“Mark,
I received the two Pelican italic nib, fountain pens that you ground for me and am elated. When they both got worn and did not give me the thick to thin line that I needed for my calligraphy work in both Italic script and in Hebrew lettering, I began looking for replacements and was disheartened to find that Pelican no longer made them and nobody had any in stock. Having a project that I was about to start and having a deadline I purchased four different pens, on-line. Of the four only one was suitable, but was not of the quality of the Pelican.
When I learned about “Nib Grinder”, reading reviews and communicating with Mark and his team, I sent the two Pelican pens to be reground. They write very smoothly. They give me the thick to thin line that I need, a pleasure to use and I could not be happier with using them again. Only someone who loves the “art’ of writing with a fountain pen may understand.
Thank you very much for your magnificent work.”
“I received my LAMY 2000 in a timely manner and it writes like a dream. This is my first experience with nib alteration. Mark and co. made it painless, very professional. The price was very fair also. I will send every pen I need work done to Nib Grinder from now on. Seriously. this was one of those transactions that you’ll remember for a long time.”
“I just received my Lamy 2000 EF. Impressed? More than impressed, you did something spectacular with this nib, which is a joy to use. The nib now writes beautifully, no sweet spot, no skipping, excellent ink flow, and what is important, very smooth. I did not expect the nib this fine (Lamy 2000 EF is very fine) to write so smoothly. I can not find the words to express my gratitude for the excellent work you did with my pen.
Many thanks and I wish you all the best.
P.S. In the following days, I will send you two more pens for smoothing/tuning (Platinum 3776 and Pilot Custom 74). I am sure you will do the same miracle as you did with Lamy 2000.”
“Ok, well let me just say the grind you put on my nib is everything I hoped for: smooth, wet, great line variation, the turn-around time was very fast, and you have been an exceptionally good communicator. Pleasure doing business with you!”
“I want to inform you that ALL the pens came back and exceeded expectations. They are all exactly what I asked for and more! Now I have a hard time figuring out which one is my favorite. The architect hybrid grind is something else!! Thanks again for your awesome nib work!!”
“Well Mark,
Since the Edson and the Emperor arrived this week I haven’t wanted to put them down. Beautiful nib work - thank you! It’s so enjoyable to finally be able to write with the Edson. It feels like an extension of my hand now. And it writes even nicer than my Caréne did. I’ve given your name and showed the video of my pens to a friend in SC who I gave the Caréne to in case she ever wants to get it customized. She has a tiny hand and holds her pens differently than I do.
The Emperor is a completely new experience in writing for me. I bought it to write large letters slowly and deliberately but I find that with my large hand I’m actually writing small letters quickly with it because it’s fun and so precise. I’m using a Sailor ink in it and the line looks amazing. Now I’m going to work on my penmanship. ;-)
I now have three pens that you’ve done excellent work on for me and I really appreciate it Mark. I’m pensively looking over at my pen case at a squeaky-nibbed Pelican M1000 that could use a smoothing out - except for the loudness of it, it’s an exceptional instrument - and a medium nib Sailor KoP Pro Gear that might also be nice in a cursive smooth italic. I have a bold, stock nib Sailor that skates over the paper and makes the medium nib Sailor redundant for line style.
You have a true gift and I’m glad you found it!”
“Dear Mark:
My Bordeaux MontBlanc Meisterstück fountain pen is home again, cleansed with a fresh superb left oblique grind.
Filled with Herbin blue minuit ink, it is simply joyful again to see my words flow from a superbly revived, almost 30+ year-old fountain pen, which has travelled with me to over 40 countries.
Thank you, Mark Bacas, for your expertise and good work. My MontBlanc thanks you as well. ”
“Hi, Mark.
I just wanted to let you know how thrilled I am by the expert work you did with my pen and the fast turnaround you achieved with it. The pen writes like new - in fact better than new! The fact that it is an EF makes this even more amazing. Thanks for all you do! Your artistry is incredible and I will not hesitate to recommend you to anyone who asks about getting their nibs repaired or modified!”
“Mark,
Thank you very much for the nib work on my Waterman LeMan 200. I purchased this twenty-five years ago on January 21, 1993. I love to write with fountain pens and bought this pen in celebration of a special occasion.
