They are also useful for left-handers. The Roman cursive is designed to have as many pull-strokes on the vertical as possible for right-handers, and as few push-strokes as possible. A fine nib will bite into the paper on a push-stroke. Lefties find that most of the vertical Roman cursive strokes are push-strokes. The shape of the architect allows the lefty to put the weight of the push-stroke back toward the middle of the 'knife-edge' of the nib, rather than on the biting point.

Yes, Mark Bacas is indeed the NibGrinder. I had him turn a Pelikan BB into an Architect about a year ago, and I love it. I am a music composer and do all my work with pen & paper at the piano, and I am of the opinion that the Music Nib is incorrectly labeled as such. Most music notators want a fine downstroke for stems, bar lines, etc, and broader crossstrokes to fill in noteheads quickly, which is the exact opposite of the “music nib,” and exactly what an Architect does for you.

Thank you so much for the kind words Stephen - they really mean a lot to me. That LM1 is such a lovely pen especially when coupled with Corn Poppy Red you used to have in it. I really enjoyed working on that pen.

The other vital part of this is angle. People not familiar with the mechanics of how these nibs work likely will be very disappointed with how they perform. The sweet spot of the angle of extremely tight, and there will be feedback which is highly pronounced outside of the narrow angle range. Brian Gray ground mine from a medium steel Jowo and it's great, but we spent a lot of time talking about particulars before moving ahead.

Very interesting video Stephen...and informative. Thanks for taking the time to put it together.

Stephen, thank you for mentioning the Sailor naginata togi nibs. They are effectively an architect's nib, commercially available and come in variety of nib widths....and I am not a retailer, just an admirer and happy owner of one.

Damn, every time I watch videos like that I find something new that I “need” to buy. I thought that my pen collection was complete...now that! Great demonstration!

2:50 - an architect also works good if you're a left handed overwriter.

the double grind is highly under-rated, its a versatile note taking tool for me, where I use the medium-fine line to write notes and the architect to underline or highlight ideas. The loupe was having a dandy inky day 😂

Nice clear video. Thanks. I managed to get three fine Architect nibs on Ebay from a Chinese supplier and they are lovely writers (on Moonman C1 pens). I now use them for everyday work - I print everything - and the result is both clear and interesting to the eye.

Stephen u are the man. I own 4 of Mike Masuyama’s fine cursive italics. AMAZING nibs. They are perfect for both my cursive and my print. I’m very interested in getting an architect grind. I can see one in my near future. Big fan of the channel, cheers bud!

Thank you, Stephen. Very useful. Thank you for the link.

Stephen, thanks for the overview. Very helpful in showing the differences between the nib types. 👍👍👍🙏🙏🙏

Super helpful! Thank you for sharing this information in a very visual telling.

Congratulations Stephen! You've invented "Loop Art"!!!

Thank you for the link! I have an Pelikan M600 with a Fine nib which I've disliked for 20 years and have used upside down because the nib has more stability since the nib doesn't move away from the feed and the tines don't make that click-click sound. Now that I know where to find a nibmeister in Ontario, I might have the nib looked at to see if it can be set deeper in the nib unit and if it can be double ground into a Fine and Extra-Fine. There's quite a bit of tipping to it.

Lovely explanation and detailed presentation. Thank you.

I am 3yrs late but still, “thank you” for the excellent exposé.

Excellent video. Great information. Thanks for sharing.

The best explanation of architect grind

Best Video to explain the differences and I have watched a lot Thank you

SENSATIONAL video. Thank you so much!

This was quite helpful. Thank you.

Another enjoyable educational presentation. Thank you. RS. Canada

Pablo from fpnibs.com is another European (Spanish) nib grinder of the highest order - but he no longer accepts nibs for grinding, you have to purchase (and customise) a nib from the range sold by fpnibs. His architect grinds are fantastic though - well worth trying on a JoWo steel nib (for example)!

Nice video! An architect nib is on my list of many things I want for my pen collection.

Nice to see you!

Great vid. Thank you.

I use a fine architect as my daily Arabic writer. Good stuff. Also, I highly recommend learning Arabic or Hebrew script. It's actually pretty easy to learn the alphabets (vocabulary and grammar is another matter) and its great fun for fp users. We all certainly have time to spare right now.

Very useful indeed. Thank you.

It’s really all in the angle. I have Pilot stub nib pen, which if held as a right handed person would hold it, writes consistent with an Italic nib. I am left handed, and as I tend to hold the pen, it writes consistentl with the architect nib. I should add, I want to architecture school back before computers were in every office, so lettering mattered.

Kanwrite, an indian nib distributor who ships internationally as well, makes architect nibs, you can buy them at their website. The quality's pretty nice and they're on the cheaper side of the spectrum too. I believe you can ask for other custom grinds too if you contact them.

Nice explanation of the nibulation DrStephen, Thank You. I saw your post of the nib when you first had it ground,,, S O back then I got my MrPen Italix Imperium State which has an italic grind and held it sideways vertically to the paper to see if it would work, it was difficult to maintain the orientation for too long (for me) but there was a decent result... It was worth the try (be careful) to see if an architect nib should be pursued...however my writing is crap usually and the price / time wouldn't be justified. Just thought the idea was worth stating if anyone want to have a go... BTW that LB1 is a gusher ! ! ! the amount of ink it put down was surprising, it must take ages for the writing to dry...superb pen though. Best wishes to all PenPeople... mind how you go right now and be as happy as possible. LeZc @@

Very informative , Thank you

When I use my architect nib, my handwriting has a lot of personality! Fountain Pen Revolution sells architect nibs. Mark Bacus has a good video on writing with an architect nib.

