Vintage Flex Nib For Omas Milord?

[Beginnersmind0]

Can anyone recommend a specific nib that will fit in an Omas Bibliotheque? I love how this pen looks and feels but would love to put a real flex nib in it. At the very least, can someone tell me what size nib would fit? Thanks!

[Freddy]

Can anyone recommend a specific nib that will fit in an Omas Bibliotheque? I love how this pen looks and feels but would love to put a real flex nib in it. At the very least, can someone tell me what size nib would fit? Thanks!

 

Firstly....Welcome Aboard..Beginnersmind0 ..enjoy your time here......

 

Mosey on over to Paolo at Zona900.it and send an email with your requirements.....

Redacting: The Omas Bibliotheque Nationale is a Milord 556 size pen.

 

http://www.zona900.it/#

 

Fred

Edited March 18, 2018 by Freddy

[Beginnersmind0]

Thanks so much for the welcome and the recommendation! I will check it out!

[Freddy]

Thanks so much for the welcome and the recommendation! I will check it out!

 

My pleasure.

 

Fred

[OMASsimo]

Honestly, I wouldn't do it unless the nib is damaged beyond repair. What's wrong with the nib of this nice pen?

 

First of all, the OMAS Bilbliotheque National is a 1999 special edition, I think it's numbered but I'm not sure how many were made. Thus, this is a collector's piece and replacing the nib would kind of make it a frankenpen. It might even go unnoticed because this edition did not have a specially embossed nib iirc.

 

Second, I think the real feeling and performance of flex nibs can only be achieved with vintage nibs. I haven't come across any modern flex nib yet that could even remotely compete with vintage ones. So, I'd keep the OMAS as it is (or sell it to a connoisseur if you really don't want it) and buy a vintage flex pen like a Swan instead. That is if you're really sure you want to write with a true flex nib at all. Do you have experience with other flex pens?

[Beginnersmind0]

Hi Omasismo, thanks for taking time to reply to my query.

I have owned a handful of Omas pens, a Galileo, an Italia 90, a 360 and a previous bibliotheque. I absolutely love the feel of that cotton resin in my hand! I have just hated the way they all write.

 

For me, writing with a fountain pen is all about variety of line width. Omas pens just write too wet to give me the fragile hairlines and the bold shades I crave.

 

I started exploring fountain pens about 25 years ago when I stumbled upon a book called The Technique of Copperplate Calligraphy by Gordon Turner. So its always been about flex nibs for me. After a couple of years of stock new pens not quite giving me what I wanted (though there was a great Aurora and a Pelican...ah, but thats a long story), I explored vintage pens. Great nibs! But those feeds were a little crude, and the pens were delicate.

 

So, having a background in metalsmithing, I started making frankenpens. I love modern feeds with their highly engineered controlled ink delivery and paired them with nibs I reworked. Starting with 14kt or titanium nibs, I would move the shoulders back and thin the thickness (gauge) of the nib. I got some wonderful writers!

 

So with about a half dozen fantasy pens. I sold off the contents of my parts box and a lot of extras. I was enjoying pen nirvana!

 

I have always had a thing for the Bibliotheque though, so about a year ago, when a used one came up cheap on eBay I grabbed it thinking someday I would make it another dream pen.

 

Used, they seem to be not worth much. I payed about $200 for mine, and another used one just sold on eBay for about $130.

 

It has an 18kt nib which in my opinion is squishy rather than springy, so not a good candidate for modifying to extra flex. So I am looking for a 14kt nib for this pen. New or vintage extra fine tip (though I could regrind the tip if necessary). I would love to put a Pelican feed in it too if there is one that fits! I just dont have access to any pen parts to make the visual comparison to see if it would work.

 

Just FYI, the Bibliotheque series was not numbered, just stamped with the year of manufacture.

[OMASsimo]

Thanks for the info and the extensive explanation of your motifs. I think I'd buy an original Bibliotheque for $130 in an instant.:-) In contrast to you, I absolutely love the way how OMAS nibs write and I think that the ebonite feeds are hard to beat. I also love vintage nibs including full flex ones, which are pretty rare. But most of all, it's good to know that you know what you're doing.

