When Esterbrook first announced Nib Wars, I wasn’t sure what to expect. It was described as a competition where, “the nibmeisters will participate in three rounds, each round tasking the competitor to execute a specific nib grind.” I didn’t know if it would be fascinating or boring. But, it sounded interesting enough that I registered to attend.
I was especially intrigued by Esterbrook’s description of nibmeisters: “the unsung heroes of the pen community, nibmeisters build their skill over years of training and persistence. Not unlike a Jedi, if you think about it.” I’ve definitely found that people new to the pen world either don’t know about, or are somewhat skeptical about, going to nibmeisters. And, while I 100% advocate learning to tune your own nibs, nibmeisters are fabulous for narrowing a nib or changing the shape of a nib (e.g. standard round to stub or architect).
