Nib Manufacture

[danielpi]

Just found this. Great info. Thanks for compiling it.

 

Thanks! Glad to hear people find it useful.

[danielpi]

Updated June 3, 2017.

 

Organized by pen-maker: 

Brand	Current Nib Supplier	Historical Sources
Ancora	In-House
Aurora	In-House
Bexley	JoWo	Until early 2000s: Bock for gold, Schmidt/JoWo for steel
Caran D'Ache	Bock
Cleo-Skribent	Bock
Conid	Bock
Conklin	JoWo
Conway Stewart	Bock	Pre-1920: Warranted, 1920-1975: In-House
Cross	In-House and Sailor (only for Peerless 125)	Pelikan and Pilot
Danitrio	Bock (except 24k #50 sized nib on the Yokozuna series, made by an undisclosed Japanese company	JoWo
Delta	Bock
Diplomat	Bock
Dupont	Bock
Eboya	Bock
Edison	JoWo
Elysee	Bock (finishing by SP Dupont?)
Faber Castell	JoWo
Graf von Faber Castell	Bock
Franklin Christoph	JoWo for steel, Bock and JoWo for gold	Formerly all Bock (including some Schmidt branded Bock)
Goulet	JoWo
Hakase	Pilot (and Sailor, but mainly Pilot)
Helico	Bock
Karas Kustoms	Bock
Kaweco	Bock
Lamy	Mainly In-House; Bock for specialty nibs	Exclusively Bock in the beginning
Magna Carta	Bock
Montblanc	In-House
Montegrappa	Bock
Monteverde	Bock
Ohashido	Sailor
Omas	Bock	In-house until 2000
Onoto	Bock
Parker	In-House
Pelikan	In-House	Originally Montblanc nibs, later in-house, switched to Bock 1997, transitioned back to in-house since mid-2000s
Pilot/Namiki	In-House
Platinum	In-House
Romillo	In-House
Sailor	In-House
Sheaffer	Bock	In-house
Signum	Bock
Stipula	Bock
Stylo Art	Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, and Bock
Taccia	Sailor and JoWo
TWSBI	Bock and JoWo
Urso	Bock
Visconti	Bock
Waterman	In-House
Yard-o-Led	Bock

 

 

And organized by nib-maker: 

Bock	Caran D'Ache, Cleo Skribent, Conid, Conway Stewart, Danitrio, Delta, Diplomat, Dupont, Eboya, Elysee, Graf von Faber Castell, Franklin Christoph, Helico, Kaweco, Karas Kustoms, Montegrappa, Monteverde, Omas, Onoto, Sheaffer, Signum, Stipula, Stylo Art, TWSBI, Visconti, Yard-o-Led
In-House	Ancora, Aurora, Lamy, Montblanc, Parker, Pelikan, Pilot/Namiki, Platinum, Romillo, Sailor, Waterman
JoWo	Bexley, Conklin, Edison, Faber Castell, Franklin Christoph, Goulet, Taccia, TWSBI
Pilot	Hakase, Pilot/Namiki, Stylo Art
Sailor	Hakase, Ohashido, Sailor, Stylo Art, Taccia

 

Edited June 3, 2017 by danielpi

[TassoBarbasso]

A most useful guide, thank you so much for putting it together. May I suggest you also specify if the feed is made in-house, when the nis is outsourced (e.g., OMAS always used in-house feeds even when they outsourced the nibs, Montegrappa uses in-house nibs for top-end model, and so on...). It would go without saying that unless specified like in these cases, the feed comes from the same source as the nib.

[TassoBarbasso]

Is this pinned? It should be.

 

I am biased towards in-house nibs and this list comes in handy!

 

+1 !! This should definitely be pinned.

[Henricum_Tropen]

For reference, here is a list of pen manufacturers and who supplies their nibs. I've gathered this from a lot of different sources (including older posts in FPN forums). I'll update and correct the list as I come across new data. There have been several earlier attempts to organize this information on FPN, but hopefully this is a bit more organized/centralized.

 

For the record, I am aware (and should caution readers who are not) that not all Bock or JoWo nibs are the same. The mere fact that, e.g., Visconti and Omas both use "Bock manufactured nibs" does not mean, ipso facto, that they use the "same nib." In that particular case, the nibs are very different.

 

Also, it is worth dispelling the mistaken notion that in-house nibs are “better” than Bock or JoWo nibs. This is patently untrue. Most high end pen-makers will do a lot of finishing after receiving pens from Bock or JoWo, which are already made to their unique specifications at the factory; they are merely taking advantage of the economies of scale offered by a dedicated nib manufacturer (the "artistry" of smoothing and finishing that give a brand's pens their unique "feel" is almost always done in-house by all pen-makers).

