What Is It About That Nib, Anyway?

[sidthecat]

II think I can say with some assurance that people on this forum dedicate a fair bit of thought to the little bits of metal at the ends of their little bits of plastic.

 

Personally, there's something about the process of making nibs that went away around the 1950s, and subsequent nibs, even if mechanically superior, lost their expressive quality, forcing my to spend untold hours counting down on eBay.

 

I'd like to know how you think about your favorite nib; how does its width, pointiness, flexibility or lack of it, express the personal character of your writing? What is it about your best nib that floats your boat?

[cattar]

My favorite nib?

Fine, springy, tipped, smooth on the page, writes on anything.

When writing, me me think "mmm, love this pen."

[sidthecat]

Yummy. It's somewhat about the ability to make pleasing letterforms, and not necessarily out-of-the-book forms, either.

[jar]

I'm not sure how I could have a "favorite" nib.

[Freddy]

Never met a nib that I did not like...like 'em all....ink flows and deposits

ink onto paper...Different nibs..vary in their purpose...............

 

Fred

....when I became a combatant..it was with the full knowledge

that I had to accept killing in behalf of the way of life I had sworn to protect

~ Dean E. Hess

[Pickwick]

II think I can say with some assurance that people on this forum dedicate a fair bit of thought to the little bits of metal at the ends of their little bits of plastic.

 

Personally, there's something about the process of making nibs that went away around the 1950s, and subsequent nibs, even if mechanically superior, lost their expressive quality, forcing my to spend untold hours counting down on eBay.

 

I'd like to know how you think about your favorite nib; how does its width, pointiness, flexibility or lack of it, express the personal character of your writing? What is it about your best nib that floats your boat?

With regard to nibs being superior prior to the 1950s is a misconception. A lot of nibs for fountain pens were designed to cope with impressing carbon copies. Therefore a lot of so called vintage pens were at one time purchased by people for practicality as well as the ability to write.

 

Their were however pens on the market purely designed for one purpose, that was for general writing with better nibs for comfort.

[sidthecat]

I also notice that the basic design of a fountain-pen nib changed in the postwar period. Tips started being engineered for smoothness instead of flexibility. Smoothness of line is the criteria for judging a modern pen, and I suppose most people who used them would have considered them a great improvement over the earlier models. That the average writer wouldn't want a nutsy flex pen even in the Twenties somehow doesn't come as a surprise.

 

That's why my Mont Blanc is out of my rotation currently: it's a really good pen; it just doesn't produce an interesting line.

[max dog]

Can you define what is an interesting line?

[pepsiplease69]

Can you define what is an interesting line?

In my view an interesting line would be one for which the broadness or fineness can be controlled via the direction of the strokes or the pressure on the nib.

 

In other words, line variation of italic or flex nibs.

 

Both of these add a bit of flair and expressiveness to my letter forms and I almost exclusively never use a stiff ball tipped nib now. It's just too boring for me.

[sidthecat]

I think pepsiplease has defined it nicely.

[max dog]

In my view an interesting line would be one for which the broadness or fineness can be controlled via the direction of the strokes or the pressure on the nib.

 

In other words, line variation of italic or flex nibs.

 

Both of these add a bit of flair and expressiveness to my letter forms and I almost exclusively never use a stiff ball tipped nib now. It's just too boring for me.

 

 

I think pepsiplease has defined it nicely.

 

Thanks for the description.

 

A Noodlers Ahab Flex pen or Sheaffer no nonsense Italic can yield this kind of line variation, but they are not pens I like to write with all the time.

 

Modern Montblanc and Pelkan nibs, though not designed for flex, can be soft or stubbish to give very pleasant line variation along with other qualities.

 

Granted everyone has different writing qualities they look for in a nib, for me a nib that blows your socks off needs a little more.

 

Writing feel for starters. It must be smooth but with a perfect balance of tactile feedback. I find a lot of flex pens, modern and vintage, just too toothy or scratchy for long writing sessions.

 

The nib must also be responsive enough to vary the ink flow as well as line width so you can see the shading and character of the ink. I love a wet trail that shows the ink dry as the nib paints down a wet juicy line.

 

It must also have the right wetness so the ink does not come out too saturated so the true color and shade of the ink can be captured on the paper. Some so-so nibs over saturate the ink on the paper so the true character of the ink gets lost so everything, no matter what color the ink is, comes out as a dark over saturated line.

 

Edited March 9, 2015 by max dog

[pepsiplease69]

 

 

 

Thanks for the description.

 

A Noodlers Ahab Flex pen or Sheaffer no nonsense Italic can yield this kind of line variation, but they are not pens I like to write with all the time.

 

I would agree with you on the ink flow qualities. Im pretty particular about the flow myself. I want a rich trail of ink that a nib should leave in its wake. I have no issues with drytime. But the flow is not a question of the nib alone. Its how the feed also performs that now comes into the picture, how it handles the varying demands of the flex nib. Also the wetness of the ink.

 

The two pens you mentioned ahab flex and no nonsense are probably my least favorite. I would much rather look to dip nibs or vintage for flex or something nicer for italic.

 

I don't do flex everyday but only when the mood strikes and I look for effortless flex free from railroading.

