Writing Samples of Nakaya Nibs

[whichwatch]

Many people know I am a bit of a Nakaya freak and have more than 100 of the little gems.  A friend recently asked if I could provide comparative writing samples of the various nib sizes so I agreed to give it a shot.  I have decided to post the results here on the remote chance it might be of interest or possibly even helpful to someone else.  I will summarize my methodology, post the actual writing samples, and then list a few conclusions.

 

Notes on the Methodology

 

•         This was an unscientific study.    Writing was done as simple dip samples done by hand.  While I tried to minimize process variations, some uncontrolled variations would be expected.

 

•          Not all pens were new, right out of box.  Some had been previously owned, and came from a variety of sources.  This fact would of course introduce variations depending on who originally tuned the nib and whether a previous owner had any adjustments made.  To the best of my knowledge, none of the nibs had been ground, though it is always possible some had been smoothed a bit or adjusted to provide more or less flow.

 

•         Ink was Waterman Serenity Blue and paper was Franklin Christoph Sugar Cane paper.

 

•          Samples were produced with a single dip except if the pen ran dry requiring a second dip (see samples using BB and EF Elastic).

 

•         Samples were produced showing cursive writing and printing, then vertical and horizontal lines, and finally four vertical lines using increasing pressure from left to right.

 

 

 

WS1

 

 

 

WS2

 

 

 

 

 

A Few Informal Conclusions

 

I should mention my personal prejudices right up front so that my conclusions can be viewed with the proper context.  In general, I am a big fan of Nakaya and love the way they write.  I prefer stiff nibs (which Nakaya generally are) and do not make use of flex features when writing.  So with that in mind, here is what I concluded from my unscientific experiment:

 

• Widths seemed to progress as expected as I moved from finer to broader nibs with one notable exception.  The Ultra Extra Fine nib seemed to me to write broader than either the Extra Fine or even the Fine.  I can not explain this.  If I didn’t hate cleaning pens so much I might have tried a second Ultra Extra Fine pen to see if results are different.  But I don’t like Ultra Extra Fine nibs anyway, so I will leave that experiment to someone else.

 

• Not really an aberration or exception, but actually a confirmation of something I already knew through experience and could be expected based on visual inspection prior to writing.  Nakaya BB nibs have monstrous balls of tipping and produce a significant increase in line width and wetness compared to Broad nibs.  The tipping is so large most nibmeisters find it a perfect canvas for any grind someone might want.  My personal favorite is architect.

 

• “Soft” treatment on Nakaya nibs really does work as seen in the 4 vertical line portion of each writing sample.  “Soft” nibs had a noticeably different feel and certainly produced more line variation with increasing pressure.   While I have always preferred stiff nibs, I really did like these much more than I had expected.

 

• I am not the right guy to evaluate the elastic feature (cutouts on side of nib) as it is a feature pretty much lost on me.  In addition, the only such nib I have is an EF and may not be the best nib width to demonstrate the feature, but most certainly mine is not the best hand with which to try it.

 

•  I still love Nakaya nibs and the way they write.

 

 

Thanks for reading.  I hope this might be useful or at least interesting to somebody somewhere

 

 

[whichwatch]

Deleted

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, whichwatch said:

I don't see a way to edit the post.

 

Look under the ellipsis near the top of the panel containing the post.

[whichwatch]

48 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Look under the ellipsis near the top of the panel containing the post.

 

Got it - and fixed.  Thanks!

[Karmachanic]

Cool!  Next time I find £800 in my sock drawer I'll purchase a 17mm Cigar SM

[inkstainedruth]

Thank you for doing this whichwatch.  I had also noticed that the Ultra EF seemed to put down a wider line than the EF in your samples.  I'm also curious about your opinion of the music nib, which didn't seem all that different from the extra broad sample.

And I do have a question.  What is an "EF elastic" nib?  I'm not familiar with the terminology.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Karmachanic]

16 minutes ago, inkstainedruth said:

 What is an "EF elastic" nib?

 

Here ya go:

https://leighreyes.com/2015/05/30/the-nakaya-elastic-nib-faq/

[whichwatch]

1 hour ago, inkstainedruth said:

Thank you for doing this whichwatch.  I had also noticed that the Ultra EF seemed to put down a wider line than the EF in your samples.  I'm also curious about your opinion of the music nib, which didn't seem all that different from the extra broad sample.

And I do have a question.  What is an "EF elastic" nib?  I'm not familiar with the terminology.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

The BB nib has a huge round ball of tipping.  The Music nib has three tines and writes like an  italic or a stub - broader on vertical strokes and narrower on horizontal strokes.

[amberleadavis]

Thank you for this great comparison.

[AndrewUK]

Hi

 

Do you notice any differences for nibs of the same size based on finish? (writing experience / stiffness etc)

 

ie rhodium, ruthenium, two tone, or regular single tone.
 

Thanks

[whichwatch]

Hi Andrew

 

I haven't noticed any difference due to nib finish, other than what my own perception or mood might introduce.

 

I think the greatest difference anyone might notice on a given nib width would be due to the tuning of the nib, either by the dealer or a subsequent owner.

[Linger]

On 3/25/2022 at 8:26 PM, inkstainedruth said:

 I'm also curious about your opinion of the music nib, which didn't seem all that different from the extra broad sample.

 

[Linger]

Paper used is Rhodia. It is “closed” and a bit “glossy” paper. Easy to get hold of, multiple blocs available, all varieties (lines, dots, grahp, blanc) possible, but clearly not my favorite. Rhodia suits Ms and Bs and preferably wetter nibs. The harder and drier Nakaya nibs are better of on different paper - tomoe river and midori in my case.

[A Smug Dill]

12 minutes ago, Linger said:

Rhodia suits Ms and Bs and preferably wetter nibs.

 

In my experience, Rhodia 80g/m² paper — including in the DotPad products — are more than good enough for use with EF and F nibs, including those made by Platinum (or Sailor, Pilot, Aurora, etc.) and those which write relatively ‘dry’, or are ‘nails’ or produce plenty of kinaesthetic feedback. Can’t say how they work specifically for Nakaya nibs, though, since I don’t have any Nakaya pens.

[inkstainedruth]

On 3/25/2022 at 3:43 PM, Karmachanic said:

 

Here ya go:

https://leighreyes.com/2015/05/30/the-nakaya-elastic-nib-faq/

Thanks!  Very interesting article.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[cll]

Thank you for your samples and the time taken to produce them for our reference.

 

I am wondering if you have had experiences whereby you find differing nib width in the specified nibs width.  The reason I am asking this is I find my Nakaya B much narrower than my Platinum 3776 B nib and most unfortunately I enjoyed the 3776 B nib more than the Nakaya.

[whichwatch]

I believe Nakaya nibs are hand tuned at the factory.  At least the dealer from whom I usually buy new Nakayas (and probably other dealers as well) always asks my preferences in writing - which hand, what flow I would like, how much pressure I use, etc and presumably nibs are adjusted to those preferences.  So this can introduce variation, as a pen adjusted to write wetter will feel different and may certainly produce a broader line than a pen adjusted to write drier.

 

I also frequently buy pre-owned Nakayas - almost every one I get offered!  And there can naturally be plenty of variation in those, as previous owners may have had nibs adjusted and/or widths altered by nibmeisters.

[AndrewUK]

I honestly can't see a difference in line width between my Medium and Fine Nakayas. On 68gsm Tomoe River and using Iroshizuku Inks.

So much seems to depend on the ink. I was using Pelikan Edelstein Olivine for a while with the fine nib and it was a scratchy unpleasant experience (but the line was thinner).

Makes it hard deciding on future purchases!