Spotlight On: The Nib Tailor, Featuring Architect + Inverted Architect Nib Grinds

I’ve known J.C. Ament for years, from way back when he was attending shows as an enthusiast, to when he started dabbling in nib work under his previous brand, Nibs on Point. I wanted to take a moment today to let everyone know about his latest endeavor, in which he’s embarked on nib work full time as “The Nib Tailor.” Before he took a break from pen shows, J.C. sent me two examples of his work for review: a broad “standard” Architect nib that has since lived in my Scriptorium Balladeer, and what J.C. calls an “Inverted Architect,” a nib that I’ve swapped between a bunch of different pens but which now lives in my Schon DSGN Ultem.

Before we get started looking at nib grinds, check out this eyedroppered Schon DSGN Ultem fountain pen, which is shown here holding a full 4ml ink sample!

Standard Architect Nib vs. Inverted Architect Nib

For newer readers, or those unfamiliar with specialty nib terminology, an Architect nib (also sometimes referred to as a “Hebrew Italic”) is the reverse of your classic stub or italic-style nib in that an Architect has broad cross-strokes and narrow downstrokes. If the grinder is skilled, you can usually use the reverse side as a needlepoint, or ultra-extra fine, nib.

Architect’s Nib Grind, with the signature blade-like shape. Turn the nib over and write with the tip for an extra-fine line.

An “Inverted Architect” is, well, the inverse: it’s basically a needlepoint/extra-fine nib with an Architect grind on the top, which you can use if you invert the pen. For my particular writing style and use case, the Inverted Architect serves a unique purpose: annotation and highlighting. I can use the extra-fine tip to take notes in the margins of documents, and the Architect side for highlighting/underlining, provided I select an appropriate ink color such as a bright orange or green.

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“Inverted Architect” Nib Grind, with the needlepoint tip and “flat top.”

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Writing samples for both a standard Architect nib (top, in Ferris Wheel Press Moss Park Green), and an Inverted Architect (bottom, in Ferris Wheel Press Main St. Marmalade), both inks courtesy of Vanness Pens.

A Word of Caution: If you’re new to fountain pens, or have never used an Architect nib, I would strongly advise you to consider borrowing one from a pen friend or visit a pen show prior to ordering this particular grind. Architect grinds can be a bit temperamental, in the sense that they can go from smooth to scratchy very quickly depending on the angle at which you hold your pen (and they’re not “butter smooth” writers to begin with, since you’re essentially making cross-strokes with a blade). It’s extremely important that the nib grinder understands your writing angle, so if you cannot visit in person, I would send multiple photos of how you hold the pen and the angle at which the nib hits the paper. That said, if you do decide that an Architect nib is for you, this grind gives your writing truly unique character. For those interested in reading further, I’ve previously written posts about various options for nib customization.

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The Nib Tailor - Available Grinds and Pricing

The two nibs shown here are just a small selection of what The Nib Tailor has to offer. You can choose from pretty much any custom nib grind, and J.C. has a detailed form for you to complete alongside your inquiry. In addition to custom work (i.e., where you send in your pen), you can purchase pre-ground nibs in various styles depending on availability. Visit the Nib Tailor website for additional details. Pricing is standard, running from $25 for a simple tuning to $55-60 for more complex grinds. In addition to mail-in work and pen shows, J.C. occasionally grinds nibs in-store at Bertram’s Inkwell, and I believe he will be there this weekend. Check out his Instagram for details.

Disclaimer: This is NOT a paid advertisement. That said, I can’t recall whether J.C. gave me these nibs for free, or whether I paid for them. Either way, he’s a friend of mine but I still think he does good work. Given the increased demand for nib work, especially at pen shows, it’s great to see new faces entering the market. It keeps nib work accessible, and ensures that future generations will have the same opportunity to enjoy customized writing experiences!

Stationery From Duncan Shotton Design Studios

After a week that was, well, a touch frustrating and stressful, and now that we're heading into the final stretch before the holidays, I thought it might be fun to take a look at some recently arrived stationery products that are just that - fun! You may recall Tokyo-based, British Duncan Shotton from the "Rainbow Pencils" Kickstarter that launched and successfully funded several years back. Not only are the Rainbow Pencils still going strong five years later, but they're now joined by some other great travel/ufo/paranormal-themed stationery, which of course I ordered immediately. 

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These sticky page markers are an excellent alternative to boring 3M plastic flags. (Fellow office drones, you know what I'm talking about here.) 

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The Rainbow Pencils are made from layers of colored recycled paper, so as you sharpen them you get the "Rainbow effect." (See below). 

