All Hail Bock nibs

[goodguy]

I own 3 pens with Bock nibs.

 

1.Omas Paragon

2.Visconti Copernicus

3.Visconti Rinascimento Start Dast

 

All three pens are wonderful writers and I love the nibs on these pens.I find the nibs to be very smooth,reliable and has this special thing that is so important to me and I call it character.

I always thought contracting out to produce nibs outside the company is a recipie for a bad to avarage nib but I must admit I think Bock is doing an excellent job and hope to get lots of other pens with Bock nibs.

[Phthalo]

I have disliked almost every Bock nib that I own (which is more than three - it's closer to a dozen). Most have been reground.

 

In general, I find them to be far too wide, and I dislike the overly-wet-to-hide-the-flaws approach to making nibs.

[goodguy]

I have disliked almost every Bock nib that I own (which is more than three - it's closer to a dozen). Most have been reground.

 

In general, I find them to be far too wide, and I dislike the overly-wet-to-hide-the-flaws approach to making nibs.

Hi Laura

Well I guess different people like different things.Its hard to argue with someone that had already 12 of these nibs.

I hope you will find a Bock nib you will enjoy.

[Univer]

Hi,

 

A good question that deserves a thoughtful response. I suppose I own a fair sampling of Bock-nibbed pens. I associate Bock nibs with several qualities, some good, some not so good:

 

1. Smoothness

 

2. Attractiveness (cosmetically: engraving, etc.)

 

3. A tendency to skip on downstrokes, or (more irritating still) to "miss" the first quarter-inch of a downstroke

 

4. Wet writing (good for me, less so for some other folks)

 

#1 and #3 may be related, of course; a certain amount of "baby-bottom," which may very well be a deliberate design choice, will yield a very smooth nib...that skips.

 

I keep hearing that Bock makes its nibs to the specifications provided by its customers. I think there's some truth in that, because I have had fewer problems with Danitrio Bock nibs than with any others...which suggests that Dani is either {a} specifying a truly custom nib or {b} doing a better job of weeding out the less-than-perfect nibs.

 

That said, I tend to think that there's also a standard Bock "house" nib, and that many of its customers simply order up the default product (with brand-appropriate cosmetics). To my hand, most Bock-nibbed pens have a similar, smooth-yet-bland feel. I like my Bock-nibbed Omas pens, but when I bought my first pre-Bock Omas, I was struck by its more interesting "personality."

 

For my part, I'll take an Aurora nib, a Fort Madison (R.I.P.) Sheaffer nib, or (best of all) a nice vintage nib from any of several manufacturers.

 

I find it interesting that Pelikan has reportedly brought nib production back in-house.

 

Cheers,

 

Jon

[rroossinck]

I've got a bunch of Bock-nibbed pens, too, and I'm tending to side with Laura and John on this one. There are a couple of notable exceptions to the "good, but bland" rule in my cadre of writers, though. Interestingly enough, they're typically Bock's steel nibs that are the better ones.

 

Here's an interesting article from Tom Westerich on his tour of Peter Bock's facility.

Bock Factory Tour

Edited March 19, 2008 by rroossinck

[Rufus]

I have disliked almost every Bock nib that I own (which is more than three - it's closer to a dozen). Most have been reground.

 

In general, I find them to be far too wide, and I dislike the overly-wet-to-hide-the-flaws approach to making nibs.

 

If you count my Bexleys I have six gold Bock nibs and love them all. Yesterday i received my orange ebonite Glenmont from Brian Gray, which I had fitted with a medium gold Bock nib and what a lovely nib it is. None of my other gold nibs (Pelikan M800, Parker Duofold Centennial, Stipula Saturno, Sailor Naginata-Togi, Omas Milord) is any better than my Bock nibs. Goodguy, I disagree with you vehemently on MB, but when it comes to Bock nibs we are of one mind. Laura what are the flaws you perceive?

 

[jmkeuning]

Well I guess different people like different things.

 

I suppose not everyone will be hailing the nib (ALL hail?) if different people like different things.

 

I know of one nib that is definitely a Bock, it's customized to a .3mm stub and it writes will. I do not know if my other nibs are Bocks or not. I suppose my Pelikans might be?

 

Anyway, it seems to me that Bocks are just as good as any other nib.

 

I certainly will not be hailing Bock nibs. Or any nib for that matter!

 

[goodguy]

Goodguy, I disagree with you vehemently on MB, but when it comes to Bock nibs we are of one mind.

I looked up what "vehemently" means in the dictionery and I think I understand what you mean but not 100%.

I like MB and so Visconti.I would share my views on Visconti just as I share on MB pens.I just try to explain and say that people should try a pen and then judge it and not pass judgement without ever trying it.

 

Just wondering are you coming to our pen meeting in Cambridge ?

