Do You Usually Use A Broad Nib?

[JefferyS]

I assume that many writers are like me, that is, default to using a medium or fine nib. Do any of you use a broad nib as your usual nib? (I'm not referring to italic or stub, but just generic broad nibs).

I don't own one, and wonder if I did ever get one if it would just gather dust, or if it would open up a new facet of handwriting for me.

[ethernautrix]

Jeffery, you will find plenty of fountain pen enthusiasts who SWEAR by the broad and wider nibs.

 

Me, I don't "default" to F and EF by accident but by experience. I prefer thinner lines for the majority of my writing and have at least one pen with a broadish nib (the Parker Vacuumatic with a flex stub comes to mind) for the rare occasion that I want a very thick line.

 

All nib widths serve a good purpose, and, for me, the finer ones serve mine.

 

 

 

 

ETA: I just noticed how you spell "Jeffery." Oops!

Edited April 7, 2011 by ethernautrix

[Parse Error]

I guess I'm forced to use a Western M nib or a broad B nib because of the style of how I write and the size which I write.

[Mickey]

My pen case has room for both a Bold (Aurora 88), a flexible EF (Namiki Falcon), and a pair of reading glasses. Unless I'm signing something (the EF is filled with MB iron gall), it's pretty much a toss up which one I'll grab.

 

The last few days, though, I've been writing at home using a dip pen (Blackwell oblique holder, Leonardt Principal nib) which flexes from a hair fine XXF to BBB: the best of both worlds. Too bad, it's a little sloppy to carry inked in my pocket.

[Surnia]

Just switched to a Broad on my TWSBI after running on an EF, I must say the shading effects are excellent... trying to get used to it though, it feels kind of marker-ish for the lines it puts down. I bought it for a regrind to try and emulate Richard Binder's Italifine nib but I've become hesitant to do it due to the weird fact that the back of the broad nib writes THINNER than the back of my EF nib... The Broad is superbly smooth though.

 

I do have to say though, at these thicknesses I'm much more of a fan of italics. We'll see how that changes with time though.

[kcunvong]

I'm wondering the same thing. Nearly all of my pens are fine nibbed, and I've recently purchased my first broad, a Pelikan 250. The nib seems impractical for anything besides signing. I have to admit, the nib simply glides off the paper. What is the appeal in a broad nib? This is not to be confused with stub, italic, or any other of these custom grinds. I'm thinking of having this pen grounded down to a cursive italic.

[Chris Chalmers]

My pen case has room for both a Bold (Aurora 88), a flexible EF (Namiki Falcon), and a pair of reading glasses. Unless I'm signing something (the EF is filled with MB iron gall), it's pretty much a toss up which one I'll grab.

 

The last few days, though, I've been writing at home using a dip pen (Blackwell oblique holder, Leonardt Principal nib) which flexes from a hair fine XXF to BBB: the best of both worlds. Too bad, it's a little sloppy to carry inked in my pocket.

 

A sample of that writing........with the dip pen.........would be wonderful to see - please?

[Chris Chalmers]

I have swung from broad and broader to fine and finer over the years.........back and fro.........back and fro! I have also learned not to sell off the size that is not being used currently after a previous swing in tastes!! :embarrassed_smile:

[piembi]

Jeffery, you will find plenty of fountain pen enthusiasts who SWEAR by the broad and wider nibs.

 

 

Yes, I am on the broad side. Have learned to write with medium nibs in second grade and am using mainly medium and broad nibs except for editing purposes (that's why I have fine nibs as well).

 

Some weeks ago I was sorting through my office notebooks and realized that the notes taken with broad nibs - that is vintage broad and stubbish - are significantly more legible than the notes taken with vintage or modern medium nibs. That very evening I switched the nib of my favourite Pelikan 400 from M to BB. Even my coworker has less trouble to read my comments now

[xxloverxx]

My pen case has room for both a Bold (Aurora 88), a flexible EF (Namiki Falcon), and a pair of reading glasses. Unless I'm signing something (the EF is filled with MB iron gall), it's pretty much a toss up which one I'll grab.

 

The last few days, though, I've been writing at home using a dip pen (Blackwell oblique holder, Leonardt Principal nib) which flexes from a hair fine XXF to BBB: the best of both worlds. Too bad, it's a little sloppy to carry inked in my pocket.

 

A sample of that writing........with the dip pen.........would be wonderful to see - please?

 

Yes, please!

[ehemem]

Jeffery, you will find plenty of fountain pen enthusiasts who SWEAR by the broad and wider nibs.

 

Me, I don't "default" to F and EF by accident but by experience. I prefer thinner lines for the majority of my writing and have at least one pen with a broadish nib (the Parker Vacuumatic with a flex stub comes to mind) for the rare occasion that I want a very thick line.

