ok there is no how to guide for the Spencerian but...

[Joey-Nieves]

In my last post I found out that there is no written guide out there, but there are some interesting articles on the subject.
So, With your help I would like to brainstorm what would be needed to flex a nib.
This is what we know;

• Not all nibs can be flexed
• A nib needs to be somewhat flexible before you start
• Aligning, shimming and polishing would be the last step.

If flexing a nib requires the nib to thinned, would it be between the breather whole and the tip? if so, where, the middle? The top side or the back?

Obviously a great amount of polishing will be involved.
How would you do it?

 

[duncsuss]

If I were to try teaching myself how to turn a regular nib into a flex nib, I'd start by watching as many videos as I could find of people using a flex nib.

I'd watch closely to determine where the nib flexes when a calligrapher writes with it.

I'd watch again and again looking for clues as to how the tines are shaped (narrower than a regular nib? the same width, but the sheet of metal is made thinner?)

And I'd write a direct question to one of the people who already does it. Some might reply with "that's the way I make my living, you think I'm going to share it with you?" Others might reply with some helpful guidance.

Perhaps I'd even commission one of the nibmeisters to do the conversion to a nib that I pay for and ship to them. Then compare under a loupe and with a micrometer the before and after.