Any Modern Sheaffers Like The No Nonsense?

[thudthwacker]

I've never seen an XF italic NN nib either. We usually just see the three they included in the calligraphy set, and some of the 3 tine shadow nibs.

 

Well, if you folks haven't ever seen one, I'm not going to hold my breath.

 

But, now that I've found a good source for these pens, a further question for any who might be interested in answering: compared to other brands, how would you classify Sheaffer nib widths? Is (for example) a Sheaffer medium more like a Japanese medium or a European medium? To be a little more concrete, something the width of a Varsity is sort of where I'm aiming.

[thudthwacker]

Here is a NN pen with gold plated trim and gold plated nib. It is the blue mottled one in the middles

 

http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii101/matthewsno/DSCN3448_zpsii2xsshx.jpg

 

Very nice collection! The marble blue is especially lovely.

[thudthwacker]

Brief update: thanks to the information and recommendations from you fine folks, I've put in an order for a new old stock Sheaffer NoNonsense in magenta, with a medium nib, from Peyton Street Pens. I suspect I'll be anxiously checking my mailbox every two or three hours until it arrives.

 

Many thanks, again, for your kind assistance.

[ink-syringe]

No.

 

All Pens Come with Nonsense now.

[ppdiaporama]

Looking at old threads on the No Nonsense pens, I saw that there was an Extra Fine Italic nib. How common are these? I'd love to get one, now that I've figured out my much maligned Sheaffer calligraphy set is actually one of the old No Nonsense ones and that I actually like it.

I bought this one a couple of months ago from a seller in the US on eBay. It came in a pack with a B4 and a shadow nib.

 

[sakayume]

I bought this one a couple of months ago from a seller in the US on eBay. It came in a pack with a B4 and a shadow nib.

 

 

 

Oooh, good to know it does exist! How did you manage to find it on ebay? The listing is not exactly descriptive.

[ppdiaporama]

 

 

Oooh, good to know it does exist! How did you manage to find it on ebay? The listing is not exactly descriptive.

 

I wasn't looking for it! I often search "Sheaffer Nononsense" or "Sheaffer Calligraphy" and scroll and scroll and scroll to find stuff

[thudthwacker]

I bought this one a couple of months ago from a seller in the US on eBay. It came in a pack with a B4 and a shadow nib.

 

 

Oooh. Well, I'm going to have to start haunting the nooks and crannies of the internet and see if I can find one. What's the width on it? The Sheaffer fine italic I have is a bit wider than the 1.1mm Lamy italic; where does the XF italic fall? About a 1.1mm? Narrower? A little? A lot?

[ppdiaporama]

 

Oooh. Well, I'm going to have to start haunting the nooks and crannies of the internet and see if I can find one. What's the width on it? The Sheaffer fine italic I have is a bit wider than the 1.1mm Lamy italic; where does the XF italic fall? About a 1.1mm? Narrower? A little? A lot?

It's about 0.6mm ... here is a sample vs a fine ... I find that given the small size there is very little line variation is far more subtle.

[Safari_Camo]

@thudthwacker When you get your NoNonsense I'd like to read your review, maybe I could take the plunge for a Sheaffer

[thudthwacker]

It's about 0.6mm ... here is a sample vs a fine ... I find that given the small size there is very little line variation is far more subtle.

 

The XF italic is indeed a very subtle line variation; I think I actually prefer the more dramatic difference of the F italic. Thanks so much for providing the comparison.

[thudthwacker]

@thudthwacker When you get your NoNonsense I'd like to read your review, maybe I could take the plunge for a Sheaffer

 

Ah, if only it would arrive -- I tracked it right to the post office in my town, but the tracking has stopped updating. Supposedly went out for delivery on Friday morning, and then poof. I suspect I shall be camping out in the post office this Saturday morning, to see if I can figure out where it went.

 

However, the reason I was looking for a "new" NoNonsense is that I rescued one from the 90's from a box in our house, and I really love writing with it. It's light, sturdily-built, and has a really nice nib that (in the case of the fine italic) produces lovely line variation (in my opinion, which I must hasten to add comes of very limited experience). I like the screw-on cap, I like the "flat-top" design, I even like the dark translucent green plastic and chrome clip and cap band. The reason I wanted another NoNonsense, though, is very subjective: it fits very well in my hand. It seems that, once my hand settles into the grip, I can comfortably write forever. And that, for me (at least for now), is the thing I most treasure in a pen. Not that I don't care at all about how a pen looks -- I enjoy a beautiful object as much as the next person, and I picked the magenta model when ordering one from Peyton Street because I think it's lovely. But the reason I wanted one in the first place is that they bring joy to the act of writing.

 

The only thing I would change about it -- and it's a minor thing -- is the tight, wee clip. I love the Lamy Safari and Al-Star clips -- big, springy, paper-clip monstrosities. They're wonderful. They can clip to a shirt pocket, sure, but I don't actually wear shirts with pockets. I do, however, often want to clip my pen to the side of a cargo pocket, or the inside pocket of my denim jacket, or to the cover of a notebook. I can do that with the Lamys; the Sheaffer is less versatile, and even where it will fit, I regularly have to pry the clip open a bit with my fingernail to get it on. But, again -- against its many virtues, the clip is hardly worth mentioning.

 

I'd say go for it. There is (at the moment, at least) a reasonable supply of new old stock NoNonsense pens, so you can get one for less than you'd pay for a new Lamy Safari. And, if you can find one of the translucent ones, they seem to be exceptionally well-suited to eyedropper conversion -- no metal on the inside, extensive fine threading between the section and barrel. Note that this assertion is theory: I haven't done an eyedropper conversion on one.

[terim]

Here's a prototype we are working on with Ranga that uses No Nonsense and No Nonsense compatible nibs (like the ones on the Connaisseur and Balance 2).

 

http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/3nn_black_ftfx_4.jpg

http://www.peytonstreet.com/pens/ranga/3nn_black_ftfx_1.jpg

 

It'll be a while before we have these to offer on the web site ....

 

TERI