The pen was scratchy to write with from the beginning. I went back to the store I bought it from eight days later on January 29, and the person that I bought it from, said that I definitely had a problem, but that they would not exchange it and I would have to work with the company under their warranty provisions. I carefully sent the pen back to Waterman and asked them to exchange it. I received the pen back with no note other than a statement that it had been carefully examined. It wrote the same as it did before I sent it.
I have looked off and on over the years for someone who does nib work that I felt I could trust with this pen. The pen has been a 25 year symbol of frustration until now.
I am delighted that you were recommended and greatly appreciate the work that you did on my nib. The pen is now a pleasure to write with!”
“Hi Mark,
I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say that the pens you worked on for me are fantastic. I’m so pleased with them and they write so well and feel like completely different pens now. I’m afraid that I now have a few more pens I want to send you, as my other pens aren’t quite measuring up to the one’s that have been through your magic hands!!
Many thanks again. ”
“I got my pens back from yesterday. Wow! They are performing beautifully - your work was spot on and completely transformed these pens into left-handed wonders. Many, many thanks!”
“Thank you for putting the “ Very Nice “ back into my Conklin pen. I’m very happy with the work and the price was more than reasonable.”
“Hi Mark, As usual I’m very happy about the nib you did for me. It is a stub on a Pelikan 200 pre 97 gray and magenta pen. A beautiful pen and now a beautiful writer. I’ve had stubs done by others, but your’s is outstanding. The best nib I have and such a pleasure to use. ”
“Hi Mark I just tested the nibs because I have been so busy lately so long time since you shipped them. I just wanted to tell you that WOW... WOW twice an n times WOW ... wonderful they just write as I dreamed (no just as I expected)... excellent job, Please let me know when I can write a review because your work is really outstanding!”
“For the life of me I still can’t figure out why your needlepoint nibs aren’t scratchy but they are just really nice and I had never tried one I liked until yours.”
“Mark provides the best customer service that I have EVER encountered in the pen world. He goes above and beyond to make sure that his customers are completely satisfied. He is fair, easy to contact, and very pleasant to work with. He has created a number of stub/italic nibs for me that are wonderful.. I recommend Mark whole heartedly!!”
“I just want to say thank you because I like the grind so much, in particular the smoothness and the line variation. Now I have filled the pen with Aurora Blue Black and I am enjoying it so much!”
“I really appreciate you making my pen amazing again! I am not kidding when I say it feels way better than it did even when it was when I first got it! I thought it was smooth then, I have no idea what sort of voodoo magic you worked on it, but it is impressive! :D”
“Hi Mark,
My nibs made it back to me today. I was so excited to get them I took off work early just to be home when they arrived. I inked them up, started writing a bit, and decided to immediately stop and send you a note of thanks. To say I’m pleased would surely be an understatement. I am so thrilled I want to buy more pens now just to send them to you for a little more of that magic you worked on these two. I still can’t believe how quickly you returned these back to me. And they write so phenomenally now, everything else I own seems drab by comparison. I’ll definitely be sending more pens your way. I doubt I’ll even ink them first when I get them. Thank you again.”
“Hi, Mark—
I am writing to thank you for your excellent work on the TWSBI Vac 700. As you probably know, I mostly valued that pen for sentimental reasons—because a pen pal had given it to me. But the new CSI grind is terrific! I greedily hoped for both line variation and smoothness, and this grind delivers both. I’ve been especially impressed by the smoothness—you were wise to adjust the flow a tad wetter for my light hand. Now it works well on all of the papers I have tried. Thank you!
Of course, it is partly your fault that I recently purchased a Platinum President with a broad 18K nib. After getting the TWSBI, I have been eager to see what you could do with a higher quality nib—and that thought pushed me to buy the Platinum. Pretty soon after the new pen gets to me, I hope to send it to you for more of your great work.
Thank you again!”
“Mark, got the nibs today.... AMAZING! I will be sending you a few more pens in the future!!! I’m obsessed with cursive italic! Till next time...”
“HOLY COW!!
Just received the pilot & eco and did a happy dance.
This is what I have been looking for my entire fountain pen life!! the xxfine at .2+
PLEASE write down somewhere (if you have a customer file) that I LOVE this grind. It is what I have wanted since forever and everyone told me that I wouldn’t see the line definition if i got below a .5. Ridiculous, I say.
The nibs are smooth and totally wonderful!
Thank you so much again.
