Your Favourite Steel Nib

[latthaphon]

I really like Taccia Steel nib. I think, it's Sailor made.

[N1003U]

I really like Taccia Steel nib. I think, it's Sailor made.

 

Thank you for the post, and WELCOME to FPN!

[txomsy]

Vintage: Garant Nilor's or Garant Alkor's Jrid nib. Very nice, flexy nib.

 

Modern... I'm enjoying a lot lately a Noodler's flex nib I got on a Nib Creeper I bought recently. Flexy, softer than others I got long ago, this one is subjectively as soft as an FPR UltraFlex. Been using it with BSB diluted 2:1 in water and it's lots of fun. Now I'm running through BSB like crazy.

 

Semi-vintage (modern but to my knowledge no longer made), the nib of the MB Noblesse/Slimline, hard as a nail, a true workhorse that has never let me down in 30 years writing on all sorts of paper and situations, filling auto-copy forms, etc... The F was a real jewel for everyday use.

[pajaro]

Parker 51 Octanium.

[gyasko]

My favourite steel nib is the broad italic i have on a Targa. Its very smooth for an italic. After that, i like the 1.5 & 1.9mm Lamy nibs. Once tuned properly, they can be excellent writers.

[sansenri]

I assume the nib on your Targa is the origin Sheaffer. Inlaid? That sounds interesting, I've never tried a Sheaffer steel nib with exception of those on the No Nonsense (which are quite good actually, although a bit too stiff).
Lamy nibs I agree, very nice steel nibs. Pity I tend to dislike the Safari, but I do have a Lamy B on a Wing Sung 3008, very smooth nib!

[sansenri]

I have no steel nibs that I use regularly and was curious, so that, a few months ago, I bought a vintage Pelikan 100 from the ever-obliging Pomperopero which pen has a magnificent steel fine. I really like it: it keeps my gold-nibbed 100 company...the steel one has plentiful flex, when I ask for it -- perhaps not as easily as with the gold nib; but certainly present and correct.

a CN? I've not tried one yet, I'm rather curious.

[sansenri]

I really like Taccia Steel nib. I think, it's Sailor made.

sounds interesting, another steel nib I know nothing about...

[Dimy]

I really like Taccia Steel nib. I think, it's Sailor made.

They are made by sailor and from what I know are very good nibs.

Never tried one but from my miniscule experience with FP variety, I would go for pilot nibs.

[Honeybadgers]

Modern, probably either a pelikan m2xx EF or a Faber castell loom's nib, both my EF and M are amazing. I don't have it anymore, it was a part of my trade to Jonathan for his Cross Peerless London was a penbbs with a needlepoint PO nib I made from a Jinhao #6. That may have been the best nib I've ever made. unbelievably smooth for a razor fine needlepoint.

 

Vintage, easy. Pelikan XXF CN nib I have in my FPR himalaya.

[gyasko]

I assume the nib on your Targa is the origin Sheaffer. Inlaid? That sounds interesting, I've never tried a Sheaffer steel nib with exception of those on the No Nonsense (which are quite good actually, although a bit too stiff).

Lamy nibs I agree, very nice steel nibs. Pity I tend to dislike the Safari, but I do have a Lamy B on a Wing Sung 3008, very smooth nib!

Yes, mine is a Sheaffer original, although it wasnt original to the pen. I think this nib came from a Targa calligraphy set.

 

The Targa inlaid steel nibs are a little nicer than the No Nonsense nibs. The inlaid steel nibs on the 440 and similar are also pretty nice.

[Aysedasi]

Knox 2OB. Utterly superb, but now hard to get hold of.

[sansenri]

Knox 2OB. Utterly superb, but now hard to get hold of.

you've said that before, and I asked why.

I have not got round to ordering a Knox yet...

will probably do and find out for myself, but why superb? what do you like about it (vs other wide nibs). Thanks!

