottomtends toskiponstarting,and itoftenrequiresexcessivepres-suretomakeitwriteatall.Whatishappeningisthatcapillaryactiondrawstheinkintothetightestpartoftheslit,andbecauseoftheoverlyroundededges,that’stoofarfromthepaper.

Thethirdnibshowswhathappenswhenthetiphasbeenshapedbytechniquessuchaswritingfigure-eightsonanabrasivesurface. If theworkerdoesnotroll thepenfromsidetosideaswellasupanddown,theundersideofthenibcanbecomeflat-tened,andthisleavesboththeinsideandtheoutsideedgessharpandscratchy.Intheveryworstcases,thenibcanbeworncompletelyflat,likethis:

Youwillalsoseethisshapeonpensthathavebeenwellused(butnotnecessarilyusedwell).Excessivepressureaccelerateswear,evenofthehardtippingmaterial,anda flattenedtipcanresult.Theproblemwithanib likethis is that itmight feelperfect forthepersonwhohasusedit formanyyearsbecausethatpersonalwaysholdsitexactlythesameway—butitwillfeelhorribleforanyoneelse.



Solvingashapingissuesuchassquareedgesoraflattenedtiprequiressandingtheedgesroundagain.(SeeSectionVIIforalistofabrasivematerials.)Ifthetipisflat-tened,youneed tocreateanewroundedcontour that flowssmoothlyall thewayfromthebottomaround to thevery tip. Inexperiencedworkers tend to forget theverytip,andtheirshapingendsuplikethis:

Asdescribedatthetopofthepreviouspage,thispointyshapewillresultinapushynib,andifthetipisreallysharp,thenibcandigintothepaperonpushstrokes.Theremedyistoroundthetip:

It’snotnecessarytoroundthetipsothatitlookscircularfromthefront:

Leavingsomesemi-flattenedareatherecreatesapadthatwillprovidemoresurfaceareaforthenibtorideon(andfortheinktolubricate),givingamuchsmootherfeel.High-qualitynibsaremadethisway.Irefertoleavingthisflatterareaas“padding”thenib.



VI. Smoothing

Withthenibproperlyaligned,youneedtosmoothit.Thefirststepistoroundtheslitedgeseversoslightlywithsandpaper.(SeeSectionVIIforalistofabrasivema-terials.)Raiseonetineslightlyoffthefeed,exposingtheunderedgeoftheoppositetine’stip.Sandthatedge,allthewayaroundtothetipofthenib.Alsosandtheex-posedupperedgeonthetineyouraised.

Reversethetinestogettheothertwopartsoftheedges.Ifyouhavedonethisright,youwillhavesandedallthewayfromtheverybottomofthetip,aroundtoatleastpastthetipandalittleontothetopside.Recheckthealignmentwhenfinished.

Givethetipagoodsandingallover(top,sides,andbottom),applyingthesandpapervery gently! Themore firmly you sand, themore likely you are to leave scratchesthatwillnotrespondtofinerabrasives.

Fillthepenwithink,andapplythenibvigorouslytothe12000-gritsideofthebuffstick.Startwiththepennearly flat to thetable.Asyoumove itsidetoside,roll itbackandforththrough180°sothatyouaresmoothingnotonlytheundersideofthetips,butalsothesides.Raisethepenalittleandrepeat.Dothisseveraltimes,untilthepenisvertical.Asitpassesthrough45°onitswaytovertical,swayitfromsidetoside(likeanupside-downpendulum)insteadofrollingit.

Test the nib on good paper.Most nibswill feel surprisingly smooth at this point.Somewillfeelpushy.Theseshouldreceiveatreatmentonthe1.0µlappingfilmlikethatonthebuffstickexcept thatyoudon’tpressdownmuchatallonthe lappingfilm.Repeatthebuffsticktreatment.Allbutthemostrecalcitrantnibswillfeelgoodifyou’vedonethisright.

Movetothe0.3µlappingfilm.Withthepeninanormalwritingposition,rotateorswayitslightlytooneside,justenoughtoraisethemiddleofthewritingpadoffthepaper.Pushdownwardgently,andflickthepenupwardandtotheside,allowingittocomeoffthefilm.Ifyouhearatick,youhaveknockedoffamicro-mountain.Con-tinueinthisveinuntiltherearenomoreobviousmicro-mountains.

Testthenib.Ifit’sperfect,stop.Ifyouthinkyoucangetitalittlebetter,gobacktothebuffstick,andtrythe0.3µlappingfilmagain.Itmaytakeawhiletogetthehangof“ticking”thenib.



Somenibswill needmore seriouswork on the 0.3µ film. For these nibs, youwillneedtosmooththemallover,asyoudidonthebuffstickandthe1.0µfilm.Typi-cally,finernibsaremorelikelytoneedthisthanaremediumorbroadnibs.

Intheend,whenthere’saproblem,itcomesdowntotryinganyandallofthevari-ousabrasives.Examinethenibcarefully,lookingatitallover,toseeifyoucanfindroughspots,corners,misalignments,oranythingelsethatwouldmakethenibnotworkasitshould.Keepgoingbackoveritaslongasnecessary.Sometimes,youwillfindasinglesmallcornerthat’skeepingthenibfrombeingsilkysmooth.Getridofthatonelittleproblem,andyou’reofftotheraces.

VII. Abrasive Materials

The abrasives youusewill have aprofound effect on your results. If they are toocoarse,you’llneverachievethesmoothnessyouwant.ThesearethematerialsIuse.

Sandpaper

Sandpaperisforroughshapingandforinitialprepbeforefinalsmoothing.

The coarsest abrasive I use fornibwork is 2000-gritwet/dry sandpaper. I buy itfromajeweler’ssupplyhouse,butyoucanalsogetitatanautomotivepartsstore,inthebodyrepairandfinishingsection.Icutthepaperinto1”(about25mm)squaresforconvenience.

Buff Sticks

Buffsticksareforintermediateandfinalsmoothing.

MybuffsticksareaMicro-Meshproduct.Iusethekindwiththreegrits(2400,4000,and12000).Thesecomeintwosizes;Iusethesmalleronesbecausetheyareeasiertohandlethanthebigones.Theyalsocomeintwocolorversions:pink,white,andgray;andblack,white,andgray.Otherthancolor,thetwoversionsarethesame.

Micro-Mesh grit grades are not the same as sandpaper grit grades. I use only the4000and12000gritsfornibsmoothing.

Lapping Films

Lappingfilmsareforintermediateandfinalsmoothing.

Lappingfilmsareusedinindustrieswhereanextremelysmoothsurfaceisrequired;Igetminefromacompanythatsellstoolsandsuppliesforthefiber-opticsindustry,wheretheyareusedtopolishtheendsoffiber-opticcablestominimizelightlossatjointsbetweenlengthsofcable.

Iuse1.0µ(micron)filmforintermediateworkand0.3µfilmforfinalwork.

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