 

That said, it is sometimes interesting who makes the nibs for whom, and to that end, I present the following list.

 

Updated June 3, 2017.

Organized by pen-maker:

Brand

Current Nib Supplier

Historical Sources

Ancora

In-House

Aurora

In-House

Bexley

JoWo

Until early 2000s: Bock for gold, Schmidt/JoWo for steel

Caran D'Ache

Bock

Cleo-Skribent

Bock

Conid

Bock

Conklin

JoWo

Conway Stewart

Bock

Pre-1920: Warranted, 1920-1975: In-House

Cross

In-House and Sailor (only for Peerless 125)

Pelikan and Pilot

Danitrio

Bock (except 24k #50 sized nib on the Yokozuna series, made by an undisclosed Japanese company

JoWo

Delta

Bock

Diplomat

Bock

Dupont

Bock

Eboya

Bock

Edison

JoWo

Elysee

Bock (finishing by SP Dupont?)

Faber Castell

JoWo

Graf von Faber Castell

Bock

Franklin Christoph

JoWo for steel, Bock and JoWo for gold

Formerly all Bock (including some Schmidt branded Bock)

Goulet

JoWo

Hakase

Pilot (and Sailor, but mainly Pilot)

Helico

Bock

Karas Kustoms

Bock

Kaweco

Bock

Lamy

Mainly In-House; Bock for specialty nibs

Exclusively Bock in the beginning

Magna Carta

Bock

Montblanc

In-House

Montegrappa

Bock

Monteverde

Bock

Ohashido

Sailor

Omas

Bock

In-house until 2000

Onoto

Bock

Parker

In-House

Pelikan

In-House

Originally Montblanc nibs, later in-house, switched to Bock 1997, transitioned back to in-house since mid-2000s

Pilot/Namiki

In-House

Platinum

In-House

Romillo

In-House

Sailor

In-House

Sheaffer

Bock

In-house

Signum

Bock

Stipula

Bock

Stylo Art

Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, and Bock

Taccia

Sailor and JoWo

TWSBI

Bock and JoWo

Urso

Bock

Visconti

Bock

Waterman

In-House

Yard-o-Led

Bock

And organized by nib-maker:

Bock

Caran D'Ache, Cleo Skribent, Conid, Conway Stewart, Danitrio, Delta, Diplomat, Dupont, Eboya, Elysee, Graf von Faber Castell, Franklin Christoph, Helico, Kaweco, Karas Kustoms, Montegrappa, Monteverde, Omas, Onoto, Sheaffer, Signum, Stipula, Stylo Art, TWSBI, Visconti, Yard-o-Led

In-House

Ancora, Aurora, Lamy, Montblanc, Parker, Pelikan, Pilot/Namiki, Platinum, Romillo, Sailor, Waterman

JoWo

Bexley, Conklin, Edison, Faber Castell, Franklin Christoph, Goulet, Taccia, TWSBI

Pilot

Hakase, Pilot/Namiki, Stylo Art

Sailor

Hakase, Ohashido, Sailor, Stylo Art, Taccia

If you have any additions or corrections, please include a link to where you found your info. Thanks!

 

Thank you for this list - very interesting.

 

I don't see Dunhill amongst the pens. I have a few and on the inside of the clip it says "Swiss Made" - which probably means that Caran D'Ache manufacture the pen body/cap/trim and Bock manufacture the nibs?

 

Regards

 

Heinrich

[Mulrich]

Any chance we can pin this thread (or at least the manufacturer table) to the top of the nib forum?

[Karas Kustoms]

Our first generation fountain pens have Schmidt nibs, we have since moved solely to Bock nibs for all current fountain pens.

[danielpi]

Our first generation fountain pens have Schmidt nibs, we have since moved solely to Bock nibs for all current fountain pens.

 

Cool. Doesn't get more authoritative than that! I'll add the note next update.

[Bluey]

Hero is missing from the list. They make their own nibs

[sketchstack]

Very cool list. It's useful for anticipating potential nib-swap compatibility and not to mention just generally interesting.

 

I recently got a hold of a couple of Monteverde. I was surprised that their nibs do not resemble any of my Jowo or Bock steel nibs. They are pretty thin steel, and their line width designations are way narrower than I expected. The nibs are so thin that you can see the logo stamping clearly on the underside of the nib. Even the tipping looks a little different --they are less globular, more flat/wedge. (And the line variation reflects that.)

