Calligraphy Nibs: Quality can make a Difference

If you’ve ever drawn any calligraphy you will know what a nib is used for. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the nib is what is found on the end of a calligraphy pen. Because of its aesthetics and function is has basically remained the same is shape and characteristics over hundreds of years.

The nib is often referred to as a pen; this is because they were at one time called pens when they were sold as replacement parts for the dip pen. Nibs come in a variety of different metals from stainless steel to gold, gold being the most expensive. While a gold nib may cost a little more it is more likely to with stand the corrosion from the use of ink. The ink that is used for calligraphy is often high in Ph which can often times be very acidic or very high in alkaline. Over time the stainless steel nibs show signs of eaten away metal where as the gold nibs from 14k to 21k do not.

The body of the nib is what provides the shape and rigidity to the tines in position to write. It is also is what covers the flow of ink and the return of air along the feed. A nib tapers from the tines and goes down to the tail where it can be as thin as 3 thousandths of an inch thick. Its thickest part is at the point where it can be 30 thousandths of an inch. In the 20’s and the 30’s the nibs were made with a lot more gold, a famous nib at that time was made by Sheaffer’s which offered a lifetime warranty on their nibs.

Nibs that were made in the 30’s and after were made out of materials such as, osmium, alloys of iridium and ruthenium and/or small amounts of other metals. In the early 50’s, Parker made their nibs out of an alloy of eight metals. It is important to remember that a nib is only as good as the way it is made. The way it is polish, adjusted, and the tip is ground all have to do with the way the nib will write.

If you are used to writing with a fountain pen you will probably notice the difference when you begin to draw calligraphy with a nib. Nibs often feel scratchy on the paper at times even catching on or ripping huge holes in your art work. Nibs that once wrote smoothly and abruptly turned scratchy might have suffered some sort of mishap, they might have been dropped and become misaligned or some other nib tragedy. You can tell if you nib is misaligned by placing your nib lightly on a piece of paper, if both signs of the nib do not rest evenly, you nib probably needs alignment. A nib that is out of balance will affect how your ink flows onto the paper when you are writing.

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