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Gold Vs. Steel

Charles Skinner

By Charles Skinner
in Of Nibs & Tines

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KellyMcJ Vintage

KellyMcJ

Posted
Posted

 

The advantage of gold nibs is that they're GOLD, and if you want gold then you want GOLD.

Pretty much this.

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CraigR Collectors Item

CraigR

Posted
Posted

Maybe it is just me, I like the feel of a gold nib over a steel one. It may be a degree of difference in softness that I feel when writing. Other than that, I think it is the general look of gold that sways me in favor of it. My small collection contains only a few vintage pens with factory gold nibs. The other pens I own cover the spectrum of widths and grinds. I do really enjoy writing with all of pens, gold nibbed or not.

A consumer and purveyor of words.

 

Co-editor and writer for Faith On Every Corner Magazine

Magazine - http://www.faithoneverycorner.com/magazine.html

 

 

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Inkyways Extremely Rare

Inkyways

Posted
Posted

I love the calligraphy nibs. They write beautifully but I wish some one could make a good calligraphy nib so we can use them without throwing them out to bins.

This is the case of a steel nib that most of the time it ends in a bin when it is old , corroded and rusty after some using.

 

This is the only different between steel and gold / gold plated nibs. They all do the same thing... writing on papers. both have advantages for longer usage to my knowledge.

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AL01 Vintage

AL01

Posted
Posted

Here's a car comparison...

 

A steel nib can be like a Toyota Corolla or a Porsche 911.

 

The 'suspension', or the way the nib passes or suppresses vibration from the tipping, your pressure, and the paper you write with varies from nib to nib.

 

Gold nibs, on the other hand, can be like a Lexus LS400 or a Porsche 911. They can be hard, soft, or bouncy.

 

Gold nibs, (IMO), have more variety than steel nibs.

 

But what gold nib are you asking about?

 

I.E.: Pilots are cushion - ie but not flexy, Platinums are almost nail - like, Lamys are soft but not cushion - ie, etc.

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Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

Posted
Posted

Depends on which era and maker you are talking about. Osmia/O-F-C and Geha made gold nibs as good as their steel ones.....= in my books.

Some of Pelikan war CN nibs have a lot of flex....well that depends on what the owner knew of 'flex' before hand.

Sigh cubed....my Pelikan CN nib is only regular flex......... :crybaby:

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Inksomnia Mint

Inksomnia

Posted
Posted

Like Bo Bo said, it depends on era. I have Faber-Castell 73, which have steel nib, that is as good as their gold nibs. I actually didn't know that it was steel nib before taking nib out and not finding gold markings. I have several Pelikan 140, which have gold nibs that are nails, they are just marked as M. And after spoiling myself with Osmia/Faber-Castell vintage diamond nibs, modern gold nibs feel just like steel ones...

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AL01 Vintage

AL01

Posted
Posted

Yea...

 

Modern pens tend to have pretty tough nibs.

 

I do, however, loooooove vintage Sheaffers.

 

Yep...

 

They are nails, but they provide a nimble sports suspension.

 

But really, when you look at new pens... Jus' get a vintage one.

 

I don't know, but the new pens lack something that the old pens have...

 

(Or maybe I haven't used enough expensive new pens??)

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jmnav Rare

jmnav

Posted
Posted (edited)

Maybe it is just me, I like the feel of a gold nib over a steel one.

It's just you.

 

It may be a degree of difference in softness that I feel when writing. Other than that, I think it is the general look of gold that sways me in favor of it. My small collection contains only a few vintage pens with factory gold nibs. The other pens I own cover the spectrum of widths and grinds. I do really enjoy writing with all of pens, gold nibbed or not.

We are not machines but have a psique. I absolutly know that the base alloy is the element that impacts the less on a nib's performance, but I still prefer gold nibs... because they are gold nibs.

