John Singer is a good amateur nibmeister, and I've learned quite a bit from him. The tool he uses as a grinder is, of all things, an original Pentium CPU chip. The high silica ceramic in them is an excellent abrasive that does not clog or get worn away. For polishing he uses a ceramic cased EPROM chip, and for finishing he turns to micromesh. It's fascinating to watch him work. For training materials, you can get Jinhao nibs on eBay by the dozen for about US$0.50 each. You might also be able to find them on Aliexpress for even less than that. They aren't the best nibs in the world, but they're good enough for training. I've also thought about adapting the kind of abrasive wheel and angle guide used by gemstone cutters, but that takes the tools to a-whole-nother level.
I found this to be a very helpful video. I have been using fountain pens, almost exclusively, for about 30 years-and I've purchased quite a few from Brian. A well-tuned fountain pen is a joy to use, and one that is not working properly is very frustrating. Some pen companies routinely provide pens that write well out of the box; others often require a little tune up. Also with use, pens can get out of adjustment. I have watched some videos and tried to do some minor tuning myself-with mixed results. I have also watched nibmeisters work on my pens at pen shows. A little tweak here, a little bend there and they hand me back a near-perfect pen. I then write with it a bit, they watch, and then a few more adjustments and it is perfect! I have dropped a few pens on hard floors and they almost always land nib first, They are shaped like a missile, after all. Nibmeisters have resurrected those nibs to the point that I can't tell they were ever damaged. Truly amazing. I appreciate what Brian said about being able to run a small business. Not only do you have to have the skills to work on pens, you have to be able to deal with customers, shipping, money, etc. As long as people continue to write with fountain pens, there will be a demand for nibmeisters. I would also add that all the major pen companies have service departments; they employ pen repair people. I have sent them pens that come back like new. I was hoping that Brian and Rachel would visit the one at Pilot on their trip there. It was probably in one of the buildings labeled Top Secret.
I want to learn too. I just found the first pen to work on. I just dropped a cheap $7 pen on the floor and the nib bent. I have several pens in the less than $30 range where the nibs need some tuning. I’m not sure about grinding nibs though until I get a supply of cheap nibs. Would cheap dip pen nibs be good to practice on?
Do you have any nibmeisters that you recommend? I have a pen (Pilot Fountain Pen Custom Heritage 912, FA nib) that is not fine enough for me, so I'm not using it. :( I had considered getting the service done.
