What's Your Favorite Nib To Use Every Day?

[Honeybadgers]

I think I named every normal nib (not getting into the nagahara stuff)

 

If you can think of a general category nib I forgot, mention it and I'll add it while I can still edit the poll

 

While flexible nibs are still my favorite when I am able to play around and mostly write words, in an everyday situation where I'm writing a lot of chemical and mathematical formulas, I find myself using PO nibs more and more. I love the insane precision they give, that downturn really makes them accurate, and you can flip them over for a smooth M-ish line.

 

 

 

First is a Penbbs 380 with a steel JoWo XXF PO made by Pablo at FPnibs. Second is a parson's essential by italix with a home made EF PO nib made from a moonman m2 nib.

Edited May 23, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[Edo98]

Hello

It coincides that in this week I've been thinking the same thing about the ideal nib size and in my case it's kind of weird.

I love the wide points in my nibs and if they are stub better they are super smooth and humid I always use them for college and personal notes.

But for my bad luck I start to find it quite impractical on several occasions other than those previously mentioned.

For example, when I get to fill out forms, exams and certain signatures I have found that I am always given to write on paper of poor quality and in terribly small spaces in which it is practically impossible for me to write with a nib BB stub.

For those situations it has been more favorable for me a medium or fine nib.

Although sometimes even the medium can be quite wide when you get a very bad paper so possibly the most practical point could be fine.

I do not have fine nibs most of my pens are medium and the one I use the most is a BB stub, the fine nib I tried was in my mother's metropolitan pilot M which is equivalent to a fine nib here.

I think I should buy a pen with fine nib.

And in aesthetic aspect I have seen that my print handwriting looks better in wide points and recently this week I discovered that my cursive handwriting looks more elegant if I make it smaller and with a fine or medium nib but more in fine I noticed that it became more practical and less spacious and the quality of the strokes look better.

[by_a_Lady]

 

Hello

It coincides that in this week I've been thinking the same thing about the ideal nib size and in my case it's kind of weird.

I love the wide points in my nibs and if they are stub better they are super smooth and humid I always use them for college and personal notes.

But for my bad luck I start to find it quite impractical on several occasions other than those previously mentioned.

For example, when I get to fill out forms, exams and certain signatures I have found that I am always given to write on paper of poor quality and in terribly small spaces in which it is practically impossible for me to write with a nib BB stub.

For those situations it has been more favorable for me a medium or fine nib.

Although sometimes even the medium can be quite wide when you get a very bad paper so possibly the most practical point could be fine.

I do not have fine nibs most of my pens are medium and the one I use the most is a BB stub, the fine nib I tried was in my mother's metropolitan pilot M which is equivalent to a fine nib here.

I think I should buy a pen with fine nib.

And in aesthetic aspect I have seen that my print handwriting looks better in wide points and recently this week I discovered that my cursive handwriting looks more elegant if I make it smaller and with a fine or medium nib but more in fine I noticed that it became more practical and less spacious and the quality of the strokes look better.

 

 

I love my broads and stub/cursive italic/italic nibs but have the very same problem.

 

One solution is to carry a Lamy Safari/Vista/AL-Star with a spare EF/F nib; you literally just pull them off the feed with a tissue and push the other one on, absolutely no potential for mess. I know that the nibs can be a bit inconsistent, but that's nothing a bit of tinkering with micromesh can't fix.

 

My other favourite method is reverse writing - but unfortunately it only works with round-tipped nibs. You can get flat nibs reground to have a round writing size on the reverse, but the nib will have to have tipping to begin with, and it's costly.

 

 

Dominique

[XYZZY]

Unfortunately soft/hard is a different thing from tip size. If I could choose FM in the size column and Soft in the firmness column... Ok, I get that you're working with the limitations of a forum poll.

Most of my writing is personal stuff in a journal. I currently prefer FM Pilot #30 and Leonardo EF, which write similar size line and are both pretty springy. Closely followed by Pilot #15 Pilot FA.

If I'm in a class or lecture and taking notes, I frequently describe that as "hammering out notes" as I am quite heavy handed in that situation. It's just different writing. Japanese F or EF nails FTW. That doesn't make them favorite nibs, but in that setting my favorite soft nibs would be downright bad.

Edited May 23, 2019 by XYZZY

[Jebus]

• Daily writer: Bock 14c gold stub (medium size)
• Daily writer 2: Bock titanium medium
• Runner-up: Pelikan pre 1989 gold stub

Each with their own characteristics. Never experienced any issues for daily work related writing.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Should have semi-flex oblique the only one worth while, & non semi-flex or just oblique....big, big difference.

 

I don't know, due to editing I've started using regular flex EF....and slipped into semi&maxi EF.

 

Been doing a lot of M nibs, and only a few wide nibs lately.

Depends so on the pen......and the work....and which one is grabbed from the pen cups first.

 

The wet ....sopping wet noobie dream line of a 540 Osmia-Faber-Castell Supra maxi-semi-flex in M. @ '50-51....when I was testing M vs KM.

 

Or an OF semi-flex in a Boehler Gold mdl 54....brother of the above pen. The Boehler brothers split Osmia in '38 when this pen is from. Is an OF width nib and not the M as marked.

Scribbles real nice.

 

 

Sometimes I ink a pen for various reasons....to test a few green inks.....to check M vs KM nibs....a million reasons to ink a pen.....often I'll just grab what ever pen is closest.

