Sailor 1911 nib widths

[ture]

I am considering getting a Sailor 1911 (14K nib), but I am unsure about what width to order — medium or broad.

 

I like my Pelikan M200 and M600 mediums. I once got a B nib for the M200, but ended up selling it. Similarly, I like Lamy Safari M nibs, but not B. Safari F is ok.

 

So if it's true that a Japanese B is like a European M, then I should probably get a B. But if the Japanese B is more like a European M-and-a-half, and the Japanese M is a European F-and-a-half, then I should probably get an M.

 

Does anyone have some wisdom to share?

 

[Olya]

Going by what you write, the Sailor M should be for you.

 

A Sailor M writes close to a (gold) Pilot M (which are equivalent to Euro Ms).

 

Pelikans are the thickest and wettest makers in my experience, a Sailor B I once tried wrote finer than a thick steel M (modern Pelikano) that I had at the time.

 

So that's what's throwing me off a bit here, because if Pelikan is your benchmark, then B should suit more, but if other Ms are your benchmark (like the Lamy you mention), then Sailor M.

Though granted, some Pelikan steel Ms that I have write thicker, whilst others write thinner (my m2xxs), so that's a bit hard to pinpoint.

 

"But if the Japanese B is more like a European M-and-a-half, and the Japanese M is a European F-and-a-half, then I should probably get an M."

-> definitely an M then.

 

The only Japanese maker that writes "one size smaller than Euros" is Platinum, and even then that's only true up to M, which is the finest Japanese M in my experience.

 

Pilot steel Ms are on a par with Platinum's gold (i.e. "one size smaller"), but Pilot's golds are on a par with Euros, hence the FM. Sailor is closer to Pilot than Platinum, but Sailor also has the inbetweener MF, Platinum has no inbetweener, though the jump between M and B is quite big in the 3776 Centurys I have.

 

That was long and winded and more than you asked for, but basically it's mostly to illustrate that this advice is an approximate!

 

A Sailor B should still be finer than a Lamy B, but again, going by what you've liked so far it seems that the Sailor M would be the safest bet for you.

[ture]

Thanks Olya! Yes, given that I seem to be ok with a little thinner than my existing M nibs, just not too thin, and I don't want thicker lines than my existing M nibs, M seems to be the way to go.

[Harold]

I'd have to concur with everything Olya said. There is a lot of variance(especially when it comes to Pelikan), but from what you said I get the feeling that you might find the broad difficult to write with if you happen to get one that's on the fatter end, and you'll probably still be happy with a medium even if it's on the finer end.

[A Smug Dill]

 

1 hour ago, ture said:

I like my Pelikan M200 and M600 mediums. I once got a B nib for the M200, but ended up selling it. Similarly, I like Lamy Safari M nibs, but not B. Safari F is ok.

 

I was just about to say, given what you wrote, you'd be more comfortable with erring on the side of getting and writing with something finer.

 

6 minutes ago, ture said:

I seem to be ok with a little thinner than my existing M nibs, just not too thin, and I don't want thicker lines than my existing M nibs,

 

[ture]

I ended up getting a medium nib (or a "hard medium", to be precise). From a quick test (using Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue), it seems on par with my Lamy F nibs. I'd have preferred a thicker line, but I suppose this will work nicely for writing on each line of 5mm graph paper...

[A Smug Dill]

17 minutes ago, ture said:

I ended up getting a medium nib (or a "hard medium", to be precise).

 

Thank you for clarifying, even though I think one'd be hard-pressed to find a ‘soft’ Medium nib (expressly designated as such) by Sailor these days in a currently available, in-production pen model.

 

19 minutes ago, ture said:

I'd have preferred a thicker line,

 

I do so wish you're able to try a Sailor (H-B) Broad nib, just so you can know with certainty which is the better compromise for you out of what is on offer by the manufacturer, when the goal is not to actually make your ideal nib materialise from the brand (or any other).

 

22 minutes ago, ture said:

but I suppose this will work nicely for writing on each line of 5mm graph paper...

 

I do hope this proves to be both true and what you want! I cannot imagine a Broad nib from any brand working too well for such an application of putting pen to paper, whether one is writing in English (or some other language that based on the Latin alphabet), Chinese or Japanese.

[ture]

On a more positive note, this nominally-medium nib is the smoothest effectively-fine nib I have! I was a bit worried because I had heard about Sailor nibs having "feedback", but it feels a lot smoother than my Lamy and Rotring "F" steel nibs.