Nib Manufacture

[danielpi]

For reference, here is a list of pen manufacturers and who supplies their nibs. I've gathered this from a lot of different sources (including older posts in FPN forums). I'll update and correct the list as I come across new data. There have been several earlier attempts to organize this information on FPN, but hopefully this is a bit more organized/centralized.

 

For the record, I am aware (and should caution readers who are not) that not all Bock or JoWo nibs are the same. The mere fact that, e.g., Visconti and Omas both use "Bock manufactured nibs" does not mean, ipso facto, that they use the "same nib." In that particular case, the nibs are very different.

 

Also, it is worth dispelling the mistaken notion that in-house nibs are “better” than Bock or JoWo nibs. This is patently untrue. Most high end pen-makers will do a lot of finishing after receiving pens from Bock or JoWo, which are already made to their unique specifications at the factory; they are merely taking advantage of the economies of scale offered by a dedicated nib manufacturer (the "artistry" of smoothing and finishing that give a brand's pens their unique "feel" is almost always done in-house by all pen-makers).

 

That said, it is sometimes interesting who makes the nibs for whom, and to that end, I present the following list.

 

Updated June 3, 2017.

 

Organized by pen-maker: 

Brand	Current Nib Supplier	Historical Sources
Ancora	In-House
Aurora	In-House
Bexley	JoWo	Until early 2000s: Bock for gold, Schmidt/JoWo for steel
Caran D'Ache	Bock
Cleo-Skribent	Bock
Conid	Bock
Conklin	JoWo
Conway Stewart	Bock	Pre-1920: Warranted, 1920-1975: In-House
Cross	In-House and Sailor (only for Peerless 125)	Pelikan and Pilot
Danitrio	Bock (except 24k #50 sized nib on the Yokozuna series, made by an undisclosed Japanese company	JoWo
Delta	Bock
Diplomat	Bock
Dupont	Bock
Eboya	Bock
Edison	JoWo
Elysee	Bock (finishing by SP Dupont?)
Faber Castell	JoWo
Graf von Faber Castell	Bock
Franklin Christoph	JoWo for steel, Bock and JoWo for gold	Formerly all Bock (including some Schmidt branded Bock)
Goulet	JoWo
Hakase	Pilot (and Sailor, but mainly Pilot)
Helico	Bock
Karas Kustoms	Bock
Kaweco	Bock
Lamy	Mainly In-House; Bock for specialty nibs	Exclusively Bock in the beginning
Magna Carta	Bock
Montblanc	In-House
Montegrappa	Bock
Monteverde	Bock
Ohashido	Sailor
Omas	Bock	In-house until 2000
Onoto	Bock
Parker	In-House
Pelikan	In-House	Originally Montblanc nibs, later in-house, switched to Bock 1997, transitioned back to in-house since mid-2000s
Pilot/Namiki	In-House
Platinum	In-House
Romillo	In-House
Sailor	In-House
Sheaffer	Bock	In-house
Signum	Bock
Stipula	Bock
Stylo Art	Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, and Bock
Taccia	Sailor and JoWo
TWSBI	Bock and JoWo
Urso	Bock
Visconti	Bock
Waterman	In-House
Yard-o-Led	Bock

 

 

And organized by nib-maker: 

Bock	Caran D'Ache, Cleo Skribent, Conid, Conway Stewart, Danitrio, Delta, Diplomat, Dupont, Eboya, Elysee, Graf von Faber Castell, Franklin Christoph, Helico, Kaweco, Karas Kustoms, Montegrappa, Monteverde, Omas, Onoto, Sheaffer, Signum, Stipula, Stylo Art, TWSBI, Visconti, Yard-o-Led
In-House	Ancora, Aurora, Lamy, Montblanc, Parker, Pelikan, Pilot/Namiki, Platinum, Romillo, Sailor, Waterman
JoWo	Bexley, Conklin, Edison, Faber Castell, Franklin Christoph, Goulet, Taccia, TWSBI
Pilot	Hakase, Pilot/Namiki, Stylo Art
Sailor	Hakase, Ohashido, Sailor, Stylo Art, Taccia

 

If you have any additions or corrections, please include a link to where you found your info. Thanks! Edited June 3, 2017 by RMN

[fabri00]

Omas?

