Editing The Pen Addict 361/transcript (section)

== Nib Grinding ==


'''Brad Dowdy:''' So let's get into the, the nib grinding and repairing. And, you know, as Myke and I tease in the beginning of the show, this, this show is actually going to be the ultimate tease because we're really, really going to get into the nuts and bolts of the nib grinding in part two of this episode. But for this conversation, what made you want to get into offering nib grinds and how did you learn?

'''Dan Smith:''' Um, well, when I first got started, um, my, my buddy who was local, he was kind of introducing me to, you know, what stubs and italics were and all this. And I was like, I can do that. And so I just went and grabbed some of my old cheap pens that I bought on eBay and started grinding and, um, went through a lot of nibs, but eventually, you know, I mean, I got it. I figured it out. He tried them and he's like, dude, this is really good. Like you, you should be doing this for other people. You should be charging for this. And I was kind of, you know, whatever, if you say so. And so he told his buddies and I just kind of spread word of mouth really. But then after that, it's just, um, I don't know, I guess I just enjoyed the process. It was, uh, almost meditative. Like for me, really, it's just, I could kind of, um, just sit down and grind and kind of, you know, let my mind wander. I don't, I don't know how else to explain it. Really?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. I always enjoyed it. That makes sense. Cause I, I've seen you work over these past few years and I can see the little zone you get in. And if I have enough nerve to ask you something while you're doing something, you're like, huh? You're like, I, you're like, you don't know what's going on. You shut it all down, which I want to talk about that, that later actually doing a nib grind in front of someone, um, because that would freak me out. Not just, you know, taking someone else's property and essentially destroying it in front of them. Um, you know, so what, what was the, um, what was the waste rate like in the beginning? What was the, what was the ratio of good versus bad and how quickly did that turn around? Because that's super intimidating to, even if it's like you bought like a hundred of, you know, 50 cent Chinese pens, it's still like, what am I doing here?

'''Dan Smith:''' Yeah, no, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Um, I don't know. I probably got two or three good ones out of every 10 I'd say.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Right. Right.

'''Dan Smith:''' You know, really early on. But, um, you know, once, once I got it figured out, it was, um, it turned around fairly quickly. Um, so, so it wasn't that painful.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yeah. Yeah. So what would you say there's a, almost like a math or science to it? Like once you get it down, you know, kind of exactly the, the path you want to take in getting to the end result, or is it more of an, like an art? Like, is it, you know, more of a feel and just kind of, uh, the art of it?

'''Dan Smith:''' Um, you know, there's definitely a feel to the tools that you're using, but really, um, it, it is just kind of math really. It's, I mean, it's, you know, each grind has its basic shape. And once you learn what that shape is and how to grind it on that little tiny tipping, it's, it's fairly easily repeatable.