Does anyone have a pen with a Kugel nib. I understand that some Lamy pens are available with this nib, but I haven't seen one. Also I think I read this is a very versatile nib?

Any info or insights? Share your experience(s)?

I think I, ah, wandered into here by mistake...

Is it dark out there?

I was just wandering around here too. Not sure what a Kugel nib is.

Is a Kugel nib a ballpoint? After all in German "Kugelschreiber" is one way to say "ballpoint pen."

Erick

We could have a party and I'd try to find a recipe for kugel.

Is that the same as the MK nib? If so, someone had an L2K with one in the Marketplace maybe a month or 6 weeks ago.

Apparently, in light of my own confusion and that of the above posters, further details would be appreciated.





edited for clarity

Yes, Kugel nibs are known "generally" on ballpoints, but apparently they were also made on fountain pens. From the little I could find on the web, they offer some ease in writing. It piqued my curiosity.

I didn't see the marketplace offer....interesting. Do you remember who it was that put it up?

I do think it is similar to a MK nib...but I am far from an expert after a few quick reads about these.

I have a Lamy MK nib, rounded tip medium that writes also in a very upright position. ( Compared to the normal angled one). Yes, like if you were using a ballpen.

Gracious thanks, Ondina.

Can you explain how it differs from other nibs? Is it wet, dry? And is it at all flexy?

Zoe

I had a Pelikan 400NN with a kugel nib.

See here for example -

http://www.nibs.com/PreOwnedPelikan.htm

I could never get on with mine.

I have an English vintage pen (Mentmore) with such a nib. It's a ballpoint in the sense that the tip is spherical, not just rounded. In practice this means that it writes equally well at just about any angle; there's no need to worry about sweet spots and the like. So, they're versatile in that sense. (Mine is firm; some German K nibs are evidently flexible (or so the ebay descriptions claim) - a combination that sounds quite appealing and makes the nib even more versatile.)

Simon

Mine was pretty flexible, yes.

Yes, there it is and no flour or pototoes.

Thanks, Aysedasi. Can you say why you didn't get on wit it? It was originally designed to ease writing for first time writers, or at least that is my impression.

Terrific information, simonrob. I know the Mentmore pen, but not its history. Was it originally a school pen? And are you fond of yours?

Yes, a kugel nib is a rounded nib that some FPs have and it can work especially well for lefty overwriters like me that hold their pen barrels at a high angle. As you said, it's supposed to offer greater flexibility in writing angle.

Best, Ann

Ann, nice to see you. Hope all is well.

Greater flexibility, but is it also a flexible nib in the ordinary sense of that word?

I think I need one of these. After "fixing" my Parker 21 nib, I now have to hold it at 90-degree angle to the page, which is comfortable for me, in order to minimize the now-thicker line. I'll just refer to it as my "P21 kugel nib." It's special.

Hi there..................



Check out info and pics of a Kugel Nib FP.


http://www.nibs.com/PreOwnedPelikan.htm


..............Stani

Thanks, Stani. I did see this but I like "first hand" experience. The photos and description on Mr. Nib's are lovely.

Zoe

Have you ever thought of standup. I am known to be a great agent.

I had a Lamy 2000 on the marketplace with the Kugel (mk) nib. As a left-handed underwriter, it was suggested that I would find that nib easier to use. I put it on the marketplace because it still had a "sweet" spot, though not as pronounced as the fine nib it had when I purchased it. I do hold my pen at a 35 degree angle. I find that Waterman and Sailor nibs seem to work better for me than Pelikan or Lamy nibs (and I have had several Pelikans, and two Lamy fountain pens). Montblanc also worked for me, but alas, in a moment of weakness, I gave my Montblanc to my best friend (who later lost it).

I was told that the Kugel (mk) nib was designed for left-handed writers. Perhaps someone cares to research this out. The Kugel nib is very hard to get in the U.S.A.

- Jerry

I'm sure I speak for many when I say, "Please don't encourage me."

Ha ha ha!

Seriously, though, my mother always told me that I should be in show business, maybe as a comedian, she said. Pause. "But not as a singer," she always had to add....

Maybe that's where she got the idea I should be a comedian...

Hi,

I have two Pelikano pens out in the Marketplace with the kugel nibs. Pelikan calls them Starter nibs though, they have what looks like a ball on the tip unlike the normal fine and medium nib Pelikano pens. The Pelikano Left Hand nibs are also kugel nibs, and they seem to be identical to the Starter nibs. I also used to have a Reform with a KF nib. Nice!

