Smoothest F-nibbed Pen Irrespective of Price

[Jamesino]

Which pen's nib, irrespective of price, can be considered the smoothest nib?

[chestertonaccountant]

The Sailor 1911 XF. I love my pen and use it daily, in fact I haven't used another pen in the seven months since I got it. It writes incredible smooth and for a person that requires a very fine, the nib delivers. I would love to hear what others think.

[Robert Hughes]

Esterbrook 9550, of course!

[PigRatAndGoat]

I would say something Japanese. However, almost any nib can be made smooth and fine by a good nibmeister. Check out the Waverly nib by Richard Binder.

[Silvermink]

I like the Esterbrook 9550 (XF) and 9556 (F). You might want to specify how fine - like as in a Western F?

 

My Pelikan F is also very smooth but is more of an F-M.

 

Sailor comes up a lot when people ask about the very smoothest nibs, but I still haven't used one. I may pick up a 1911 Realo when they become available. Japanese sizes tend to run finer so you might want to look at a Sailor M if you want a similar stroke to a Western F.

Edited August 11, 2009 by Silvermink

[AndyW]

Off the shelf has to be either a Nakaya or a Sailor

[Triplet Mom]

My OMAS Bologna Autunno with an extra fine point nib that was tuned by John Mottishaw. It writes even smoother than some of the Japanese fine point pens I own!

 

Warm regards,

Lynne

[gregamckinney]

I don't use many F nibs, but the F on my Omas Arlecchino is as smooth as any nib (of any width) I've ever tried.

 

Regards, greg

[Shalori]

My ST Duponts are very smooth. I only have one fine (F) point but it is super smooth like all my others (mainly M and XF).

 

Regards,

 

Neil

[GeeTee]

The smoothest XF nib i have, is on my Sheaffer OS Balance, recently bought from this board.

Edited August 11, 2009 by GeeTee

[bphollin]

The fine nibs on Pelikan M605 (runs wide) and Namiki Vanishing Point (runs thin) treat me right.

[dale130]

Oddly enough, the nibs on my Heros are nice and smooth..they were smooth out of the...er...plastic bag. I did a bit of burnishing with ink as the lubricant on an ink bottle and that added the "nice" part.

 

Dale130

[Ron Sabbagh]

Waterman LeMan 100 F nib is my smoothest....

[John Cullen]

I think if you buy a pen from Richard Binder and communicate to him how much pressure you use and the angle at which you write and whether you turn your wrist or not and then ask him to make it write as glassy smooth as possible, you will not regret your choice.

 

If you are heavy handed to any degree you might also look for a firm nib so that the tines will not be spreading and causing occasional catches on the paper.

 

You could get a Namiki Bamboo from him that you might like very much, or a Pelikan.

 

You could even get a waverley nib, as someone else mentioned, and on a Fine point that might be really a nice addition.

 

Just my 2 cents.

[gyasko]

My smoothest Fs are on a Skyline and a couple Dorics, a Vacumatic, a Sailor "short barrel" from the 1970s, a mid-thirties Balance, and a couple burgundy 51s. It's really hard to choose the smoothest of these, but i think i'd go with the Balance.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Late '40s Sheaffer Sentinel, vacuum-filler, with an Accountant point-- very nearly as smooth as my M Phileas, and that's a load of smooth.

[eric47]

Modern nibs untouched by a nibmeister, but allowing for my tweaking (increasing flow, tine adjustments if needed), I would say Omas. I have a number of Fines and a few EF from the 80s through 2006.

[greencobra]

Pelikans are pretty smooth as well as Sailor out of the box.

[mstone]

I've been very happy with the F on my M90.