Calligraphy writing nibs – left oblique steel new old stock 1-3-5 tips plumes federn with vintage wood or plastic pen holder Heintze Ly 695

Description

While fountain pens tend to get all the attention, we’ve developed a strong preference for dip pens for their versatility (and because they’re not finicky: you can experiment with all manner of writing liquids without clogging/rusting/ruining the pen… India ink? Check. Watercolors? Check. Reconstituted ink crusts, liquid ink jet leftovers, food coloring? Check, check, check!

We’ve long been of the opinion that artists unwilling to work with existing materials are a bit precious: if you can’t make interesting work without buying a bunch of new or brand name stuff, you might not be as inspired as the current moment demands of us…

On the other hand, sometimes, there are real barriers to being able to use readily available items – say, for example, when you’re a lefty…

While we’ve run into a few ‘left-handed’ nibs over the years, I’ve read more recently that nibs that are ‘cut left’ ( ‘/‘ instead of ‘’) make for easier, less awkward lefty calligraphy. I’m also finding this to be very much the case—I mean, still gotta take care to avoid dragging one’s writing hand through wet ink, but the glide is far smoother when ones writing practice involves pushing pens across paper rather than pulling them…

With all this in mind, we’ve put together this ‘ditch the ballpoints’ offering of entirely ‘Ly’ style nibs, a left cut oblique/italic series that’s reliably pleasant to use for left *and* right-handed writers. Made by the German company Heintze-Blanckertz, these new old stock (NOS) nibs are unused and appear to have been manufactured in the 10 years or so following WWII.

Our goal in offering a variety of options here is to inspire and support creative reuse of inks, paints, pigments and more… Have you tried making black walnut ink? It’d be perfect with this pen and we’d love to see your results!

We’ve set up the listing three different general pen/holder styles: plastic shaft, wood shaft, and wood shaft with cork or rubber comfort grip. All are vintage and in good used condition, and we’ll choose yours carefully to make sure it fits well with these jobs before shipping.

If you’re on a budget, the single nib option w/ plastic holder is a great way to get started.

The five nibs offered as part of the full set are a sequence of five consecutively sized left oblique nibs: Ly 695-5, -6, -7, -8, & -9 (widest to narrowest).

If you choose the three nib set, you will be sent the 695-7, along with one larger and one finer point as chosen by us. 😉