Lamy Nib Sizes (Pictures)

[murraypaul]

It is commonly said that Lamy nibs are wider than other brands, but that is never quantified.

I've attached scans of Lamy EF, F and two M nibs, alongside a Parker Vector M and Tachikawa School and School G, for really fine (but unusable, for me) nib comparisons.

The dots on the paper are 5mm apart, for a scale.

For a company known for making wide nibs, I was surprised at how wide and wet the Lamy Violet seems to be, which exaggerates the issue.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7325/9981204476_583c09723a_b.jpg

Nib Sizes - DotGrid - 1 by murraypaul, on Flickr

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7432/9981135775_3e8f7b611e_b.jpg

Nib Sizes - DotGrid - 2 by murraypaul, on Flickr

 

[murraypaul]

I attempted to take some measurements from these pictures, they are guesstimates rather than exact, due to line variation, feathering and the quality of the scans.

Nib / Ink               Med /Thin /Thick
PV  / PRSG              0.7 / 0.5 / 0.8
LSF / PRSG              0.65/ 0.6 / 0.75
LSM / PRSG              0.6 / 0.5 / 0.9
LSEF/ PRSG              0.5 / 0.4 / 0.75
LSM / LV                0.75/ 0.7 / 1.0
LSM2/ LV                0.7 / 0.6 / 0.9
LSF / LV                0.65/ 0.55/ 0.85
LSEF/ LV                0.5 / 0.4 / 0.8
LSM / PQB               0.6 / 0.5 / 0.75
LSF / PQB               0.5 / 0.5 / 0.75
LSEF/ PQB               0.55/ 0.45/ 0.7
PV  / PQB               0.7 / 0.5 / 0.75
TS  / B                 0.4 / 0.3 / 0.6 V & 0.3 / 0.2 / 0.4 H
TSG / B                 0.55/ 0.35/ 1.0 V & 0.35/ 0.2 / 0.55 H

(The school pens are untipped, and so show variation between horizontal and vertical strokes, which is why there are two set of numbers)

 

Conclusions?

Of the examples I have, there is little difference between the medium and fine nibs, I think it is entire in the margin of error of how much pressure you use on any one stroke.

I have two medium nibs, and there is some variation between the two.

The extra fine is noticeably finer than the others.

All the Lamy nibs are broader than a Japanese medium (at 0.5mm), except possibly the EF with minimal pressure.

The School G is listed as 0.2-0.5, which is pretty close to my horizontal measurements.

But the main conclusion is that the equipment I have simply isn't good enough to perform these measurements.

A 600 DPI scan is only a little over 20 dots per mm, which gives a margin of error of probably +/- 0.1mm, which is greater than the difference between nib sizes.

[Barry Gabay]

Good morning MurrayPaul,

 

Very interesting. Thank you very much for the photos. They and your chart are informative and educational.

 

Not attempting to steal your topic, but I have a related question. Just received a Lamy Safari from my son who returned from an extended stay in Berlin. The pen he bought me has a nib marked LH, and he was told by the sales clerk that it's made for lefties, such as myself. I mean "linx hander," have forgotten my German spelling. Anyone familiar with such a nib? It writes like a very wet and smooth Safari F nib. Love using it.

 

Best wishes, Barry

[murraypaul]

Good morning MurrayPaul,

 

Very interesting. Thank you very much for the photos. They and your chart are informative and educational.

 

Not attempting to steal your topic, but I have a related question. Just received a Lamy Safari from my son who returned from an extended stay in Berlin. The pen he bought me has a nib marked LH, and he was told by the sales clerk that it's made for lefties, such as myself. I mean "linx hander," have forgotten my German spelling. Anyone familiar with such a nib? It writes like a very wet and smooth Safari F nib. Love using it.

 

Best wishes, Barry

 

The Writing Desk in the UK stock those nibs, and describe them as:

"LH (left-hand, eg Pelikano and Lamy). A medium nib but with the point shaped so that it may be more suited to left-handed writers, particularly those who hold their above the line of writing ("over-writers")."

[Ego Id Veto]

I have three italic nibs for my Lamy, the 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9mm ones. There is literally no difference between the 1.5 and 1.9. I put it down to poor quality control.