Super-firm nibs?

[RevAaron]

The fountain-pen-as-dart commercial reminds me of a question I've been meaning to ask for a while: but where can I get a modern nail-firm pen? I don't care if it's gold or steel, though I would tend towards steel and cheap.

 

Don't go trotting out the Lamy Safari on me- that is hardly a nail. No flex, but no nail. Same with a lot of other steel nib pens commonly thought of as nails. I'm talking about the real deal, like a lot of the Esterbrook and Sheaffer Triumph nibs I've had. I'm talking about nibs that can pull back your fingernails when you try to adjust the tines, not just nibs without any flex. This kind of nib has to be thick- firm but thin steel like the Safari, Pelikano, Preppy, etc are all made of such thin metal.

 

What modern and cheap options are there?

 

Aaron

[I am not a number]

Waterman Carene off ebay? Not massively cheap but it meets the other criteria and I think is as good as you will get for the money...

[BillTheEditor]

Rotring 600

[skipwilliams]

The Wality 52 is pretty hard, and cheap at $15.00 But it's nowhere near the strength of my Triumph-nibbed Sheaffer Balance. That round nib, combined with thickness, makes it a champ. If you could find an Indian or Chinese pen that uses a tubular nib, then you'd probably have a modern winner.

 

I'd also suggest a Dupont Olympio (name?), but one like my Vertigo isn't cheap by any stretch.

 

Skip

 

[OldGriz]

Parker 51... the fact that it is a small tubular nib and only a small part is exposed by the hood makes it a real nail.....

[dumdummuoi]

+1 on the Carene...

 

Also, Caran d'Ache Dunas? I write with very little pressure so it's a bit hard for me to tell, but I've heard people say it's a very firm nib. It's also steel and half the price of a Carene.

[jonro]

The Waterman Liaison has a triumph-like stiff nib.

[RevAaron]

Skip- exactly! I've a Wality 69L piston filler that fits the bill. Frankly, I think that's why I let the question go- I finally tried a Wality and was impressed.

 

I seem to have a tendency to screw up nib alignment when I'm using a pen standing up. Especially on modern gold and steel nibs, which seem to be a lot less elastic and a lot more easily deformed. This is especially true for Lamy Safari or Pelikano nibs, for me at least.

 

BTW, my Wality really rocks the house. One of those pens I want to go by a few spares of, even though I've no need to.

[FrankB]

I agree with the Parker "51" suggestion. I also have several Waterman pens with really rigid nibs. I had thought Waterman was the rigid nib champ.

[mstone]

Parker 51... the fact that it is a small tubular nib and only a small part is exposed by the hood makes it a real nail.....

In my experience, not so much. You push too hard on a 51 & it will deform, sometimes to the point of getting misaligned. It's a nail compared to a flexie nib, but it's still a relatively thin piece of gold.

[dumdummuoi]

Parker 51... the fact that it is a small tubular nib and only a small part is exposed by the hood makes it a real nail.....

In my experience, not so much. You push too hard on a 51 & it will deform, sometimes to the point of getting misaligned. It's a nail compared to a flexie nib, but it's still a relatively thin piece of gold.

 

My 51's nib feels somewhat soft as well. I would never think to call it a nail.

[AJP]

Not exactly modern but I have a 1960's Pilot E with a Posting nib. That puppy can drive through a phone book with enough force. Not sure about their modern Posting nibs but they do sell them.

[Pippin60]

Rotring 600

 

I second that a Rotring 600 or Core

[Breck]

I was going to suggest the Platinum Preppy, but I don't think it's much stiffer than a Lamy Safari. Gets points for cheap, though.

[Bearcat]

Parker 51... the fact that it is a small tubular nib and only a small part is exposed by the hood makes it a real nail.....

In my experience, not so much. You push too hard on a 51 & it will deform, sometimes to the point of getting misaligned. It's a nail compared to a flexie nib, but it's still a relatively thin piece of gold.

 

My 51's nib feels somewhat soft as well. I would never think to call it a nail.

 

 

Try the steel nibbed Parker 21 instead.

 

[RevAaron]

In my experience, not so much. You push too hard on a 51 & it will deform, sometimes to the point of getting misaligned. It's a nail compared to a flexie nib, but it's still a relatively thin piece of gold.

 

And, it's harder to fix to boot! I agree about the "51" not being a nail- both my Parker 21 and 51 both have some give. There just happens to be a hunka plastic limiting how much it could be flexed.

[RevAaron]

I had a Core for a while, and I seem to recall it was pretty firm. So was the Vector. I loved the Vector, except that it was so skinny. Are the Rotring 600's gold nibs firm as well?

 

Aaron

[psfred]

Hero 329 or 616 -- very firm, fine nibs. 330 and 336 have wider nibs, which I don't care for, but all are quite stiff. In vintage pens, look for manifold nibs, meant to write through multiple carbons.

 

In general, wider nibs are stiffer as they have thicker and wider tines.

 

Peter

[PAKMAN]

The nails that I've used are Waterman Edson and Carene, Rotring 600 and Core, also the Retro 51 Scriptmaster II.

[PacificCoastPen]

Hands down for the Rotring Core Techno. I have two...an XL and a XS. You could probably use both as arrow tips and split apples 100 paces away...and still write afterwards. They've grown on me.