About Our Sketch Nibs

We designed our Sketch Nibs for sketching — pure and simple. Modeled after the Manga G nib in size and shape, our Sketch Nibs can fit into any of our Manga G pens. 

Rust resistant and strong, these nibs retain their spring. Sure, they can become scratchy because there is no tipping material on the tip. But how fast they wear depends on use. On average, a Sketch nib can last one full year — or more. 

Smooth and polish the tip with the lapping paper included with every purchase. Instructions are included as well. 

If you really know what you're doing, reshape the tip to experiment with different effects. Make "left handed" nibs if your handedness is important.

More About Our Sketch and Music nibs

Music nibs are semi-flexible, three-tyne nibs, providing two ink channels instead of one. Music nibs were originally designed to write Western music notation, and the two ink channels provided a rich flow of ink, including broad black lines and whole notes filled in with ink.

We modeled our Sketch and Music nibs after the Manga G nib size and shape so they can fit into any of our Manga G Pump Pens. We also designed them with a few advantages you won't find in other dip pen nibs. 

The Sketch and Music nibs are semi-flexible and provide a rich ink flow for a nice bold line with some variation. Both are unique dip pen nibs made from flexible bronze, so they are strong, don't rust, and retain their spring for a long time. 

Neither dip pen nib is tipped, however, so they can wear down over a long while. Still, you don't have to polish them, but doing so will keep them smoother and easier to use.

Tipped nibs let you move the nib in any direction. And dip nibs can vary in the range of motion they provide. In most cases, you can draw directly down and up to 60 degrees to either side, which gives you 120 degrees of motion, or about one third of a circle.

But our Sketch and Music dip pen nibs actually double the range of motion to two thirds of a circle. If you are careful, you can move the nibs in almost any direction. Moving the dip pen nib directly up increases the risk of catching the tip on the paper, but if the flow of ink or paint is strong enough, you can glide the tip over the flow. You can also draw upwards using a careful looping action.

To do so, start with a downward movement, begin a loop and slowly increase the radius until you are drawing directly upwards slowly. The faster you move the nib, the higher you chance for catching the tip. 

Polishing the tips keeps them smooth, and you can reshape the tip to experiment with different effects, but we don't recommend this unless you have the right tools. Still, polishing our dip pen nibs is a good way to gain experience with music and sketch pens.

Cheers and Happy Scribbling!