October 4, 2024

Fountain Pen nibs

Nibs are the heart of the pen -- where the ink meets the paper.

Gold nibs

Fancy pens often have nibs made from 14K or 21K gold. Do these write any different (particularly, "better") than steel nibs? Not necessarily. At one time gold nibs were important because inks corroded steel nibs. Now with the advent of stainless steels and other metals this is not an issue. But gold nibs are often a sign of a high quality pen and are likely to have more careful quality control. Steel nibs are likely to be made by the tens of thousands and dumped into big bins. It doesn't have to be so, but probably is.

Iridium nibs

Some of the best pens have gold nibs with some kind of platinum group metal alloy plated onto it. The platinum alloy is much harder than gold and will last much longer being rubbed on paper. It does seem a pity to hide that gold though, and some nice pens have bicolor nibs for just this reason.

The "iridium" nib thing can just be a marketing word. I once read an article by some fellows who worked at an aerospace lab and were able to take their pen in and put the nib on some instrument (probably a mass spectrometer) and found that there was no iridium whatsoever in the so called iridium nib.

As with all things, the reputation of the manufacturer and the price of the pen tells you an awful lot. Sailor pens for example have nibs that are 21K gold plated with Rhodium (which is a very hard and silvery metal). I am confident that these are just what they say they are.

Japanese nibs

The first thing to know is that a Japanese F is really fine, like an EF in a "western" pen. Likewise a Japanese M is like a western F. I think this is wonderful and really like the fine nibs, but you have to know what to expect. Take a look at those tiny complex characters the Japanese people write and you will understand why. The following claims are made about nib sizes:

Nibmasters

These are people with skills and experience in nib tuning. Mr. Masuyama gets mentioned often. He says he has 23 years of experience with Sailor! He charges $30 to $40 for general adjustment and straightening along with a $20 charge for a "batch" of up to 5 pens which includes return shipping.
Feedback? Questions? Drop me a line!

Tom's Pen Info / tom@mmto.org