Nib (pen)
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A nib is the part of a quill, dip pen or fountain pen which comes in to contact with the writing surface in order to deposit ink. There are different types of nib designed for different purposes that vary in terms of the material they are made from, their purpose, shape and size.
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[edit] History
[edit] Reed
A reed pen has a nib consisting of a slit, tines and breathing hole. A reed pen is created by cutting the shape of the nib point in the end of a piece of reed or bamboo. The reed or bamboo can then be cut to a suitable length and held and used very much like any other dip pens. However, reed pens are not very durable, as the relatively soft tip wears quickly.
[edit] Quill
In Europe by the early medieval era, the quill replaced the reed pen. They were fashioned by cutting a nib into the end of a suitable feather obtained from a fairly large bird such as a crow, but more often a goose. A quill has the advantage of being much more durable than a reed pen and more flexible, and it can retain ink in the hollow shaft of the feather, known as the calamus, giving more time to write without dipping the pen in ink. The quill was in common use until the early 19th century with the advent of the metal nib. For business purposes, the quill was fairly quickly overtaken; however, it remained popular for personal use and for artistic work.
[edit] Metal
The metal nib is believed to have its origins as far back as ancient Egypt and was made of metals like copper and bronze; however the quality of writing that could be achieved was inferior to that of reed pens. It was not until 1822 when John Mitchell set up a factory in the city of Birmingham in the United Kingdom to manufacture steel nibs that their popularity took off. Although the best steel nibs do not write as well as quills they have several major advantages.[dubious ] The metal nib does not wear out easily so it retains a sharp point or edge; this contrasts with a quill which wears out more quickly and requires a lot of skill to sharpen. Steel nibs are also easily manufactured to have different properties for different purposes, such as being broad edged, pointed, stiff or flexible. This, coupled with the fact that metal nibs can be removed from holders, means that many different types of nib can be attached and removed and used in a short period of time.
[edit] Types
Pen nibs come in a variety of different shapes and sizes for different purposes but can be split in to two main types, broad nibs and pointed nibs, both of which are described below.
[edit] Broad nib
Universally the oldest type of nib is the broad nib which is rigid and has a flat edge with which lettering such as Uncial or Gothic is created. The thicks and thins of strokes are created by varying the angle at which the ink is applied to the writing surface with the nib.
[edit] Pointed nib
The second type of nib is the pointed nib which originated in the 17th century and has a sharp point rather than a broad edge. These nibs were first created by hand from quills in a similar fashion to broad edge nibs; however, during the late Industrial Revolution in the early 19th century a high demand for nibs coupled with manufacturing processes in steel led to the production of the steel nib.
Thick and thin strokes are achieved by varying the pressure the nib is pushed against the paper. Thick lines are created on down strokes by using harder pressure causing the nib tines to widen and allowing more ink to come into contact with the writing surface. Thin or hairline strokes are created on the upstrokes and sideways strokes; lighter pressure causes the tines to narrow and even close creating very fine hairline strokes. Due to the shape of the pointed nib thick lines can only be produced on down strokes; if pressure is added to the pen on an upstroke the nib tines are likely to dig in to the paper.
These flexible quills and later steel nibs were what led to the styles of penmanship such as Copperplate and then Spencerian. However, pointed nibs are not just used for the purpose of writing; pointed pens have been utilized by many artists such Leonardo da Vinci for sketching and pen drawing. Although any pointed steel nib can be used for drawing, nibs that resemble flexible nibs but are much more rigid have been produced for pen drawing.
