Dip/Comic/Manga G or Round Nibs in Regular Fountain Pens

August 27, 2009

Good day,

I have looked at Ackerman Pens, however, I do not intend on using non-fountain pen inks (so I shouldn't need the pump sack?) and would like to use a somewhat more conventional looking pen. I have thought about purchasing the manga nib unit/ink feed from Ackerman, and stuffing it into another friction fitted pen shaft, however, the manga nib units are sold out. Does anyone know of any decent looking (ie not gaudy or cheap/plastic looking) economical fountain pens (Hero, maybe?) that have suitable nib units/ink feeds that would work with either Zebra/Nikko/Tachikawa g nibs, or round nibs? Has anybody else tried this? Am I (or rather, my plan) destined to fail? From pictures that I have seen of the Hero 616, it seems as through it could possibly fit a round manga nib (although I've never seen one in person). I can only make wilder guesses yet when it comes to the g nibs (as they look pretty normal/FP-ish). One issue I can think of it that the manga nibs seem to be fairly long in comparison to most fountain pen nibs that I have seen. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time.

PS: The goal is to have any entirely portable, minimal/no hassle, good looking, economical fountain pen for drawing, signing, and all of my other flex needs (without having to go vintage).

Have a good one

Jonathan Thiessen

August 27, 2009

Unfortunately, if you're planning to use a fountain-pen-like pen, you can't use things like india ink or drawing ink - they'll clog up and ruin the pen in no time flat. Though if the feed itself can accomodate the ink, then I guess it could work. With that, maybe the NoNonsense? You might be able to remove the feed and replace it with what you want.

August 27, 2009

I saw this at Jet Pens; however, I have not used the pens, as I am not an artist (I can barely draw flies ) and have not used Jetpens as a vendor. Jetpens does have an excellent reputation, though, and once I get a new job (between positions at present) I may order something from them.

Donnie

August 30, 2009

I saw this at Jet Pens; however, I have not used the pens, as I am not an artist (I can barely draw flies ) and have not used Jetpens as a vendor. Jetpens does have an excellent reputation, though, and once I get a new job (between positions at present) I may order something from them.

Donnie

Thanks for the link. I've bought from JetPens before (and I was pleased with the experience). I'll have to check it out next time I order from them (although that will probably be a little while as I no longer have easy access to a US post office box, and I'm too cheap to pay their international shipping charges on small orders).

Although somewhat of a tangent , it seems as though I've been fortunate enough to find myself living in Kitchener ON, just a (somewhat) short bus ride to Phidon in Cambridge ON. I'll have to check them out this next week to get some more ink, and to see what they stock. From what I've read, it's a pretty decent shop with really nice owners.

Have a good one

Jonathan Thiessen

August 31, 2009

Good day,

I have looked at Ackerman Pens, however, I do not intend on using non-fountain pen inks (so I shouldn't need the pump sack?) and would like to use a somewhat more conventional looking pen. I have thought about purchasing the manga nib unit/ink feed from Ackerman, and stuffing it into another friction fitted pen shaft, however, the manga nib units are sold out. Does anyone know of any decent looking (ie not gaudy or cheap/plastic looking) economical fountain pens (Hero, maybe?) that have suitable nib units/ink feeds that would work with either Zebra/Nikko/Tachikawa g nibs, or round nibs? Has anybody else tried this? Am I (or rather, my plan) destined to fail? From pictures that I have seen of the Hero 616, it seems as through it could possibly fit a round manga nib (although I've never seen one in person). I can only make wilder guesses yet when it comes to the g nibs (as they look pretty normal/FP-ish). One issue I can think of it that the manga nibs seem to be fairly long in comparison to most fountain pen nibs that I have seen. Any suggestions? Thanks for your time.

PS: The goal is to have any entirely portable, minimal/no hassle, good looking, economical fountain pen for drawing, signing, and all of my other flex needs (without having to go vintage).

