Nib that's most forgiving about angle and direction

[pencomparer]

I'm a lefty who also writes at what might be an unusual angle (e.g. perpendicular with the page, or with the nib at the side). Are there some recommendations out there for very smooth fine to medium nibs that are also very forgiving about the angle?

[A Smug Dill]

Pilot WA (Waverly) nibs for the Custom product line.

[OCArt]

Yes, a kugel or ball shaped nib. Lamy offers one for both the Safari and Studio models and nearly all the German made school pens will have the same type nib. The Pelikano and Pelikano Jr. series immediately come to mind.

[pencomparer]

Just now, A Smug Dill said:

Pilot WA (Waverly) nibs for the Custom product line.

My research led me to this too. It only comes stock on the 912, right?

[A Smug Dill]

3 minutes ago, pencomparer said:

My research led me to this too. It only comes stock on the 912, right?

 

Negative. It is a factory nib option for the Custom 742 and Custom 743 (but only with black pen bodies).

[pencomparer]

15 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Negative. It is a factory nib option for the Custom 742 and Custom 743 (but only with black pen bodies).

Oh interesting. I'd love to get it on a more exciting looking body (e.g. an 823 or a little 98). Might it be possible to do a swap?

[pencomparer]

21 minutes ago, OCArt said:

Yes, a kugel or ball shaped nib. Lamy offers one for both the Safari and Studio models and nearly all the German made school pens will have the same type nib. The Pelikano and Pelikano Jr. series immediately come to mind.

Thank you, I'll look into them

[A Smug Dill]

11 minutes ago, pencomparer said:

I'd love to get it on a more exciting looking body (e.g. an 823 or a little 98). Might it be possible to do a swap?

 

A #15 nib ripped from a Pilot Custom 743 will fit a Custom 823, of course.

[BrassRatt]

And then there's this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000171354182.html 

But I have not tried it.

 

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, BrassRatt said:

And then there's this:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4000171354182.html 

But I have not tried it.

 

I had a fountain pen of that type, which was a freebie from Engeika thrown in on top of an order years ago, when Taizo was just starting out on building the Wancher brand. If I recall correctly, that pen I had was a piece of junk, both in terms of construction quality and writing performance. The design may allow you to rotate the orientation of the nib and not cause ink starvation, but wasn't so keen on catering to a wide range of incident angles; and I don't think it wrote all that finely.

[pencomparer]

I heard about the potential for using Sheaffer Triumph nibs too - can anyone confirm?

[Leftytoo]

I'm also a lefty "hooker".  My experience is the WORST pens for us have a) a big "sweet spot" b) long, thin flexy tines, usually gold. The Wavery nib was a Sheaffer invention from the 1930s, and it, like all the classic age pens I own, write perfectly. For modern pens, you can smooth off the "sweet spot" which, under magnification, is a flattened area on the underside of the nib. Note that when the "sweet spot" is removed the line width will be slightly thinner.

[Carrau]

On 3/10/2022 at 2:49 AM, OCArt said:

Yes, a kugel or ball shaped nib. Lamy offers one for both the Safari and Studio models and nearly all the German made school pens will have the same type nib. The Pelikano and Pelikano Jr. series immediately come to mind.

I would add that a fair number of the vintage and some modern German nibs have stubbish characteristics, so one needs to exercise care in examining the nib if the kugel /ball shaped nib is desired.  I believe some were marked K or Kugel to indicate that shape, but looking at the nib would still be best practice. 

[es9]

I find the upturned tip on later vintage sheaffer triumph nibs (like on snorkels) to be very forgiving. 

[IanP2303]

I am right handed, but the Lamy nibs are butter smooth, even writing with the nib upside down. I am uncertain whether it is the same for a left handed person, but they offer Left handed nibs.

 

Cheers,

Ian

[Corona688]

Waterman Phileas or Kultur has the smoothest most tolerant M nib I've used.

[awa54]

On 3/13/2022 at 3:05 AM, pencomparer said:

I heard about the potential for using Sheaffer Triumph nibs too - can anyone confirm?

 

 

As a right hander I can't confirm their use in left handed writing, but I *can* say with confidence that the Triumph/conical nib Thin Model Touch Down pens, Snorkels and many of the inlay nibbed Imperial type Sheaffers (PFM included) have well rounded tipping and feature very smooth writing on push strokes.

 

Maybe give a steel nib Targa or 1970s Imperial-ish pen a try before jumping in with both feet and getting a Crest Snorkel though

[sansenri]

On 3/10/2022 at 8:49 AM, OCArt said:

Yes, a kugel or ball shaped nib. Lamy offers one for both the Safari and Studio models and nearly all the German made school pens will have the same type nib. The Pelikano and Pelikano Jr. series immediately come to mind.

 

or if you like to have a "nicer" pen you may also wish to look at some vintage Pelikans which were actually available with Kugel gold nibs, KF, KM, marked. Among vintage nibs they are not among the most sought after, as Pelikan fans prefer the regular nibs that have a less rounded tip.

In your case however it could be beneficial.

[sansenri]

as someone has suggested, very smooth and rather rigid nibs might also work well for you, in which case you should probably test Faber Castell and Graf von Faber Castell pens, and also Watermans.

[es9]

1 hour ago, sansenri said:

very smooth and rather rigid nibs might also work well for

Probably a controversial opinion, but I find rigid nibs to be — in the aggregate — much smoother than anything with flex. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy flex nibs; I do. But I rarely get one that glides for me the way many rigid nibs do.