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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!

China Can't Make A Ballpoint Pen, And Why We Shouldn't Worry About TRIPS (Forbes, January 2016) A made-in-China triumph: China declares it can make ball pen head (South China Morning Post, January 2017)

Around 1980, I worked for a pen manufacturer, as designer and ingeneer, in Germany. During this time I got a good insight into the function of fountain pens and other pens and their manufacture. Thirty odd years later, fountain pens still fascinate me. I started a web site titled Fountain Pen Magic. You can / will find there all sorts of interesting things relating to technology, function and manufacture, as much as I can remember. The link to my site is https://fountainpend....wordpress.com/ I am happy to discuss any question you may have on those topics. Amadeus W. Penmacher Ingeneer PS: In case you wonder about my spelling of ingeneer… https://ingenioust.w...ling-etymology/

Well maybe I did not search hard enough, but I don't seem to find a link to how striated and striped bodies are made (for example http://www.richardspens.com/images/coll/duo_vac.jpg and http://www.richardspens.com/images/coll/silver_max.jpg ) … . I can imagine machining wood or metal, even deep drawing for bodies, making celluloid, acrylic, whatever, bodies with mother of pearl pigments, marbled ebonite, … all imaginable, but how did/do they make these crisp alternating lines (and when length wise even with variation along the line)? Don't recall where I read it, but it was hinted somewhere that it is by laminating alternating transparent and coloured sheets, sounds reasonable for the silver_max picture linked above, making a, say 8” thick laminate, then cutting out blanks of such laminate. But how about the duo_vac picture linked above? If also made by laminating alternating sheets, then the stripes should be unequal and distributed evenly while rotating the body. Some high precision extrusion process? Sounds too expensive too me to get the variation in lines along the body as well. Any clues or links someone?