[sansenri]

my favourite nib to use every day is a B

 

the nib I actually use more often is an M

 

(it does depend what I have to do)

[Honeybadgers]

Unfortunately soft/hard is a different thing from tip size. If I could choose FM in the size column and Soft in the firmness column... Ok, I get that you're working with the limitations of a forum poll.

 

Most of my writing is personal stuff in a journal. I currently prefer FM Pilot #30 and Leonardo EF, which write similar size line and are both pretty springy. Closely followed by Pilot #15 Pilot FA.

 

If I'm in a class or lecture and taking notes, I frequently describe that as "hammering out notes" as I am quite heavy handed in that situation. It's just different writing. Japanese F or EF nails FTW. That doesn't make them favorite nibs, but in that setting my favorite soft nibs would be downright bad.

 

 

I feel like the soft column included the SFM.

[Honeybadgers]

Should have semi-flex oblique the only one worth while, & non semi-flex or just oblique....big, big difference.

 

I don't know, due to editing I've started using regular flex EF....and slipped into semi&maxi EF.

 

Been doing a lot of M nibs, and only a few wide nibs lately.

Depends so on the pen......and the work....and which one is grabbed from the pen cups first.

 

The wet ....sopping wet noobie dream line of a 540 Osmia-Faber-Castell Supra maxi-semi-flex in M. @ '50-51....when I was testing M vs KM.

 

Or an OF semi-flex in a Boehler Gold mdl 54....brother of the above pen. The Boehler brothers split Osmia in '38 when this pen is from. Is an OF width nib and not the M as marked.

Scribbles real nice.

 

 

Sometimes I ink a pen for various reasons....to test a few green inks.....to check M vs KM nibs....a million reasons to ink a pen.....often I'll just grab what ever pen is closest.

 

What I should have done was include a "Bo Bo" option

 

*edit* Done

Edited May 23, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[gyasko]

My handwriting looks best when i write with a Skyline flexible stub, or maybe when i use an oblique broad Pelikan 400NN. However, a couple old MBs have the best feel : a 1970s 14c broad on a 146 or maybe a double broad 24.

[XYZZY]

 

I feel like the soft column included the SFM.

Indeed you are right. Not sure how I missed that. I fixed my vote.

[ENewton]

In the abstract, I would say that fine cursive italic would be my ideal nib for everyday use, and my favorite nib altogether is a semi-flexible fine, but most of the pens I use for daily writing have fine nibs.

 

My handwriting is tiny, and a fine nib produces an attractive balance between the line width and the size of my characters in cursive or print. Also, relative to extra-fine nibs, a fine nib is helpful for showcasing the chroma of an ink.

[Honeybadgers]

CI was in the lead for a long time but has slipped to fine!

[miwishi63]

My preference a few months ago would have been F/EF, but it has changed as I have branched out and discovered the joy of writing with stub/cursive italic nibs.

[A Smug Dill]

Where's Soft Extra Fine, as in the Pilot Elabo (or Namiki Falcon)?

 

There's also a Soft Broad nib available.

 

I love the crisp italic nib on my Pelikan M600 that Dan Smith customised for me, but only because it writes narrowly. Italic (or cursive italic) as defined by the shape of the marks the nib makes on the page means nothing if the width is not specified/constrained.

[silverlifter]

CI was in the lead for a long time but has slipped to fine!

 

CI got my vote. But I must admit I was surprised to see it rank so highly; I always thought of cursive italics as an acquired/niche taste.

[XYZZY]

 

CI got my vote. But I must admit I was surprised to see it rank so highly; I always thought of cursive italics as an acquired/niche taste.

 

I suspect that "Of Nibs & Tines" is itself a bit of a niche, maybe visited by everybody when they have a specific question, but frequented by people who regularly have nibs modified (via nibmeister or their own DIY). So I would expect there to be some correlation with nibs that appear less frequently as stock offerings.

 

@HB: it would be interesting if you posted this exact same poll in "First Stop". Maybe you'd get a different mix, but I don't know if that would be meaningful since you're getting such a small sample size here.

[miwishi63]

 

CI got my vote. But I must admit I was surprised to see it rank so highly; I always thought of cursive italics as an acquired/niche taste.

 

This is certainly true in my case. I started out with a definite preference for F/EF nibs, believing that I would never deviate from that choice. However, at some point I decided to try a CI and was immediately hooked. Someday I may even stray into the Broad Side...

[Jebus]

 

 

CI got my vote. But I must admit I was surprised to see it rank so highly; I always thought of cursive italics as an acquired/niche taste.

 

I wasn't expecting the results for CI either... Is it that convenient in every day use such as quick remarks during meetings? I have chosen "stub" but I must admit that sometimes my angle is way off for quick notes. Or is it just experience?

[silverlifter]

 

 

 

I wasn't expecting the results for CI either... Is it that convenient in every day use such as quick remarks during meetings? I have chosen "stub" but I must admit that sometimes my angle is way off for quick notes. Or is it just experience?

 

 

That is precisely one of my use cases: notes in meetings! Works great for me, whether it is a quick scrawl or more deliberate lines. I do tend to prefer Mark Bacas' CIs over Pablo Carrasco's, Pablo's tend to be a little sharper (or at least they are on the Jowo nibs he has reground for me, Mark has only worked on Lamy and Parker nibs).