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#11
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KCat wrote:
Most of my pens are second-hand. And possible third or forth. On only *one* pen did I see wear that indicated the users habits. A Sheaffer snorkel which was made in the 60s. I think 40 years is sufficient for such wear. :P But none of the other second hand pens I've bought show any such wear at all. Fortunately, that snorkel was used by someone used an angle that I use when writing. I do not see how it's possible for people to buy so many vintage pens that have been used by who knows how many other people and yet have no problems with them at all. so there! :P sorry - this was a bit tangential. Not sure how this was tangential, since I thought it addressed the root of the "breaking a pen in" idea. Aside from that, I've got a Vacumatic that has a noticeable flat spot on the nib, indicating the angle the original owner use the pen. Nice, angled area -- it obviously didn't leave the factory like that. I've toyed with the idea of grinding the tip down to closer-to-round. As it is, that flat makes for a medium/broad nib, so there's room to try to make it into a fine (finer) nib. I'm just not sure I want to risk grinding away too much... Pat -- Return address works as is. |
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#12
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It is probably fortunate but my "rebuttal" has not appeared on the group on
my server. Here's the short and sweet version. I'm guessing based on the character of the this "worn" area being shinier, flatter, and a very smooth sweet spot on the pen vs. the things I've seen wrong with other pens. And the fact that I've got a loupe and know how to use it. :-) otherwise... new sig line/disclaimer -- I am not a Lupus/Fountain Pen Expert. I am not a Medical Doctor. I do not make my living in medicine or in fountain pen repair. All opinions herein are based solely on my experience and observations. Take them with a grain of salt (unless you have high blood pressure...g) |
#13
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#14
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#15
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"morten" wrote in message
m... So, taking a cue from Nancy Handy, what sport do the Flames play and which state and/or entity do they represent? Thanks for the interest. The Flames, of Calgary Alberta, are in the National Hockey League. This team, coming from the second smallest market in the league, with one of the lowest payrolls and against all odds has defeated a string of much more highly ranked teams to make it all the way to the finals of North American hockey, the Stanley Cup. Flames passion is spreading all across Canada, because this is the last Canadian team left in the playoffs of Canada's national sport, and because the Flames are truly a Cinderella story. Hey, thanks for the explanation; I'm glad to learn something new. Hope they get their Prince Charming...er...you know what I mean . -- ~~Bluesea~~ Spam is great in musubi but not in email. Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply. |
#16
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Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or
something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib. |
#17
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LL wrote:
Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib. Anything can be worn down. Water cuts rock -- look at the Grand Canyon for an example. Why is there a continuing demand for industrial diamond dust? It cuts everything, but is worn down, the corners rounded off, in the process and has to be replaced. I doubt if many posters on this board will ever wear down an "iridium" nib significantly, simply because most of us use multiple pens, and distribute the wear. But pens that were used daily for 20, 30, or 40 years -- you can often see the wear on those nibs. Pat -- Return address works as is. |
#18
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On Sun, 23 May 2004 17:38:58 GMT, "KCat" wrote:
Here's the short and sweet version. I'm guessing based on the character of the this "worn" area being shinier, flatter, and a very smooth sweet spot on the pen vs. the things I've seen wrong with other pens. And the fact that I've got a loupe and know how to use it. :-) Bingo! Alas, also a rather large spot, making this into a broad (or bigger) nib. Still with great flow, just hard to write legibly with because of the effective nib size. Pat Email address works as is. |
#19
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On Mon, 24 May 2004 21:11:43 -0500, Patrick Lamb
wrote: LL wrote: Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib. Anything can be worn down. Water cuts rock -- look at the Grand Canyon for an example. Why is there a continuing demand for industrial diamond dust? It cuts everything, but is worn down, the corners rounded off, in the process and has to be replaced. I doubt if many posters on this board will ever wear down an "iridium" nib significantly, simply because most of us use multiple pens, and distribute the wear. But pens that were used daily for 20, 30, or 40 years -- you can often see the wear on those nibs. I just bought an English Parker from the late fifties and it had a jagged spot on one tine. About sixty seconds of scribbling on number 2400 polishing cloth took it right out. They can be worn away especially if rough paper is used. |
#20
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"LL" wrote in message om... Fountain pen nibs are tipped with a hard substance (be it iridium or something else) just so that they will NOT wear down in any normal writing task! Writing paper cannot do anything to the tip of a nib. It's funny - I was basically supporting this argument above and got dinged for "assuming" vs. "knowing" that my 1959 Snorkel was worn vs. poorly made. But...if there is no wear of tipping (long term) - why the need for repair persons who retip nibs? I know they aren't retipping just due to abuse. And if tipping can not be worn (long term), why does it come away so quickly with a little use of very high grade lapping film. I've smoothed numerous nibs now and in most cases it took little more than 5 or 10 minutes of careful, slow work with this film. Yes, it is designed to be abrasive but not in the same way as sand paper. Lots of folks talk about smoothing or "burnishing' their nibs with the glass of their ink bottles. I've not tried this but again, if it's true, it tells me that tipping material isn't quite as durable as some would like to think. the thing is - I believe that in most cases (there is some really crummy, cheap tipping out there) it takes *many years* to effect these sorts of changes and that people should not buy a pen that is scratchy hoping that in a few weeks or months it will be smooth. None of my nibs show any wear in the years I've been using them. We can go 'round and 'round on this because their are data for both "sides" and a lot of anecdotal evidence that can not really be verified. I can't swear that the previous owner of my snorkel wrote with that pen for more than 10 minutes a day. or that they didn't deliberately create a sweet spot back 1960 using sandpaper and a swath of leather. It just seems unlikely. OTOH, I've seen a lot of new nibs that were poorly tipped and it *seems* clear to me that there is a significant difference under magnification of a smooth flat spot vs. a pit or a bad tipping job. i don't believe I've ever read the opinion of the nib gurus... I would love it if they would actually contribute to the discussion because they are the ones that see damaged, old nibs that need work and could at least anecdotally support one side or the other. It would still be subjective - but based on a greater data pool than I will ever see. -- I am not a Lupus/Fountain Pen Expert. I am not a Medical Doctor. I do not make my living in medicine or in fountain pen repair. All opinions herein are based solely on my experience and observations. Take them with a grain of salt (unless you have high blood pressure...g) |
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