I am in italic heaven!!
My sister will LOVE hers, too!!
I’ll spread the word at the group!
—
With Joy,”
“Got the Carene! It’s magical!
Thank you so much! This one writes perfectly and smooth!
You’re awesome!”
“Dear Mark,
I am very pleased with the grind and currently using it as my daily driver. ”
“...it has a custom ground CI nib by @mbacas that writes like a dream”
“Dear Mark!
I LOVE the pen you did for me! It has become my favorite EDC and I find I reach for it every time I am looking to jot something down. I was texting with him (Craig) tonight and he loves the two pens you made for him too. I love the way my Pilot writes every time. I put Noodlers “Heart of Darkness” black ink in it and it writes awesome! Thank you so much for crafting the nib!”
“Hi Mark,
I just received the package. I can’t thank you enough. It feels fantastic—everything is exactly what I asked for. I wasn’t sure if the nib was just done for and I’m so glad you were able to save it! I might try to make it just a hair more wet, although I’m a bit nervous to as it seems like this nib in this housing can easily get gushy. When you set the flow, did you get it to a point where you felt it was a touch dry? or pretty normal? (it may also be the ink I first loaded into it, which is a bit dry.) Either way, I can’t tell you how happy I am—and any other adjustments I will be able to handle from here.
very very gratefully,”
“Hi Mark -
I just wanted to thank you for doing an amazing job with my pens! I feel like I just got two new pens; the nibs feel that different!
Great work!
Thanks so much.”
“Hello Mark,
I received my new pen with ARCHITECT nib. It is ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!!!! It is my new favorite pen!!!! I will have to send all of my nibs to you at some point! I don’t think I could write with any other nib style!
Thank you, thank you!!”
“Mark, I got the Parkers back. Thanks for fixing the fine nib. It writes well. The black Sonnet, now turned into a CSI, is quite simply mind-blowing. The nib is a sight to behold. It’s a small sculpture. But most importantly, it writes like no other pen I have. It’s perfectly smooth, and it’s just as wet as I like, and my handwriting is better with it. It reminds me of the joy that is in the act of writing. Thank you.”
“Mark - The Opus writes like a dream now.... amazing work, worth every penny! Thank you!”
“Hi Mark,
I want to let you know how thrilled I am with your work on my Lamy 2000! The writing angle is spot-on perfect, and the nib is neither too wet or too dry. It’s so very smooth, with just a touch of that Lamy pencil-like feedback that I enjoy, I’ve written with some pretty scratchy architect nibs before so it surprised me! There’s lots of line variation, of course, but its so crisp and I can write fairly small with no problems - I’ve been using it exclusively at a conference to take notes, and LOL it seems to want to write fast, if that’s a thing! All of this, on top of a quick turn-around even without expedited service, just WOW.
Now I want another in medium😀
I have a couple of other pens that need work, and so does my daughter! I know this is prime pen show season so I’m sure that you’re busy. If you are at the Atlanta show, I have a Problem Child Pen I’d like you to take a look at - it hates me.
Eternally a fan.”
“Hi Mark,
The pen arrived yesterday. Great job! The nib writes like new (if not better), which is pretty amazing given the way it looked when I shipped it.
I’ll try not to drop it nib first on the floor again, though I suspect I will do so with one of my other pens, in which case I’ll be back.
Thanks again.”
“I received my Visconti back today. Truly phenomenal work, my new favorite pen!”
“As usual I’m very happy about the nib you did for me. It is a stub on a Pelikan 200 pre 97 gray and magenta pen. A beautiful pen and now a beautiful writer. I’ve had stubs done by others, but your’s is outstanding. The best nib I have and such a pleasure to use.”
“Mark is a magician with fountain pens. He turned a scratchy and dry nib in one of my favorite fountain pens. He does not just fixes nibs. He puts smiles in customers. His customer support is outstanding.”
“I received the two Pelikan M4XX nibs that you reground into stubs for me today. I want to let you know that I am extremely pleased with the results!
They both write beautifully. I put the nibs back into my deserving Pelikan pens and inked them both with some inks that shade well. And I want to tell you, I am getting tons of line variation and shading with these nibs. I am getting more line variation with these nibs than with any of my other stubs, and I have a lot of stubs. But they are still easy to write with; they’re not italics. I like easy. And the shading inks are shading all over the place! Shading inks and stubs go together like peas and carrots. Like chicken and rice. Like…well, you get the idea. Bottom line: I am super happy with my “new” nibs. I will definitely be seeking out your nib-grinding services again, and soon.
