Lamy safari with Italic nib

[Spongebob]

I've been contemplating the purchase of a pen with italic nib for some time now. I have a Sailor 1911 with Music nib, which I find to be a tad too wide for my everyday tastes, so something in the 0.9 mm range seemed about right. On a recent visit to the Pendemonium site, I noticed that they have Safaris with "custom ground italic nibs." This pen was in the 0.9 range, so I bought it as a trial of sorts to see if I like that width.

 

You all know what a Safari looks like, so I won't jam up the bandwith with pictures of the pen. Here is a sample of writing. Please keep in mind that I do not ordinarily write with an italic; therefore, I'm just getting used to what it can do.

 

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h286/kerner_2006/FP/Safari-italic-nib.jpg

 

I do not know who ground the nib but in my limited time with the pen I can say that I'm happy with the line variation I can achieve. It's not as smooth as my regular nibs but maybe that's a function of it being an italic; I do not know for sure.

 

With shipping, the pen was $43, which I consider very reasonable for the opportunity to have an italic nib in a reliable pen. I'm thankful that I can "test drive" the 0.9 mm width before committing to a more expensive pen.

 

I am not affiliated with Pendemonium, just a happy customer.

Bob

[Dr.Grace]

Lamy actually sells italic nibs for these pens (and they come standard with the Lamy "Joy" calligraphy pen, which is essentially a Safari with a long tapered barrel). I wonder how these nibs ground by Pendemonium compare?

[chupie]

I got a Lamy Al Star from Pendemonium with a 1.2 mm italic nib. I really like it.

[DrPJM1]

...and if you don't like it, you can change the nib to F, M, B, and 3 italic sizes, all by yourself!

[Maja]

Lamy actually sells italic nibs for these pens (and they come standard with the Lamy "Joy" calligraphy pen, which is essentially a Safari with a long tapered barrel). I wonder how these nibs ground by Pendemonium compare?

 

Well, the factory Lamy italic nibs on my Lamy Studio and Lamy Safari are crisp italics (with sharp---or "crisp"-- edges), whereas the Lamys with pre-ground italic nibs currently for sale on the Pendemonium.com site are all cursive italics (basically crisp italics with rounded edges---ie. less likely to catch on paper while writing).

 

I enjoy both crisp italics and cursive italic nibs

[blueiris]

Lamy actually sells italic nibs for these pens (and they come standard with the Lamy "Joy" calligraphy pen, which is essentially a Safari with a long tapered barrel). I wonder how these nibs ground by Pendemonium compare?

 

Well, the factory Lamy italic nibs on my Lamy Studio and Lamy Safari are crisp italics (with sharp---or "crisp"-- edges), whereas the Lamys with pre-ground italic nibs currently for sale on the Pendemonium.com site are all cursive italics (basically crisp italics with rounded edges---ie. less likely to catch on paper while writing).

 

I enjoy both crisp italics and cursive italic nibs

 

For what it's worth, in my experience, this has not proved to be true.

 

I have a Lamy factory 1.1 italic nib and a Lamy Safari nib custom ground to a 0.9 cursive italic by Pendemonium, so I can make a direct comparison. The factory 1.1 italic nib is actually rounder than the 0.9 cursive italic. This is despite someone at Pendemonium once describing the 1.1 factory nib to me as being a "crisp" italic. My facotry 1.1 nib is not crisp at all and glides effortlessly. I get more line variation from the 0.9 Pendemonium cursive italic.

 

I enjoy both nibs, regardless of what they're called.

[Maja]

Lamy actually sells italic nibs for these pens (and they come standard with the Lamy "Joy" calligraphy pen, which is essentially a Safari with a long tapered barrel). I wonder how these nibs ground by Pendemonium compare?

 

Well, the factory Lamy italic nibs on my Lamy Studio and Lamy Safari are crisp italics (with sharp---or "crisp"-- edges), whereas the Lamys with pre-ground italic nibs currently for sale on the Pendemonium.com site are all cursive italics (basically crisp italics with rounded edges---ie. less likely to catch on paper while writing).

 

I enjoy both crisp italics and cursive italic nibs

 

For what it's worth, in my experience, this has not proved to be true.

 

I have a Lamy factory 1.1 italic nib and a Lamy Safari nib custom ground to a 0.9 cursive italic by Pendemonium, so I can make a direct comparison. The factory 1.1 italic nib is actually rounder than the 0.9 cursive italic. This is despite someone at Pendemonium once describing the 1.1 factory nib to me as being a "crisp" italic. My facotry 1.1 nib is not crisp at all and glides effortlessly. I get more line variation from the 0.9 Pendemonium cursive italic.

