What's The Least Scratchy Fine Point Nib You Know?

[Arkanabar]

I've been quite pleased with the smoothness of my Jinhao 992. It was kind of dry when it was PIFfed to me, but SBRE Brown's instant wetness increase has helped. (link to the video.) It's an ink miser, and I'm trying to write it dry, so it's been my only pen for a week or so, except for an occasional use of a Hero 616 (which is currently also rather smooth).

 

Seriously, all my other pens are in the cleaning queue.

Maybe I can embed it.

 

Nope. It discarded my embedding html when I tried to add it in an edit, in spite of checking the "enable html" tick box.

Edited September 10, 2017 by Arkanabar

[rudyhou]

i would recommend a Japanese brand over others when it comes to a Fine or Extra Fine nibs. especially Pilot brand. if you prefer a slight feedback, then Platinum and Sailor would be the brands to try.

[BillZ]

Been away from the site for a few-Hurricane Harvey clean up and repair! I have 50 pens and if I were to select the smoothest of my fine and finer nibs it would be the Cross Peerless 125 with a Sailor 18K XF.

[owend]

Smoothest European Fine I have is a Platinum 3776, marked M but Japanese nibs run narrower than their marking. Pelikan M200 Fine is also smooth, with a bit more feedback than the Platinum, and a slightly thicker line than the Platinum M.

[jar]

ST Dupont EF nibs.

[minddance]

For me, Preppy 02, Pilot 74sfm, Wingsung 3008 (if u trust chinese pens at all).

Pelikan M200 EF, F, M and B are all very smooth. But I dislike the girth: way too slender for my hands.

 

My Platinum 3776 med, Sailors 14k F and mf, 21k mf, Lamy2000 f are nowhere near smooth.

[pajaro]

Pelikan, Montblanc, Sheaffer Imperial, Parker 51, Lamy 2000, Waterman Carene, Waterman Laureat, Waterman Phileas . . .

[max dog]

My Cross Townsend fine steel nib is a true fine and very smooth.

[calvin_0]

any pilot fine nib... pilot pen usually have a wet flow, so it'll make using a fine nib is more pleasant when compare western nib like lamy..

 

plus it's alot finer than any western fine nib..

 

on related note, noodler's ahab (or noodler's flex pen in general) is also a really smooth fine writer because it is also a wet flowing pen..

Edited October 20, 2017 by calvin_0

[virgilio]

I agree that high-end vintage Sheaffers were among the very smoothest fine points. Smoothest I've ever seen was a vintage Waterman. Parker 51 also very smooth. Walthams, Marlowes and Italian Universals in the low end. Some Wearevers. The early Scheaffer school pens were pretty smooth.

 

Among modern pens, the genuine chengyida Hero 616 (pack of 10) up on amazon are very smooth, also the English Manuscript Dodec. Most people's standards for a really smooth fine point are pretty low; it is actually quite rare to find a really smooth fine point without careful tweaking to increase the ink flow. The Pilot Metropolitan sometimes mentioned is very scratchy in my opinion.

[virgilio]

The Waterman Phileas was billed as smooth; not in my opinion. Modern fine points in general are almost never smooth until you get to the $100 price point and above. Even then...

[Shannon]

Smoothest fine I've used is my Vanishing Point in fine, without a doubt.

Ditto

[aardvarkbark]

Sailor, for me, which seems counter-intuitive since their F line is narrower than western F's. Scratch-free, nonetheless.

[Waltz For Zizi]

I have had to carefully smooth all fine and extra fine nibs except for the one fitted to my Pilot Metropolitan. Pilot must be kicking themselves for not pricing that range at twice the price they retail for. Maybe it is a ploy though because owning the Metro makes my fingers itch to try one of their more expensive pens :-D

 

I keep finding people praising the metropolitan, but I have two of them, and are scratchy and dry as no other pen I own. The second one I bought, I got it because I thought I got unlucky with the first one, but they both write exactly the same. I personaly don't recommend it to no one. The nibs on the parker vector are way better, and at that price point you are paying mainly for the nib, not the materials of the pen.

 

But I like very much the F and EF gold nibs on the lamys I own, but not on the 2000 though, the other ones.

[virgilio]

Had a couple of Rotrings that were hyper-smooth, but got rid of 'em, way too big and heavy for comfort.

[Kelly G]

Vintage Sheaffer and Parker EF nibs can be quite smooth, but of course with vintage nibs the risk is prior damage. The good vintage nibs are great. With modern nibs I find Pilot VP nibs to generally be smooth.

That said, there are a lot of smooth, fine nibs out there and unfortunately many that are not smooth. The best course might be finding a pen you really like and having the nib tuned by one of the nib wizards.

[dogpoet]

Had a couple of Rotrings that were hyper-smooth, but got rid of 'em, way too big and heavy for comfort.

 

600s?

Seriously, see if you can find a 700 if you liked them for the nibs: a much lighter and skinnier pen.

[virgilio]

Yeah, but they were also pretty clunky looking, like so many German pens. I like a more stylish, Italian look.

[minddance]

Pilot stainless steel nibs are smooth, and very dry. Kakuno F nib is smooth, but it is not a wellmade pen due to the fact that ink dries up when capped and stored. My Pelikan m200 ef and f are smooth and slightly (pleasantly) wetter than Pilot. Preppy 02 and 03 are smooth, and very dry. My Phileas F is not smooth.

 

My Sailor 14k F and mF, 21k mf and Platinum are never smooth. They want a very light hand to allow the nib to hover above the paper then it can be perceived as smoother than using pressure. Think of a stylus on vinyl turntables. But this balancing act very much fatigues my hand and arm and shoulders - and possibly more body parts than I am aware of.

 

One could, however, ignore this delicate balancing act and write carefreely and carelessly, and revel in the enormous feedback - and ocassional scratch - Sailor and Platinum fine nibs generate.

Edited November 4, 2017 by minddance

[thiagojp]

Sailor 21k EF or F, you cant go wrong. And I also love the Platinum SF.