 

Since OMAS switched from in-house made nibs to Bock nibs around 1984 (iirc), you can go by the Bock standard sizes. I've read that the size in the Bibliotheque is a #6. Unfortunately, the size is not all, the geometry has to match as well and this often is very tricky. If feed and nib don't match perfectly, the result will be poor, even more so with full flex nibs. I'm rather skeptical whether a vintage OMAS nib will fit the modern feed. My vintage ones are smaller and narrower than the modern versions. However, many newer OMAS pens have a nib sleeve which is inserted into the section before pushing in the feed together with the nib. If this is the case for the Bibliotheque as well, you could make a new sleeve to fit a smaller nib/feed into the pen.

 

Another word of warning: Not all vintage OMAS Extra nibs a full flex nibs for line variation. I have one from the late 40s early 50s which is extremely flexible but with very little line variation. It's kind of a toss up what you get.

 

I hope I could help a little. Let me know how your project turns out.

[fabri00]

Mine has the inhouse omas nib, not a bock.

Same for that one of the pictures I can see on Google.

[OMASsimo]

How can you tell that it's in-house rather than Bock?

[Beginnersmind0]

Omassino, THANKS HUGELY! Knowing that a size #6 is the right size (or at least close) is a HUGE help! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You just saved me a lot of pain and suffering!

[Beginnersmind0]

Omassino, I agree there is nothing like a vintage extra flex. I tried the ultimate extra flex vintage pen at Geoffrey Berliners shop a million years ago. It was almost more flexible than a brush. An actual brush!

 

One of my beloved frankenpens is a TWSBI Micarta with a Watermans Emblem nib. Luscious!

[fabri00]

How can you tell that it's in-house rather than Bock?

the feeder and the nib are similar to the old ones, while after changing to bock the difference was visible.

[OMASsimo]

I think you might be right. As far as I know, pretty much the only way to distinguish OMAS in-house and Bock nibs is the bigger "O" in "OMAS" on the Bock nibs. The in-house nibs had all four letters the same size. Is this correct? And the transition from in-house to Bock probably was in the 1990s but I could not find definitive information on that. It could be that they finally stopped producing their own nibs in the early 2000s. But their custom made Bock nibs were almost exactly like the old in-house ones for what I have seen. Is this your experience too?

[OMASsimo]

Omassino, THANKS HUGELY! Knowing that a size #6 is the right size (or at least close) is a HUGE help! Thank you, thank you, thank you! You just saved me a lot of pain and suffering!

 

I'm glad if I could help. But don't take my word for granted, I might be wrong. Anyway, I hope your project will work out to your satisfaction.

 

Omassino, I agree there is nothing like a vintage extra flex. I tried the ultimate extra flex vintage pen at Geoffrey Berliners shop a million years ago. It was almost more flexible than a brush. An actual brush!

 

One of my beloved frankenpens is a TWSBI Micarta with a Watermans Emblem nib. Luscious!

 

I have a frankenpen which is a non-name vintage piston filler fitted with a full flex Swan nib that is superb. But I kind of like my original Osmia pens with full flex nibs even better. I don't use them much for everyday writing, though, for practical reasons. I prefer my vintage semi flex pens for most profane uses - or any of my newer OMAS pens.:-)

[Beginnersmind0]

Omas was purchased by LVMH in 2000. I would guess that the transition to Bock nibs happened shortly after that. That is also when they changed/added a lot of different pens.

[OMASsimo]

This is one possible explanation. But I found statements about their time of transition ranging from 1984 through the early 2000s. I start thinking that they moved gradually from one to the other in order to save costs. The bigger "O" of "OMAS" indicates that you might be right about LVMH. After they took over the company, the pens were re-designed and started showing the prominent "O" on all caps.

 

I'm afraid that only very few people like the former employees really know the answer to my question.

[fabri00]

I think you might be right. As far as I know, pretty much the only way to distinguish OMAS in-house and Bock nibs is the bigger "O" in "OMAS" on the Bock nibs. The in-house nibs had all four letters the same size. Is this correct? And the transition from in-house to Bock probably was in the 1990s but I could not find definitive information on that. It could be that they finally stopped producing their own nibs in the early 2000s. But their custom made Bock nibs were almost exactly like the old in-house ones for what I have seen. Is this your experience too?

If you take a look at this link:

https://unroyalwarrant.com/2014/06/22/omas-paragon-fountain-pen-review/

scrolling down the page at a certain point there is a picture showing Omas/Bock nib, Omas in-house nib, and Omas Extra Lucens nib.

Differences are visible.

Also the shape of the arrow is different.

[sansenri]

the mentioned link in this older thread is no longer working
it is however likely that the mentioned review is the one now here
https://blakesbroadcast.com/2014/06/22/omas-paragon-fountain-pen-review/