Does Size Matter ?

[old4570]

Been playing with a few pens now ! And I am beginning to dislike the 0.3 size NIB ( 0.38 - what ever ) .

The 0.5 NIB can be ok , I don't know that I have any 0.7 NIB's ..

Though I have ordered two pens supposedly so equipped ( 0.7 NIB ) , so , more waiting .

 

So what do people like ? NIB wise !

[Tseg]

You talking line width or nib length?

[old4570]

Must be width , .... Don't think the Chinese Ebay seller quote NIB length ...

[Karmachanic]

I'd be wary of the accuracy of Chinese quoted nib sizes. I've had quoted F turn out to be M on more than one occasion.

 

As to what nib? Depends on which way the wind is blowing, the phase of the moon, the ambient temperature, how much puerh I've had to drink, and what paper I'm using! F, XF, M, MF, B, Stub, Cursive Italic, Wet, Dry. Few pens many nibs works for me. I prefer pens with screw in housing/feed/nib units. Swapping out nibs on friction fit will eventually lead to not fit.

 

I started out with F only and became more adventurous over time. Wider nibs lay down more ink, and so the characteristics of the ink becomes more evident. Shading, sheen. Sometimes quick notetaking on questionable paper is the order of the day. Out comes the XF. And so on.

 

Enjoy your journey!

[Mech-for-i]

personal preference I guess ; I have a friend who would not had anything unless its EF or finer. So I guess yes size does matter but not always bigger the bette

[AAAndrew]

Size matters, but which way is a matter of your writing style and preference. I enjoy stub dip pens but also write with extra fine fountain pens most often. About the only size that doesn’t work for me is broad. I write too small.

[inkstainedruth]

I have a lot of vintage pens, and they are predominantly F nibs. Because that's what I could find (and -- for the most part -- afford). But even before that, with my first c/c pens, I discovered that with finer nibs I could get more writing out of a cartridge.

It's just in the last couple of years that I've discovered the joys of Bs and stubs and obliques. But if I have to take copious notes (which I have to do at times)? I'm more likely to reach for a pen with an F nib (I have only a couple of pens that are EFs, and for the most part I find them scratchy -- but I have a medium nibbed Pilot Metropolitan, because when I bought it, I also tried an F nib and found it to be be exceedingly scratchy). And I was completely underwhelmed by the EF nib on a tester Lamy Safari someone had at the Ohio Pen Show last fall.

The only EF nibs I like are on a couple of Parker 51s -- one is a Aerometric that I bought from Pendleton Brown the first year I went to OPS, and it is nice and smooth (but also sort of destined for my husband). The other is on a Cedar Blue 51 Vac I found in the wild down in West Virginia a couple of years ago, and when I had it repaired I had the tines opened up a bit because it was also really scratchy at first.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

Sigh, I'm an old dog...EF? M? B?

In I have no idea what that newfangled metric numbers are supposed to mean.

And they too will have the same amount of slop as lettered nibs. A 1.0 nib can just as easily be 1.1 or 0.09 and still be with in tolerance.

 

On cheap common paper the narrower the nib, the less feathering you will get and you need a dry ink.

Wet ink can use a narrower nib.

 

But the main thing is how big do you write.....and can you write larger to use a wider nib.

There are those who refuse to learn to use anything but super narrow nibs.

Those nibs are bad on laid or linen effect papers.

 

There are free line width templates so you can make a line wide enough for a M....which will lay more ink, for a bolder line. Or if you want shading...you need 90g & or + laser paper.

B is a fun nib....gives a bit of flair to ones writing and is very good on 100% cotton, laid, or linen effect papers....

 

Eventually you will need EF which I suggest in nail, for editing, F&M in regular flex for shading inks, and a B or a B stub for the fun of it.

 

Writing is 1/2 nib width/flex, 1/3 paper and 1/3 ink and in that order.

A dry ink can make a nib seem a size narrower....a good paper can do that too.

Change to a wetter ink, and the nib will be wider....a poorer paper makes for wider writing also.

 

Do Not use Ink Jet paper....because ink jet ink has to be absorbed super fast....fountain pen ink will feather big time.

Compromise Combo paper....will have faults, because Laser paper is better than Ink Jet & Laser paper. Tendency of at least woolly line if you look for it. The ink jet influence.

 

90g laser paper costs twice as much as common 80g printer paper. There is no reason to waste it in a printer. A ream can last a year.

Good paper costs 2 cans of mechanically delivered cans of Coke more....better paper two cups of Starbucks more than that.

 

I suggest for every three inks you buy, buy some better paper, ream, half ream or box.

[dcwaites]

It also depends on the cut of the nib. Jinhao #6 nibs are supposed to be all Medium (~ 0.7mm) but can vary quite a lot in written line width. This is because some of them have a relatively square cut, and use the full width of the nib, and others are quite round, with less of the nib tip touching the paper, and therefore writing a narrower line.

 

And then, as mentioned, there's ink. Noodler's Liberty's Elysium writes a wider line than Sheaffer Skrip or Monteverde Horizon Blue.

 

And paper. And the price of the paper has no relation to the width of lines that FPs write on it. Some years ago I found that $5/ream Fuji-Xerox paper performed much better with FPs than their $15 premium paper.

 

Finally, there's touch. If you write with a firm hand, you will tend to spread the tines a bit, and will put down more ink, and a wider line, than if you write with a very light hand.

Learn to write with a light hand, it's also good for your arthritis...

[old4570]

So far I don't think paper is an issue for me ..

I can write very light , that's not a problem .

INK ? I got Parker Quink Black , and Hero 233 blue .. And I am playing with water based printer ink in one pen ( its actually working well so far )

Generally I am chasing smoothness , the fine nibs can grab ( tare ) the paper and as mentioned run scratchy .. I don't care about scratchy as long as the nib does not grab the paper .

Oh well , I will be doing some polishing when my 5000 grit wet and dry gets here ( Yeah - cant buy it locally )

[pajaro]

Size matters, but which way is a matter of your writing style and preference. I enjoy stub dip pens but also write with extra fine fountain pens most often. About the only size that doesn’t work for me is broad. I write too small.

 

+1. I have come to prefer EF and F nibs, if they are smooth writing. I write left handed, over write, and do not need to glide my left hand through wet ink. So, dry inks as well. Sometimes I throw a joker in with a medium or broad stub, a CI or italic.