Also, you were super nice to deal with and responsive to my particular needs based on the high angle at which I hold my pens. I am able to write with these nibs without feeling like I have to change the way I write, which would be very difficult. It’s wonderful to have nibs that have been ground for my writing style. However, if I loaned one of my pens to someone else (which I never do, but let’s pretend), I’m sure they’d also be able to write with it without being able to tell that the nibs were ground any differently than any other stub. Except that they were ground by an exceptionally-talented Nib grinder! I have had some of my other Pelikan nibs reground to stubs by other nibmeisters, and while they did good work, it just didn’t suit my style of writing. And I just didn’t enjoy those stubs as much as the ones you did for me.
Thanks for your awesome work on my nibs. I will be enjoying them for a long time to come. ”
“I just had to write you again
We REALLY love these nibs!!!!!!!! REALLY!! And my sister and I are very very picky!!
Maybe you can post on your site what other pens you have or will keep in stock. Or what inventory you might have in the future. I think you said you can get pilot mets and eco’s and twsbi 580’s.
I can probably get another one or 2 eco’s.
I don’t need another one quite yet. But I have a feeling that I am going to ‘need’ another xf cursive italic.
I am just so pleased at how this nib writes!! It is pure perfection!!
And thank you so much again for outstanding work.
—
With Joy,”
“I was away this weekend and although the pen was delivered on Saturday, I was unable to try it out until very late last night. To be concise, I’m ecstatic. You exceeded my expectations. My goal was to have a pen that wrote as well as my FC “needlepoint” nib ground by the master Masuyama. My Delta is now my standard to which all my other pens will be compared.
I hope and expect to be a regular customer of yours and thank you again for a very pleasant experience with a masterful outcome.”
“I got my pens today. They write great! Thanks again, and in the near future I will be sending you more. Again, thanks for the great work.”
“Hi Mark,
Both my sister and I received our pens today; tore into the package at record speed; and dipped our pens in ink (we are going to fully load them later on when we decide what colors we actually want).
We TOTALLY LOVE both pens.
The grinds are phenomenal and I love how they feel/write. I’m pretty sure that both are the ‘Very fine-est’ that I have in my pen collection. Very fine is where life is good for me. haha The finer the nib, the happier I am.
Thank you so much again and I will order again soon.
We are very very happy with our purchase and your wonderful art of nib grinding.
I will pass the word along at the fountain pen network group on Facebook!
—
With Joy,”
“Hi Mark,
The pen came in last night and I love it. The pens seems to flow much less and is very fine.
The only problem now is that this pen write so smooth that now my other pens feel too rough. So may be sending some more your way costing me more $$$.
Thanks again. ”
“Hi Mark,
Got pen on Saturday, that was super quick. Thank you so much, I love it!!! I inked it with emerald of chivor and it writes beautifully. I’ve already used to write a birthday note.”
“The ECO arrived Friday. Thanks for the prompt service. It’s the only pen I’ve used since it got here. The architect is very forgiving. It’s wonderful. You will be seeing more pens from me for this grind!
Thanks again for the awesome service and work!”
“Hey Mark!
Got the Nemosine, it’s great; I’ve used an architect nib once before, but this is much better. Nice work!”
“Your work is impressive. I’ve had work done by Dan Smith, Masuyama, Shawn Newton, Pendleton Brown, Linda Kennedy and Richard Binder and I’d put your nibs up against any of them any day. Well done, sir!”
“I received today the purple Pilot Metropolitan. And I am impressed by the CI nib! It has excellent line variation!”
“Hi Mark. Received the TWSBI promptly. The pen is very nice, but your nib work makes it terrific!
I will enjoy using it.”
“So I saw a post from @mbacas (Instagram) offering pens with custom ground italic nibs for sale, and had to try one. He offered to tweak the nib to be wetter/dryer and crisper/smoother. So I went with a wetter, smoother italic and it is WONDERFUL.”
“Hey Mark!
Got the Nemosine, it’s great; I’ve used an architect nib once before, but this is much better. Nice work!”
Matthew Morse (http://www.nibandink.com) - Architect Nib Example Writing
