I've wanted to write a piece about custom nibs for a while. As the "pen world" explodes in popularity (well, at least relatively speaking), more and more people are discovering the world of nib customization. And at the same time, more people who have been tuning and grinding their own nibs at home have begun to transition their hobby into a small business. Only a few years ago, There were but a handful of reliable people who performed nib modifications. (Mike Masuyama, Richard Binder, and John Mottishaw, to name a few.) Today, there are even more, including Mark Bacas, Tim Girdler, Linda Kennedy, Dan Smith, and Shawn Newton. There's enough demand to support multiple people plying their trade, and I know of several individuals experimenting at home who may "go public" in the future.
What exactly is a custom nib?
The majority of fountain pen manufacturers offer nibs in four standard sizes: extra-fine, fine, medium, and broad. These "factory" nibs have round tipping material and produce a uniform line of writing that has little variation, meaning that the pen writes with a consistent line width in all directions. While it's become increasingly common for manufacturers to offer stub nibs (discussed further below) in 1.1mm and 1.5mm widths as part of their standard line, and certain manufacturers offer double or triple-broads, ultra-extra fines, obliques, crisp italics, and other specialty nibs. But even these are not truly "custom".
As I consider it, true nib "customization" involves sitting down at a table with the nib technician (or "nibmeister", as some might call them, though I prefer "nib technician" and will use that term here for simplicity's sake), having him or her watch you write, and adjusting the nib specifically to your writing style, accounting for various factors. Of course, this process often involves a nib "grind," (i.e., changing the shape of the tipping material using a grinding stone, wheel, or a rotary tool) but it can also involve smoothing the nib on sandpaper and/or mylar sheets, increasing or decreasing ink flow to the writer's preference, resetting the nib and feed, or aligning the tines. When you walk away from an appointment with a nib technician, you should have a pen that writes perfectly for you and your writing style.
That said, part of what I love about nib customization is the ability to get unique nib grinds. I'll briefly walk you through a few of my favorites:
Cursive Italic. A traditional "true italic" nib has little-to-no tipping material, is cut square across the tip, and has very sharp edges. I've found sharp italic nibs very difficult to use for daily writing (as opposed to calligraphy) because the sharp edges snag the paper, and the lack of tipping material makes the nib prone to skipping unless the nib is held at exactly the proper writing angle. A cursive italic nib captures most of the excellent line variation of an italic nib, but slightly rounded edges and a bit more tipping material makes it a better choice for daily writing. The cursive italic has become one of my favorite nibs for use at work, in part because it's not as wet as a stub and therefore works better on cheaper grades of paper. I have cursive italic nibs in various widths, ranging from .4mm (a fine) to 1.0mm (a broad).
