Twsbi Fine Or Medium : Can't Decide

[Arbitzeta]

Dear Friends,

I am going to buy TWSBI Eco, but am unsure if I should go for a Fine or a Medium. I am well-content with Pilot Metropolitan fine, so medium could be an option, but have a resistance for pens whose medium is almost a broad. Any pointers?

[Arbitzeta]

Dear Friends,

 

I am going to buy TWSBI Eco, but am unsure if I should go for a Fine or a Medium. I am well-content with Pilot Metropolitan fine, so medium could be an option, but have a resistance for pens whose medium is almost a broad. Any pointers?

Going by a few posts, it seems like TWSBI Eco fine is tad bit wider than a Pilot metropolitan Fine. Is the understanding correct?

[Uncial]

Not by a great deal I don't think. I'm being tempted by a TWSBI broad, but it's well nigh impossible to figure out what nib width might suit. I found the medium nib from TWSBI wasn't a huge step up from the fine, so hoping the broad isn't a huge step up from the medium.

[pararis]

It may be a (bleep) shoot. I find TWSBI nib markings to be roundly inconsistent.

 

I have one Eco with a fine nib. It's way more than fine, surely what would be an extra fine. Nothing wrong with it, if that's what you like, but it doesn't seem appropriately labeled.

 

I have two 580s. One with a medium nib writes exactly the same as one with a broad nib.

 

You drop your coin in the jukebox, it may play your tune, it may not.

[Jamerelbe]

Going by a few posts, it seems like TWSBI Eco fine is tad bit wider than a Pilot metropolitan Fine. Is the understanding correct?

 

That's been my experience: TWSBI Eco EF would be close to a Pilot Metro F; the Eco F would be a bit wider, and the M *quite* a bit wider.

[Charles Rice]

No matter which one you get, you'll want the other one eventually.

[taimdala]

I have 7 Ecos and they all have EF nibs. I find they aren't as fine as my Pilot Metro, alas, but they do have a little bit of flex. I can get decent line variation with only a little pressure. I suppose they might not have had that quality if they were as Extra Fine as I'd hoped, so that's a decent compensation.

 

However, as the original question concerns choosing between fine or medium with the desire to avoid anything broad, go with the extra fine. It is visibly finer than the Eco medium nib and not anywhere near the Eco broad.

Edited December 18, 2019 by taimdala

[Arbitzeta]

No matter which one you get, you'll want the other one eventually.

There is no such thing as as 'enough fountain pens'

[Arbitzeta]

I have 7 Ecos and they all have EF nibs. I find they aren't as fine as my Pilot Metro, alas, but they do have a little bit of flex. I can get decent line variation with only a little pressure. I suppose they might not have had that quality if they were as Extra Fine as I'd hoped, so that's a decent compensation.

 

However, as the original question concerns choosing between fine or medium with the desire to avoid anything broad, go with the extra fine. It is visibly finer than the Eco medium nib and not anywhere near the Eco broad.

But wouldn't it be almost duplicating a Pilot metropolitan? Was wondering if a medium will suit to bring in some variation in lines?

[Arbitzeta]

Not by a great deal I don't think. I'm being tempted by a TWSBI broad, but it's well nigh impossible to figure out what nib width might suit. I found the medium nib from TWSBI wasn't a huge step up from the fine, so hoping the broad isn't a huge step up from the medium.

Oh, then we could start with a Medium, looks like it

[pararis]

It may be a (bleep) shoot. I find TWSBI nib markings to be roundly inconsistent.

 

I have one Eco with a fine nib. It's way more than fine, surely what would be an extra fine. Nothing wrong with it, if that's what you like, but it doesn't seem appropriately labeled.

 

I have two 580s. One with a medium nib writes exactly the same as one with a broad nib.

 

You drop your coin in the jukebox, it may play your tune, it may not.

My post originally said "It may be a crapshoot." I have no idea how it got changed. Apparently, someone does not understand that craps is a game of chance.

[Uncial]

Lol, yes i fell foul of that in a post not so long ago

[Arbitzeta]

No matter which one you get, you'll want the other one eventually.

Now that I got one, I agree with you - tempted to buy the other

[inkstainedruth]

My Metropolitan has a medium nib (I found an F nib to be scratchy when I tried the pens out -- the advantage to buying in a B&M store rather than online). And my TWSBIs are (respectively) a B and a 1.1 mm stub. So, sorry, but I'm not going to be of any help to the OP.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Misbah]

Make sure to check Nib Nook on GouletPens.

 

There is huge different between #5 (580) and #6 Nib(VAC 700R)

Eco has smaller nibs. My VAC 700R with Fine is same as Eco T - Medium

 

So make sure to check which nib suits your writing style better.

[WLSpec]

Whichever you think suits you!

 

 

Do you like wetter or dryer nibs?

Broader or finer lines?

 

 

Personally I would go with the m.

 

Good luck finding the right nib.

[TSherbs]

Now that I got one, I agree with you - tempted to buy the other

Which did you get, and how wide is it in its actual writing?

Edited December 31, 2019 by TSherbs

[Arbitzeta]

Which did you get, and how wide is it in its actual writing?

I got a TWSBI Medium. Attached a sample.

[Enkida]

For what it's worth, I have about 7 TWSBI eco's, most of them are fine, 2 of them are medium, and one of them is a stub. They all wrote well out of the box. The fines are inconsistently fine, which may be due to the ink I put in them, but I think is more likely that the nibs themselves are inconsistent. However, all of them are consistently finer than my two TWSBI medium sized nibs. The medium sized nibs are glassy smooth, the fine nibs are just smooth, but not as smooth as the glassy ones. They are all a pleasure to write with, except for the stub, which I would call only "not bad, but not my first choice."

So... if you like a finer line, go for a fine, and yes, it will be a roll yer dice, take yer chances kind of thing, but within reason. You will still get a "fine" line by the definition of most *Western* fine-nibbed fountain pens. If you like a smoother roll, go for a medium, it's not as fat as some Western mediums I've used, but it's not going to be a fine. And if you have very tiny handwriting or very poor paper, you can try the extra fine. It will likely be smaller than the fine nibbed pens, and also likely not as smooth-writing, if my sample selection is anything to judge by.

 

Hope that helps a bit!

[agross]

Hi all,

hoping to buy a 580 , however the nib size...fine or medium, is the fine a scratchy nib, looking at writing styles, if I wasn't told, the medium writes like a fine. ?

 

cheers