Sailor 1911 Profit Large Naginata Togi

[mmoriarty]

This is just a heads-up for anyone considering buying the Sailor Profit Large Naginata Togi 21K nib pen. This pen lays down a LOT of ink! Mine arrived a couple of days ago from Engeika (great price, fast shipping, just nine days to Indiana, arrived in perfect condition).

I ordered the Medium nib. I usually prefer a (Western size) medium nib, and have therefore been happy with the Broad nibs I've gotten on my Pilot Custom 74 and Platinum Century #3776. From reviews and comments on FPN and elsewhere, I saw that people were saying the Naginata nib runs broader than is usual with Japanese nibs, so I ordered the Medium. Was I surprised!

It's not that the ink "splooshes" from the nib or anything like that -- you can write as slowly as you please, or even hold the nib pressed to the paper, and the ink will not run from the pen. But the richness of the flow and size of the nib means that unless you have a large "hand," your letters are apt to get obscured by the heavy flow of ink. Or at least, that's my experience. And even though the ink will "hold still" in the nib, I have the feeling of having to try to keep ahead of the flow as I write.

That said, this is a Wonderful nib! All the similies others have used apply -- smooth, buttery, like writing on glass, and so on. A friend of mine tried it, made just one stroke on the paper, and lifted the pen immediately and said, "Wow!" It is far smoother than the regular Sailor 21K broad nib on my Profit Large, and that's saying something. At any rate, I've placed an order for the same pen with the Medium Fine nib, and I'm hoping that will work out better for me, because I can easily see this pen becoming may daily "go-to" writer.

Hope this information is of some use to anyone considering the Naginata nib.

[DanF]

Isn't the NT nib supposed to be sensitive to writing angle - the lower the pen the broader the line? If you try holding yours at a higher angle, you may get a narrower line. I suppose the flow is higher than normal for Sailor in order to supply enough ink to the broader part of the nib.

 

Dan

[mmoriarty]

Dan,

 

 

 

Isn't the NT nib supposed to be sensitive to writing angle - the lower the pen the broader the line? If you try holding yours at a higher angle, you may get a narrower line. I suppose the flow is higher than normal for Sailor in order to supply enough ink to the broader part of the nib.

 

Dan

Dan,

 

You're right. I appreciate the sugggestion. In fact, my friend who tried it holds the pen at a more upright angle than I do and got a narrower line. It seems that when I handle it, though, I don't get much line variation at whatever angle I hold it, unless I have it bolt upright from the paper. That's a user problem, of course, not the pen's. No complaints about the ink flow, either -- it's luscious. But given my habits, I want to find the nib that will let me use this pen comfortably as a daily writer, sloped back in my hand at my normal writing angle. More dextrous writers, of course, will be able to take full advantage of what this nib is designed to do. I offer my experience simply as information for anyone who may be in the same boat as I am.

[Jezza]

I've noticed there is a visible gap between the tipping material on the last two naginata togi I purchased. This created so much ink flow that changing the writing angle has almost no effect on the line width (unless, perhaps, you can write at a 90 degree angle!). My solution was to send the pen off to Mike Masuyama for adjustment. Mike broght the tines closer together, thus reducing the flow. Mike also re-shaped the tip based on how I hold the pen so that I was able to get line variation with my normal handwriting style/angle. No affiliation; but Mike spent years working for Sailor,and he's excellent with their nibs.

[RitchieMac]

I have the Naginata medium fine (NMF) nib, which is the finest Naginata Togi nib available. I agree that the nib is really smooth, but I have smoother pens. It however provides just a slight tinge of feedback to allow for control. Using the Pelikan standard for line width, it writes from medium bordering on broad to broad at my normal writing angle. So if you are thinking that you can have a Japanese fine (the "F" in "NMF"), think again. The line variations at different angle seem to be the widely touted defining characteristics of the Naginata Togi nib, but at my usual range of writing angle, the variation is not great, unless I am holding the pen at an almost upright position, which I am not used to. So I would not recommend this pen as a replacement of a collection of 3 different pens with fine, medium and broad nibs. For calligraphic like writing, I find it easier to use flexible and italic nibs to produce characters with line variations. Apparently, the Naginata Togi nib has a cult like following in the Chinese and Japanese pen forums, being touted the ideal pen to write Chinese or Japanese Kanji characters.