Dillon

Well, I think natural born comedians are worth more than natural born singers.

I took a look at the Pelicanos--a little difficult to see the "ball-like" description of the kugel, but I do see they differ from the others in the line-up. Thanks for pointing them out, Dillion.

Hi,

A side view of the nib shows a distinct ball-shape. Just need to take a picture of that nib, close up.

I got them by accident when I ordered stuff from Chartpak, and they sent me the Starter nibs.

Dillon

Dillo- are those Kugelly "Starter nibs" the same as A nibs on the low end Pelikans and Lamys?

I've seen some funky drawings of Pelikan or other brand Kx nibs, with bent tines like a Triumph... But most of the vintage Pelikan and Lamy Kx nibs I've seen seem to just have rounded points when you're looking from the top-down, instead of something squared off at the top. Not unlike a Phileas, or many other modern nibs. Write OK at a 90 degree angle as well as upside down. At least, the ones I've seen.

Aaron

I have three of them with vintage Pelikan 400s. The KM and KF (closer to medium than fine) are very nice wet writers with a little flex. I really like them. They write at nearly any angle.

The last one is a rather stiff KM that is pretty much a fine nib. Took it to the office for the last 2 weeks and it is a nice notetaking nib but fine nibs are not exactly my favourites. This is why I still can not decide if I will keep or sell this nib ....

At a guess, because the nib was quite worn and, as a leftie, I found it very difficult to find a sweet spot with it.

OK, several here have covered the point, specially on the vintage ones, like Piembi.
Mine is a humble Lamy ALL- Star with a MK nib. Not flexy at all, steel like nib, but, springy. It differs from the other regular Lamy M nib I have, on the broadest sweet spot at a regular writing angle (i.e., 20 to 50 degrees, around 27-32 in my case). Writes a generous medium line. And, also that the sweetspot extends up to 100-110 degrees, i.e, if you hold and use the pen like a biro, is extremely soft and glass smooth, like it was meant to write like that. So I guess makes it easier for beginners and also, for lefties -has a bigger writing area both vertically and tranversally- .
I hope I have explained myself correctly. To put it plain: the sweetspot's all over!.

The combination of nib/feed gives a faily wet pen but nothing excessive. I tend to like good flow. Waterman's inks are a pleasure to write with in this pen. Herbin and Pelikan give just a tad less flow, but about perfect. Tried only Noodler's regular Brown in it and tended to dry a bit and skip at first stroke, so i flushed and gave up, but I may retry it.

Last thing is that I do not have a converter yet for this pen. So I've just refilled the cart that it came with. ( If any of you has one or two that can spare we can talk business, by the way).

Edited to add some pics

I appreciate the responses, both serious and comedic.

I also asked about the kugal elsewhere, and they say the nib was designed after a dip nib, and intended as a means to simplify writing--the school pen principle--and that it may write without variation.

It is fascinating how a word can inspire interest and a good thread.

Thanks all. And Ondina, many thanks for the photographs--they are so helpful.

A pleasure, Zoe.

I'm afraid I don't know anything about Mentmores (though I guess there's information to be found online). According to the person I bought mine from, it was made some time in the 1930s. It's a lever-fill of standard size (just over 5"), standard shape (squared ends), a standard colour (black with gold-filled trim), fairly standard clip (straight, with a ball at the end and an attractive M engraved on top; there's another M on the lever), and decorated with fine chasing. The imprint reads MENTMORE Autoflow, Made in England. Not sure what it's made of - it seems too dark and shiny to be hard rubber, but it smells slightly of hard rubber.... As the nib is "osmiridium", you may be right about its being a school pen (my father tells me he had a Mentmore at school in Australia), though I would have thought that someone teaching children how to write would require something less easy to write with than a ball nib - but who knows? (When I was at school in Australia in the 60s, we were taught to write in italic, of all things - the teacher even spent time cutting the chalk so it would create the right sort of line variation!)

Simon

You are very gracious, Zoe. Thank you!

Zoe, thanks for starting this thread. I stupidly overlooked it for several days thinking I wasn't interested, but when it kept getting bumped up on the list I had to check. I got quite an education.

Kugel just means it has a round tip, as opposed to a specialty tip such as an italic or stub.

The use of the name intrigued me, penspouse, and I got quite an education myself--although in the end I didn't buy the Kugal-nibbed (German) pen.