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Sailor 21kt Zoom vs. Naginata Togi shoot-out


ParkerBeta

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Sailor Zoom vs. Naginata Togi (21kt nibs) shoot-out

From English-language descriptions of the two 21kt nibs, one would be forgiven for thinking that they are the same. The Zoom nib is described thus on nibs.com:

http://www.nibs.com/SailorNibPage.htm

The Sailor fountain pen with a zoom nib takes the place of a brush. Holding the pen at a higher angle produces a much finer line than when the pen is held at a lower angle. When held at a "normal" angle, this point delivers a "juicy medium/broad line."

The width of the stroke changes by changing the up and down angle of the pen.

 

On the other hand, the Naginata Togi nib is described thus in an article in Stylophiles:

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/archive/jan03/06lb.htm

The Naginata Togi is ground to provide several different line widths, depending upon the angle at which the pen is held. The name derives from the Japanese word for a type of spear, the tip of which has a gentle curve to its shape. This curve translates to the shape of the tipping material after it has been ground to provide three different line widths, depending upon angle. The two sides taper in, from the rear of the material to the front, this gives you a nice widish line if you have the back part of the tip on the paper, narrowing down to fine as you lift the nib to a more perpendicular position.

 

However, the two nibs are very distinct, as even a cursory writing session with both will tell one immediately. Clearly, the nuances of the original Japanese-language descriptions of the two nibs fail to translate well. However, we get a clue from the name used for the Togi: “Naginata Togi” is supposed to mean “long curved sword” in Japanese. The use of the word “sword” is simply because the tip of the nib, seen in profile, resembles the shape of a famous Japanese sword, but the operative word here is “long.” The Naginata Togi nib has a considerably longer tip than the Zoom, and this yields flex. This allows line-width variation by varying the pressure as one writes. The second big difference between the nibs is that while the Zoom has a large tip that is very rigid and writes the same whether the nib is held obliquely or “normally,” the Naginata Togi nib has a tip that has several facets, all of which have been rendered very smooth, but which together mean that it allows for different writing characteristics depending on whether the nib is held obliquely or not.

Here’s the Stylophiles article again:

The tip shape makes it fun enough to play around with, however, the resulting change in line width isn't as extreme as a superflex nib might produce, but it seems to be easier to control in fast writing.

 

The article also says that this nib is “not flex” but they just mean “not vintage flex.” I found the flexibility of the nib comparable to my Namiki Falcon (SF) and Omas Emotica (originally stock F ground to EF by Greg Minuskin), but less flexy than my Pilot Custom 743’s FA nib.

 

On the other hand, the Zoom nib is very rigid and writes the same whether held obliquely or not.

Here’s the nibs.com description:

Unless you are skilled at changing the angle of the pen during strokes you will not achieve line width variation with a Zoom nib.

 

Indeed, one needs to be a master of brush calligraphy to be able to use the Zoom nib that way.

In short, the Naginata Togi is in every regard (except the two points below) a more fun-to-use nib than the Zoom:

 

1. For some reason, the Naginata Togi nibs are only available in single-tone (either yellow gold or rhodium-plated gold), while the Zoom nibs (and all other Pro Gear 21kt nibs) are only in two-tone form.

 

2. The Naginata Togi nib is significantly more expensive than the Zoom nib. The Stylophiles article gives a clue as to why: the Togi nib, it appears, is hand-tuned and fitted to the feed (to ensure ink flow that can keep up with the flex) from a regular production Sailor nib, so of course the extra labor and time involved raises its price. However, other Sailor nibs don’t have the elongated tip, so I guess the Naginata Togi nibs are first made on a regular assembly-line (unlike the even more specialized nibs like the Emperor, which are made by hand), then hand-tuned.

 

By the way, there is only one kind of Zoom nib, but one can get the Naginata Togi in both B and MF widths. FPN-ers overwhelmingly favor the latter.

 

I have attached two examples of writing with the Zoom and the Naginata Togi nibs. I must confess I have very little practice writing with flex nibs, so it will be amusing for me to revisit my samples in a few weeks or months and laugh at them. Further, the trick to obtaining line-width variation out of the Togi came from detailed postings by Pixwriter on the FPN forums here here and most importantly here, including an amazing writing sample posted on Pixwriter’s behalf by Siv here, and I am grateful to both for interesting me in the Togi (or perhaps not, for it involved a substantial outlay at a time when I was trying to keep from acquiring new pens!) The same goes for Saturninus, who actually sold me the Togi.

 

 

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_UgHPfKJDjhg/Swzrsy_AJXI/AAAAAAAAARs/eB4g0bO4eOA/s512/DSC_6361.JPG

 

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_UgHPfKJDjhg/Swzru9_lP6I/AAAAAAAAARw/nKNxFKZrqVg/s512/DSC_6362.JPG

Edited by ParkerBeta

S.T. Dupont Ellipsis 18kt M nib

Opus 88 Flow steel M nib

Waterman Man 100 Patrician Coral Red 18kt factory stub nib

Franklin-Christoph Model 19 with Masuyama 0.7mm steel cursive italic nib

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Many thanks for this interesting and informative review. I had been wondering myself for some time about the differences and similarities of these two popular Sailor nibs. Your study is very nice indeed.

In my current rotation:

Pelikan 400 Brown Tortoise/14K Fine/J. Herbin Cafe des Iles

Lamy 2000/14K Medium/Lamy Blue-Black

Sailor 1911 Large burgundy/21K Naginata Togi Medium/Diamine Oxblood

Montblanc 146/14K Fine/Montblanc Racing Green

Rosetta blue/Steel Pendelton cursive italic/Pelikan Royal Blue

Delta Passion/18K Broad/Diamine Syrah

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Thanks for doing this even though Id idn't get the hang of the Naginata Togi with a few minutes' use.

deirdre.net

"Heck we fed a thousand dollar pen to a chicken because we could." -- FarmBoy, about Pen Posse

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Thanks for this great post. I already have a zoom nib, and after reading this I am going to get a MF Naginata Togi. It sounds an looks like such a fun nib.

 

 

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Yes, very nice comparison. I have a Naginata Togi MF coming in next week. I too was impressed with the posts from pixwriter and that pushed me over the edge. Thanks.

JELL-O, IT'S WHATS FOR DINNER!

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  • 3 weeks later...

Yes, very nice comparison. I have a Naginata Togi MF coming in next week. I too was impressed with the posts from pixwriter and that pushed me over the edge. Thanks.

 

 

Not sure if apologies are due here!

I enjoyed this thread and I will have to try to watch what I do when I use the nib, as it doesn't feell like a flex effect to me.

It is hard to be sure though as it is difficult to write naturally while watching and analysing what is happening at the same time ........

 

Another point (from review) is that I think that there are THREE nib sizes, these are MF, M and B in the Naginata togi, I only have NMF but gather the M is quite a bit broader, if you think there are only two you might opt for NM and not NMF

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  • 2 years later...

I just got to this review and I would definitely get a NMF now. Pretty interesting nib. :thumbup:

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  • 7 months later...

Thank you for the demonstration.

 

I'm very interested to see what the King Eagle nib can do.

 

If anyone knows of a demonstration, please point me in that direction, so curious about the King Eagle.

 

Cheers!

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