 

As for it being an EveryDay Carry (EDC) pen, it certainly writes well with good flow and provides for great control in forming the letters. Its single most deadly sin in preventing it from being my EDC is its abysmally poor converter ink capacity, in relation to its excellent flow. I run out of a full converter worth of ink in half a day. This is a problem for people like me who can't fill up their inks in the middle of their working schedule. A nib with such good flow should be fitted in a piston filler with good capacity (some argue that the Sailor piston, the Realo's ink capacity also leaves much to be desired, but I have no experience with it), or the equivalent of the Pilot Con-70 converter, which in my opinion is the world's best converter.

[Dr.Grace]

I have the Naginata medium fine (NMF) nib, which is the finest Naginata Togi nib available. I agree that the nib is really smooth, but I have smoother pens. It however provides just a slight tinge of feedback to allow for control. Using the Pelikan standard for line width, it writes from medium bordering on broad to broad at my normal writing angle. So if you are thinking that you can have a Japanese fine (the "F" in "NMF"), think again. The line variations at different angle seem to be the widely touted defining characteristics of the Naginata Togi nib, but at my usual range of writing angle, the variation is not great, unless I am holding the pen at an almost upright position, which I am not used to. So I would not recommend this pen as a replacement of a collection of 3 different pens with fine, medium and broad nibs. For calligraphic like writing, I find it easier to use flexible and italic nibs to produce characters with line variations. Apparently, the Naginata Togi nib has a cult like following in the Chinese and Japanese pen forums, being touted the ideal pen to write Chinese or Japanese Kanji characters.

 

As for it being an EveryDay Carry (EDC) pen, it certainly writes well with good flow and provides for great control in forming the letters. Its single most deadly sin in preventing it from being my EDC is its abysmally poor converter ink capacity, in relation to its excellent flow. I run out of a full converter worth of ink in half a day. This is a problem for people like me who can't fill up their inks in the middle of their working schedule. A nib with such good flow should be fitted in a piston filler with good capacity (some argue that the Sailor piston, the Realo's ink capacity also leaves much to be desired, but I have no experience with it), or the equivalent of the Pilot Con-70 converter, which in my opinion is the world's best converter.

I agree with all of this. Someone on this board did say that he likes this nib for writing Kanji, but I don't really understand why. The Concord or Fude nibs give much nicer brush-like strokes, although they're still too broad for normal writing, IMO.

 

I do love my NT-MF for Western-style writing (even if it only lasts for half a day, as you said. I hold it at a pretty high angle and from the side, almost like using a music nib is used for writing music.

[leomitch]

....A nib with such good flow should be fitted in a piston filler with good capacity (some argue that the Sailor piston, the Realo's ink capacity also leaves much to be desired, but I have no experience with it), or the equivalent of the Pilot Con-70 converter, which in my opinion is the world's best converter.

Hmmm! I just won a Sailor Profit Realo from Taizo with its Crystal Piston Filler and I am deliriously happy with it. It holds about 1.5cc of ink which is more than a Sailor converter and about a third less than one of my Aurora Optima Piston fillers(even more if one counts the Optima's emergency cache of ink) but it is still good from the supply point of view for all but my wordiest days. :-) Just as importantly, it writes so smoothly with a nice wet lines and with a slight flex for adding class to my writing, that it also challenges my Aurora Optima nibs and feeds. Unlike my Deltas, it never stutters when writing i.e. writes then runs dry, writes and then runs dry, wet, dry, wet dry and so ridiculously so on. For me the Realo is my best EDC pen and to be honest may even replace my Aurora Optima Aurorloides marbled blue and green as my favourite writer. I also have a Sailor Profit Large Special Nib Cross Concord with a fine nib in the regular position when writing and super broad line when reversed. It is a nib that write well but to some may sound scratchy, for me I say toothy. Nonetheless it is a good writer, but its converter holds so little ink, that it has to be used near a bottle of ink. It is good but not that impressive as the Realo. I am a happy camper with my Realo.