[sansenri]

Modern, probably either a pelikan m2xx EF or a Faber castell loom's nib, both my EF and M are amazing. I don't have it anymore, it was a part of my trade to Jonathan for his Cross Peerless London was a penbbs with a needlepoint PO nib I made from a Jinhao #6. That may have been the best nib I've ever made. unbelievably smooth for a razor fine needlepoint.

 

Vintage, easy. Pelikan XXF CN nib I have in my FPR himalaya.

thanks, I'm curious on the Pelikan CNs.

To be honest in the past I've let a few go past (on 100Ns) because they were not gold... silly me (you get wiser with time).

Specifically why do you like your CN? thanks

[sansenri]

Yes, mine is a Sheaffer original, although it wasnt original to the pen. I think this nib came from a Targa calligraphy set.

 

The Targa inlaid steel nibs are a little nicer than the No Nonsense nibs. The inlaid steel nibs on the 440 and similar are also pretty nice.

thanks, I adore the Inlaid on my PFM, never tried a steel one though, makes me curious.

[ParramattaPaul]

Back in the day, I had a Platignum pen with a steel nib that I liked. More recently, a found Diplomat's Magnum pens had good, likeable nibs and used them. I tried a Lamy AL, but it scratchy and unlikeable. Last week, I bought a Faber-Castell Grip fountain pen to try out because their Grip mechanical pencils are a pleasure to use. The Grip pen I purchased has a broad nib. It is smooth. In fact, it rivals a gold nib for smooth writing.

 

Hence, my new favourite steel nib pen is this Faber-Castell Grip.

[sansenri]

Parker 51 Octanium.

thank you, had to dig to find info

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/118365-parker-51-gold-vs-octanium-nib/

 

how does it compare in your opinion to the regular 51 nibs?

[sansenri]

Back in the day, I had a Platignum pen with a steel nib that I liked. More recently, a found Diplomat's Magnum pens had good, likeable nibs and used them. I tried a Lamy AL, but it scratchy and unlikeable. Last week, I bought a Faber-Castell Grip fountain pen to try out because their Grip mechanical pencils are a pleasure to use. The Grip pen I purchased has a broad nib. It is smooth. In fact, it rivals a gold nib for smooth writing.

 

Hence, my new favourite steel nib pen is this Faber-Castell Grip.

You would probably find the same on other Faber Castell, same experience on my Ondoro, incredibly smooth!

[thx1138]

Best couple of steel nibs are

Cross townsend medium

Online broad - the singing nib. I write and it sings.

[Honeybadgers]

thanks, I'm curious on the Pelikan CNs.

To be honest in the past I've let a few go past (on 100Ns) because they were not gold... silly me (you get wiser with time).

Specifically why do you like your CN? thanks

 

It's quite soft for a steel nib and very snappy, very bordering on true semi-flex. Like the m20x, if someone had stamped "14k" on the nib, I probably never would be able to tell.

 

It's also quite wet flowing and very very fine with a nice feedback (but this is a used nib so honestly, results may vary)

 

But for me, the biggest deal is that it never ever hard starts for any reason at all, with my extremely light hand. If that nib even brushes the first molecule of paper, it puts down ink.

 

My personal biggest "pass/fail" on any nib. no matter what, is not scratchiness or smoothness, flex or firmness, but whether or not it hard starts under any circumstances. I write a lot of math formulas and print very small details on chemical formulas, so in addition to the long flowey cursive script I write in, I'm also making tons of little stop-start markings for numbers and brackets and charges and symbols, so even a minor issue with a pen that either hard starts or requires a bit of pressure to start consistently is a glaring issue that I can't tolerate, as going back over a line when you're writing a tiny little "+" with a circle around it can muddy up the mark and ruin it. I write with a very very light hand most of the time, so even tiny issues are brought glaringly out.

 

And the CN nib I have is genuinely one of my absolute very best examples of the "nib touch paper = ink on paper" behavior.

 

So the reason I love it to the extent I do may very well be just how the nib was worn in over decades, but for someone who is just curious, it really does have the other performance characteristics of a really, really good vintage 14k nib. Like a japanese shiro nib, but even more flexible IMO.