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The next set of pens in this series come from Tombow and Rotring. They are what seems to be an early Tombow Zoom 101 and a non-telescoping Rotring Espirit. The Epirit predates the absorption of Rotring by Sanford. Both pens are no longer in production. I purchased the Espirit in 2009 and the Zoom 101 in 2007. https://imgchr.com/i/1jszYd">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1jszYd.md.jpg" alt="1jszYd.jpg" border="0" /> The pens share little in external appearance although both are thin compared to many pens on the market. The Rotring is made from anodized aluminum and consistent with the companies sleek functional aesthetic. The Tombow is made from what appears to be painted brass with a plastic grip section in the center of the barrel. The clips on both pens are steel. The Rotring cap is pulled off while the Tombow screws off. The Tombow is unusual in that one can change the cartridge without removing the cap while the Rotring has conventional access to the cartridges. The grip on the Tombow is high on the barrel which seems odd at first, but is nice in the hand. The machined ridges on the Rotring also make it sit nicely in the hand. https://imgchr.com/i/1jy29A">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1jy29A.jpg" alt="1jy29A.jpg" border="0" /> https://imgchr.com/i/1j6Vu6">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1j6Vu6.md.jpg" alt="1j6Vu6.jpg" border="0" /> https://imgchr.com/i/1j6pEF">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1j6pEF.md.jpg" alt="1j6pEF.jpg" border="0" /> https://imgchr.com/i/1vVH8P">src="https://s2.ax1x.com/2020/02/14/1vVH8P.md.jpg" alt="1vVH8P.jpg" border="0" /> One can see that asides from the decoration on the nibs, they are identical. In speculating about where the nibs come from, I think that Rotring made the nibs for Tombow or they get the nibs from the same third party OEM. I lean towards the nib being made by Rotring as it features on many of the company’s pens of this period. Tombow also was linked to the Herlitz nibs I examined in the first post in this series, so I doubt Tombow made the nibs for Rotring. Tombow has a history as supplier of a portfolio of stationary supplies, so fountain pens were just another item to complete the product list. Rotring was a more focused niche player and fountain pens played a larger role in the product range. I hope you enjoyed the article and I look forward to your comments. If you know more about this style of nib, please share your knowledge. Thanks for reading.

This is the first of what will hopefully be a series of posts that start looking at the similarities between nibs of various brands, especially lesser known, lower end manufacturers. The idea is to see if we can figure out relationships between factories beyond the Jowo, Schmidt, and Bock arrangements we know of. I don’t have any authoritative knowledge, just a collection that spans the lower end of the market and attempts to collect pens from different countries. I hope others will join in and add to the posts to create a more complete picture of the relationships between different companies now and in the past. It is not an attempt to make sense of IPG (Iridium Point Germany), Parker 51 clones, or Lamy Safari/All star clones. Sorting those nibs requires direct knowledge from someone working in the industry or someone with metallurgic testing skills. I will focus on the nibs, but will try and look at overall pens when I think the designs share a lot of traits or are interchangeable. The first pens featured are the Herlitz Tornado SLS ( 1988?), the Tombow Object (2008?), the Jolly Jollypen, and the Staedtler Learner’s Pen. The companies all currently produce fountain pens, although the Tornado and Object are not current models. Herlitz and Staedtler are German, Tombow is Japanese, and Jolly is Austrian. All but the Object are German student pens. The nibs and pens share characteristics that I hope to show you that the nibs are from the same company or made from the same tooling. The feeds differ between the current production pens and the older ones, so someone has updated the design a bit. The first photo shows the pens together and you have from top to bottom; the Herlitz Tornado SLS, the Tombow Object, the Jolly Jollypen, and the Staedtler Learner’s Pen. The Tornado and Jollypen follow the typical adolescent German Student Pen design of a metal cap, sturdy clip and plastic body, The Tornado is more of an adult pen with an anodized, brushed aluminum, torpedo design. The Staedtler reflects the current elementary-aged Student Pen aesthetic of “rugged kid proof plastic bludgeon” The nibs are shown below and all have a continuous curved design with no breather hole. They are well-behaved, lay down a smooth line and shade inks relatively easily. They are all forgiving nibs as one expects from student pens and ink leaks are rare. When ink leaks, a few drops is what you get. The Tornado and Object share the same design for nib and feed with little visible differences beyond the color of the nib and sprue burrs. As far as I can tell, this nib started use in the Herlitz Bugatti which dates from the 1960’s (?). Hopefully someone who has a Bugatti can chime in? The Jollypen and Learner’s pen share the same nib and feed. The nibs differ just in engraving, while the feeds are identical. The nibs are shown below. Based on the history with the Bugatti, I think that Herlitz first made the nibs and tooling and either makes the nibs for Jolly and Staedtler or provides the tooling. I haven’t seen this nib in any form from Jowo, Schmidt, or Bock, however that doesn’t rule out that one of these companies makes the nibs shown in this post. Hopefully someone who knows more can shed more light. Tombow is interesting as it will appear in my next post as a company that shares a nib with a pre-Sanford Rotring pen. Because Tombow’s nibs match those used by other companies, I doubt they make this nib in house. Jolly is a newer company than Herlitz, so I don’t think it makes the nibs. The similarities between the Jollypen and Tornado are striking as they seem to share the same tooling for the barrels and caps, or are similar enough to be interchangeable. The Tornado is an SLS version that was made with an ink eraser at the end. The eraser didn’t work as well as the traditional two-ended ones like the Pelikan Pirat. I hope you enjoyed this post and please add your knowledge and look through your pens and see if anything looks like these pens. Postscript: Jolly is a lesser known company, whose pens are great if you want nice student pens off the beaten track. I have another earlier production Jollypen as well. Here is a link to their site. https://jolly.at/en/produkt-kategorie/cartridge-pens/