Have a good one
Jonathan Thiessen

I think you may be stuck with the Ackerman pumps, simply because of the design of the manga-type nibs, which are generally meant for use as dip pens. Their shanks (the part that fits into the section) may fit into any number of fountain pens, but it's doubtful the feeds will fit properly beneath the nibs and maintain ink flow. The G-pen nibs are a spoon shape, and while a feed may exist to fit it in some other pen, the Ackerman Manga G nib unit and those Tachikawa G-nib pens are the only ones I've heard of designed expressly for the purpose.

Edited August 31, 2009 by Chthulhu

August 31, 2009

I saw this at Jet Pens; however, I have not used the pens, as I am not an artist (I can barely draw flies ) and have not used Jetpens as a vendor. Jetpens does have an excellent reputation, though, and once I get a new job (between positions at present) I may order something from them.

Donnie

I love JetPens. But I got a couple of those pens you link to and they aren't very great. No flex in the nib and it is so sharp that it cuts into the paper. Maybe it's your style...but didn't work for me at all. Nothing at all like dip nibs.

August 31, 2009

I love JetPens. But I got a couple of those pens you link to and they aren't very great. No flex in the nib and it is so sharp that it cuts into the paper. Maybe it's your style...but didn't work for me at all. Nothing at all like dip nibs.

Did you get the G pens or the School pens? I once bought the School version, which at the time was sold as the "Manga Pen," and it had a barely-flexible nib. The G pen *should* have a considerably more flexible nib.

August 31, 2009

I love JetPens. But I got a couple of those pens you link to and they aren't very great. No flex in the nib and it is so sharp that it cuts into the paper. Maybe it's your style...but didn't work for me at all. Nothing at all like dip nibs.

Did you get the G pens or the School pens? I once bought the School version, which at the time was sold as the "Manga Pen," and it had a barely-flexible nib. The G pen *should* have a considerably more flexible nib.

I bought the G because it's advertised as manga style. Since I use the pens for work, I'm always looking for new ways to work smarter/cleaner. And since I do manga/comics I was hoping for something with at least a little flex. I would not call this pen flexible at all. I use G-Nibs and this is no G-Nib. That said, it's an interesting pen. I will use mine for writing though I might sell the Sepia G-School if anyone is interested. It's very slightly used, with extra ink.

August 31, 2009

Just checking. :-)

August 31, 2009

I did a lot of research on this same topic.

I bought a Pelikan with a custom flex nib from Richard Binder (I have the XXF and XXXF combo flex nib) just for this purpose and it works beautifully. You can draw anywhere with flex and there is no hassle and no mess to clean up. I use Noodler's Heart of Darkness so I get a nice black, waterproof, line even on Moleskine sketchbook paper which is normally not good with fountain pen ink. The regular Noodler's doesn't work well with the moleskine sketchbooks.

For thicker lines I use a Sailor Profit brush pen with Rapidograph Ultradraw India ink. This pen comes with a converter and it works perfectly with the Rapidograph ink even though it is an India ink and not made for fountain pens. In the Profit, however, it gives a nice wet line and clogging doesn't appear to be an issue.

My first pen was a Namiki Falcon, and it's a great all-around pen for drawing. It can't give the same variation as the custom pelikan but it is better for fine lines and it is super smooth to draw with. An all-around great pen.

The Ackerman pen is cool in it's own mad science-experiment way but it is more of a dip pen hack than anything. Using any of the pens above will give you a perfectly portable, elegant solution to doing art anywhere without hassle. If you could only get one, the Sailor Profit gives the most amazing results since it is a brush. It can go from a perfect hairline to a 3mm thick brushstroke with ease. The Custom Binder Pelikan is great for hatching and line work with a pen. The Namiki is great for super fine detail and hatching and for sketching.

Hope that info helps,

Steve Burke

www.burkestudios.com

Edited August 31, 2009 by SteveBurke