What is your favorite nib size?

[PAKMAN]

XF to Medium for me. Occasional Italic Stub.

 

[tommym]

I do have and use a few 1.5 mm nibs, but if I could only have one, it would be a dry XF nib.

 

Tommy

[Penguincollector]

  For me, it’s very task dependent. If I am taking notes, the narrower, the better. If I’m putting an ink through its paces, an italic B or BB is the best choice. Sometimes my writing is small and cramped, other times it’s larger and more intricate. I change my hand to suit the pen. 

[nm4]

I’ve learned to love stubs that are 1-1.5mm.  They are so smooth, usually wet, and seem to work for what I write.  They force me to express my thoughts in fewer words. 😀   Plus they finish off the ink more quickly letting me change colors more often.  
 

N

[Boston Brian]

Always a Broad, but sometimes a OB

[davisgt]

When I first started buying Waterman pens, it was always medium.  I have a vintage Waterman eyedropper that has a wet noodle that I LOVE. Recently, I've been more drawn to fine nibs. My Platinum President has an extra fine, which I'm coming to appreciate more and more. I have a Waterman with an oblique and one with a cursive italic.  They take a little more finesse on my part. 

[PBWilson1970]

I am finding myself preferring 1.1 stub nibs over anything else. They add some character to my handwriting.

 

I've mostly got Lamy Safaris in my collection and I like being able to swap nibs to suit inks and papers. 

I've found that I don't particularly like the look of a Broad Lamy nib. Too round and uniform and it's not my favorite.

[Boston Brian]

I always prefer a broad nib, and in some pens a BB nib. Just bought a Easterbrook Eerie and pre-ordered a BB nib for it, and love it. 

[Bo Bo Olson]

I use my 1.5 Lamy Stub on my Joy...a Safari with a desk top body. It allows me to see my mistakes better than narrower italic nibs.

My handwriting book goes for stiff nib italic or 15th-16th Chancery Cursive.

My other italic nibs are a set of Osmiroid nibs from EF to BB, that fit my old style Esterbrook pens.

 

Too bad, I don't even practice it... I have the pen out in an inked pen cup, and the book is right in the middle of a foot and a half wide desk top set of books, a yard from my nose.

I opened the book for the first time in a couple of years to find out what script it was....italic is 15th-16th Chancery Cursive.

When I do use that pen, it's just for a scribble or two, nothing serious like learning the letter D.

[ptree]

I write pretty small, so my favorite nib sizes are EF, F, and the Japanese MF. Anything much bigger, and my handwriting looks like a giant blob.

[alarickc]

I use mostly stubs and cursive italics in the 0.8-1.5mm range, with a smattering of other shapes and sizes to give variety. Put in western nib grades, mostly B to BBB ground to stub, either from the factory or custom ground depending on availability. I usually have an M or F nib on hand to use for annotating my primary writing that’s done with bolder nibs. 

[Orthostylos]

Japanese F and XF.  I like small handwriting for daily notes.

 

 

[PhiloPlume]

I only write now with Japanese Fine and Extra-Fine nibs (Pilot, Platinum, Sailor).

 

Sometimes a Franklin-Christoph fine and medium cursive-italic or EF, F SIG nib of theirs.  Mostly on fountain pen friendly paper.

[Misfit]

1.1mm stub or italic nibs are my favorites. 

[jchch1950]

1.1 and 1.5 Lamy calligraphy nibs.

[InkyProf]

Task-dependent, and also a work in progress. I started with a preference for EF or finer (I often use small block print handwriting). But as I discovered the wonders of ink, I lost the the preference for "as fine as possible." I'd still say that my sweet spot for "all-purpose" pens is in the F range (Japanese to European), although I have and enjoy some interesting Western mediums (and a Japanese broad that writes like a M), most recently a vintage Pelikan OM. They push the limits of the handwriting size I use in my notebooks, but they're great for correspondence, where I try to write a little larger. I imagine this is a very common trajectory.

[antares1966]

On 3/2/2025 at 2:39 PM, ptree said:

I write pretty small, so my favorite nib sizes are EF, F, and the Japanese MF. Anything much bigger, and my handwriting looks like a giant blob.

My situation too, my daily pen use involves writing in small spaces, so fine points for me, unless it’s a gusher like a Pelikan in which case EF.  I do have one broad cursive italic that is used for addressing envelopes and for holiday card and letter writing.