 

All nib widths serve a good purpose, and, for me, the finer ones serve mine.

 

I have to second this. I have nibs that range from EF to BBB and for most writing purposes I use a F or EF. And when I choose an italic nib for writing it usually will be a width of 0.9mm or less. The size of my writing varies with the size of the nib I'm using.

[beluga]

I assume that many writers are like me, that is, default to using a medium or fine nib. Do any of you use a broad nib as your usual nib? (I'm not referring to italic or stub, but just generic broad nibs).

I don't own one, and wonder if I did ever get one if it would just gather dust, or if it would open up a new facet of handwriting for me.

 

 

I belong to an age group where we still had to use fountain pens in school and for the first 10 years in school I probably never used anything else but standard issue (Pelikan and Geha) medium nibs.

 

In my mid-teens I started experimenting with other nibs and drifted towards broader nibs, I must have tried fine nibs too, but they cannot have left any lasting positive impression, as I still associate fine and extra-fine nibs with ledgers and Victorian book-keeping. That also must have been the time where I found that my preference were medium to broad nibs, and this is where I still stand more than 40 years later.

 

 

I am glad that fountain pen users express their individuality by choosing different point sizes, but personally I have never been able to figure out what makes finer nibs so attractive.

 

 

 

 

 

B

[Phormula]

I like to stay in the middle, all my pens have either a Fine or a Medium nib, depending on the brand and model. Let's say that my ideal nib is some kind of "MF". I have only one pen with a broad nib and that was a gift (I am going to replace it with a mediuum soon. I have quite a narrow writing for a broad nib and on the other side and I don't feel comfortable with EF nibs, IMHO and for my kind of writing I have problems using them for a long time because of their narrow sweet spot. No flames or blames, just my opinion, at the end of the day what really matters is to be comfortable with one owns tools. For this reason I appreciate companies like Lamy, which offer a broad range of replacement nibs even on entry level pens, allowing each of us to find his/her best one.

[Lovesink]

Never ever liked F nibs, not even when I was still a child. Gradually moved from M to B nibs after discovering that Bs also do exist! But it depends on your handwriting, and maybe on other aspects as well. Yes Bs are the nibs I use by default.

 

[Penman222]

Most pf my pens are mediums. However, I have a broad Lamy 2000, a broad Lamy Safari or two, and a 9968 Esterbrook J. I have Noodler's Eel Blue in the 2000 right now, and it is by far the smoothest pen I have ever seen. It puts down a wide line but one my handwriting can deal with. I started with a Hero 329 which is probably an XXF but I could never use that pen now.

[JefferyS]

Thanks for the replies. I suppose that at some point I should pick up a broad nib FP just for the experience. Maybe an Aurora Ipsilon. Everything I own (outside of italics and stubs) is M and F, and I gravitate toward F (too many decades of using Rapidographs I guess).

 

Again, thanks for the feedback. Any suggestions for a fine Broad? I don't own a Lamy, but have never heard a negative word spoken against them.

[ravantra]

I apologize in advance to the F user majority. I an strictly a M to BB user. Writing with a F is like writing with a nail on concrete.

[Phormula]

Thanks for the replies. I suppose that at some point I should pick up a broad nib FP just for the experience. Maybe an Aurora Ipsilon. Everything I own (outside of italics and stubs) is M and F, and I gravitate toward F (too many decades of using Rapidographs I guess).

 

Again, thanks for the feedback. Any suggestions for a fine Broad? I don't own a Lamy, but have never heard a negative word spoken against them.

 

Maybe you can just swap nibs. One of the thing I must pay respect to my first Safari back in the late eighties it was the avaliability of spare nibs. A few months after I bought the pen with an M nib, I bought the replacement ones, from EF to B, and did some experiment. At the end I kept the F and since then each time I buy a Lamy I ask for F nib. I gave away the spare nibs to a friend willing to do the same "experiment".

[Bo Bo Olson]

Whim and mood, I'll go from OBB to OEF. M works well as does Fine,

 

My BB '36 Parker stub is a tad broad, but a nice nib, my Cursive Italic medium Broad is nice too.

 

It much depends on what ink is in the contraption, to what pen I use....when I can remember.

 

Sometimes its just 'lets use that pen' I have not used it in a while...and not even look to see what width it is.

 

I'm wishy washy....ok...flexible.

 

When I get a new ink...a spectrum of width's and flexes of @ 8 pens get inked, more of what comes to hand, again.

[JefferyS]

I apologize in advance to the F user majority. I an strictly a M to BB user. Writing with a F is like writing with a nail on concrete.

 

Hadn't really thought much of that. Writing with a B nib is a bit like curling on ice? Put a little Noodler's Eel Blue and you're off the side of the paper!