About Noodler's, I dont think they produce nibs, as they do not even produce pens.....

Edited September 21, 2015 by fabri00

[danielpi]

  On 9/21/2015 at 7:57 PM, fabri00 said:

Omas?

About Noodler's, I dont think they produce nibs, as they do not even produce pens.....

 

Huh. I thought I did Omas, but I guess I copied over it while making the table. It's been a bit of a pain getting the table to work. Added it again. Thanks for that.

 

As for Noodlers... uh, yeah, they do produce pens. They have been for the past couple years. You've never heard of the Ahab? It's been big news.

Edited September 21, 2015 by danielpi

[jar]

I don't think ST Dupont makes their own nibs.

 

Noodler's does not make any pens or nibs. IIRC they rebrand an Indian made pen.

 

Bock owns Schmidt.

[danielpi]

  On 9/21/2015 at 9:41 PM, jar said:

I don't think ST Dupont makes their own nibs.

 

Noodler's does not make any pens or nibs. IIRC they rebrand an Indian made pen.

 

Bock owns Schmidt.

 

Okay, I dug around a bit, and it seems you're right. Dupont gets their nibs from Bock. Or at least some of them. I've updated the table accordingly. Thanks.

 

Noodler's pens are manufactured in India. I don't believe it's a rebranding of an existing model, however. And I don't think their nibs come from JoWo or Bock (or any other manufacturer). I admit, I had trouble getting any detailed information here. Some additional clarification on the source of Noodler's nibs seems to be needed...

 

Schmidt seems to be in the business of finishing nibs. They have historically finished nibs either from JoWo or Bock. I don't know if they're owned by Bock, but on the list, I think I've basically counted them as Bock, so it's a moot point.

[Randal6393]

Well. Noodler's may not equip their pens with Bock or JoWo nibs. But, thanks to Goulet Pens (et al), it is very easy to change out the nibs for JoWo # 6 nibs, where they will fit. Yes, I did it to all of my Ahabs and Konrads.

 

As for Conklin pens, I have several Conklins and the nibs may be made by JoWo. But they are quite different from the Goulet Pens JoWo nibs I buy. Not that they are any less, just not quite the same. And my Conklins are happy to take a JoWo nib from a pen shop. This case also applies to the TWSBI's I have bought.

 

Interesting, enjoy,

[AltecGreen]

Danitrio is much more complicated. Many of the early pens had JoWo nibs. The current nibs (with fireball imprint) are Bock execpt the 24k #50 sized nib on the Yokozuna series which are made by an undisclosed company in Japan.

 

Conway Stewart were in-house until the original company went under in 1975. (Although it is unclear towards the end whether they made their own nibs).

 

Here is some more info

 

 

Signum use Bock nibs

 

Eboya uses Bock nibs

 

Stylo Art uses Platinum, Pilot, Sailor, and Bock nibs.

 

Hakase has used both Sailor and Pilot nibs and feeds. I think they currently are Pilot nibs but I haven't checked recently.

[hari317]

In the pelikan entry under historical, their initial nibs were supplied by Montblanc.

[fabri00]

  On 9/21/2015 at 9:50 PM, danielpi said:

 

Noodler's pens are manufactured in India. I don't believe it's a rebranding of an existing model, however. And I don't think their nibs come from JoWo or Bock (or any other manufacturer). I admit, I had trouble getting any detailed information here. Some additional clarification on the source of Noodler's nibs seems to be needed.

There are not only jowo or bock as nib manufacturer: in Asia other companies makes nib.

The nibs of noodlers are produced from somebody in asia. Fountain pen revolution sell same nibs unbranded.

 

Noodlers pens are a rebrandinh of existing pens, with very minor changes like the clip.

[Jamerelbe]

  On 9/22/2015 at 5:08 AM, fabri00 said:

There are not only jowo or bock as nib manufacturer: in Asia other companies makes nib.

