Please help me find my ideal nib

[Shandy]

After forty years of using fountain pens of many brands, I am still looking for my ideal nib. Would you please help me find it?

 

My ideal nib is a blending of a Sailor gold fine nib and a Platinum 0.2 nib that comes with Preppies (I know, low-end, but a great nib). The Sailor has too much "feedback"; the Platinum too little. The Platinum feels precise. That's the best word I know for the feeling that there is a point that interacts crisply and reliably with the paper. The Sailor feels a little less precise. It was worse right after I bought it. It felt jagged. A nibmeister got rid of the jaggedness and said that he has seen it on other Sailor nibs. What is left is probably just the normal Sailor feedback.

My ideal nib is not a Pilot. I have tried a few Pilot nibs over the years. Even the finer nibs feel imprecise to me, as if I am writing with a crayon. It may be a fine-point crayon, but a crayon nonetheless. Pilots are also too smooth for me. My ideal nib is not a stock JoWo or Bock nib. It is not a Lamy nib (I do still have a fondness for the nib in the Lamy 2000, but I gave that pen away because I felt cramped writing with it and the nib had a too small sweet spot). Nibs that I have used from TWSBI, Pelikan, Edison, and Opus 88 did not satisfy me. I used to have a Mont Blanc 149 with a nib that I liked, but the pen still leaked after two trips to the repair shop, so I sold it. I had high hopes for a Waterman Carene, but ink never flowed out of that pen even after a trip to the repair shop, so I sold it.

 

My ideal nib is probably Japanese, not European. Most of the European extra-fine nibs that I have tried in recent years have not been fine enough for me.

I have been hoping that my ideal nib would be in a Platinum 3776. The extra-fine was too fine for me. Reading what other people have written makes me conclude that nibs broader than the extra-fine on the 3776 would be too broad for me. Would they be?

 

I don't know what else, if anything, I could consider. Ideas for other nibs? Ideas for other modifications? Could a nibmeister turn my Sailor nib or another nib into my ideal nib?

 

Many thanks for any help.

[sandy101]

Take your Sailor nib to a pen show and someone will smooth it for you. That'll probably be the best way. 

 

A nib meister will probably be the cheapest and quickest way.

 

At a pen show, they'll tune it and you can write with it as they go - so when it's just right, they know when to stop.

 

 

[sandy101]

Coming to think of it, vintage Parkers might be worth investigating. The silver/grey pearl, victory and older duo fold nibs are not smooth, but have a bit of grip.

 

Again - a pen show where you can try before you buy is probably the best idea.

[Shandy]

Thanks for the ideas, Sandy. I've been thinking about a pen show. The nearest ones are a ten-hour round-trip drive for me, so I don't know if I will get to one.

[Penguincollector]

  My advice would be to make a long weekend/vacation out of it. The hotel rates for pen shows are usually pretty good if you go through the show- it will be prominently linked. You can drive there, chill out, spend as much or as little time at the show proper to find your ideal pen or grind. There’s usually a pool, good food, a bar or two. There’s less pressure to decide that day if you know you’re staying at least overnight. Most shows have a VIP night where you can spend time talking to pen sellers and nibmeisters, and folks are really good about steering you to the best person for your needs. Many nibmeisters have appointments and deposits, so make sure to check both the show website and the nibmeister’s website or  social media. 
 

  I also agree with Sandy on Parkers- the Duofolds or Lucky Curve pens have a bit of feedback and a fine line, more in line with Japanese pens than one might think. 

 

[Shandy]

Many thanks, Penguin Collector (and Sandy for the same tip).

 

Now I'll have fun shopping for Parkers.

[Shandy]

Oh, could you two tell me where to shop for Parker pens on the Web please?

[Penguincollector]

I like Peyton Street Pens. I bought my True Blue ringtop from Teri.
 

Peyton Street Pens

 

  

[sandy101]

Couria75 on e-bay is a pretty good seller in the UK.

 

You are paying more, but the pens are serviced and work well.

[Ron Z]

You just missed a pen show that's on the west coast - the LA show happens every February.  There's also a show in San Francisco in August.  FarmBoy here on FPN is connected with that one.  The Pen Collectors of America keeps a pen show calendar  for those who are interested.

[inkstainedruth]

@Shandy -- I have found that if I check around, I can often also find places to stay in the general vinicity of the show site (depending on the show) that are less expensive than the site hotel is (often a LOT less expensive).  If you know the dates of when the show is going to be, you can often shop around on the hotel booking sites for places that aren't too far a drive and are less expensive than the show site.  

My husband doesn't understand why I do that, instead of just staying at the site hotel, but of course staying someplace less expensive gives me more money to spend AT the show itself -- especially since I'm often having pens worked on or nibs tuned.  For instance, at the B/W show, now that it's held near the airport, there are a LOT of places to stay that are close to the site hotel.  And it turns out that while the place I stay at for that sometimes has issues (one year the elevator wasn't working) it's only a couple of blocks drive to the show site AND within walking distance of this AMAZING kabob place that someone on here recommended to someone else the year the show moved to the current site.  And I saw that post and said, "Oooh -- that sounds good!"  And looked the place up and it was literally the next building over from the place I was staying that first year   I don't remember now who recommended the place, but the food is AMAZING and I get 3-4 meals out of just one bowl because I'm not a big eater anymore....  Just walk over, get take-out, and stick the leftovers in the room fridge and then toss some in the microwave for the next night's dinner (breakfast is included at the place I stay; and although I forgot this year  until I was already on the road, I generally bring a cooler bag with yogurts for myself for lunch and stick them in the hotel fridge as well.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Shandy]

Thank you all!

[Runnin_Ute]

I'm kind of the same way, Shandy. Here in the Salt Lake City area, the CLOSEST pen show is Denver in October.  Distance ONE WAY is over 500 miles. That's 8 hours via I80 through southern Wyoming. Taking I70 is about the same distance but maybe slightly longer time wise. (flying is about 75 minutes).

 

Then there is I80 to US 40, by far the prettiest but longer too. But you can stop in Jensen/Dinosaur at Dinosaur National Monument.

 

The others LA, SF and Portland are all 200 miles or more farther away.