Inexpensive Pens With Cursive Italic Nibs?

[BookCat]

Hello,

 

It would be great to find a reasonably priced pen with a cursive italic nib. I really like an italic look but hate those sharp corners which come with normal italic nibs and make them feel so scratchy. From the searches I've done, it seems that only high-end pens ever have a cursive option, so I wondered whether any of the experts here could recommend a pen around the £20 point which comes with a cursive italic.

 

Thanks lots.

[dragos.mocanu]

Well, the Lamy Safari of course. You can have it with a 1.1, 1.5 or 1.9mm cursive italic nib, and it only costs £15. Robust, well designed pen; my 1.5i Safari is a great, smooth writer.

Edited October 26, 2013 by dragos.mocanu

[TallisandByrd]

I very much recommend any pen by Italix from mrpen.co.uk. I have the Captains Commission which goes for £49 and has 15 different nib options. Mine has a broad italic (roughly 1.3mm) and is by far the smoothest pen I own (ultra smooth), also giving the greatest degree of line variation of my italic pens, and is my daily carry go to pen. A less expensive option is their Parsons Essential for £39 and am planning to buy one soon.

 

The value for money these pens offer is tremendous, given the build quality and obscenely smooth nibs. They are all substantial pens, and have a nice weight to them, which I really appreciate.

 

The 'italic' nibs are crisp, meaning they offer the most line variation by having sharp edges. But this is not a problem for me at all, and I'm left handed. Yet if this is a problem for you then I recommend getting the 'cursive stub' options, which have rounded corners, but at the cost of slightly decreased line variation.

 

So I really recommend stretching your budget just a bit and buying one of these super quality pens, they are more than worth it!

[Pterodactylus]

The Rotring Artpen has also great italic nibs (which are not too sharp for daily use).

[plumeau]

Pelikan P50 script

[Pterodactylus]

I very much recommend any pen by Italix from mrpen.co.uk. I have the Captains Commission which goes for £49 and has 15 different nib options. Mine has a broad italic (roughly 1.3mm) and is by far the smoothest pen I own (ultra smooth), also giving the greatest degree of line variation of my italic pens, and is my daily carry go to pen. A less expensive option is their Parsons Essential for £39 and am planning to buy one soon.

 

The value for money these pens offer is tremendous, given the build quality and obscenely smooth nibs. They are all substantial pens, and have a nice weight to them, which I really appreciate.

 

The 'italic' nibs are crisp, meaning they offer the most line variation by having sharp edges. But this is not a problem for me at all, and I'm left handed. Yet if this is a problem for you then I recommend getting the 'cursive stub' options, which have rounded corners, but at the cost of slightly decreased line variation.

 

So I really recommend stretching your budget just a bit and buying one of these super quality pens, they are more than worth it!

Preferences are different, I don't really like them.

Nails without any hint of springiness, italic nibs created rude by cut off the complete tipping of a conventional nib.

Agreed, they write smooth, but how long?

I don't like nails of the hardest kind.

And they are far out of the OP budget.

I would always prefer a Lamy or Rotring nib over the Italix ones.

But as said preferences are different.

[TallisandByrd]

Preferences are different, I don't really like them.

Nails without any hint of springiness, italic nibs created rude by cut off the complete tipping of a conventional nib.

Agreed, they write smooth, but how long?

I don't like nails of the hardest kind.

And they are far out of the OP budget.

I would always prefer a Lamy or Rotring nib over the Italix ones.

But as said preferences are different.

I have never had the pleasure of writing with a springy/flex italic nib, so that would be an interesting experience. I have a 1.1i Lamy Al-star and that is superb, and that would be my second recommendation for the OP. As to the Rotring Art pens I have found them too dry and require more pressure than I would like. I also grew up using a Manuscript left hander calligraphy set for my school work, but now I have sampled the delights of Italix and other italic pens I'm not sure I would recommend them. They are dry and have an annoying texture on the section.

 

I do share your concern about the longevity of the Italix nibs, given how they are manufactured from a medium nib, but the steel should last.

[Randal6393]

Recently I acquired a Noodlers Ahab with a 1.1 mm italic nib through Goulet Pens : Cost $35.00. Ordered a Serwix Dilli with an italic nib through Fountain Pen Revolution for $20.00. And ordered two Nemosine Singularity, 0.6 and 0.8 mm italic nibs from xFountainPens for $15.00 each. All four pens work well and have pretty decent stub nibs.

 

So decent italic pens are fairly easy to find and cheap enough to buy.

 

Best of luck to you,

 

@Pterodactylus: Thought an italic nib was supposed to be pretty rigid. Flex is for Copperplate.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Randal6393

[Centopar]

+1 on the Lamy suggestion. The nibs are very easy to swap as well, so you only need one body if you really want to keep your spend low.

[WirsPlm]

Pilot Plumix: < $10, the nib is a very smooth cursive italic, and the width is good for regular use. A bit smaller than 1.1mm, I think it's a .9 mm.