The nibs of noodlers are produced from somebody in asia. Fountain pen revolution sell same nibs unbranded.

 

Noodlers pens are a rebrandinh of existing pens, with very minor changes like the clip.

I believe this comment is correct re Noodler's pens:they are made in India, and adapted from existing designs. I don't know where Noodler's get their nibs from, but they are quite different from the nibs supplied by Fountain Pen Revolution. FP Revolution nibs are definitely made by Indian manufacturers - the #5 nibs sourced from a different maker than the #5.5,with the latter a significant step up in quality.

[danielpi]

  On 9/22/2015 at 3:02 AM, AltecGreen said:

Danitrio is much more complicated. Many of the early pens had JoWo nibs. The current nibs (with fireball imprint) are Bock execpt the 24k #50 sized nib on the Yokozuna series which are made by an undisclosed company in Japan.

 

Conway Stewart were in-house until the original company went under in 1975. (Although it is unclear towards the end whether they made their own nibs).

 

Here is some more info

 

 

Signum use Bock nibs

 

Eboya uses Bock nibs

 

Stylo Art uses Platinum, Pilot, Sailor, and Bock nibs.

 

Hakase has used both Sailor and Pilot nibs and feeds. I think they currently are Pilot nibs but I haven't checked recently.

 

 

This is great information. I'll update the table accordingly. Right now the editor seems to be site software out and won't let me edit the post, but as soon as that gets fixed, I'll add your info. Thanks.

 

 

  On 9/22/2015 at 4:42 AM, hari317 said:

In the pelikan entry under historical, their initial nibs were supplied by Montblanc.

 

 

Is this true? That's interesting. I'll need to verify that. Thank you very much.

 

 

  On 9/22/2015 at 5:08 AM, fabri00 said:

There are not only jowo or bock as nib manufacturer: in Asia other companies makes nib.

The nibs of noodlers are produced from somebody in asia. Fountain pen revolution sell same nibs unbranded.

 

Noodlers pens are a rebrandinh of existing pens, with very minor changes like the clip.

  On 9/22/2015 at 7:59 AM, Jamerelbe said:

I believe this comment is correct re Noodler's pens:they are made in India, and adapted from existing designs. I don't know where Noodler's get their nibs from, but they are quite different from the nibs supplied by Fountain Pen Revolution. FP Revolution nibs are definitely made by Indian manufacturers - the #5 nibs sourced from a different maker than the #5.5,with the latter a significant step up in quality.

 

 

Yeah, okay. I think I'd better just remove Noodler, unless one of you can find the name of the Asian nib supplier.

[jar]

Romillo Pens makes their own nibs IIRC.

[fabri00]

  On 9/22/2015 at 7:59 AM, Jamerelbe said:

I believe this comment is correct re Noodler's pens:they are made in India, and adapted from existing designs. I don't know where Noodler's get their nibs from, but they are quite different from the nibs supplied by Fountain Pen Revolution. FP Revolution nibs are definitely made by Indian manufacturers - the #5 nibs sourced from a different maker than the #5.5,with the latter a significant step up in quality.

One of the nibs sold from fpr look to me the same of noodlers ahab and conrad.

[rwilsonedn]

  On 9/22/2015 at 4:42 AM, hari317 said:

In the pelikan entry under historical, their initial nibs were supplied by Montblanc.

 

Do I remember correctly that Pelikan subsequently decided to outsource their nibs, didn't like the result, and pulled nib-making in-house again a few years ago?

ron

[danielpi]

For reference, here is a list of pen manufacturers and who supplies their nibs. I've gathered this from a lot of different sources (including older posts in FPN forums). I'll update and correct the list as I come across new data. There have been several earlier attempts to organize this information on FPN, but hopefully this is a bit more organized/centralized.

 

For the record, I am aware (and should caution readers who are not) that not all Bock or JoWo nibs are the same. The mere fact that, e.g., Visconti and Omas both use "Bock manufactured nibs" does not mean, ipso facto, that they use the "same nib." In that particular case, the nibs are very different.

