What Is The Smoothest Nib You Have Tried?

[richardandtracy]

There are two ultra smooth nibs I have tried.

One is a Retro 51 I tried at LWES 2009. The second is my Jinhao Century Blue Celluloid pen after I smoothed the nib myself. Both pens are too smooth though. They give no feedback as to the paper quality or anything. It's just like pressing on ice, the nib skates across the page with little or no resistance. I now think slightly less smoothness and more feedback is better.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[mgutman]

A platinum 3776 ribbed 18k double-broad nib, to me, is the definition of smoothness. Yumm!

[Brian C]

Third vote for "a Nakaya I sold for a guy"! Very smoooooth

[FLJeepGuy]

I have a few in my collection that I would be hard pressed to rank one over the other:

 

• Early Cross Townsend with factory medium nib. This was my only fountain pen for nearly ten years before I got into collecting and the nib is perfectly worn by ten years of writing.
  
• Sheaffer Targa with fine italic nib. I purchased this one at the Atlanta pen show earlier this year and it surprised me by being nearly frictionless.
  
• Waterman Edson with broad nib. This one is a nice wet writer and all that ink provides the perfect amount of lubrication to let the nib glide effortlessly on the page.
  
• Sheaffer Snorkel with a palladium Triumph fine nib. This is the best of all my snorkels, but really, I've never had a Triumph nib I didn't like.
  

[flexiblefine]

My smoothest was an F in an Omas Paragon (Blue Royale celluloid, with the "75th anniversary" nib engraving). I described it as "like a hot knife through air."

 

I say "was" because it was lifted from my office with the rest of a pen case a few years ago. I still miss those pens.

[rcarlisle]

My Sheaffer Medium TRZ, my Ice Green VP with the rhodium plated gold-nib, and my Waterman Exception Stub. All of them buttery smooth. The TRZ was only $50 US. I have gotten a second TRZ in Fine size and it is just as smooth as the medium.

[Chthulhu]

A $7 Parker Reflex medium, especially with Noodler's inks.

[jar]

Too many to list individually but some general outlines kinda in order.

 

 

Sheaffers in general but a Ft. Madison stub may be the best of breed.

 

Any ST Dupont from XF to Broad.

 

Any Yard-o-Led from XF to Broad.

 

All of my Montegrappas.

 

All of my Ferrari da Vareses.

 

All my older OMAS.

 

Binderized Aurora Talentum Stub

 

Conway Stewart Italics.

 

One of my Parker "51"s with a broad nib.

[jbb]

I have a Sheaffer PFM IV that's pretty amazing, my Waterman taperite and my Parker 21 are lovely too. (Each of these were purchased for $5.00 or less each at yard sales, on ebay or at rummage sales.)

[Azuniga]

Too many to list, but those I use more commonly with a really smooth nib would be

 

Matador Turbo 924 M

Soennecken 111 Extra (surprising as it looks like a rigid one)

Osmia 54 M

and an English Parker "51" with a broad nib...

[StipulaLamy]

Edison Mina

[colrehogan]

Of the pens that I own, my MB Boheme stainless steel w/ BB nib. It glides across the paper.

 

Of the pens that I have tried, there was a 146 test pen at a boutique in Dallas with an OBB nib that upon touching pen to paper, my first word was, "Oooh!" I loved the feel of that nib. As a result, I want a 149 with an OBB nib sometime in the future. :clap1:

 

I also like my 146 with EF nib.

 

My surprise was when I put some PR Invincible Black into a Waterford LE pen I bought from Levenger - M nib. It was pretty smooth with that ink.

[Blizzard42]

I'd say:

Graf von Faber Castell Pen of the Year 2011

Nakaya Music nib

Stefan Fink fountain pens

Visconti Homo Sapiens

Lamys 2000

(in that order)

[Fermata]

I am using a broad english Parker 61 this evening, it has the most perfect nib

[rwilsonedn]

Probably my all-time smoothest, although it has a narrow sweet spot because it is badly worn, is a celluloid Wearever that I retuned for myself. At under $10 total investment, that would also be by far the best value of the bunch.

Following that in no particular order would be several Jinhao, Baoer, and other Chinese pens right out of the box, and a wonderful Papermate.

Then there are many pens that are very smooth with just a hint of pleasant feedback. Leading that list would probably be a Sailor 1911 F and a Pilot Custom-series M nib, closely followed by several old but not abused Parker and Sheaffer pens and one ancient Conway Stewart. If I thought hard I could probably come up with a whole new list in the pleasant feedback category, including a Xexo, a few modern Italian pens, a modern Duofold, and a cheap Bexley. I don't think smooth is really all that hard to find these days.

All this is subjective, based on a variety of inks on Staples Bagasse paper, which has a very smooth finish.

ron

[nm4]

Hard for me to pick the exact smoothest but I'd say it's between a Pelikan M200 OB nib, my Lamy 2000 M nib, and a Waterman Phileas M nib. All very smooth and very wet writers.

 

I'll add that using some Micromesh buffing sticks from Richard Binder that I've learned to smoothen out some of my rougher nibs. I have a few cheap pens that write as well if not better than any of the ones I've mentioned above.

 

I should mention that while the above is true for fountain pens my Visconti Eco-Roller is the smoothest pen I've EVER used. It does make some "squeak" noises while writing...but the tactile smoothness is tops in my book.

 

Cheers,

NM

[kestrel]

Visconti Voyager with a medium gold nib. Incredible writer that no analogy can describe. Currently loaded with Binder Burgundy but it also loves Poussiere de lune and PR Black Cherry.

 

Close second, a 1937-38 vintage Conklin Toledo 14K nib on a Chicago made Symetrik. Smallish sweet spot but it glides and glides. I can write all day with that pen.

 

Third is a vintage Grieshaber hump filler with a #8 nib retipped by Greg Minuskin. Another all day writer that especially likes Noodler's Black and J. Herbin Perle noire.

[nvbrennan]

Probably a tie for me between a Mottishawed Pilot 823 and a little Wahl with a number 3 nib ...

[heineda]

Unfortunately, I do not own any pens that cost more than $100.00 brand new. I'm hoping to buy a nice Pelikan and a Bexley Imperial next year. We'll see.... The smoothest nib I have is my Taccia Merit with a broad nib with Noodlers Eel Blue ink. It puts down a very wet line and is smooth as silk. I have never been much of a fan of fine nibs; what I enjoy the most about fountain pens is the much darker and richer color they produce. If I want a fine line, I go to a rollerball or a ballpoint pen. Just my preference, of course!!

 

Thanks,

Dan

[NABodie]

I think the one that was smoothest was a demi burgandy Parker 51. If you didn't see the line following the nib you wouldn't have known it was touching the paper.