 

[OcalaFlGuy]

"Roll your own", that way you have it set up the way YOU want it.

 

 

Both of these were around $50 WITH the custom grind. The most inexpensive Pro grind I know if is from Letta at Pendemonium, around $25.

 

The above P--45 even has a 14k nib in it for that price.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[TSherbs]

Recently I acquired a Noodlers Ahab with a 1.1 mm italic nib through Goulet Pens : Cost $35.00. Ordered a Serwix Dilli with an italic nib through Fountain Pen Revolution for $20.00. And ordered two Nemosine Singularity, 0.6 and 0.8 mm italic nibs from xFountainPens for $15.00 each. All four pens work well and have pretty decent stub nibs.

 

So decent italic pens are fairly easy to find and cheap enough to buy.

 

Best of luck to you,

 

@Pterodactylus: Thought an italic nib was supposed to be pretty rigid. Flex is for Copperplate.

+1 on each of these. I own the same ones and have not been disappointed--except in the limitations of my own handwriting!

[Aysedasi]

On the subject of 'nails' - personally I've reached the stage where I want absolutely no springiness and definitely no flex in my nibs.... It's all down to personal taste.

[BookCat]

I recently purchased the Pilot 78g broad italic. Love the pen, hate the nib. The reason I dislike it is that the italic nib has such sharp edges. Yes, this gives definition, but at the price of constantly stabbing the paper, hence the desire for a CURSIVE italic.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions, please keep them coming, some great ones so far, but I've looked into most of them.

 

The Italix pens are far too heavy for me, coming in at about 50g. I prefer lighter pens; heavy pens make my hand ache very quickly.

 

I have a Lamy Safari with a medium nib and have looked into the italic nib option, but thought their italic nibs would be normal, sharp cut italics like that on the Pilot 78g. The same thing for the Plumix and its younger sibling the Pluminix. If I'm wrong, and these are cursives without the sharp edge, please correct me.

 

The only CURSIVE italic pen I've found at any kind of reasonable price is: Rosetta North Star Fountain Pen, Pendleton Point Cursive Italic Nib, which I found for £55 on ebay. This is more than I really want to pay.

 

I have a Parker 45 with a gold nib but wouldn't want to risk having this ruined and assume that a nibmeister would charge more than £55. I also have a Parker 95 which I would be more willing to risk having customised, but how much would this cost?

 

Thanks everyone.

[TSherbs]

The Lamy "italic" nibs are NOT sharp.

 

The Goulet 1.1 nib is even more rounded (I have mine in a Konrad and I LOVE the combination).

 

The Nemosine 0.8 is NOT sharp.

[brunico]

The Plumix and Lamy nibs aren't sharp, so both makes should be suitable, along with Twsbi. If your 78g hasn't had an accident with a whetstone, could it be that you're inadvertently rocking the nib?

[whych]

For a beginner the Lamy nibs are the best and cheapest option. They are tipped, unlike most of the other cheaper options which are just a flat end.

Even if you get the basic Safari and add the nib separately, it's a cheaper option (nibs around £5)

 

That way, if you don't like the italic nib, you can still use the pen with the original nib.

[Pterodactylus]

@Pterodactylus: Thought an italic nib was supposed to be pretty rigid. Flex is for Copperplate.

Normally they are, I just prefer it when they doesn't feel like writing with a solid block of metal.

I welcome any hint of springiness also on a italic nib (not talking about flex)

 

Btw. There are many vintage nibs with at least semi-flex which also have a stubby italic character.

Combining the best of two worlds.

One of my favorite nibs is the nib on my Waterman 45 it's a full flex nib with a broad CI cut.

 

 

I do share your concern about the longevity of the Italix nibs, given how they are manufactured from a medium nib, but the steel should last.

 

It's something we don't know, for sure an untipped nib will last not as long as a tipped nib.

And the Italix is a special case, as it was for sure no use case for the manufacturer of the nib to write without tipping. Nobody knows how hard the nib alloy really is and how long it will last.

Maybe an issue on the long run, maybe not.

[recluse]

I recently purchased the Pilot 78g broad italic. Love the pen, hate the nib. The reason I dislike it is that the italic nib has such sharp edges. Yes, this gives definition, but at the price of constantly stabbing the paper, hence the desire for a CURSIVE italic.

 

It looks like you would prefer simple "calligraphy" pen. There should be a few options available in art supply stores nearby. If Amazon is not out of the question, apparently there are already recommended Lamy Joy, Rotring ArtPen and Pelikan Script for around 10 pounds.

[Sudhir]

I give a +1 for the Rotring. The Rotring 1.1 was my first italic pen, so I went for an inexpensive one. I have added a couple of others including the Italix Parson's Essential and am very happy with all of them.

 

Of course, this is my experience and YMMV.

 

Cheers,

Sudhir