Reservations for Nib Grinding by Matthew's Nibworks on Saturday, January 17, 2026
ALL RESERVATION FEES WILL BE APPLICABLE TOWARDS ANY NIB GRINDING SERVICES. RESERVATION FEES ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.
Matthew Chen is a full-time nib grinder from the Los Angeles, California area. He has had the honor of learning specialty grinds from both Yukio Nagahara, whose father created the Naginata series of nibs for Sailor, and Mike Masuyama, a legendary nibmeister whom he regularly works with at pen shows. The grinding machine he works with is designed to utilize the same grinding wheels that Nagahara and Masuyama use. Nagahara has granted him permission to provide the same specialty grinds he is known for.
Nagahara Specialty Grinds ($80)
Kodachi : This grind is a Naginata Togi ground from non-Sailor blanks. It is designed to recreate brush strokes for Japanese and Chinese calligraphy when used a certain way. For western writing it will act like a very forgiving architect that has line variation depending on the writing angle. Coarse or Zoom nibs are ideal for this grind, though it can be done from as small as a Medium nib.
Uranagi : A Kodachi flipped upside down, the regular writing side will write like an Ultra Extra Fine (this can be modified to your preference) and the reverse will write like a mini Kodachi. Broad nibs or larger are ideal for this grind.
Fude Point : A nib bent up to utilize part of nib's body as a writing surface. This nib will write like a brush with variable line widths depending on the angle. This nib is picky on the inner cap clearance so it cannot be done on some pens. Steel nibs are recommended as the nib body will be used as a writing surface, but gold nibs do work as long as you know that the writing surface will wear down faster.
Beak Point : The reverse of the Fude Point, the regular side will write like a normal nib while the reverse side will write like a brush.
Specialty Grinds ($70)
Japanese F to UEF/Needlepoint : Ultra fine points for your tiny writing needs.
Standard Grinds ($60)
Stub, Cursive Italic, Sharp Italic : These types of nibs have a thick vertical line and a thin horizontal line to give your writing a flair. The difference is how thin the horizontal line is. A stub will be smooth with some line variation, a Cursive Italic will have a horizontal line as thin as possible without digging into the paper, and an Italic will have the thinnest horizontal line possible at the cost of smoothness.
Obliques : Oblique grinds are meant for people that prefer to hold their pen at a rotation standard nibs are not meant to write at. These nibs can also angle the flair a Stub, Cursive Italic, or Sharp Italic has.
Tune/Smooth ($30)