Smoothest Gold Nib

[Soulmaker1]

Which current modern pen manufacturer, on avergae, makes pens, nibs, that write flawlessly right out of the box? I've had great luck with Sailor, actually I can't remember having one that didn't write perfectly out of the box. Same for the high end Dani Trios, and OMAS.

 

Now, in my opioin the worst company in my opinion has been, Montblanc, and I'm a big Montblanc fan. I've purchased at least 25 pens new from ADs in the last 3 years, and only 5 come to mind as not needing any tweaking to get it write smoothly.

 

So what's your take?

 

[Idiopathos]

Which current modern pen manufacturer, on avergae, makes pens, nibs, that write flawlessly right out of the box? I've had great luck with Sailor, actually I can't remember having one that didn't write perfectly out of the box. Same for the high end Dani Trios, and OMAS.

 

Now, in my opioin the worst company in my opinion has been, Montblanc, and I'm a big Montblanc fan. I've purchased at least 25 pens new from ADs in the last 3 years, and only 5 come to mind as not needing any tweaking to get it write smoothly.

 

So what's your take?

 

Pilot (Namiki).

 

Bock variants in Europe are often good, but Pilot are, in my experience, better.

[Aysedasi]

The OB nib in the second hand Mont Blanc 220/221 (I believe) I recently acquired is the smoothest nib I have ever written with - by some considerable margin......

[QM2]

In my experience, Montblanc has the smoothest out of the box nibs. Contrary to my expectations, Sailor and the other Japanese companies have been 50/50.

[MCosta77777]

Sailor and Namiki are almost always perfect out of the box. I bought a new 1911 with a bold nib that was simply devine.

MB's I'd say are 50/50. Sometimes you just have to work on them for a while.

The Sheaffer legacy medium nib is also an incredibly smooth pen.

[dvorak]

I've not had a single one that struck me as perfect out of the box, but then again I have only half a dozen or so pens (I write with them, no collecting here). The closest one so far has been a lamy 2000, but even it had to have some extra "love" put on it...

 

Brent

[varmas]

Sheaffer Connaisseurs and Grand Connaisseurs. Own 16 FPs and not a single lemon. They are neck and neck with my vintage Pelikans. Smooth without being slippery.

 

My Montblancs (mostly 146 and 149) are smooth but the stiffness of the nibs (on the modern examples) slows my writing giving an illusion of tooth.

 

Stay well,

Solomon

 

 

 

 

[Opus104]

These types of threads are always interesting. Let's face it, nice pens tend to be expensive. Few of us can experience the full range of performance that make up a brand's average. I've had 8 Sailor nibs that were perfect, 1 Taccia steel nib that was the smoothest nib ever crafted, 80% of the Pelikans I had were perfect, 50/50 on Omas and Aurora, and every Visconti has had issues. In no way does this represent the average - just my few thousand dollars worth of experience. (Did I say that out loud? I meant few bucks worth . . .)

[Paddler]

The Krol Company in Chicago made a dip pen with a nib and feed made by Wearever. The nib is called the "Smoothline". Esterbrook used Smoothline nibs and feeds in some of their pens. I bought a Krol pen (NIB) with a glass unspillable inkwell at a flea market for just a few dollars. This nib is the smoothest I have ever used. I also have one in an Esterbrook desk pen and it is not quite as smooth. I can't see a difference, even under a microscope. "It is only a Wearever", as they say, but if you tried this Krol, you would learn the meaning of "smooth".

 

Paddler

 

[Ghost Plane]

For me it's been Krone, Waterman Carenes, Visconti, Marlen, Montblanc, in that order.

[Tsujigiri]

Sailor is definitely the best. My Lamy 2000 is probably close behind, and Bock nibs are behind that (Pelikan, OMAS, Bexley, etc. Since Bock makes all their nibs, I'd throw them in the same category). One thing to note is that some pens do well on all kinds of paper, while others only do well on some kinds of paper. Sailors and the Lamy 2000 seem to work well on anything.

[Teaos]

Sailor all the way, to the point of being too smooth I loose control of it. Then comes Namiki and then Lamy.

 

Jeremy

Edited April 10, 2009 by Teaos

[Parker51]

I suggest a Bexley Gold Nib. Yes, it is a Bock made nib, but additionally, every nib is hand placed, and tested by Howard Levy, the owner of the Company. Thus, the nibs are smooth out of the box, and do not need to be adjusted, as they already have been. Also, while I like the Pelikans I have, I have passed on purchasing an Extra Fine Nib after trying a few. I have found the factory fresh Extra Fine Nib as not smooth. I am also aware that there is at least one person whom will not sell a Pelikan with a factory Extra Fine Nib due to this problem, and as an alternative if you want a Pelikan Extra Fine Nib, they will only sell you one that has a Fine Nib ground to extra Fine (at an extra cost).

 

[sexauerw]

I suggest a Bexley Gold Nib. Yes, it is a Bock made nib, but additionally, every nib is hand placed, and tested by Howard Levy, the owner of the Company. Thus, the nibs are smooth out of the box, and do not need to be adjusted, as they already have been. Also, while I like the Pelikans I have, I have passed on purchasing an Extra Fine Nib after trying a few. I have found the factory fresh Extra Fine Nib as not smooth. I am also aware that there is at least one person whom will not sell a Pelikan with a factory Extra Fine Nib due to this problem, and as an alternative if you want a Pelikan Extra Fine Nib, they will only sell you one that has a Fine Nib ground to extra Fine (at an extra cost).

Check out his web site for an update to this situation. He now sells Pelikan XF nibs because he has found that their quality has improved.

[sexauerw]

The OB nib in the second hand Mont Blanc 220/221 (I believe) I recently acquired is the smoothest nib I have ever written with - by some considerable margin......

 

I just got a second hand (or third or fourth hand, who knows) 221 a couple of months ago, also with an OB nib. Maybe an OBB nib. Anyway, it is without a doubt the smoothest nib in my entire collection. My only other Mont Blanc was purchased new, has a fine nib and has been rather disappointing. A little toothy and it tends to skip at the start of strokes. It also writes more like a medium than a fine. I think if I used it more maybe I'd wear the rest of the rhodium off of the tip and it would do better. I hate it when they rhodium-plate a gold nib and do the whole thing including the tipping.

 

The brand I've had the most consistently good luck with in terms of smooth nibs is S. T. Dupont. I now have five and they are all wonderful. My Fidelio did have a bit of a baby-bottom problem when new but that was pretty easily taken care of. None of the others needed any work at all.

[Miranda]

The smoothest nibs are the Montgrappas, the Pelikan 1934 LE, the Sailor with a nagina tatogi nib modified into a stub by John Mottishaw {excuse spelling}

All gold nibs, all expensive pens [none of which i paid anything close to retail for i hasten to add].

 

They all simply glide across the page, buttery smooth.

 

I've just had my old Volvo in for a much needed major service, and now all I think of how to describe how it drives is 'like butter'. Not an analogy understood by most, I have found.

[Ondina]

Out of the box? Waterman's.

[Rainwalker]

Waterman pens - Phileas and Carene

[theblackpen]

Modern? Sailor.

Edited April 11, 2009 by theblackpen

[archie001]

I have bought many brand new montblanc pens and they are so far my best pens out of the box experience. I never have any problem with them in every aspect and they are of the best quality.