I don’t do much nib work. There are several reasons for this, but I’d say the slow pace at which I work limits the number of nib jobs I can do at a reasonable cost. I just can’t speed through restoration tasks; I’m not comfortable working against the clock on projects for which patience and contemplation are important ingredients, and I also like to take my time when creating something – and I consider re-creating the original state of a nib (or cap, or whole pen) to be forms of creation.

This nib is my own, purchased in a decrepit Waterman black hard rubber 52. I saw potential in the nib, and I also was interested in the challenge of trying to resuscitate what looked like a sensitive nib that had been mortally wounded.

Though I have repaired far fewer nibs than metal caps, my skills with reversing deformed metal do give me a good base for many aspects of nib work. I have a feeling for the way metal responds to various manipulations, and just as with reversing cap dents, there are actually many distinct metalworking techniques that can be used to fix mangled nibs.