[Johnson]

I'm a fan of Bock nibs, but I really like F nibs that tend towards the slightly wide and wet, so the Bock F is just about perfect for me. I also love my MB F, so long as we are talking about MB.

 

Doesn't Danitrio use Bock nibs? The soft M nib on my Mikado is awesome, though I'll probably get a soft F for my next one (I have Tamenuri dreams).

[Rufus]

Goodguy, I disagree with you vehemently on MB, but when it comes to Bock nibs we are of one mind.

I looked up what "vehemently" means in the dictionery and I think I understand what you mean but not 100%.

I like MB and so Visconti.I would share my views on Visconti just as I share on MB pens.I just try to explain and say that people should try a pen and then judge it and not pass judgement without ever trying it.

 

Just wondering are you coming to our pen meeting in Cambridge ?

 

Goodguy, without hijacking or side-tracking this thread let me explain what I meant about MB: You are quite passionate in your support of MB pens, whereas I strongly dislike them. I've owned several, and still have a 146, but all have been seriously flawed in one way or another. Moreover, I think they are grossly over priced. Each to his/her own as they say. And, as we see in this thread, not all like Bock nibs quite the way the two of us like them. But that's what makes a market.

 

With respect to Visconti, I don't own one and have never used one, but I'd love to get my hands on a Copernicus crescent-filler.

 

As concerns Cambridge, yes, I'll be there on Saturday. See you then.

 

[goodguy]

Goodguy, I disagree with you vehemently on MB, but when it comes to Bock nibs we are of one mind.

I looked up what "vehemently" means in the dictionery and I think I understand what you mean but not 100%.

I like MB and so Visconti.I would share my views on Visconti just as I share on MB pens.I just try to explain and say that people should try a pen and then judge it and not pass judgement without ever trying it.

 

Just wondering are you coming to our pen meeting in Cambridge ?

 

Goodguy, without hijacking or side-tracking this thread let me explain what I meant about MB: You are quite passionate in your support of MB pens, whereas I strongly dislike them. I've owned several, and still have a 146, but all have been seriously flawed in one way or another. Moreover, I think they are grossly over priced. Each to his/her own as they say. And, as we see in this thread, not all like Bock nibs quite the way the two of us like them. But that's what makes a market.

 

With respect to Visconti, I don't own one and have never used one, but I'd love to get my hands on a Copernicus crescent-filler.

 

As concerns Cambridge, yes, I'll be there on Saturday. See you then.

I brought my Copernicus with me last time.If you want I can bring it again (just to play with not to sell ) so let me know.

 

I will bring my new Visconti with me and you can check the nib on it.

Oh and I love MB pens that true but really everybody has the right to there opinion and lets face it these are pens and not a life or death issues.Everything said on the forum should be taken with a grain on solt

 

Edited March 19, 2008 by goodguy

[rlukcs]

There is a wonderful variety of Bock nibs made, most probably the pen company can choose among those.

I have a modern Pelikan M600, which has a very smooth, not too wet medium nib (and it never skips), with no (or nearly no) flex.

On the other hand I have an older piston-filling Melbi (German made, second tier) pen, that has a real flexy fine Bock nib.

 

Both pens are great. It would be really wonderful if one could buy Bock nibs separately too, for repairs (if a pen is missing the nib).

[georges zaslavsky]

My only Bock nibbed pens are the 2005 Omas Arte Italiana Paragon oversize and the 2002 Omas 360 Colonial. Both have very smooth and very flexible nibs.

For what concerns MBs, I own five of them. Three 149s (one is a fine semi flexible nib, one is a medium broad flexible nib and the last one a full flexible medium oblique nib) and two 146s (one is an extra fine semi flex nib and the last an extra flexible medium oblique nib). Their nibs have nothing to envy to Sailor nibs let alone Namiki nibs. Even my 1951 french vacumatic has a delicious flexible extra fine nib that beats the sailor sapporo or sailor 1911 extra fine nib. My 1947 french made Over Size Parker button filler has a great full flexible broad nib which is hard to beat. My older style pel 800 offers good flexibility and is one smooth writer.

I tried Aurora, Delta, Visconti, Sheaffer Triumph and Feathertouch as well as Waterman Edson nibs. All of them were dull and writing like pitchforks for me.

Waterman Exception and Man 100, Taccia, Dani Trio, Montegrappa, Sailor, Namiki an Platinum are some of the very best nibs I have tried but I am not only buying a nib but a whole pen and a good pen for me must have a good filling system.

Edited March 19, 2008 by georges zaslavsky

[Phthalo]

I like the Bock design and physical size... but their interpretation of point-sizes is pretty woeful.

