Waterman Ordered

[Blackhorse]

Ordered a new Waterman Carene (Stub) in Amber (dark mottled reddish brown). Did a TON of research prior to ordering and decided to go through Classic Fountain Pens (nibs.com). They hand tune each pen to your specific preferences before shipping. Very excited.

See pics below. Includes writing sample of Waterman factory stub nib.










Specs:

Closed Length 5.7"
Posted Length 5.8"
Barrel Length 5"
Barrel Diameter 0.5"
Section Diameter 0.3"
Ink Capacity 1.3 ml
Filling System Cartridge-Converter
Cap Type Snap
Clip With Clip
Cartridge Capacity 1.3 ml
Converter Capacity 0.5 ml
Postable Postable
Pen Weight 33.4 g

 

[Zeno Marx]

To the neophyte admirer, what does the hand tuning entail?

 

[Richard Burley]

To the neophyte admirer, what does the hand tuning entail?

...and what kind of stub? I know it's a type of nib, but aren't there different types of stubs? And is that photo above an example of said stub? Looks really cool, suggestive of what engraving should look like. Or something.

(Hey, what do I know? I write with a 20-year-old Safari and once threw away a Mont Blanc.)

 

[Blackhorse]

To the neophyte admirer, what does the hand tuning entail?

This is from their website...

“Unless otherwise requested, every fountain pen and nib unit we sell is carefully examined, filled with ink, tested on paper, and then optimized for the individual writing characteristics and preferences of the end user before it is cleaned and shipped. We take care to make sure that the fountain pens you buy from us will not just be beautiful to look at, but will also serve you for enjoyable day after hand writing.”

As part of the order you are required to fill out a multi part form defining the way you use the pen and want it to perform. Are you a lefty? How hard do you press down? How wet do you want it to write? Etc. NO other vendor will do this. And you’re SURE to get a pen that writes the way you want. The owner, John Mottishaw, is famous as for customizing nibs, etc.

 

[Blackhorse]

To the neophyte admirer, what does the hand tuning entail?

...and what kind of stub? I know it's a type of nib, but aren't there different types of stubs? And is that photo above an example of said stub? Looks really cool, suggestive of what engraving should look like. Or something.

(Hey, what do I know? I write with a 20-year-old Safari and once threw away a Mont Blanc.)

A stub is a varient of a Cursive and an Italic nib...wide and thin. It makes very thin horizontal lines and wide vertical lines.  But while the edges (left and right corners) of an Italic nib are crisp, sharp, which makes writing with it an exacting chore...the Cursive nib’s cornerscare slightly rounded off, making it more forgiving and easier to write with. The Stub is even more rounded and provides good line width variation but is the most normal feeling when writing.

Yes...the photo is an example of a Waterman factory stub nib. It is claimed to be 0.9mm in width. A nice usable width.

Yes...Stub nibs made by every maker are all different.

Of interest...Stub nibs that are stainless are bare steel, not tipped with Iridium like gold nibs...which have the Iridium added because the gold is soft and wears too quickly without it.

Of further interest re stub nib design differences...the stubs available from Pilot (Japanese) have the best flow when tilted up away from the page and the feed is set up to provide only moderate ink flow...as they are optimized for writing Kanji, which is done in short strokes. Compare that to the Waterman which has a more open feed to keep up with Western cursive with its broad flowing writing style and works fine with the lower writing angle typically used. Yup. They’re all a little different.

Below is a not very good pic of the Waterman stub...