 

The remaining 95% of the time I rotate between 1.1, 1.5, and 1.9 italics from monteverde, JoWo, Lamy, and Kaweco. I Find them to be very good performers for everyday use (after I've adjusted the flow on them to my liking, of course)

[sidthecat]

There's a fellow named Joseph Daluz who's been doing superflex mods to Noodler's Ahabs and selling them on eBay. He grafts a titanium overfeed so the nib gets a massive ink supply. I took the chance and bought one - a rather drab Apache Onyx. However, inside it was a nib to die for.

 

What I love about what he's done is that the nib flexes with very light pressure - unlike any other pen I've ever had it makes my writing better. I think I've found my answer to my own question.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I prefer the flatter bottomed stubbish vintage German nibs....don't have enough '30 ones (5-6)...but do have some 30 semi-flex mostly from '50-72.

Some 15 'flexi/maxi-semi-flex from '50-65.

In both the two flexes have 15 Obliques....in both @15&30 degree grinds, OBB, OB, OM &OF.....I don't chase the OEF.

 

In that certain shading inks do better in 'true' regular flex, than the wetter writing semi&maxi; so one needs B, M & F in them.

 

Sometimes one needs a nail (for me not often)....so should have one each in B M, F&EF.

 

It's also nice to have a couple of the flexes in Superflex.

 

One should try to to learn a lighter hand so a nail is not the only nib one can use. There are at least 45 nib widths and flexes one can have.

 

Strangely what one needs is to know which modern pens today make a 'true' regular flex instead of a semi-nail. Pelikan 400/600 are semi-nails. The 200 a 'true' regular flex.

Then one has a base nib for comparisons.

Edited March 10, 2015 by Bo Bo Olson

[Sailor Kenshin]

There's a fellow named Joseph Daluz who's been doing superflex mods to Noodler's Ahabs and selling them on eBay. He grafts a titanium overfeed so the nib gets a massive ink supply. I took the chance and bought one - a rather drab Apache Onyx. However, inside it was a nib to die for.

What I love about what he's done is that the nib flexes with very light pressure - unlike any other pen I've ever had it makes my writing better. I think I've found my answer to my own question.

Saw video.

 

WANT!

[sidthecat]

The tipping point was that he was left-handed. And for some reason there were few bidders - his pens sold for three-hundred-ish in the previous auction but I paid much less. Perhaps it was the color of the pen...in daylight it's exactly the color of fresh horse droppings. One doesn't buy this kind of thing for the color, but what was Noodler's thinking of?

[Intellidepth]

Flex (XF to BBB or more) for enjoyment, beautifully flowing smooth nails (max F) for uni notes where I'm not thinking about my pressure, direction, or ink, and possibly writing on awful paper. Discovered I love iroshizuku in my fine nails.

 

Starting to think I may like a nice smooth semi-flex that I can use for those notes now that I've found better paper.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pelikan 140, Geha 790/760 will give you a smooth F or EF in semi-flex. Slightly thinner nib than modern. Osmia and Osmia-Faber Castell with the number in the Diamond on the nib is semi-flex, with a Supra nib, is 'flexi'/maxi-semi-flex.

An OB is a writing nib....not a signature nib...sort of like a fat M.

Do like semi-flex (30) & 'flexi'/maxi-semi-flex 15.....and have a mix of both flexes in15 Obliques. .

Lucked out big time, in a mix of makes, have both the @ 15&30 degree grinds in OBB, OB, OM & OF.....decided not to chase OEF. That is for you later. Just get a nice F or EF in semi-flex first.

 

The problem is being a nail user you might be Ham Fisted, and then the semi-flex will write wide and wet. With a lighter Hand, it will write with nice flare and not so wide and wet.

Often Semi-flex is a wetter nib...for class notes pick a fast drying ink.

 

Both the flexes only flex the tines 3X a light down stroke. So they are not 'Flex' pens. Superflex spreads the tines 4-5-6 or even 7 X a light down stroke.

[Sandy1]

I'm not sure how I could have a "favorite" nib.

 

+1

 

Hi,

 

Some of my most often used nibs are the least engaging - they disappear - which lets me get on with writing down whatever I have in mind. e.g. My daily writer sports a comfy firm smooth 18K M nib.

 

Other nibs are far more engaging, due to the shape of the tipping, springy-ness, flex, etc. Sometimes they are a bit distracting, requiring me to divert attention from what I'm writing to how I'm using the nib. e.g. Pelikan M200 + 1.0 Stub. Waterman W5 with a responsive workaday flex nib.

 

Bye,

S1

[max dog]

 

+1

 

Hi,

 

Some of my most often used nibs are the least engaging - they disappear - which lets me get on with writing down whatever I have in mind. e.g. My daily writer sports a comfy firm smooth 18K M nib.

 

Other nibs are far more engaging, due to the shape of the tipping, springy-ness, flex, etc. Sometimes they are a bit distracting, requiring me to divert attention from what I'm writing to how I'm using the nib. e.g. Pelikan M200 + 1.0 Stub. Waterman W5 with a responsive workaday flex nib.

 

Bye,

S1

I agree.