{"id":13536,"date":"2024-09-11T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-11T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/?p=13536"},"modified":"2025-03-02T21:28:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T02:28:44","slug":"keeping-nibs-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/keeping-nibs-straight\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping Nibs Straight"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

If you’ve been here a while, you already know I have a lot of altered nibs. If you’re fairly new here, then my recent nib overview post<\/a> likely gave you a clue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have 32 altered nibs from 9 different nib customizers\/meisters. About 10-15 nibs ago, I realized I need a foolproof way to keep track of them. I settled on a two-part system involving marking the nibs and storing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Storage<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The storage is the simpler part, and likely isn’t unique to me. I store the nibs in a bead storage box. I’ve done this for a while, but recently downsized for portability. I store the rest of my unaltered nibs in the previous, larger container.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\"Nibs<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each compartment of the bead container is labeled using tucked-under tape (for easy removal later). I’ve labeled my compartments with: EF, F, M, B, TWSBI, Kaweco, Oblique, Cursive Italic, Stub, Architect, Unique Grinds, Layered, Flex, Platinum, Sailor, and Pilot. This leaves one compartment open for holding a nib that belongs to a specific pen when I choose to swap it for an altered nib for that fill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There is a high chance that I’ll outgrow an individual compartment at the rate I’m collecting obliques. But, some compartments only have 1 or 2 nibs, so there’s space.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OK, with the less interesting \u2014 to me \u2014 part out of the way, I can move on to marking the nibs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I want to note that I only do this for altered nibs, and I only get modifications on nibs that are easily replaceable \u2014 Jowo, Bock, etc. \u2014 or purpose-bought \u2014 yep, I’ve bought some pens secondhand to pillage the nibs. So, I’m not advocating that anyone \u2014 nor would I ever \u2014 mark nibs that belong to a specific pen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enough blathering. I mark nibs by painting the upper-back of the feed with nail polish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I have 6 bottles of cheap polish \u2014 they were about $2 a bottle. I keep a key on my storage box, although I memorize the colors pretty quickly. I try to assign colors to nibmeisters\/makers who are very different so that even though I have two people to one color, I can still easily tell the nibs apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The
For those who aren’t familiar with nibmeisters, pink denotes Ralph Reyes (Regalia Writing Labs) and Kirk Speer (Pen Realm), green is for Damien Alomar (All in the Nib), silver is for myself and Les Sheely (Stylo Suite), Purple is for JC Ament (Nib Tailor) and JJ Lax, and blue is for Gena Salorino.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After the polish dries, I mark the type of nib with a sharpie. O for oblique, S for stub, A for architect, etc. Originally, I just added a small dot, but it’s much easier if you paint the entire flat section of the feed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Several<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So far, I haven’t had any problem with the polish staining, reacting with the ink, or coming off. This system has made it very easy to keep track of my nibs. I may employ something similar with Bock nibs in the future since they can’t be bothered to mark nibs with the width. Perhaps with shades of gray so it isn’t so much in your face as the colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

How do you keep track of your altered nibs? Would you try my method? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for reading to the end, I hope you enjoyed my post. Make sure to subscribe to my blog<\/a> or follow me on Instagram<\/a> so you don\u2019t miss any posts. I generally post at least once a week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As I’ve continued to expand my altered nib collection, I’ve realized a need to keep them all straight so I know which is which. Find out how I do that.<\/p>\n

Keep ReadingKeeping Nibs Straight<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[315,335],"class_list":["post-13536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fountain-pens","tag-how-i-do-things","tag-nibs","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/nibs-featured.jpg?fit=288%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Z77k-3wk","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1395,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/fp101-4\/","url_meta":{"origin":13536,"position":0},"title":"Fountain Pen 101: Nibs","author":"Rachel","date":"June 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Welcome back to Fountain Pen 101.\u00a0Today I've got an introduction to nibs, including sizes; materials; and flex, fude, and music nibs.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Jowo Nib Unit","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/nibUnit-300x56.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13481,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/2024-nib-overviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":13536,"position":1},"title":"Pen Show Nibs Overviews","author":"Rachel","date":"August 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"As promised, I give you a post dedicated to the five modified nibs I bought at the DC Pen Show this year.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"top view of the reverse chimera double stack","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815_193659.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815_193659.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815_193659.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815_193659.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/20240815_193659.jpg?resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":15610,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/nib-appreciation\/","url_meta":{"origin":13536,"position":2},"title":"Nib Design Appreciation Post","author":"Rachel","date":"July 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm long overdue to give you a nib porn post. 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Read on for my review of it.","rel":"","context":"In "Fountain Pens"","block_context":{"text":"Fountain Pens","link":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/category\/stationery\/fountain-pens\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Collage of close ups of the Sequel nib","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Sequel-Collage-300x81.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7647,"url":"https:\/\/racheldelafuente.com\/blog\/comparing-grinds\/","url_meta":{"origin":13536,"position":5},"title":"Comparing Common Nib Grinds","author":"Rachel","date":"June 3, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I've learned not everyone is aware of the differences in the way nib grinds write. 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