18K Nib Question

[hankas]

Thanks for all of your replies. I learn a lot about nibs and the process of making them. It makes me appreciate the work and thoughts that go into that little section of my pen.

 

I decide to get that M800.

[mhphoto]

My M800 is one of my favorite pens to write with. *drool*

[alvarez57]

Ever seen a Waterman Edson? 18k nib and stiff as a nail.

Gold does not equal flex. There were plenty of very rigid (manifold) nibs made "back in the day".

 

Depending on how the company wants it, a 14k or 18k gold nib can be made rigid or soft. Some nibs can be modified aftermarket for added flex.

 

Inks today aren't so corrosive though - so corrosion isn't an issue. Steel nibs are better than they used to be, too.

 

hankas - You have nothing to worry about. If you buy a Pelikan with an 18k nib it will last you a very very long time, unless you use it in a game of darts.

I second watch art 100%. Got a 21k as stiff as a nail, 14k very smooth and flex. Got a Pelikan M200 with steel nib and it has some degree of flex.

Edited March 23, 2014 by alvarez57

[Bo Bo Olson]

From what I remember from years ago Richard said he didn't 'flex' modern 18 K nibs...14 was better to start from....times change.

 

He also said, he had had real wonderful vintage 18 C/K nibs that were grand Noodles.

That was many hundred 18 K vs 14 C/K nibs Threads ago.

 

Isn't it a shame....all that money for an modern MB Woolf and it's only an 18 K 'springy' nib? Tine tip bend is adequate & @ only 2 X tine spread.

That is IMO better than a 18 K nail....have a Persona 18 K nail that was changed from OB to a M-B CI by Pendleton Brown.

Many say 18K is mushy...not soft.

I don't know, I have only a 'springy' MB 18 K nib that is not a nail like my Persona.....a two pen sample....

 

What I can not understand is why one would want a only 'soft' nib, if one wasn't a 18 K snob. Inexperience? Fear of old used pens?

 

One could get 14 C/K in semi-flex or 'flexi'/maxi-semi-flex and have some real life in a nib. One of course has to buy a vintage nib, fit one or have it made to semi-flex.

 

Sitting at the source, in Germany, I have some 26 or so Semi-flex and 14 or so, 'flexi'. Swan can be had in that too.

 

I have one 18 K MB..'Springy'/"Soft" nib and a 18 K nail. I have a vintage 14 K MB from the early '50's in semi-flex and one in 'flexi'. The youngest MB I'd ever buy again is a '75 or before; back when they still made semi-flex.

Having better nibs in both 14 C and 14 K, I am not all that enthused about 'springy'/"soft" 18 K nibs. ...It is a nice comfortable ride, but I find semi-flex to be lots better.