 

I realize Bock is listed as the Monteverde nib maker, and that Bock will make custom nibs to the specifications to their pen making customers. So not all Bock nibs resemble one another. But I find it a little odd that a pen maker the size of Monteverde would insist on some specially made nibs when by all likelihood it would be less expensive to simply buy stock Bock nib designs and stamp a logo on there and call it done. Monteverde is not pushing $800+ pens that would justify demanding ultra-high quality, custom nibs.

 

Anyway, just some thoughts. Thanks for the list!

[MartinPauli]

Manu Propria Pens Switzerland also uses JOWO nibs.

http://www.manupropria-pens.ch/welcome.html

 

Before the iron curtain fell, JOWO was supplier of nibs to bock as a low-cost production country.

 

Further on we should take into consideration that - I believe - all the large brands buy from JOWO as well as from Bock. Imagin the difficulties if one supplier gets a serious problem. I cannot imagin, that a professional Managing Director would allow only to rely on one supplier.

 

The feeds of JOWO and Bock are identical

[steve50]

 

They make their own nibs, in-house.

 

Talked with them for quite some time a few years ago.

Warm regards, Wim

If this is true, Cleo Skribent should be added to the list. This makes me interested in the company. They have a gold-nibbed piston filler for £129 on Cult Pens - that's not too bad. The nib does appear distinct from Jowo/Bock.

 

https://www.cultpens.com/i/q/CL52944/cleo-skribent-classic-palladium-piston-14k-nib-fountain-pen-black

Edited July 14, 2018 by steve50

[jar]

Long ago I learned that if you want mochi, go to the mochi maker.

 

Frankly, a company that specializes in one field would be my choice over a company that tried to master all facets of a product. My experience with in house made nibs versus out-sourced nibs seems to support that position. I've never found a significant advantage to any of the In-House nibs such as Montblanc or Aurora or Pilot or Sailor or Platinum or Parker or Sheaffer or Waterman over nibs from Jowo or Bock or Schmidt.

[Bo Bo Olson]

If the company makes an ink, then the feed and nib are designed to that ink.

Pelikan made a dry ink, and a wetter nib, Waterman a thinner nib to go with a wetter ink.

 

I would think if Bock makes different nibs, then perhaps not all the feeds are the same....but I don't know. Perhaps the top of the feeds are different. It would be a minor tweek.

Would think they could match inks of Viscounti and so on with a feed to go with the nib, if desired.

[TassoBarbasso]

Montegrappa is switching to JoWo, this should be mentioned in the list

[TassoBarbasso]

The feeds of JOWO and Bock are identical

No they are not

[Karas Kustoms]

To my knowledge, from conversations with our Bock representative, they manufacture all of their parts to include feeds, collars, and nibs. When asked about JoWo and specific nibs JoWo makes we were told, "We have no knowledge of JoWo, their products, or their manufacturing facilities". Bock feeds are dramatically different than JoWo feeds, as are Bock nibs. Bock also makes several non-traditional styles of nibs for specific brands that require custom machinery. It makes sense that they would then allow more customization of nibs for other brands. Think Visconti nibs that vary quite a bit from the standard Bock nibs, made in the same facility but rather specific, also the Sheaffer nibs until recently were produced by Bock and were a non-standard type. I believe with their size and experience they are quite a bit more suited to catering to the specific needs of large pen companies that do not have the capabilities to make nibs in-house but want their own style or function.

[TassoBarbasso]

Long ago I learned that if you want mochi, go to the mochi maker.

 

Frankly, a company that specializes in one field would be my choice over a company that tried to master all facets of a product. My experience with in house made nibs versus out-sourced nibs seems to support that position. I've never found a significant advantage to any of the In-House nibs such as Montblanc or Aurora or Pilot or Sailor or Platinum or Parker or Sheaffer or Waterman over nibs from Jowo or Bock or Schmidt.

 

That only makes sense if the mochi maker is any good at making mochi, actually. But they are not.

 

To make another food-based example: would you rather get a hamburger from McDonald's, or from a nice, family-run restaurant that makes hand-made food with great ingredients, among which hamburgers?

 

Let's be honest, making a nib is not like making a microchip or some rocket part. A company can be perfectly able to make an excellent nib AND an excellent cap, barrel, filling system. After all, companies that make their own nibs (like Aurora, Pilot, Sailor, MB, Pelikan, ...) have sometimes a whole century of experience. You may be doing something else aside, but I'm pretty sure that after a century you can get damn good at making nibs, too.

[Henricum_Tropen]

Still missing Dunhill ? On the inside of the clip is stamped "Swiss Made".

[truthpil]

Any idea who makes the nibs for Nemosine?