Nibaholics Anonymous?

[Heebs]

Few weeks back I picked up 130 Spencerian 1s for $25 

Smart shopping and a keen eye is all you need.

[melanie jane]

Now that is a bargain!   

[Salman Khattak]

I'm not one to pay silly prices either. However good a nib is, it is still a consumable. BTW, some of the most famous nibs don't last that long either.

Can't beat 130 Spencerian No.1s for $25 but I have had my share of luck with finding a gross of vintage 404s for $40 and some lovely double ground vintage 170's for not a lot of money (I forget exactly what I paid but it wasn't much higher than $1 a nib). BTW I think the vintage 404 is a very underrated nib - grab 'em when you find them - they are great for smaller script (3-4 mm) and work well with rough paper since they are not very fine. Newer, but still vintage, ones with the plain blue box are not as good as the older ones but still quite good.

I don't think one needs that many nibs to have good supply. I get a lot of mileage from my nibs  (I do regrind and re-align and squeeze out a bit more use of them) but even if you use a nib for a couple of weeks, a gross would last you 2 full years and well into the third. And that is if you only used that one nib. I get about a month from a Spencerian No. 1 if I only use it on good paper.

Salman

[AAAndrew]

Oh, my. A support group for me and my people? Nabaholics is right.

Hello. My name is Andrew. It's been 11 hours since I've bought a vintage nib.

Actually, I seem to go in cycles. I bought a bunch of different kinds. Decided to stop and instead use them. I did that, learned what I thought I liked, then went through another mini cycle of buying similar ones. Then stopped, to focus on writing with them. Then got some eBay gift cards for my birthday (enablers, all of them!) and just finished another cycle of getting some more unusual and interesting looking nibs. I'm ready to stop, at least until I see if there are any eBay gift cards in my stocking. 

As an example of the "interesting" nibs, has anyone ever hear of Glucinum nibs? Glucinum is another name for Beryllium. I'm going to see if I can get one of my brilliant nieces who work in the sciences to get one tested to see if there really is any beryllium in them. Until then, I'm definitely not going to suck on one, nor get flames anywhere near them. I'm not sure if I'd be better pleased if it turned out to just be turn-of-the-century marking hoopla or not?

Yes, malanie jane, you are not alone. The first step is to recognize you have a problem. The second step is to rid yourself of all of those evil nibs by sending them to me. I am willing to make that sacrifice just to save you from yourself. 

[sybillevz]

No, I am absolutely not addicted to buying vintage nibs.
I just like to keep an eye out, just in case... and compulsively click on "Buy" whenever I find a real bargain... Where's the problem with that ?
I'm buying for my kids and grand kids too, because I'm sure they will get into calligraphy.... 

More seriously, I just buy the ones I really like and I don't like to pay more than 30€ for a box (but then it has to be a very nice nib) : I'm a bit ashamed of myself because I bought 10 spencerian 1's for more than that, but I still haven't tried them because they scare me a little.

[evjo]

Yeah.  You could stop at any time.  You don't have a problem.  Your're just visiting Nibaholics Anonymous to support a friend, right?

[melanie jane]

Yes, it's not really a problem,is it?  I mean, they're so small, what harm can they do?  Besides, no one would guess, I hide the boxes well.  Now, I could see that if you had, you know, many, many tens of thousands of nibs, that might be a problem.  But, not this small amount, I can fit them all in a small box two small boxes.  So, that's fine, surely?

[AAAndrew]

Depends on your definition of "small."  I've been using these small, cheap, but wonderfully perfect plastic hardware storage bins from Dollar Tree. They stopped selling them and I neede a couple more. I was at a different Dollar tree yesterday and they had them. I'm currently using about five.  I bought ten more. Think I may be anticipating adding to my collection? Is it wrong to go back and buy the rest?

[melanie jane]

Depends on your definition of "small." 

Ummm, small enough to hold about 90 boxes of nibs between them.  And a couple of thousand loose nibs.  Oh, and the other 26 boxes that are on their way. That kind of small.

Whoops.  Did I say that out loud?   

[sybillevz]

Oh, so then that's a nibaholic !
No, I'm definitely not one... I'm just here to educate myself on nibaholism, so I can warn people about this very troubling desease 

... SO, who wants nibs ?? I've got plenty of the good french ones. They're like macarons : so delicious but gone so fast... 

[schin]

Depends on your definition of "small." 

Ummm, small enough to hold about 90 boxes of nibs between them.  And a couple of thousand loose nibs.  Oh, and the other 26 boxes that are on their way. That kind of small.

Whoops.  Did I say that out loud?   

Holy mother of god


Where do you live again?

[Heebs]

I can honestly say this has been the most confusing thread I've been a part of lol I can't tell where the theoretical begins and ends anymore

[melanie jane]

Holy mother of god


Where do you live again?

Oh no, I've shocked Schin.  I must have it bad.....   

I'm in England.  So, you see it's not my fault.  It must be something to do with the weather.  Or something.

[melanie jane]

... SO, who wants nibs ?? I've got plenty of the good french ones. They're like macarons : so delicious but gone so fast... 

Yes, most of mine are nice French ones too, with a few others.  I like the Baignol & Farjon 803 General Leman at the moment, so got a few boxes of them, plus the essential Departementale Cementee and Velleda Cementees, which I'm not quite confident with yet.

The way I see it is that, here a Nikko G will set me back £1.90.  That's about $2.90.  A Leonardt Principal is £2.45 ($3.80).  Then there's postage on top.  I can pick up a gross of vintage nibs, which work just as well, if not better, for around £20 including postage.  If I buy them now I have nibs for my whole life, I don't have to worry about the vintage supply drying up, or not being able to find my favourites any more.  Nor do I have to face paying 'new' prices in the future.  Even if I decide that some of the nibs I have I no longer like, I can sell them on and recoup my money.  It a no brainer, as far as I'm concerned.  Or that's what I keep telling myself. 

[Salman Khattak]

The way I see it is that, here a Nikko G will set me back £1.90.  That's about $2.90.  A Leonardt Principal is £2.45 ($3.80).  Then there's postage on top.  I can pick up a gross of vintage nibs, which work just as well, if not better, for around £20 including postage.  If I buy them now I have nibs for my whole life, I don't have to worry about the vintage supply drying up, or not being able to find my favourites any more.  Nor do I have to face paying 'new' prices in the future.  Even if I decide that some of the nibs I have I no longer like, I can sell them on and recoup my money.  It a no brainer, as far as I'm concerned.  Or that's what I keep telling myself. 

That makes very good sense to me. I'm in :-)

S.