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A pretty poor showing of what the Rainbow Pencil can do, but the only sharpener I had within reach was cheap (and, apparently, very dull). These rainbow pencils have dark, soft graphite that's a pleasure to write with. 

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Planet Push Pins (and the Moon Push Pin - not to scale) in action, with the stamps that carried my order from Tokyo! 

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Godzilla Stickers anyone? I received these as freebies with my order! 

Takeaways and Where to Buy

I'm 100% on board with what Duncan Shotton is doing here, and I'll be looking to pick up some more of his stationery (and perhaps some other products) after I replenish the budget for 2018. If any of this interests you, you can order in one of two places. I purchased via the Duncan Shotton Etsy store, which has all of the products featured in this post. There's a somewhat larger web store on his main site, with additional items that don't appear on Etsy (like these Nessie-themed push pins).   

Disclaimer: Though I purchased all of the products featured in this post with my own funds, for my own use, I am an Etsy affiliate. All of the links in this post are affiliate links, and I am compensated a small amount for any sales made through these links. 

Review: Baron Fig Mastermind and Nomad

Of all the seemingly never-ending stream of products coming out of Baron Fig these days, the ones that have me the most excited might be the ones that have received the least fanfare. A week or so back, Baron Fig announced the launch of the "Mastermind" desk pad and the "Nomad" sticky notes. Both fill a gaping hole in my stationery arsenal. 

The Mastermind

I'm always on the lookout for a good desk pad. I've experimented with various formats, from the cheapest of At-A-Glance tear-off blotter calendars, to Levenger Oasis Pads, to the Rhodia No. 38. The blotter calendar holds a special place in my heart, since it's what I used on my desk from high school through college, and I loved that at the end of the month you would have a collage of various notes, lists, telephone numbers, doodles, scratches, you-name-it for the past 30 days. Sometimes, of course, you'd forget to tear off the page for two or three months, and then you'd really have some exceptionally interesting works of art. 

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While the Mastermind ships with a card-stock cover, you're meant to tear it off and discard. It doesn't fold over like Rhodia's No. 38 pad. 

The point was that I never actually used it as a calendar. Rather, it was a giant scratchpad that I had at my disposal while I worked on whatever it was I was doing at my desk. Of course, as I grew older and started using rollerballs, fountain pens, and other wet writers, the blotter calendar grew less useful and I stopped using desk pads entirely. I still break out the Levenger Oasis from time to time for brainstorming sessions, but it's an awkward size for me: too small to use as a true desk blotter, but too large to have sitting to the side while you work on a keyboard or with another notebook open in front of you. It's more of a lap-based tool to use while you're in an armchair or on the couch. 

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The Baron Fig Mastermind "in writing mode." The pad is a great size for my desk. The paper seems to be standard Baron Fig paper stock, which I find fountain pen friendly enough for my day-to-day needs, and especially enjoyable to use with pencils. 

This is where the Mastermind excels. Baron Fig's desk pad is big enough pad (8" x 12") to make it useful for sketching out ideas on a larger canvas, but it's still small enough to be unobtrusive. Some might prefer the slightly larger, 80-sheet Rhodia No. 38 pad, but I prefer the Baron Fig paper because it's some of the most pencil-friendly paper out there. For brainstorming and sketching out ideas, I enjoy using a pencil. That said, if you're looking for a pad of paper with sturdy backing and a fold-over cover that you can take with you and use as a sort of lap desk, the larger Rhodia pad might be more your thing.      

The Nomad

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The Nomad sticky notes ship in packs of three. They're a standard 3" x 3" size. 

I recall there being a debate on the Pen Addict Podcast a few episodes back about the best fountain-pen friendly sticky note. I'm not a sticky-note or Post-it connoisseur, but I do use them frequently. Honestly, it doesn't really bother me whether or not a sticky note is particularly high-quality, much less "fountain pen friendly," though often a super-cheap generic sticky note will feather uncontrollably with anything other than a pencil or a ballpoint pen. Fortunately, my office stocks the Post-It Super Sticky, which generally works well enough for my needs. 

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Since I know people will ask for it: a writing sample with fountain pens on the Nomad sticky note. The TWSBI 580 with Diamine ink in a medium nib didn't feather all that much but bled through. The H-F Sailor nib with Sailor ink worked the best.  

So what's the niche for the Baron Fig Nomad? For me, I just like having a dot-grid sticky note, and the slightly-textured paper is nice to write on, even if it's a bit thin. The paper seems like a lighter-weight version of the standard Baron Fig paper. For the true paper geeks out there, the Nomad actually resists feathering fairly well, though wet fountain pens will definitely bleed-through. (Again, I don't really care whether a sticky note suffers from "bleed through," since I've never used the back of one in my life, but if this is something that concerns you I'd recommend that you stick to EF and EEF nibs, or very dry inks.)  