 

Also, it is worth dispelling the mistaken notion that in-house nibs are “better” than Bock or JoWo nibs. This is patently untrue. Most high end pen-makers will do a lot of finishing after receiving pens from Bock or JoWo, which are already made to their unique specifications at the factory; they are merely taking advantage of the economies of scale offered by a dedicated nib manufacturer (the "artistry" of smoothing and finishing that give a brand's pens their unique "feel" is almost always done in-house by all pen-makers).

 

That said, it is sometimes interesting who makes the nibs for whom, and to that end, I present the following list.

 

Brand	Current Nib Supplier	Historical Sources
Ancora	In-House
Aurora	In-House
Bexley	JoWo	Until early 2000s: Bock for gold, Schmidt/JoWo for steel
Caran D'Ache	Bock
Conid	Bock
Conklin	JoWo
Conway Stewart	Bock	Pre-1920: Warranted, 1920-1975: In-House
Danitrio	Bock (except 24k #50 sized nib on the Yokozuna series, made by an undisclosed Japanese company	JoWo
Delta	Bock
Dupont	Bock
Eboya	Bock
Edison	JoWo
Faber Castell	JoWo
Graf von Faber Castell	Bock
Franklin Christoph	JoWo for steel, Bock and JoWo for gold	Formerly all Bock (including some Schmidt branded Bock)
Goulet	JoWo
Hakase	Pilot	Pilot and Sailor
Kaweco	Bock
Lamy	Mainly In-House; Bock for specialty nibs	Exclusively Bock in the beginning
Montblanc	In-House
Montegrappa	Bock
Monteverde	Bock
Omas	Bock	In-house until 2000
Parker	In-House
Pelikan	In-House	Originally Montblanc nibs, later in-house, switched to Bock 1997, transitioned back to in-house since mid-2000s
Pilot/Namiki	In-House
Platinum	In-House
Romillo	In-House
Sailor	In-House
Sheaffer	Bock	In-house
Eboya	Bock
Signum	Bock
Stylo Art	Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, and Bock
TWSBI	Bock and JoWo
Visconti	Bock
Waterman	In-House

 

Interestingly, of the 36 brands listed, 55.5% use Bock nibs, 30.5% make their nibs in-house, 19.4% use JoWo nibs, and 13.8% use a Japanese nib-maker (i.e., Pilot, Sailor, or Platinum). Note that the numbers don't add up to 100%, because some pen-makers use more than one source.

 

If you have any additions or corrections, please include a link to where you found your info. Thanks!

[tryphon]

You may add:

Urso: Bock

Columbus: Schmidt

FILCAO: Bock and Schmidt

Magna Carta: Bock

 

also, I was told that Monte Grappa recently switched from Bock to JoWo

[danielpi]

@tryphon

 

First, thanks.

 

Second, Schmidt generally does finishing/smoothing of JoWo or Bock nibs. I don't believe they produce their own nibs. Do you know, in the case of Columbus or FILCAO whether the nibs are Schmidt finished Bock or JoWo?

[max dog]

Cross make all their nibs in house, except for their new peerless 125 which sailor supplies the nibs for. Historically pelikan and pilot supplied the nibs.

[fabri00]

Edit....sorry, already answered....

Edited September 23, 2015 by fabri00

[tryphon]

  On 9/23/2015 at 12:35 AM, danielpi said:

@tryphon

 

First, thanks.

 

Second, Schmidt generally does finishing/smoothing of JoWo or Bock nibs. I don't believe they produce their own nibs. Do you know, in the case of Columbus or FILCAO whether the nibs are Schmidt finished Bock or JoWo?

 

They would not be JoWo, since JoWo nibs, according to some people are rumored to be made in China and distributed from a warehouse in Germany.

Schmidt nibs used to be different from Bock nibs. The ones I have are definitely not Bocks. If things have changed recently (and it is quite possible), I can't tell.

 

BTW in India you have "Ambitious" and at least another nib manufacturer (and possibly Luxor), in Taiwan you have at least one nib maker and in China you have many more. In Spain you have Inoxcrom.

Edited September 23, 2015 by tryphon