Feedback? What's That?

[SteveE]

I may have a slightly different take, but here's mine:

 

Feedback feels like the pen is "rubbing" the paper. Scratchiness feels like the pen is "scratching" the paper, as if to leave physical marks other than its ink.

 

If a pen gives no feedback, it may be difficult to control when writing quickly, making your letters too large or poorly formed and difficult to read. If a pen has too much feedback, you may feel that it is "work" to write with it. We each need fo find our own chosen balance (pen pun intended).

 

Personally, I have pens of both camps. Some days I want glass-smooth. Other days, I need some feedback. It is all part of the hobby for me.

[brunico]

They were the smoothest fountain pens I had ever laid my hands on. [...] However, while browsing these forums, I stumbled upon a number of threads where not only is smoothness not very appreciated, but quite the contrary, the so-called "feedback" is praised.

 

Yes, I've tried a few Montblancs, too, and they were exceptionally smooth. But to me they were slippery and not much use. As Randal6393 says, too smooth a nib isn't the best thing for italic: writing rapidly and angularly demands a bit of traction on the paper to avoid skidding. It's the difference between sketching with a pencil and sketching with a rollerball. This is also the reason I'm not a fan of slick paper.

 

Many people here enthuse about smooth nibs - or wet pens - so it's easy to get the impression these things are a universal good. But as with the fixation on lens sharpness in photography forums, it's not always a desirable characteristic.

[Tenkai]

I kinda feel feedback is a slight step below buttery smooth, which feels slippery to me. Makes me kinda feel that I am losing a little control of the pen. Kinda like a car wheel with far too little grip on the tires.

 

Instead I look for smooth yet with some/little friction to make me feel that I am gripping the paper yet not scratching it (smoothness). Gives you some fine control, and well, sometimes it's too smooth, the pen skips because I thought it was touching the paper ^^"

[Vlad Soare]

Thank you.

Great explanations. Now it all makes sense.

Reading all this has made me realize why I don't like rollerballs. They're much too slippery. And indeed, my handwriting looks horrible when I use rollerbals, but it looks nice enough with fountain pens. I had noticed that, but didn't know why.

Although my Montblanc is very, very smooth, I can still feel and hear the nib rubbing the paper, albeit to a very small degree. It doesn't feel like a rollerball. But its feedback is noticeably less than that of my Parker Premier (which is by no means scratchy, in fact I used to consider it very smooth until I got my first Montblanc). And I find that my handwriting does indeed look a bit nicer with the Parker than with the Montblanc. I used to think it was because of the thickness of the line (the Parker is thinner), but I guess the Montblanc's smoothness may also have something to do with it.

[ibrahim]

 

That's getting closer but it is slightly more than just how smooth the nib is.

 

Does the pen tend to rotate when you write or is it as controllable as a finger tip? Does the section fit your hand? Does the pen feel like an extension of your body and give you tactile information about the writing surface?

 

A great pen will do all those things and you will feel your writing surface just as if you were writing with your fingertip.

 

The line though is subjective. It is part of your personal likes and dislikes and will change as your experience grows.

 

 

Could you please suggest a pen that has all these qualities and it is butter smooth at the same time? Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish for the pen to give me no feedback whatsoever and also feel right in my hand, as if it is part of my own body and I can write for hours and not get tired or have discomfort.

[ildbig]

I definitely like just a little feedback, to help me keep control of the pen. Otherwise, my handwriting looks awful.

[maclink]

I definitely like just a little feedback, to help me keep control of the pen. Otherwise, my handwriting looks awful.

 

Same here. Interesting thread. I too like a little feedback since my handwriting responds in a positive way to it. I ascribe this to better control since all the bodies movements are smoothened by the perfect harmony between agonistic and antagonistic muscles.

 

Typically, finer nibs options offer more feedback but Titanium nibs make for an interesting option as well. There can be excessive feedback as I experience with Aurora nibs. When I write with my Aurora, I get accustomed to it and then when I switch to a smoother nib, it feels glorious. That glorious feeling comes as freedom and if I feel that way about the change then it means the Aurora offers too much feedback. OTOH, I don't feel this way about my Titanium options or a Sailor M or Platinum 3776 M.

[txomsy]

The way I see it, in order to write, you need to "feel" your hand to know where it is placed, the speed it moves with, the resistance of the paper, etc... This will ease your adjusting your writing to get a more pleasant result.

 

When the nib glides without friction you rely only on propioceptive information (your sense of your own muscles) to deduce what you are doing , or on your eyes to monitor without feeling your hand. When the nib is scratchy, that does give feedback, but is often unpleasant because you feel the vibration and that interferes with your feeling of your own fingers and muscles. When the nib drags (meaning that it resist without vibration, as if it were stuck or glued) that is also feedback, but unpleasant for it forces you to be conscient of the resistance and draws your attention from writing.

 

The point is: there can be feedback or no feedback. Some people like to have some feedback, because that lets you control the pen unconsciously, you can rely control to lower layers of the brain and concentrate on what you are writing, but not much because then it draws your conscient attention, which is when the pen stops "giving" "feedback" and starts "being scratchy", "dragging", whatever. Some people are so sensitive to any kind of sensation from the pen that they prefer "dull" or "insensitive" pens. And some people is so "rough" that prefer scratchy pens.

 

In the end it is all a matter of defining in which kind of the spectrum you feel better in, and then see if you like pens with no "feedback" whatsoever (that do not transmit back any sensation), with some "feedback" (possibly, the majority of people) or really "rough" pens (that's more unlikely).

[Estycollector]

There are automobile tires that let you feel the road and those that dont. The former provides feedback. I dont know how this might be applicable to pens.

[WarrenB]

It is a subjective description. To me, it is not scratchiness. Rather, feedback may be akin to the drag felt when writing with a smoothly-worn pencil tip. Slight resistance, or "grip," combined with smoothness.

 

I like that analogy, and I guess it's pretty much how I like FP nibs too. Not scratchy, just a bit of inertia to let you know there's something under your pen and to feel your way around it. Something that helps brake at the right point, and push off for a stroke or flourish in another direction.

 

Something too slick, reminds me of when I tried drawing with a fine stylus on a glass screen, when I was used to pencil on paper. Lines shooting off everywhere. In that case I almost had to relearn how to hold and manipulate the instrument. Not so drastic with FPs, but still.

Edited October 27, 2020 by WarrenB