 

I enjoy both nibs, regardless of what they're called.

Interesting! I don't know if it makes any difference or not, but my Safari has a silvery steel nib, as opposed to the black steel nibs that I've heard other owners mention.....

 

[blueiris]

Lamy actually sells italic nibs for these pens (and they come standard with the Lamy "Joy" calligraphy pen, which is essentially a Safari with a long tapered barrel). I wonder how these nibs ground by Pendemonium compare?

 

Well, the factory Lamy italic nibs on my Lamy Studio and Lamy Safari are crisp italics (with sharp---or "crisp"-- edges), whereas the Lamys with pre-ground italic nibs currently for sale on the Pendemonium.com site are all cursive italics (basically crisp italics with rounded edges---ie. less likely to catch on paper while writing).

 

I enjoy both crisp italics and cursive italic nibs

 

For what it's worth, in my experience, this has not proved to be true.

 

I have a Lamy factory 1.1 italic nib and a Lamy Safari nib custom ground to a 0.9 cursive italic by Pendemonium, so I can make a direct comparison. The factory 1.1 italic nib is actually rounder than the 0.9 cursive italic. This is despite someone at Pendemonium once describing the 1.1 factory nib to me as being a "crisp" italic. My facotry 1.1 nib is not crisp at all and glides effortlessly. I get more line variation from the 0.9 Pendemonium cursive italic.

 

I enjoy both nibs, regardless of what they're called.

Interesting! I don't know if it makes any difference or not, but my Safari has a silvery steel nib, as opposed to the black steel nibs that I've heard other owners mention.....

 

Maja, you made me look! I just checked mine for color. My Lamy 1.1 factory "italic" is the regular steel color. As for my Pendemonium cursive italics, one of them is the black steel, and the other is the steel color. Hmmm...

[Momomar]

Slightly off subject but in the same vein -

 

If a person wanted to try an italic nib but was not a skilled italic writer, (or skilled writer of any sort, actually) would it be better to start with a more rounded nib rather than those with the "crisp" edges? What are generally the deciding factors when a person is buying an italic nib?

 

Thanks for all opinions.

[chupie]

Slightly off subject but in the same vein -

 

If a person wanted to try an italic nib but was not a skilled italic writer, (or skilled writer of any sort, actually) would it be better to start with a more rounded nib rather than those with the "crisp" edges? What are generally the deciding factors when a person is buying an italic nib?

 

Thanks for all opinions.

\

 

I don't think it matters. I'm not skilled, but I like them both and both make my handwriting look prettier. I also love the line variation you see with italics.

[lefty928]

Slightly off subject but in the same vein -

 

If a person wanted to try an italic nib but was not a skilled italic writer, (or skilled writer of any sort, actually) would it be better to start with a more rounded nib rather than those with the "crisp" edges? What are generally the deciding factors when a person is buying an italic nib?

 

Thanks for all opinions.

Richard Binder's site has lots of information on specialty nibs. While information I've found online tends to say that the cursive italics are a bit easier and more forgiving, lots of people here have loved that Lamy factory italic nib and I am thinking of getting one (and a Vista) for my sister, who has has pretty handwriting anyway. She doesn't know italic and is not a fountain pen user, but I am not particularly worried she'll have problems with it. I wouldn't buy her a true crisp italic, like a Manuscript calligraphy pen, for regular writing, although the Sheaffer Viewpoint is pretty uncrisp and very reliable.

 

I've always used my italics to write, well, italic. A few weeks ago, it finally :embarrassed_smile: occurred to me to dredge up what I remember of Palmer style cursive and play with my italic and cursive italic pens -- wow, it does make "regular" handwriting look prettier!

 

I'd suggest playing with an inexpensive pen first to see if you like it -- I think I saw a single Sheaffer Viewpoint calligraphy pen for well under $10 at Barnes & Nobles. I have one that's wet, always starts right away, kind of useless for calligraphy but very nice for correspondence. Other options are the Lamy pens/nibs discussed in this thread, of course. I've been very happy with the Pendemonium cursive italic nibs -- and they have a large selection in right now, which is not always true (unfortunately, that's seldom the case with their LH obliques, but that's O.K., it's good for my pocketbook to abstain from buying more).