Editing Fountain pen (section)

===Nib tipping===
[[File:Pilot Parallel 2.4.jpg|thumb|The Pilot Parallel, an example of a type of an italic nib used in fountain pens, often used to create art and calligraphy. This pen has two flat plates that meet in the center in place of a traditional nib.]]

Gold and most steel and titanium nibs are tipped with a hard, wear-resistant alloy that typically includes metals from the platinum group. These metals share qualities of extreme hardness and corrosion resistance. The tipping material is often called "iridium", but few if any nib manufacturers have used tipping alloys containing iridium since the mid-1950s.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nibs.com/article4.html|title=Where's the Iridium?|website=The Nibster|access-date=26 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801132835/http://www.nibs.com/article4.html|archive-date=1 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> The metals osmium, [[rhenium]], ruthenium, and [[tungsten]] are used instead, generally as an alloy, produced as tiny pellets which are welded onto the nib's tip prior to cutting the nib slit and grinding the tip into its final shape.<ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.nibs.com/article5.html|journal=The PENnant|volume=XIII|issue=2|date=1999|title=How can we talk about Iridium?|author=Mottishaw, J.|access-date=2016-12-05|archive-date=2016-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161205042055/http://www.nibs.com/article5.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Untipped steel and titanium points will wear more rapidly due to abrasion by the paper.<ref name="www.richardspens.com materials"/>