How to Mod Any Fountain Pen with a G-Nib

Do you prefer the grip of a particular fountain pen but the nib isn't very flexible? Don't want a Jintao fountain pen? Chances are you can mod your favorite fountain pen with an extremely flexible nib like the G-nib!

[@JakelegCommix]

I've had very good success installing G-nibs in the Jinhao 450 and Jinhao750 fountain pens without having to use pliers. Lubricating the nib and feeder chamber with a very light coating of silicone grease facilitates insertion without disturbig the nib's position on the feeder. Once installed, the tip of the feeder can be quickly formed to make full contact with the nib by soaking it in hot water for 30 seconds, then using a clothespin to bend the feeder to the nip until the plastic cools to its new contour for the G-nib.

[@rahulshah1408]

Normally when you see the drawings, it’s fake. You have skills my friend. And I may have learned something. :)

[@Fazzmania64]

The feeders are usually made of ebonite, a type of hardened rubber that become maliable when heated. You can shape it snuggly to the nib by softening it in hot water first. I like the G nib and its true there aren't many fountain pens with good line variation. I do love the sailor fude pens for max line variation though

[@punkgrl325]

Nice explanation! I used to do this with cheap jinhao pens I'd pick up on ebay, but found the G nib would rust over time. Still really fun for noodling around with!

[@carassiq5386]

look into titanium nibs, they are corrosion-resistant

[@tiagodagostini]

@@carassiq5386 but are a pain to bend

[@carassiq5386]

@@tiagodagostini just got my titanium nibs. They work flawlessly. No rust, easy to bend. They are bouncier than chrome ones, but still easy to fit

[@nparla4763]

I used too and threw it into dustbin .... Now I purchased *noodlers ahab flext fountain pen* and my work going smoothly 🕺🕺🕺🕺

[@salvatoreIII]

Great job elxplaining the mechanics of how fountain pens work or dont work. Cool ninja drawing too.

[@mikethebloodthirsty]

Thanks for this video, currently trying unsuccessfully to do this. Most videos pretty vague on how to do this and not helpful at all

[@lisa_moscow8833]

Thank you so much. This is a great tutorial!!! And so helpful for me

[@innerchild.inc.]

Thanks, really really good info

[@tiagodagostini]

I tried to do that... but the only G-Nibs I cn find in my country are titanium and they are too hard to bend with pliers with that precision :/

[@monitablet4849]

have you tried getting some g nibs from AliExpress? They don't have to be titanium, but to make them last you have to take them out and clean and dry them after each use. Hope this helps.

[@lasaventurasdevitoelgatoma3405]

u need to do this in reality. would get u so many likes

[@katana2665]

Nice understanding. Off to do this.

[@gfarinia]

thanks ! 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

[@erwinb3412]

Good job . But why only use a G-nib ? There are plenty special dip-pen nibs around . Mitchell 0268 music nib , brause rosé , brause 66 , the list is endless . Also , use a small dremel cutting disc and drill tool to cut off the back of a metal nib , they are very cheap .

[@drawingwithcal1552]

oh there’s a ton of excellent nibs, and i do have an assortment of them. i’ve only managed to work out how to retrofit a zebra G-nib into a fountain pen- i couldn’t even get a nikko G-nib to work, much less other nibs that are shaped very differently

[@McManOnTheMenu]

hello! i know you probaly wont see tghis comment but if you do, can you please make a video that is specifically on how to do this for the kakuno? cause i heard allot of people saying its really hard to mod a kakuno, if you can, then really really thanks!

[@drawingwithcal1552]

hey there, so far since then- I haven't actually been able to find the right kind of G-nib that you need in order to be able to do this with. and it's been pretty difficult to maintain the longevity of this setup so I can't honestly say I recommend this method. I've since moved on to dedicated setups like Ackerman pen that's designed just for G-nibs (and other comic book nibs). but I also draw way too much and too quickly that I've started to damage nibs and I had to switch to a different kind of pen altogether that'll also give a good variable line. I use synthetic brush pens all the time now (Kuretake, Monami 3000, Pentel Sign) when you're doing a lot of work, these just tend to be more consistent and reliable

[@McManOnTheMenu]

@@drawingwithcal1552 ok, thanks!

[@larryglatt2548]

Is there an issue with what inks you can use so they don't clog?

[@drawingwithcal1552]

oh yes, gotta use water-based ink. almost every fountain pen's feeder design is that solid plastic thing with many lined grooves- thicker permanent ink like indian ink will clog such feeders. the only fountain pen i've used that can use any kind of ink is the Ackerman pen (i've reviewed it before), as the feeder is simply a tunnel. in terms of ink, the most versatile i've used is Pilot's Namiki ink, or their Iroshizuku ink

[@larryglatt2548]

@@drawingwithcal1552 Thank you for your quick informative response & video. I've tried the Ackerman pen & found that it didn't work for me, maybe after I view your video I will try it again.