can anyone give me a heads up as to what gold #8 nibs people have swapped into their conid kingsize with a high level of compatibility ? thinking of buying a kingsize and wonder if there are options for nib swapping with this particular model ?

Hi all, first post here. I bought a taperite citation with the hooded nib that needs restoring, but the nib needs replacing. I have been scouring the web for months trying to find a replacement with no success. Having to guess at the nib description as all the engraving says is ‘made in england’ or some such. I have bought other taperites with the intention of nicking their nibs, but they are always in good condition and very saleable, so it would simply leave me with yet another pen needing a nib. Can anyone point me to a nib or provide an accurate description of the nib model so i can continue my search without going bald too quickly? i apologies if i am in the forum, feel free to moderate me. many desperate thanks in advance, Dave C.

I recently interviewed Luca Viti - Stipula's business partner and head of the pens’ department - because we re-started a business relationship after a few years off. As I wrote in the interview's introduction, "I missed the Stipulas. They are beautiful, interesting, and charming pens. They remind me of those prim-and-proper ladies: they won’t surprise you with the latest fashion, but will never look out of place." Well, apart from the aesthetics, I found out that Stipula now produces its own nibs, because a few years ago bought an old nib factory with all old equipments and started producing home-made nibs. Not only gold. They also make a steel calligraphic nib (they called it V-Flex) that is more flexible and performing than many gold nibs. Here you find the whole interview: http://blog.giardino.it/2019/12/stipula-is-back/

One of the things that I love about my Lamy Safari and vintage Esterbrook pens are the ease in which I can swap out a nib. The Safari nib just slides off and onto the feed, making it easy-peasy to switch nibs on the fly, even when the converter is full of ink. The Esterbrook nibs are a nib/feed assembly that screws in and out. It's not a nib I'd want to change when there's ink in the pen, but it's easy enough to switch when I want to try something different. What other pens have interchangeable nibs? I'm especially curious to know if the Sailor Pro-Gear Slim or the Pelikan M400 nibs are as easy to swap out. I've seen photos of the Pelikan nibs and it looks like the nib unit should screw in and out fairly easily. But I've not seen any nibs for my Sailor pen.

I have problems with the nibs on the Moonman N2 and Moonman S1 directly out of the box . I having problems with the nibs alignment , ink flow , nibs and feeds not staying secure inside the nib assembly , with ink infiltrating around the nib assembly inside the section . I unscrew the nib assembly , clean the inside of the section fixed the nibs alignment and smoothed the nibs and then i tried to screw back the nibs assembly but when to tighten a little the nib assembly in to the section i noticed that the lips that hold the rubber gaskets was broken in fact the both nib assembly looks to be very brittle . Has anyone else had any such issues with Moonman N2 and Moonman S1 fountain pens ?

So I found a battered, anonymous pen on eBay and, because I look for interesting nibs, I took a close look at the business end. What I saw was a dirty and ink-stained Warranted nib: a Music Nib. It wasnt cheap (by my lights) but they usually go for a lot more. When it gets here Ill see if it still works, and if it does I may drop it into one of my ringtops. Fingers crossed.