Takeaways/Where to Buy

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While these are definitely "YMMV" products, depending on how you work and what you're specific needs are, I'm grateful to Baron Fig for putting these out there, especially the Mastermind. I picked up two packs: one for home and one for work. The Mastermind runs $15 for a pack of two pads at 35 sheets each. which is roughly comparable to the 80-sheet Rhodia No. 38. The Nomad runs $8 for a three-pack of 70-sheet pads, which is more expensive than your standard post-it but still fair. You can buy both directly from Baron Fig.

Disclaimer: I purchased all of the products featured in this review with my own funds for my own use. This post does contain affiliate links.  

Introducing the Baron Fig Askew Confidant Limited Edition

Well, Baron Fig did it, for all you doubters out there who met the company's announcement of multiple simultaneous subscription services for as many as four different product lines with skepticism that they could maintain their creative edge. I'm still not sure what, exactly, they're going to be doing with all those limited editions, but the newest version, Askew, makes it clear that it probably won't be boring.

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Even the inside cover is hand-colored, with blue ballpoint.

Askew, a collaboration with graphic designer Debbie Millman, is entirely hand drawn, from the inside cover pages to the ruling on the paper itself. Spoiler alert (not really): the hand-drawn lines aren't straight, and on a handful of pages they even cross or devolve into scribbles. Obviously, you're not going to be able to use these pages as you would a typical notebook, but that's clearly not what Ms. Millman and Baron Fig were going for here. The goal of this particular edition is to foster creativity by encouraging people to think "outside the lines." Personally, I really like it, and can see myself using this book as an offbeat journal or for brainstorming sessions.   

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Everyone has focused on the "usability" of Askew, and whether it was wise for Baron Fig to include this unusual notebook as part of Baron Fig's subscription service. That's a fair question, and one that I've addressed before in my review of the "Black Box" Vanguard notebook. Those who were considering a Confidant subscription, thinking that they would definitely get a standard notebook each quarter - as in, one they can use to take notes at work - may now have to reconsider whether they want to subscribe or purchase on a "wait & see" basis. Of course, Baron Fig could always avoid the issue by doing what Field Notes does - offer subscribers the opportunity to exchange the Limited Edition notebook for a standard Confidant of their choice, if they so choose.

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The vibrant violet color of this notebook really changes things up for Baron Fig. I like it, especially the red bookmark. 

What's more interesting to me here is the collaboration aspect of this edition, and what it says about Baron Fig's prospects. Debbie Millman is a big deal in the design community: She hosts the wildly popular "Design Matters" podcast, and has been a guest on many other well-known podcasts, including the Tim Ferriss Show. That Baron Fig is attracting collaborators like Ms. Millman bodes well for the future, and I'm excited to see what else they have lined up. 

Where to Buy 

You can buy the Askew Limited Edition via Baron Fig's website for $20. If you're interested in subscribing to the Confidant quarterly subscription service (or one of the others that Baron Fig offers), you can do so here.   

Disclaimer: Baron Fig sent me this product for review purposes at no charge. 

Introducing the Pencil Crown, from Elegant Utility

Here's something for all you pencil fans out there. Elegant Utility, an Etsy seller based in Long Island, New York, has developed a neat product that adds better balance to uncapped pencils. The product is called the Pencil Crown, and it's a small piece of brass, slightly larger than your typical ferrule + eraser, that slides over the end of the pencil.

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The Pencil Crown should fit most untipped pencils fairly easily. 

I'm one of those people that ordinarily prefers a pencil with an eraser because I think, in general, they are more comfortable to write with. The weight of the ferrule gives the pencil a more comfortable balance in your hand, and the Pencil Crown makes up for this on a pencil that otherwise lacks an eraser. Technically, you can use the Pencil Crown with any pencil, provided you first remove the ferrule or dipped end, but I think I'll end up using this more for uncapped pencils like the Caran d'Ache Grafik pictured here.

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The Pencil Crown gives a nice weight to pencils that I would otherwise find too light. 

A huge thank you to Michael at Elegant Utility for sending this Pencil Crown over for review. If this product interests you, please visit the Elegant Utility Etsy store. In addition to the Pencil Crown, Elegant Utility also sells a version of the Pencil Crown with an eraser, the Pencil Pal (best described as their version of the bullet pencil), and the Pencil Companion (a pencil holder/extender), among other unique objects. 

Disclaimer: The Pencil Crown was sent to me free of charge by Elegant Utility for review purposes.