[@drawingwithcal1552]

@@larryglatt2548 no prob- the Ackerman isn't for everyone, I have some beef with it too- it's my go-to pen for in-studio long hours work session. but that thing never leaves the studio- in my spare time doodling and sketching, i have 20 other pens i'd rather draw with

[@larryglatt2548]

@@drawingwithcal1552 YUUUUUP

[@Tailslol]

Well your mod is nice but so much work is not really worth it in my opinion. When you will flex this thing the ink delivery will be inconsistent and this type of nib tend to rust so, you will need to redo all this regularly...

[@drawingwithcal1552]

it's definitely not the easiest solution, just the cheapest one at the time. but for only a few bucks more than the kakuno, now you can get a pen called the Ackerman that's designed to feed ink to standard G-nibs. i made a review not that long after this vid

[@Tailslol]

@@drawingwithcal1552 i know a better way and cheaper. Buy a #5 feed (from jinhao it should work) and a Bic stick. You will need a drink can as well. Put your gnib in the empty body of the pen with the feed. Make an over feed with the can and use it to lock the nib and feed in the pen. Yeah you will still need to dip but you will have enough reserve for at least a page of writing. No bending, no cutting. fountain pen ink preferred, you'll can cap the pen and it will be easy to clean and dry to keep your nib longer.

[@williamneal9076]

Great detail. But...WHY does anyone want/need to do all this detailed work? Writing and Drawing with fountain pens requires different pen/nib types. And people have different grip and heavy or light weight pen preferences. WHY are you doing this G nib? What's the main desire/need to do this?

[@drawingwithcal1552]

haha well this video is quite dated- but the basic problem was: many illustrators enjoy using the G-nib to ink comics due to its insane line variation and "scratchy" characteristic. the G-nib only exists as a dipping format and many illustrators are tired of dipping back and forth. there's no fountain pen at the time that really came close to the experience/performance of the G-nib or other dipping-flex nibs. and long before I made this video, other youtubers have attempted to modify the cheap Chinese Jinhao fountain pen with the G-nib. I personally don't like the grip of Jinhao's but it made me think, it's certainly possible to adapt G-nibs to other pens. fast forward to today, there is a fountain pen solution you can purchase that is specifically designed for G-nibs called Ackerman. they offer 2 different variants and are very affordable, about $25. that kind of renders my project here obsolete- unless the illustrator doesn't prefer the Ackerman grip, then maybe this video is still relevant :)

[@aliv9532]

Please, do a video where you tuning G-nib for different fountain pen. Are your G nibs corroding? My "Leonardt G" nib is very quickly corroding in a fountain pen :(

[@drawingwithcal1552]

I have found that different brand G-nibs are not alike. so far, Zebra G-nibs are the best for doing these kinds of mods where you have to bend them. and Zebra i haven't experienced any corrosion problems at all (they might be the titanium version). Nikko G-nibs for example, are NOT as flexible and if you try to bend the rear to shape, it will crack and break so do not use Nikko for mods. I haven't had any experience with Leonardt G, or corrosion in general- what kind of ink are you using? I might recommend you try Pilot Namiki or Iroshizuku ink as i've used both for many kinds of nibs on both fountain pens and dipping nibs and i've never had any nibs corrode at all

[@ytskt]

How do you cut the nib?

[@drawingwithcal1552]

i’ve used a number of things- the first was a tree branch trimmer where the blades meet- but they were so thick it was hard to be accurate. and then i tried industrial grade scissors which was a big easier to use, and lastly a tailor’s scissors for cutting thread- the one with large handles but with tiny blades, also worked and the easiest to be accurate. don’t cut and bend nikko g-nibs, they crack. i only had success with zebra g-nibs

[@ytskt]

@@drawingwithcal1552 Thanks for your reply. I tried cutting the Zebra G nib with big scissors but ended up bending the scissors and poking myself!

[@drawingwithcal1552]

@@ytskt yikes! yeah definitely take care with handling these nibs, they're super sharp. i used a tissue paper folded up many times to hold the tip as i cut

[@ytskt]

@@drawingwithcal1552 That's a good tip, thanks! One of the unique aspect of this tutorial of yours is you are use using smaller feed, so I was hoping that I can use your technique to replace nibs on my number 5 sized pens, and also it seems snug the smaller feed much better without flattening etc. I tried fixing this on Jinhao number 6 feed (most tutorials are like this) but flattening is a big problem and mine got stuck and I'm not able to remove it after heating, freezing etc...

[@ytskt]

​@@drawingwithcal1552 finally managed to fit a Zebra G nib in a #5 nib housing, it fits much better with #5 feed than popular #6 options, without any manual bending/flattening of the G nib. Thanks for showing this approach.