All Hail Bock nibs

[Russ]

Can anyone comment on the springy feel (or lack of it) characteristic of nibs made by Bock and Yard-O-Led? What I've read suggests that YOL nibs are more precise in line width and a bit more flexible.

[gylyf]

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

 

Hi, Erick. If you search for Bock, you'll find a thread where we put together a fairly comprehensive list of companies that use Bock nibs. Take care,

David

[simonrob]

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

 

My experience (and preferences) pretty much match yours (especially the bit about vintage nibs). I've had a few pens with Bock nibs with maddening downstroke skip problems that wouldn't go away even after regrinding and a few which write as I imagine they're supposed to (rather wet and broad-for-their-size and very smooth), but they're so smooth that writing with them feels a bit like driving on wet ice.

 

Simon

[goodguy]

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

 

My experience (and preferences) pretty much match yours (especially the bit about vintage nibs). I've had a few pens with Bock nibs with maddening downstroke skip problems that wouldn't go away even after regrinding and a few which write as I imagine they're supposed to (rather wet and broad-for-their-size and very smooth), but they're so smooth that writing with them feels a bit like driving on wet ice.

 

Simon

I want to thank you guys for teaching me about your experience with Bock nibs.

[slimnib]

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.

 

 

Strange, I really dislike the fine and extra fine Japanese nibs.

It seems that it that takes all kinds.

 

 

Harv