 

I own about half a dozen Pelikan-Bock nibs... my F was like a wet M and the rest were EF nibs that in some cases wrote wider lines than the F. I tested another half a dozen Pelikan nibs in-store and found *1* to be a true EF - one decent EF found out of a dozen samples points to extremely poor QA. I believe Richard Binder prefers not to even sell the factory Pelikan-Bock EF nib units because the disappointment rate is so high. There are good Pelikan-Bock EF nibs to be found - but the terrible inconsistency is just not cool.

 

- OMAS-Bock nibs... one 18K EF is ok, two 18K F nibs skip / have baby-bottom issues and write like sloppy-wet M nibs to the point of being unusable.

- My Bexley FPN pen... F nib... huge and wet, but also a strangely lovely writer due to some nice subtle feedback - interestingly, this is a steel nib.

- Visconti Viscontina... 18K B nib which barely writes due to uneven tipping. Dreadful.

 

Unfortunately, my experiences with Bock nibs have resulted in several hundred dollars spent on re-grinding.

 

If you like buttery M nibs, then Bock are probably for you - if you have small handwriting and want a guaranteed *correct* EF nib, not EF-like, look elsewhere.

Edited March 19, 2008 by Phthalo

[Rufus]

I like the Bock design and physical size... but their interpretation of point-sizes is pretty woeful.

 

I own about half a dozen Pelikan-Bock nibs... my F was like a wet M and the rest were EF nibs that in some cases wrote wider lines than the F. I tested another half a dozen Pelikan nibs in-store and found *1* to be a true EF - one decent EF found out of a dozen samples points to extremely poor QA. I believe Richard Binder prefers not to even sell the factory Pelikan-Bock EF nib units because the disappointment rate is so high. There are good Pelikan-Bock EF nibs to be found - but the terrible inconsistency is just not cool.

 

- OMAS-Bock nibs... one 18K EF is ok, two 18K F nibs skip / have baby-bottom issues and write like sloppy-wet M nibs to the point of being unusable.

- My Bexley FPN pen... F nib... huge and wet, but also a strangely lovely writer due to some nice subtle feedback - interestingly, this is a steel nib.

- Visconti Viscontina... 18K B nib which barely writes due to uneven tipping. Dreadful.

 

Unfortunately, my experiences with Bock nibs have resulted in several hundred dollars spent on re-grinding.

 

If you like buttery M nibs, then Bock are probably for you - if you have small handwriting and want a guaranteed *correct* EF nib, not EF-like, look elsewhere.

 

Laura, other than my Bexley nibs and my Pencraft Glenmont Bock nib, how do I know if my Omas Milord (old-style), Omas Ogiva Guilloche and Pelikan M800 (old-style) have Bock nibs. No matter though, as I like the nibs in all these pens. I don't find the nibs in my Bexleys or Glenmont "buttery" smooth nor do I have flow problems with any of them. Most of my nibs are mediums and I do have a couple of fines and broads, but no extra-fines or super-broads; in fact I can't imagine trying to write with an extra-fine nib. Of my 30 pens, I've never felt it necessary to send any out to have the nib re-ground. I guess this goes to prove that, as are so many things in life, nibs are a deeply personal experience.

 

[Ghost Plane]

Loving B or BB nibs, I find myself voting with goodguy. [Mark your calendar!] Luscious, wet, smooth

[goodguy]

Loving B or BB nibs, I find myself voting with goodguy. [Mark your calendar!] Luscious, wet, smooth

Its a blessed day indeed that we think alike on this subject.

[Phthalo]

LVMH bought OMAS in May 2000 or so... generally pens produced after ~2001 have Bock-for-OMAS nibs.

[jkrewalk]

I own 3 pens with Bock nibs.

 

1.Omas Paragon

2.Visconti Copernicus

3.Visconti Rinascimento Start Dast

 

All three pens are wonderful writers and I love the nibs on these pens.I find the nibs to be very smooth,reliable and has this special thing that is so important to me and I call it character.

I always thought contracting out to produce nibs outside the company is a recipie for a bad to avarage nib but I must admit I think Bock is doing an excellent job and hope to get lots of other pens with Bock nibs.

 

I guess I don't understand - According to the OMAS website - they make their own nibs which supposedly provide with a flex that is not typical of "standard" nibs. According to their site every Omas is handmade and can take as much as "100 days" to make by hand. Then they just stick a Bock on it??? Sorry for my confusion here. I have many bock nibs and I can tell the difference right away. My Omas Ogiva has something totally differtent than a Bock. It's pure, its flexible and its special. It is anything but a Bock. Is the Paragon different??????

[langere]

LVMH bought OMAS in May 2000 or so... generally pens produced after ~2001 have Bock-for-OMAS nibs.

 

Is there a list somewhere where we can find out what brands (and when) have Bock nibs? It would be good to unify all this knowledge in one place - perhaps it's been done already?

 

Erick