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Are Franklin-Cristoph Nibs Typically On The Dry Side?


EDR1633

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Goulet Pens EF vs Franklin-Cristoph EF... I have experienced two of the latter brand nibs now that write rather dry. The ink is at roughly 66% of the intensity of the GP EF, or any other #6 EF nib I have, coming out of the same pen and with the same ink. However, line width is consistent and width is the same.

 

I have use for drier nibs that still put out the same width of line when paired with the right pen, so I will consider FC HPS nibs for future use.

 

Wanted to see if this is to be expected and if anyone else has experienced this.

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I had similar experiences with all my 3 Franklin-Christoph stainless steel nibs. I don't have any experience with the Goulet nibs, but my F-C nibs wrote fairly dry, compared to other stainless steel nibs. While the performance is consistent, and there wasn't any issue with the nib, I just didn't enjoy the writing experience as much as I wanted. Now I don't own any Franklin-Christoph pen.

Edited by alwayssunnyalwaysreal

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My TWSBI Eco's and Lamy Safari's wrote much drier than my Franklin-christoph.

 

I didn't find my F-C to be as wet as some of my other pens like my Jinhao x750, pens with ebonite feeds, nor my friends Pelikan M200, but it did have very consistent inkflow, with no related problems, and was one of my most reliable writers.

 

What ink are you using? That makes a big difference

 

I use many Goulet #6's, and none of them work as well nor feel as good as my Franklin Christoph nibs.

 

I highly recommend contacting F-C about it as well. Their customer service is some of the best in the business. Plus Jowo's can be hit or miss, but despite that, F-C can prep and tune their nibs accordingly.

 

I have nibs tuned by Richard Binder, Linda Kennedy, and Masuyama, and the basic round Medium nib I use tuned by Franklin-christoph is one of the best I have in my rotation.

 

EF Jowo's can be fickle.

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Had a very dry FC nib, I don't think they adjust it like that on purpose. It's just a stock Jowo nib so shouldn't be different from other brands. Anyhow the problem was easily solved by using the old trick: pressing down on the tines. Now it writes very wet. However it took me some practice to master this trick.

 

But make sure you align the tines after you do this because chances are that they will get slightly misaligned. Also gold nibs don't work very well with this.

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All my F-C nibs are about 6-7 out of 10 wetness....but then, that's what I request.

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8, NKJV)
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If you buy direct from FC you can specify that you want a wet writer, otherwise I think they are generally tuned dry.

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I have have one FC pen, with a Masuyama italic. I bought it from FC at the Ohio Pen Show. It took them a while to tune it. When I pronounced it fine, I had written only my name, and maybe a few swirls. I didn't write seriously till I got home. It is inked with Iroshizuku Asa Gao, a very wet ink. The italic nib is great, but the overall effect is quite dry. It dries out completely while writing. It dries out when capped for a very short time. Ink is brought back to the nib by turning it over and pressing the nib against the feed. I have toyed with sending it to FC for adjustment. I know they could make it right. When it writes, the script is beautiful.

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I have have one FC pen, with a Masuyama italic. I bought it from FC at the Ohio Pen Show. It took them a while to tune it. When I pronounced it fine, I had written only my name, and maybe a few swirls. I didn't write seriously till I got home. It is inked with Iroshizuku Asa Gao, a very wet ink. The italic nib is great, but the overall effect is quite dry. It dries out completely while writing. It dries out when capped for a very short time. Ink is brought back to the nib by turning it over and pressing the nib against the feed. I have toyed with sending it to FC for adjustment. I know they could make it right. When it writes, the script is beautiful.

Same experience here... It's really a shame because it's a terrific nib. They should really look into this problem... As I wrote above I managed to adjust it on my own and it's deliciously wet now. Very smooth and crisp.

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My 3 F-C nibs (steel, #5, EF, CI, and stub) were all drier than I prefer.

 

My fix (since I didn't know F-C could preadjust nibs on request) was to get a brass shim and work the tines open a little less tightly. Took a few careful passes, but they all write like way more to my liking now.

 

But yeah...dry-but-otherwise-great nibs seems be my experience with F-C. Not enough to stop me from getting more pens from them though!

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Alright, the general confirmation makes me happy. I wasn't sure if I was unlucky or not. The Franklin-Cristoph Model 02 I had would write very dry with its original nib, and the second nib was very dry as well, if a lot more consistent (no skips). I don't see why FC would tune their nibs dry like this, so I put in a GP #6 EF nib into the Model 02 and it writes great now.

 

I moved the FC #6 to a PenBBS 309, which tended to write way too wet with a GP #6 EF, and now it writes great.

 

I suppose I could have done the wet-tune, but this arrangement works fine as of now.

 

I have also tried a #5 FC EF nib, and I find that it writes at what I consider a normal wetness after I installed it into a Visconti Rembrandt.

 

The FC nibs are definitely smoother than the GP nibs.

 

Note for one of the previous replies, I was using Noodler's Black to compare GP and FC #6 EF nibs on my Model 02.

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I have different experiences... and my Franklin-Christoph pens were medium dry/wetness with consistent flow. I never had a dryness problem with F-C's. I've had them with TWSBI and Lamy (safari's) a lot, but F-C's write with every ink I tried, and I tested a lot on my F-C's.

 

Unless F-C specifically requests drier nibs from Jowo, the input here could simply be a sample, but I don't know how representative it is. This would be a question I recommend emailing F-C about.

 

To make a Jowo write drier you have to close the tines closer together and I doubt they're doing that to their nibs.

 

Though if F-C does request them that way I wouldn't consider it a problem, because it's always better to start off dry with close tines and have them spread and adjusted by F-C who will tune them for you, which is huge. If I get a TWSBI, which already is a dry writer, with a tight nib (common), I have to spread the tines, making it have more feedback that is typically unpleasant leaving it up to me to tune the nib, which is unfortunate. And TWSBI's customer service with disagreeable nibs IME is substandard compared to F-C.

 

But the thing is, and it's important to keep this in mind, you can request wetter nibs. And if there's a problem you can send it back and they will fix it.

 

I have F-C nibs that write dryer than Goulet's. I have Goulet's that wrote much drier than F-C's... But IME, Jowo's can vary so much despite what brand is etched on them.

 

Don't hesitate to talk to F-C. They have amazing customer service, and from my experience, the best in the business among manufacturers, maybe next to Edison Pens. Honestly, I think you'll get better answers from F-C who are honest and just wonderful with regards to questions you have.

Edited by IndigoBOB
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