I'd love to try an architect nib. I was interested before but now you've convinced me even further. Do you know of any pens you could find with an architect nib in the Lamy Safari / FPR / Metropolitan price range? Thanks very much

Very interesting, thank you.

For me is when i write with the architechs nib i got the italic charater and when i write with a italic nib i got the architechs line. Because the way i hold the pen is everything opposition the line on the Paper.

Ah, Stephen, you're just trying to get me to spend more money when I'm trying to quit. Arrghhh! But thanks for the review regardless. :)

Love my architects. Naginata nibs like this on Ali Express for Lamy, and #6 size pens, easy to swap out, cheap! Obviously, a meister nib will be better. Mark Bacas ground mine to match my personal writing angle. It's the Lamborghini of my nibs.

I bought a few cheap architect nibs, they are very smooth and good for a daily writer, but my favorote one is a custom medium architect I did myself. The line variation is insane but it sucks for anything other than printing as it skates all over the page

Sir which nib is best for Sanskrit(Devnagari) letters???

Is the Danitrio inked with Gourmet Pens Pink?

I love your videos, but this one was confusing because your hand was at an angle when you were showing the line variation. The diagonals are going to be equal in width and halfway in width between the true vertical and true horizontal lines. I wish we had seen that more clearly.

When used for drawing, an architect's nib lets you fill in an area, rapidly, with a more natural side-to-side motion. However it has a rather narrow "sweet angle" for optimum use. I am a block printer, and find the difference disappointingly subtle (western alphabet). I guess you need to be fanatically precise to maximize the effect. I got mine from Mark Bacas at nibgrinder.com, rapidly, reasonably priced, well done. He did not charge me extra for grinding the top into a nice fine for reverse writing. Conveniently, he stocks TWSBI pens which he optionally will grind for you, charging the common retail price. That way you don't have to mail in a pen of your own.

it is good for semitic languages if you hold it correctly

I have a request for all the right-handers who own an archtitect nib. Try to write simple Roman calligraphy with an architect nib that looks as if you wrote it with a stub. Kudos if you can do it without turning the paper or dislocating your wrist! This review shows that right handedism, if that's a word, is still the norm. So the architect nib is basically a vertical stub. Ideal for left-handers to write Roman calligraphy like a right handed person without the need for ploys and distortions.

FYI Mr Pen is selling Architect nibs and pens .. ( December 2020) and has announced the closure of his company in 2021 ( retirement )

Thanks Stephen, a great helpful video -Again! I had Richard Binder grind an architect for me last fall at the Ohio Pen Show. It works great, however I’m still trying to figure out what to use it for on a regular basis. I’m planning to feature it in an IG post @avee3138 in a week or so as part of my Ohio Show catch up posts. So I’ll save the rest for then. Hint: it’s on a pen that I’m pretty sure is not your favorite style, Ha, Ha. Stay well and amused.

Hi Stephen, interesting video. Could you please let me know which is that lovely red-brown ink you used with the architect nib? Thanks a lot.

the Lamy 2000 EF nib has an architect grind.

Maybe (ha!) I'm weird, but the only way I get letters with line variation I like is by either using a real flex pen that is impractical for everyday writing at my skill level, OR I get a stub/italic nib and hold it in a very specific way. Assuming right-handed, going left-to-right, it looks like this: 1. Seen from above, the pen body is oriented along the 4 o'clock line. 2. Seen from above, the stub nib is flat on the paper, & thus oriented along the 1/7 o'clock line. 3. Seen from the side, the pen is at 30-45 degrees from vertical (hard to get any lower). 4. Seen from above, my grip point is leading (to the right of) the contact point. I don't get any variation I like if I orient the stub 'normally'. Does anyone else do what I do? It looks like I'd need an architect grind to get the variation I like while holding the pen 'normally'.

That architect nib is massive.

Hebrew calligraphy is used now a days to write Torah Scrolls using iron gall ink on prepared animal skins with an italic dip pen The calligraphy has wide horizontal strokes and thin vertical strokes This block style is not used in every day writing An Architect nib mimics this style of calligraphy A cursive style is used in daily writing, and using an architect nib give a most delightful flair and panache to the writing as it mimics the formal block lettering

Thank you for this very interesting review. Back in the 1970’s when I was very young and just Lebanese, we wrote with fountain pens - they had these small bladders that carried little ink. I remember trying to squish the bladder so I can draw up the most possible amount of blue ink (always failed). After the first civil war started, I was dragged to Canada, gained another citizenship and couldn’t find any fountain pens until many years later. This is the long way to say that I speak and write Arabic - Which is why I was very interested in your review of an Architect nib. Here’s a Question: What Pen should I purchase (I like them hefty like you do) with a budget of $200 -$400 that has a good size nib (broad? double broad?) with maximum tipping so I can have it altered to an Architect’s nib? Now if you feel that it can’t be done at my price range, and I must spend more, then I’ll have to negotiate with She, who must be obeyed (Oh, Rumpole!); but that’s for me to worry about. Thanks

Check out the Aurora Goccia nib

the poor loupe got attacked a few times

Vielen Dank für das Video. Es gibt einige Hersteller wie Montblanc und Lamy, die ihre feineren Feder im Architekt Stil schleifen. Lamy Goldfeder ef z.B.. Leider, da sie sich nicht so gut für Kursiv eignen, meiner Meinung nach. Viele Grüße aus Köln!

MrPen of the UK for the Churchmans Prescriptor

That architect nib is intensely wet-writing. I know that's your preference - did you make Salman tune it that way? Is the ink a wet ink as well?

Lamy now has an architect nib for its safari style feeds. They cost around $20.

Why? Because! 😅😅😅

The architect nib seems to me to write rather like a double broad. I don't see anything unique.