Nibs - How Have Your Tastes Changed?

[arran]

I am leaning towards Fine wetty nibs and on the other side , crispy italics with bespoke niw width adapted to the height of my handwriting on the other side.

[fpenluver]

No change. Still loves Fine.

I am happy to use other nibs though (but won't use them everyday)

[JMichael]

In school and early work years I used fine nibs. Today, over 40 years later, I use medium and broad. My vintage pens with the fine nibs have been retired or have gotten replacement nibs or retipping.

[Runnin_Ute]

My first pen was medium, the second a fine. I now have everything from EF to 1.1 italic. Although I mostly use EF to M.

[Mrsal]

I started out with B nibs, but now all I seem to use if fine and extra fine as most of my writing is note taking. As for flex, I find that a little springiness is nice for when i'm taking notes for a long period of time, but otherwise, I prefer a nail like an Esterbrook 9668, or a Lamy F or XF.

[WilsonCQB1911]

I'm finding myself leaning more and more towards larger (bolder) nibs. I started out with mostly fine nibs and now I've found that my medium nibs are getting more attention. I suppose the next step will be to buy a B nibbed pen.

This seems to be the trend, and I'm in that camp as well

[Ipsum_Dolor]

I started with a Japanese medium, which is a western fine, and is too wide to be perfect.

I've gravitated to absolutely adoring anything smaller than a western fine, my favourite so far being a lovely Pilot extra-extra fine (0.1mm at it's thickest!).

I did try a western broad, and while it was nice for writing names & headers, my handwriting just ends up looking like blobs of ink. I can't write too large; fountain pen paper is expensive & I can't afford to only be able to fit 30 words on a piece of paper.

I have a couple flex pens on the way, but if they're anything like the calligraphy nibs I use for engrossers script (Gillot 303, Brause Steno, Leonardt Principal) I figure I won't flex them very much, as I can't write what I want to without an oblique holder.

[penrivers]

Its a pendulum, years in broads, then years in f or xf, then years in broads again, I never stop in mediums, quite borings.

[_Stormin_]

I find that my tastes are dictated by the color of the ink I am using.

 

Things that shade go into broad and stub nibs, and most of my colorful inks only end up in these pens. The "business colors" of black, blue, and blue-black all end up in finer nibs. Occasionally I will break from the trend, and right now my Wall Street in broad has Heart of Darkness while my Invincia in fine is full of Yama-Dori. That never really lasts though, and I revert back in time. I was just noticing this morning that the Yama-Dori isn't quite as lovely out of a fine nib as it is a stub.

Edited August 2, 2014 by _Stormin_

[VOKEY]

I have learned very fast that one manufacturers medium nib isn't the same as another manufacturers medium nib. Before I buy a pen I look for writing samples of the pen and the nib size I want. I like a medium nib. I guess a better way to say it is, A western medium. If I order online I have to be careful because I have a few broad nibs that I didn't intend on. Now I make sure to click on the size I want. I would love to feel comfortable with a broad nib. They are beautiful to look at, but I have to make the letters so big in order to show separation. And then there are the giant nibs that have three Tines. I don't even know what they are called

[Regulateur]

I have gone from F to italic and stub over the years. I prefer the 1.1mm italic the best. The fine italic from Conway Stewart is too small while the Homo Sapiens 1.3mm stub writes like a paint brush.

[ac12]

 

 

I still prefer my F nibs since over 30 years.

However I have expanded my horizon:

 

Italic Nibs

• I have and like using a Lamy 1.1 italic nib. It makes my cursive look more interesting without me doing much more work than adjusting for a wider nib. So it has found a permanent home on my CP1.
• I am also dabbling in calligraphy and tinkering with the Sheaffer italic nibs for that.

Medium nibs

• I did not use M nibs before, but I found that the M nibs are great for practicing penmanship on wide ruled paper. It forces me to write larger than I would with my F nibs, and that has helped improve my handwriting.
• M nibs are great for lighter color inks like turquoise which look washed out when written with a thinner nib.

 

 

update:

 

I have recently been playing with a Nikko G dip pen nib in an oblique holder.

It is a really fun nib to use. I can get fine lines going up and sidewards, then flare the tip to get a wider downstroke.

Sometimes, I enjoy writing with the dip pen more than using a fountain pen.

 

I also have a Hiro 41 nob which will make it much easier to flare the ink line.

[Aurko]

My tastes have generally not changed. I've always liked wet Japanese fine pens, but I have been experimenting with cursive Italics and flex. Whether or not I want a springy pen or a nail depends more on my mood than anything.

[siima]

I started out with F and EF nibs, but I recently started experimenting with Lamy 1.1mm italic nib and found it to be very interesting. Now I'm thinking about getting italic nibs for my other pens too. I haven't experimented with flex nibs yet.