Edited by jmnav
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tinta Collectors Item

tinta

Posted
Posted (edited)

My strong preference is for 14c yellow gold. I used steel nibs during my school years. As soon as I could afford a Pelikan with a gold nib, I never looked back. All my Sailors & Kawecos have gold nibs

That said,...if your gold or steel nibs are made by a quality nib manufacturer, ground & adjusted by an expert nib technician (in factory or a custom nib-tech), then the major difference should only be the final cost of your nib (& pen).

I've used absolutely wonderful steel nibs & written with the occasional 14 karat dud.

Edited by tinta

*Sailor 1911S, Black/gold, 14k. 0.8 mm. stub(JM) *1911S blue "Colours", 14k. H-B "M" BLS (PB)

*2 Sailor 1911S Burgundy/gold: 14k. 0.6 mm. "round-nosed" CI (MM) & 14k. 1.1 mm. CI (JM)

*Sailor Pro-Gear Slim Spec. Ed. "Fire",14k. (factory) "H-B"

*Kaweco SPECIAL FP: 14k. "B",-0.6 mm BLS & 14k."M" 0.4 mm. BLS (PB)

*Kaweco Stainless Steel Lilliput, 14k. "M" -0.7 mm.BLS, (PB)

 

 

 

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tonybelding Antique

tonybelding

Posted
Posted

My favorite nib of recent times has been the Bock Titan. I know some venerable nibmeister wrote an article about all the reasons why titanium is an awful material for nibs, but I bought it anyhow, and mine seems quite good. It's one of the most flexible nibs on the market today, nicely responsive to me, and it's definitely less expensive than gold. It might possibly be delicate, but I don't think it'll be a problem as long as I restrict myself to normal handwriting—no copperplate stunt calligraphy!

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Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

Posted
Posted

"""I have several Pelikan 140, which have gold nibs that are nails, :yikes: they are just marked as M."""

My vast collection of 140's...all two of them are semi-flex.....so much for the myth I've been propagating :( , that all 140's are semi-flex.....though did hear of a fella with what might be a maxi-semi-flex 140. :)

 

I don't have a H nib...hard....but do have in a 400 the nail's nail D+M....D in medium. Now that pen is the one you take with you when climbing the north face of the Eiger....or opening up battle tanks.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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max dog Collectors Item

max dog

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thanks. Very interesting read. While I knew gold alloy generally is softer than steel, wasn't aware it offered better ink flow characteristics too for wetter flow.

 

"The surface tension is probably less for the ink on the gold than it is on the stainless steel and so flows more easily."

 

While nib shape, feed design, and tine alignment /gap etc are factors that affect flexibility and wetness in a nib, irrespective of the material used, it appears as a baseline gold still has some inherent advantages over stainless steel.

Edited by max dog
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Bo Bo Olson Ancient Artifact

Bo Bo Olson

Posted
Posted

Wetness of ink could well be a factor, or if a nib was wetter or dryer with the same ink.

I think that is the first time I've seen wetness as a factor of soft with a gold nib.....but how much of that is the feed????

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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max dog Collectors Item

max dog

Posted
Posted (edited)

Wetness of ink could well be a factor, or if a nib was wetter or dryer with the same ink.

I think that is the first time I've seen wetness as a factor of soft with a gold nib.....but how much of that is the feed????

According to the letter from Sheaffer, with all factors like nib shape, feed design, ink, etc, etc, being equal, gold has a slight edge over steel because

 

1. It is inherently a softer metal than steel, and

 

2. (revelation for me) ink has less surface tension with gold than steel, so flows better with gold.

 

If this is true, then if you have two exactly identical nibs of same shape and dimension, same feed system, in the same pen using the same ink, but one nib is made of gold and the other of stainless steel, theoretically then the gold should by default exhibit more flex and wetter flow and hence perform better.

Edited by max dog
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ReadyFireAim Extremely Rare

ReadyFireAim

Posted
Posted (edited)

And then there is this

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0021979780903483

 

Less than a monolayer of carbonaceous contamination renders the surface hydrophobic...

The term wetter means different things in fountain pens & chemistry.

There may be some confusion here.

Edited by Nail-Bender
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