Pens From China And Japan

[inkstainedruth]

Your zoom nib sounds fun.

Well, when I got the Pro-Gear Slim, I was fortunate in that Cult Pens had nearly all the different nibs available. So to be different from what I already had (a preponderance of F nibs, especially on vintage pens) I was trying to decide between the the zoom nib and music nib (which isn't a true music nib -- a true music nib has 3 tines instead of two). And the person on the chat line with Cult Pens hadn't tried either, so I tossed the question out on FPN and got a variety of answers about the zoom nibs: everything from "Oh, you'll hate it, it's not designed for Western style writing" to "I love mine for drawing!" Then I remembered that a good friend is trying to get one of every pen Sailor ever made. And I pinged him and said "Hey, do you have either or both of these nibs?" And my husband and I went up to visit him and ended up sitting in a restaurant with me playing with something he had that had a zoom nib on it (he couldn't find the pen with the music nib) while the three of us were having dinner. Because what I needed to know was whether I could get used to the angle changes or not. And decided that I could, and so that's the nib I ordered for my Purple Cosmos.

And the truth as to whether I like the zoom nib? The answer is "Yes" and "No". Because it also tends to be on the dry side, so I have yet to find an optimal ink for it for drawing with. But I am glad that I bought it. The same way I'm glad I bought that $5 Chinese pen with the fude nib.

Maybe I should try a really wet ink like Iroshizuku Yama-guri. That turned out to be way too wet for my first Pelikan -- a 1990s era Brown Tortoise with a very juicy and springy nib. But might be ideal for the Pro-Gear Slim and its zoom nib....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Gloucesterman]

@minddance - thank you also for your comments and information.