3 Italian Nibs Compared W/ Pilot And Lamy

[fireofspring]

KBeezie's post about Aurora nib sizes made me curious about how the Aurora fine nib would compare against the F from other Italian brands, so I decided to test it out. The Pilot M and Lamy F are also included because most of us are familiar with their nibs.

 

Featuring (top-down)

Aurora Optima 14k F (Kobe Nunobiki Emerald)

Omas Milord 18k F (Kobe Bordeaux)

Visconti Voyager 14k F (Kobe Ikuta Orange)

Pilot Metropolitan M (Kobe Motomachi Rouge)

Lamy Safari F (Pelikan 4001 Turquoise)

 

Paper is Fabriano Ego

 

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f391/thegrynne/FountainPenNetwork/F0F693D2-9571-491D-97AB-98ED8AF2AD34_zpsaii7pmkf.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f391/thegrynne/FountainPenNetwork/5F40B14B-9ADA-4BFD-99B2-204AF1441868_zpsfteqwnhu.jpg

 

Line width

I think the 3 Italian fine nibs - Aurora, OMAS, Visconti - are similar in line width. The Pilot M is perhaps fractionally narrower than the F on the Italians, but it appears a lot finer than it is because the nib is quite dry.The Lamy F meanwhile is noticeably wider.

 

(I forgot that actually own a Pilot Prera with a F nib, which is why I used a Medium instead.)

 

Softness and ink flow

Out of the 3 Italian nibs, the Visconti F is the most springy and actually yields a tiny bit of flex. The Aurora F and the OMAS F are both fairly stiff gold nibs, and they glide over the paper with a nice amount of feedback.

 

The Aurora Optima pictured was slightly dry when it came out of the box. I've adjusted the ink flow to its current level, which is comparable to the wetness of an OMAS nib.

 

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f391/thegrynne/FountainPenNetwork/8B78FB1A-A932-46B2-9A6A-9D2EF77461D0_zpsjxiwa6yi.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f391/thegrynne/FountainPenNetwork/4498876D-1730-4105-9C8F-A64424260E9E_zpsqmkyjq22.jpg

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f391/thegrynne/FountainPenNetwork/141EDB26-EEE6-4461-B831-6CBA648F2AD9_zpslmsuucdj.jpg

 

Edit: I've just noticed from these close-ups that the tines on the OMAS nib are misaligned. Excuse that if you please. The nib didn't come that like, it must have happened during the course of use.

Edited August 18, 2015 by fireofspring

[Feanaaro]

Perhaps it would have been better if you used the same ink for all pens. If the Safari puts down that line with the very dry Pelikan 4001, probably the difference would be even more marked with the same ink (though I don't know about the relative wetness of the Kobe inks).

 

Also, for my two cents, I have an old (~15 years) steel fine nib from Aurora, and it definitely writes more like a Japanese than a Western fine; and to this day it is the best nib I've ever got.

[fireofspring]

Perhaps it would have been better if you used the same ink for all pens. If the Safari puts down that line with the very dry Pelikan 4001, probably the difference would be even more marked with the same ink (though I don't know about the relative wetness of the Kobe inks).

 

Also, for my two cents, I have an old (~15 years) steel fine nib from Aurora, and it definitely writes more like a Japanese than a Western fine; and to this day it is the best nib I've ever got.

 

That's a good idea... My reasoning behind using different inks was to make the pens more clearly differentiable, but I take your point about the varied performance of different inks.

[Kactus]

_{My 20 cents..,}

 

_{Line Width}

_{My experience is the Aurora nibs run a little more fine. I have also noticed that the 18K run considerably more fine than the same comparative size.}

_{I think the OMAS run a bit broader / Juicier / wetter}

 

_Smoothness

_{I have found my OMAS to be the smoothest and best flowing pens I have.}

 

_{All that being said, an appropriately tunned nib will provide a delightful writing experience customized to the users requirements.}