Modifying Fountain Pens: Nib Smoothing

2020-03-31 5 min read Fountain pens Guides Writing stuff Teknikal_Domain Unable to load comment count

So, fountain pens. Maybe you want yours to glide over paper like it’s on glass, maybe the nib is just a little small and scratchy, or maybe you just want to try it out and see what’s going on. In any case, here we’re going to talk about nib smoothing or nib grinding, what it is, and what you need.

Disclaimer

This will void your warranty in most cases. If it were me, I’d either practice on a cheap pen (Jinhao X450,like $10), or a pen with easily available and replaceable nibs (the Noodler’s Ahab, Konrad, and Nib Creaper pens are good ones for this). Over-smoothing can leave you with less of a “smooth” tip and mote of a pointed metal spear that will seriously injure someone if you stab them with it, or yourself if you’re careless, and that shape is not what makes a good flowing, good feeling, good writing, fountain pen. It also tends to write decently in one direction, and horribly bad in every other direction. And unless you’re in prison and making makeshift weaponry, most people want their pens to write, and write well, not to be a scratch mess that’s capable of killing people.

Be careful, and remember that you can always take more metal off, but you can’t put it back.

What is Nib Smoothing?

Nib smoothing, or nib grinding, is the process of rubbing a nib on an abrasive surface, to either eliminate defects, or just create a smoother writing surface. At the lightest levels, you’re not really ‘sanding’ or ‘grinding,’ you’re more just polishing the metal. Fountain pens, almost regardless of nib material, will have a ball of a hard (usually iridium) alloy on the tip, which makes them “tipped” nibs. These are smoother to write with, and last longer, because iridium is a tougher material than the most common nib materials, usually either stainless steel or gold plated stainless. (Actual, real gold nibs exist, but that is not a topic I’m qualified enough to talk about.)

To my knowledge, tipped nibs are more receptive to smoothing, but even untipped nibs are capable of a little touching-up. But, they’re going to be a little rougher to begin with, you’re not going to get perfectly glass-smooth results with one.

Materials Required

I use Goulet Pens for my supplies (not sponsored, just a fan), and they have three items in two products:

The micro-mesh paper doesn’t feel that abrasive to your hands but trust me, it is. Mylar, same thing. Buying from them, the white sheet is the 0.3 micron one, and they have a perfectly smooth and shiny side and a slightly rougher side, you want the rougher one.

The Procedure

Always check for nib defects like misalignments before doing this. If you don’t, you’ll likely make it worse, and ruin the nib. The sandpaper is best used for treating defects, like scratchy nibs. Ones that are smooth, but you want smoother, stick to Mylar. Once you have everything, first, ink the pen. The ink not only helps you visualize your stroke pattern, but also provides a tiny bit of lubrication action, so you’re, in essence, performing wet sanding and not dry sanding. You’ll want to hold your pen like you usually write throughout all of this, and preferably at the angle you use the most, since off angles might not feel as good, especially if you over do it.

Fixing With Micro-mesh

First, make some figure-8 shapes on some normal paper to identify which direction causes the most issues. Ideally, go for about 10mm tall, or around there. Once you’ve done this, repeat the motion on the sandpaper, taking very light strokes and press just a little more when you’re going through the same direction where it was scratchy before. Only do a few at a time before going back and checking.

It should soon start to feel better and smooth, but if you want that perfectly smooth, frictionless, glass feel, you’ll need Mylar.

Improving With Mylar

If you can’t feel the difference for which side is the active one, shine a light on it. The perfectly reflective side is the back. The slightly duller one has the abrasive on it.

If you make figure-8s on paper and one part of the stroke has a little more feedback than you’d prefer, use the 1 micron sheet, otherwise, the 0.3 micron can help improve the overall feel if you’re not trying to correct anything. In either case, do the same small, slow, light pressure movements on the Mylar, stopping every few times to check the result.

As I can tell you from personal experience, do not over do it, and it’s better to stop early than stop too late.

No matter which you just did (or both), you should now have a pen that writes to your liking. Just remember that your warranty is probably now scattered among the ink drips and metal filings imbued into your abrasive of choice, so sending it back or getting it first-party repaired is no longer an option.