Are Smooth Nibs The Best?

[georges zaslavsky]

smooth nibs are always more pleasing to write

[J.R.]

I think it depends on the individual using the pen, and the pen in question. I remember 40-odd years ago, loaning my "one-and-only" Sheaffer cartridge-loading student pen to my mechanical pencil-using roommate, and he raved about how smooth it was. That pen is long gone now, but the pens I've owned since then are much smoother (to my hand, maybe not his).

 

That being said, paper being used, wet/dry ink, pen angle in the hand, heavy hand vs. light hand - all come into play. My "feedback" could be your "buttery smooth", even using the same pen. Or, you may be using Rhodia "R" notepads, and I'm using notebook filler paper, on any particular day.

 

J.R.

[handwriter]

Smoother the better seems to be true for most people. I wouldn't make a general statement; one must discover what better suits one's taste. I like some smooth nibs but since I like nibs that provide line variation because of their flexibility, smothness is not what I like most in a nib.

[iamchum]

Originally, I preferred buttery smooth nibs, but as time passed, I began to appreciate the control I had with slightly more toothy nibs. So, it comes down to personal preference, but, I, for one, prefer a smooth-ish nib. lol, I tend to adjust pens I get with some fine grit micromesh to get that perfect feel. I do still have 1 buttery smooth writer that is broad nibbed and absolutely dumps ink by the truckload onto paper. Sometimes I use it, but only on larger work, as for writing it just overwhelms and the text can be difficult to read.

[rochester21]

I`m personally on a hunt for finding the best "butter-smooth" nib, i don`t really like the pencil-like feedback(most chinese pens are like that). There are plenty of cheap pens that are relatively smooth, but have some drag, or feedback. For a person who likes that, there will be no issue finding their perfect pen.

Other pens are smooth, but they have a small "sweet spot", which means the nib will have little tolerance to changing the writing angle- the perfect example is the last generation of parker 45.

Finally, there are pens who have an almost all-round smoothness to them- a tolerant nib and very little feedback. Now, the pens that have that type of nibs are rare, at least in my experience.

So the way i see it, there are multiple types of nib smoothness than we can refer to. Like someone said, nobody likes writing with a pen that writes like a rusty old nail, so smoothness has to be the basic feature of every nib. But from then on, it all becomes a matter of personal taste.

Edited December 3, 2012 by rochester21

[JonDoh]

I can't stand a scratchy pen. Too much like scraping fingernails on a chalk board.

[silverfish]

I would like to say that there has been some excellent answers to my original post, and a lot of expertise and experience has been offered. I do agree with almost all of it, even though I'm no expert in this field. Smooth but not too smooth seems to be generally thought good by most.

 

Thanks again.

[wvbeetlebug]

I prefer smooth with a little feedback. Much like above, sometimes a Number 2 pencil feels better than mechanical.

I agree though that you can be too smooth. If a nib is too smooth I find that it is harder to start and can skip.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Nibs that are good and smooth, would be for me, much smoother than a pencil's feeling; smooth but not slippery; like butter smooth.

 

The pencil's feeling of a tad of feed back is very apt, and easy to understand.

 

For 'noobi's' who have a pen that is not quite smooth enough '''for now''', I suggest putting that 'vintage' pen away for a 1/2 a year or a year, with out doing more than after the tines are aligned the brown paper bag trick.

If it is still after a 1/2 a years more experience, then take some micro-mesh to it.

 

If the pen is new...I have no objections at all in taking micro-mesh to the nib....it has no irreplaceable value.

 

I do know when I was noobie, had I micro-mesh, I'd ruined an irreplaceable semi-flex oblique M nib.

I was so new I did not know what or that a M oblique had a smaller sweet spot than OB, nor that it needed to be held canted to the paper.

It sure was scratchy!!!!

 

I put it aside. Less than six months later, I knew lots more about oblique and oblique with some flex. I did not ruin that nib...the basic 4-6 fifteen second sets of 'smoothing' with the brown paper bag did not ruin it. Had I micro-mesh I'd ended up with a 'Non-oblique' nib ....I'd straightened that nib out. Flattened/rounded that tip into ruin.

[Koyote]

smooth nibs are always more pleasing to write

 

For you, Georges. Others may feel differently, as this thread demonstrates.

 

I like that feeling of a soft, well-rounded pencil tip. Too smooth and my writing suffers. And when my writing suffers even a little bit, it become illegible.

Edited December 3, 2012 by Koyote

[Sasha Royale]

A buttery-smooth nib is desirable. However, it is only so on buttery-smooth

paper. Personally, I like a bit of "texture". It comes across as character.

It is okay if the nib "murmurs" across the paper, as long as the nib does

not etch the paper, and the noise does not make the dog bark.

 

A nib gets smoother as you lower your standards. :roflmho:

[kronos77]

For me, whatever pen I am using , I will eventually adapt to. Excluding of course things like scratchiness from tine misalignment or bad workmanship in some other way. A little feedback, a little drag, real smooth, whatever, I will eventually adapt to the pen.

[ethernautrix]

If you like smooth nibs, then smooth nibs are the best.

 

I actually a variety of smoothness, from very smooth to slightly toothy. But I don't like too smooth. And I don't like scratchy. Except for when writing on the point of an edge of a Pilot Parallel's long, flat nib, in which case it's interesting and results in inconsistent line widths (or random line variation).

[XiaoMG]

It's a shame that the widespread preference for less-smooth nibs doesn't seem to make it any easier for us lubricentric smoothsnobs to find those rare nibs that meet our standards. I'm in a particular tough spot because I only use very fine nibs, and good smooth fine nibs are a real rarity--even many of the most respected nib grinders have problems with that.

[ethernautrix]

Hm. My smoothest nib is the H-EF on my Sailor 1911. Any smoother, and it'd be like hot butter on glass over a fire on a record-breaking heatwave day at noon on Mars. And I wouldn't like that.

[stefanv]

Except there's not enough air on Mars to have a fire, and a heat wave is still cold enough to make the butter hard.

[JonSzanto]

http://i211.photobucket.com/albums/bb204/EnvoyC/resource/nobest.jpg

[wallylynn]

Except there's not enough air on Mars to have a fire, and a heat wave is still cold enough to make the butter hard.

And even if you did have fire, butter burns so easily. I can't make popcorn in butter, I have to melt it separately and then drizzle it in.

 

I don't like scratchy nibs. I'm not sure about the friction or drag but I do know the sound drives me bonkers. I've been working the nib of my Ahab on a polishing stick. Much better now.

[humsin]

The pencil comparison is good. Crappy pencils have lead that contains imperfections and scratchy to write with. Quality pencils use good quality lead and is very smooth. That being said, there is a degree of feedback; an interaction between lead and paper.

[M@rtin]

I prefer smooth nibs, because of the writing sensation !...smooth nibs on vintage pens of course...