Hello nibsters, I have two daily workhorse pens a Parker VP with a number 63 nib which writes a very fine fine and a Parker 65 with a tip much larger than the VP but it writes a very similar line. I have been photographing my various pen nibs through a microscope to try to learn a bit about tip shape and the resulting line characteristics and noticed these two nibs, unlike my Parker 51s have noticeable tipping on the upper side of the nib as well as the lower. The VP upper side appears smaller but definitely shaped and polished, The 65 has a definite flat grind. Both write really well albeit with a hair-thin line when reversed. I know the Parker 180 was famously a tw sided pens and the vacs. Does anyone know if the VP and 65 nibs were designed to be double sided?

I have a vintage Lifelong Pen in need of a new nib. Does anyone know where I might get one? Thanks for any help anyone can give me! Ruth

I have never had a Lamy before and decided to try this one because of the interesting color scheme. I ordered it with an extra nib (italic) to try out as I had heard people really like the interchangeability of Lamy nibs. I had never changed a nib before. I think the pen is handsome but the plastic feels more like a toy than I expected; think Legos. It was easy to replace the EF nib with the replacement. All the pen parts fit snugly together. The pen started pretty easily. Although I like the triangular grip, I found the barrel of the pen too wide for my taste, the cap even wider, and the clip on the cap a bit awkward. The pen's weight is well-balanced. At this price point, I prefer the experience of writing with the Diplomat magnum. À chacun son goût!

This old McNiven & Cameron pen is described as having a nib in "good order". I ask you!

I have been looking through some old compatibility threads but haven't found an answer to my question, so if this has been addressed elsewhere I apologize in advance. I was wondering what nib is compatible with the Diplomat Magnum. Goulet says the Magnum has a JoWo nib, but doesn't say what size. I know that #5 and #6 are standard sizes, but don't know which is on the Diplomat. The stock Diplomats only come in three nib types and now that I finally got brave enough to change a nib on a Lamy I'm keen to try some others. Thanks.

Hello FPN Members, Its glad to meet you all. Long story short, my name is Sunil Pandya, from Ahmedabad INDIA and my instagram handle is @sunilscalligraphie my passion for writing started around 1988 at that time I did not know even what the calligraphy is. I was inspired by my Biology teacher Mr. Karimullah, every time I see him writing on board I copied into the book and kept practicing for hours and hours. I have recently started practice calligraphy in Spencerian and Copperplate for which I was googling for fountain pens and I found FPN network has huge number of supportive people discussing whereabouts of fountain pens, vintage pens, reviews and lots many more. I am totally inspired by this community and created account so that I can also share my thoughts. Before joining this group I did not knew that India is a Hub of Fountain Pens so a big thanks to the group members. I am also visiting to Abdul Rahman Street, Mumbai to pick up some budgeted Fountain pens for easy writing. I will post my findings soon after my visit. Happy exploring and discussing. Love from India

In general, I am partial to Japanese pens, and most of my pens are EF or F nibs. I have a new Pelikan EF which is broader than my Japanese pens (.4 mm versus .3) but I love the ink flow. The nib is so smooth! I don't know if the pen performs as it does because of nib-tuning or the size - I know that it is a bit wet for doing a crossword puzzle. Does anyone have suggestions on equally smooth performing pens that produce narrower lines?

This company thinks they have it sorted. "With a marvelous bit of problem solving, done through re-engineering a product that hasn’t seen much innovation in over half a century, Indigraph eliminates the pen’s drying out problem. How does it do this? By constantly keeping the pen’s tip in contact with water!"

I've been seeing this term in the description of nibs recently and I've no idea what it means. Could those in the know please explain what "willow" nibs means. Recently saw as Gillott's 404 Willow Nib and Gillott's 170 Willow nibs. I have some Antique Gillott 170 nibs and they are all stamped/embossed with the word 'Warranted'. How is this different (if it is) from the 'willow'? TIA

I don't own any gold nibs right now, except my grandpa's Pelikan P1. All the pens I own are steel ones. Out of curiosity, before trying another gold nibbed pen, I would like to know the difference between these nibs. I know gold nibs add a little bounce to them, whereas steel nibs are nails. Don't know anything about titanium ones though. For example I have a Sailor Shikiori which gives off a very very pleasant feedback I like despite it being a nail. Now if I move on to a Pro Gear, what is going to change?