And let me add here, since I have heard a few negatives about Taizo at Engeika on this forum...I have dealt with him three times now and can say he is very business-like, prompt and describes his products honestly. I have not had this kind of service from every dealer lately and I certainly have not found a dealer whose shipping rates are as fair as his. I am very happy with him and his products.

Cheers

Leo

Edited August 15, 2013 by leomitch

[mbwhite]

I thought I would share my experience of my recent purchase of a Pro Gear with a Naginata Medium nib. After reading numerous posts about these niibs, I came very close to buying a Pro Gear with NFM nib. I'm so happy that I ended up buying the Naginata Medium nib instead. The medium nib when used in the normal position happens to be less broad than my Pelikan M800 medium nib.

 

I've enclosed a writing sample to show the difference. I'm really enjoying the versatility that this Naginata nib provides and have found it to be easy to master. Hopefully this will help others who are trying to decide which nib to go with.

Edited September 1, 2013 by mbwhite

[mmoriarty]

Epilogue: After writing with the Medium-Fine Naginata Togi nib for a couple of weeks, I believe I can muddy the waters even further.

The Medium-Fine feels narrower and more precise than the Medium as I'm writing -- scratchier, or "more tactile," if you like, than the Medium, which feels very smooth -- but not scratchy in an unpleasant way at all. I feel I have more control over the letters with the Medium-Fine.

But for the life of me, I can't see the difference in line width on the paper between the two pens when I write with them in my normal writing position. Either nib is a pleasure to write with, though. I've been using the Medium-Fine as my go-to pen.

For anyone considering these nibs, I suppose the choice would depend on how large your handwriting is and which nib feels better to you.

I've been eyeing the sterling silver version of this pen with the Naginata Togi nib. Now my dilemma is, which nib size?

[MartDL]

I have a Medium-Fine Naginata Togi nib. I am not a great one for broad nibs normally, and I found that this nib suited my needs perfectly. I could get a broad line, or a medium line, both at comfortable writing angles. The are also designed to be written with the nib upside down in which case you can have a fine nib. Unlike using the nib "right way up", the lower the angle you write, with the nib upside down, the finer the line will become. You can also hold the nib at a fairly high, but comfortable angle, but held slightly oblique. This will give a different line. If you post the pen, you have more options still, if you wish to use it for drawing, because it is easier to hold the pen at a low angle when posted, you can almost get a paintbrush

 

One aspect I really like about the Togi is that whatever angle you start writing at, it will not "drift". It keeps its line. In addition it has a very controlled flow which I've juts not seen in any other nib. It has about the same amount of wetness, almost regardless of how you hold the pen. What this does for me is to allow me to have a broader line than I would often use, without the accompanying wetness that would turn my fairly small handwriting into mush.

 

For me, it's the perfect "several pens in one body".

 

I did have to do some minor smoothing on the area of the top side of the nib that produces the fine lines, but the need was minimal, and I know find it writes like any fine nib.

 

Despite my love of my M-F nib, I must admit I might well find the experience entirely different if I had purchased anything wider. I wouldn't have the range of lines which I can now get comfortably, and I have a sense that the line variation would be less, though this is no something I know from first hand.

 

 

So, please accept my effusive description of my own Naginata Togi as being specific to the width of nib I chose.

 

My apologies for the length of this post, and any spelling or grammar errors

 

Martin