Platinum 3776 Century...kinda Broad?

[XiaoMG]

I'd always gotten the impression that the Platinum 3776 nibs ran on the fine side, even among the Japanese pens. I have mostly Japanese pens these days, and I picked up a 3776 Century with a fine nib, since that's generally how I write. This thing is roughly as broad as my Sailor MF, and seems to be a bit overenthusiastically wet.

 

Has anyone else encountered this? I am starting to regret yet another purchase.

[Pen2009]

I have a few #3776 models and found its F nibs to be very "fine." Are you sure your nib is actually F? Some of Platinium nibs are stamped with Japanese kanji for the tip size.

[hari317]

The F nib on my 3776 Jade celluloid is a true Japanese fine nib, it writes even finer when the nib is flipped upside down.

[XiaoMG]

I have a few #3776 models and found its F nibs to be very "fine." Are you sure your nib is actually F? Some of Platinium nibs are stamped with Japanese kanji for the tip size.

I read Chinese so that is not an issue. Further, the 3776 Century model is stamped with the Roman F instead of the Chinese/Japanese 細字. I was informed that the nib of the Century model is slightly changed from that of the standard 3776, so I'm referring specifically to that model.

Edited March 31, 2012 by XiaoMG

[Jezza]

Another thing I've noticed on the few Centuries I've owned is the nibs all look slightly "sprung". That is, there is a very visible gap between the tipping material. I think this results in an appreciable increase in ink flow.

[XiaoMG]

Another thing I've noticed on the few Centuries I've owned is the nibs all look slightly "sprung". That is, there is a very visible gap between the tipping material. I think this results in an appreciable increase in ink flow.

When I bought mine, I compared two different samples, and both had separated tines like you mentioned. Most of my Platinum Preppies have this as well, so I figured it was a non-issue.

 

The F-nibbed original 3776 they had wasn't inked, but the tines looked a little less symmetrical than the ones on the Century. Could be sample variation. However, they were a bit closer together and looked just a little finer.

 

I tried to tighten my tines up a little but the improvement was only slight, and the flow is not as consistent as it is with my other Japanese pens. Perhaps more experimentation is needed before I can be happy with it. Was really hoping that would not be the case.

[quoctp]

Another thing I've noticed on the few Centuries I've owned is the nibs all look slightly "sprung". That is, there is a very visible gap between the tipping material. I think this results in an appreciable increase in ink flow.

When I bought mine, I compared two different samples, and both had separated tines like you mentioned. Most of my Platinum Preppies have this as well, so I figured it was a non-issue.

 

The F-nibbed original 3776 they had wasn't inked, but the tines looked a little less symmetrical than the ones on the Century. Could be sample variation. However, they were a bit closer together and looked just a little finer.

 

I tried to tighten my tines up a little but the improvement was only slight, and the flow is not as consistent as it is with my other Japanese pens. Perhaps more experimentation is needed before I can be happy with it. Was really hoping that would not be the case.

 

Same observation here. The tip of fine nib on my Platinum 3776 Century has a visible gap (I can see it be holding it against a light source). Maybe that's why it is more scratchy than the nibs for the Platinum Standard (also fine) and the 5000 series Platinum 3776 (medium, no gap). The newer Platinum standard medium nibs also have gaps at the tip and sometimes asymmetric tips.

[marcomillions]

Gee, my 3776 Century SF (soft-fine)--recently purchased by mail order from a firm in the UK--isn't at all like that: no splaying of the tines of the nib, no surprisingly broad line (quite the reverse, in fact), no particular wetness.

 

I was expecting the SF nib to be somewhere between F and M in terms of breadth of its line, and allowing for some variance in the width of strokes. In fact, its line is just about as fine as I've ever put down--about equivalent to the EF nib on one of my Pilot Vanishing Points. (I like to believe I can see some variation in stroke width even with this unexpectedly fine line, but it's probably wishful thinking.)

 

For all its fineness, it's not a particularly dry nib. No problems with hard starts.

 

Do you imagine these considerable variations are random, or the result of one particular production run?

 

Marc

[aawhite]

I have a 3776 Century Bourgogne with a broad nib, and I find the nib to be closer to a Pelikan M400 medium.

Edited October 6, 2012 by aawhite

[quoctp]

I'd always gotten the impression that the Platinum 3776 nibs ran on the fine side, even among the Japanese pens. I have mostly Japanese pens these days, and I picked up a 3776 Century with a fine nib, since that's generally how I write. This thing is roughly as broad as my Sailor MF, and seems to be a bit overenthusiastically wet.

 

Has anyone else encountered this? I am starting to regret yet another purchase.

 

Yes mine has a gap at the tip and it is very scratchy as compared to the Platinum Standard fine.

[shahrincamille]

I recently bought a 3776 Century Bourgogne with an EF nib

 

The line width produced was surprisingly wider than I had expected. It is equivalent to the F-rated nibs on my older celluloid Ishigaki and an even older Platinum "pocket pen".

 

Another thing I noted is that the nib width size is no longer marked in kanji, but instead in a Roman alphabet. Could it be that Platinum is moving towards "international standards", with a corresponding increase in line width? :hmm1:

 

But personally, I prefer it the way it is. I doubt I can write with anything finer than this, and I bought the pen more out of curiosity and not really expecting to use it that often, but now it's in permanent rotation filled with Omas red ink

 

And as with ALL Platinums that I bought new (>20 pens, lost count already), NONE required ANY adjustment for flow or smoothness, unlike pens from a certain south European country

 

 

Shahrin

Edited October 21, 2012 by shahrincamille

[jkingrph]

I have a 3776 Century Bourgogne with a broad nib, and I find the nib to be closer to a Pelikan M400 medium.

 

 

I just got the identical 3776 and have to agree that it's closer to my Pelikan mediums.

[sirtoti]

I have two #3776, one with steel F and another Bourgogne with also an F nib.

The gold nib is noticeable wider and wetter.

I also have a PLatinum M 18k in a silk-patterned makie, and even though the width is all right, the pen really bleeds inks, so it's unusable on many paper brands.

 

PD: Pelikan nibs are quite wide, compared to other european brands.

Edited November 3, 2012 by sirtoti