Hello everybody its Michael here at Dromgooles. If you are in Houston on Friday April 26th I have got the place for you to be! We are having a social/meet and greet with Cary Yeager aka Fountain Pen Day at 6pm at Saint Arnolds brewery. This is a casual hangout to meet with other like minded people, and show off your favorite inks, pens, papers etc. We are also going to be doing door prizes and giveaways of some new exciting stuff with high odds to win! Cary, isn't in town often so please stop on by to meet and hangout with him, he is a real pleasure. The "event" will run until it all fades out, so even if you only have a little bit of time, we would love to see you. Also, for those interested, we are having a pen show at the store Saturday April 27 with Anuj Poddar of AP Limited Editions and some of his new pens including the amazing bulkfiller in some, also featuring Cary, so there should be a fun crowd hanging around (10am-4pm). Snacks and drinks will be provided! If you have any questions at all please feel free to reach out and we will be glad to help!

Hello everybody its Michael here at Dromgooles. If you are in Houston on Friday April 26th I have got the place for you to be! We are having a social/meet and greet with Cary Yeager aka Fountain Pen Day at 6pm at Saint Arnolds brewery. This is a casual hangout to meet with other like minded people, and show off your favorite inks, pens, papers etc. We are also going to be doing door prizes and giveaways of some new exciting stuff with high odds to win! Cary, isn't in town often so please stop on by to meet and hangout with him, he is a real pleasure. The "event" will run until it all fades out, so even if you only have a little bit of time, we would love to see you. Also, for those interested, we are having a pen show at the store Saturday April 27 with Anuj Poddar of AP Limited Editions and some of his new pens including the amazing bulkfiller in some, also featuring Cary, so there should be a fun crowd hanging around (10am-4pm). Snacks and drinks will be provided! If you have any questions at all please feel free to reach out and we will be glad to help!

So I got into an auction for a pen with a Pink nib, which I lost, but I noticed an auction for a late Waterman 5 with a Red nib that the seller considered exceptional - he posted a writing sample that looked promising. Just for funsies I bid on that pen and won it for about half what the Pink had sold for. Anyway, its a beautiful pen, proper red dot on the barrel end; nice plating. Clean and correct. But Im not loving the nib. I have too light a hand to really get the most expression out of what Id considered a semiflex nib, which means that I dont have to commit the horrible act of vandalism I had been contemplating. Itll make a faithful companion for someone, just not me.

Hi, does anyone know if Omas ever made a #8 nib?

I started thinking about this when I read a listing for a German pen made in the 40s. And I thought: "I can't have a Nazi pen!" For entirely different reasons I don't buy pens with clips because I don't wear shirts with pockets. And I don't much like modern, inflexible nibs. Otherwise I'd have a million damn pens - even with these constraints I have too many, but that's a job for my therapist. So, what's your line in the sand?

Hello, Does anyone know what year this pen was manufactured? Would like to know whether Ideal nibs came with round breathers as opposed to heart shaped breathers. I purchased this pen from the internet. While the seller's flexing examplar shows flexing, I was not able to get as much flex when I wrote with the pen. I did not want to spring the nib. Also, the pen was listed as a super flex (see writing examplar attached) but it has virtually no bounce. I would say it is a semi flex like a 344 Montblanc, or a No. 2 Eversharp Skyline. Any other information on this set will be greatly appreciated. I am aware that "flexing" is very subjective and depends on the pressure applied. However, I don't think this is a super flex. I decided to keep the pen because it has been very well maintained, and was recently serviced, as per the seller. The nib is very smooth and lays down plenty of ink. The nib is approximately 3/4 of an inch. It says Watermans and has the word IDEAL right under the Watermans, and it has a 14K stamp underneath the word IDEAL. The shoulders wrap around the nib and the feeder is smooth. The seller advertised it as a No. 4. Along the barrel are the words Waterman's Made in Canada and the third line reads: Fountain Pen. The clip has the word Watermans stamped on it. The top of the clip has a smooth round gold colored circle. The bottom tip has 5 circles within circles in sequential sizes. It has its original hard leatherette case, dark blue with a gold cloth lining in the interior. The pen and pencil set rest on a ribbed pattern gold satin type material. The set is held in place by two elastic small bands. In the upper inside cover, it has the words "Waterman's" in a Times Roman font with tilted as. The cap also reads: Watermans Manufactured in Canada.The colors are very vibrant and very rich. The pattern has various double lines which give the optical ellusion that they are indented, but in reality the pen is very smooth both on the barrel and cap. Not sure whether this set is a Lady Patricia. The Lady Patricia sets circa 1930 have different clips and the ones that I have seen on the internet have a silver globe looking insert on the cap. Again, any and all information will be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Fernando77

I own a Lamy Safari F nib (though I think it writes on the broader side of F), its writes very very smooth. A friend of mine bought a Diplomat Magnum F nib recently though. Both of these pens look a bit similar except the nib part. Can anyone tell me how much the writing experience on the Magnum differs from the Safari?