Parker Sonnet nib grades

[Bernie0104]

Hello everyone!

 

A quick question. Do Parker make a stub nib for the Sonnet? I seem to remember hearing that they do, but couldn't find any mention of one in their list of available nib grades. Is the stub nib perhaps known by a different name here in the UK? If anyone could shine some light on this I'd be most grateful.

 

Bernie.

[antoniosz]

The Sonnet nibs come in medium and broad "italic", which are both very nice nibs.

Now whether it is stub or italic, I would suggest that you try them to get a feeling for them. In my opinion there are between Binder's stub and cursive italic (maybe a tad more towards the CI).

Edited November 3, 2006 by antoniosz

[Maja]

I initially was hoping for a stub nib for my Sonnet when I considered a nib exchange, but seeing as it wasn't available, I opted for a M italic. It is an excellent nib. Its edges do not cause paper to catch on it (like some/all crisp italics), so I would say it is a cursive italic, based on my experiences with other CI nibs.

[BillTheEditor]

  Bernie0104 said:

A quick question. Do Parker make a stub nib for the Sonnet? I seem to remember hearing that they do, but couldn't find any mention of one in their list of available nib grades. Is the stub nib perhaps known by a different name here in the UK? If anyone could shine some light on this I'd be most grateful.

I have a Sonnet with a Parker stub nib. Originally this pen had a medium nib, but I dropped the pen (cap off) and of course it landed squarely on the point of the nib and the nib bent.

 

I took the pen to a local pen store (now closed) and asked their nibmeister for an italic nib. He didn't have one at the time, and so I bought a Sonnet stub nib from him. This is an 18K nib, with a letter "S" on the underside of the feed. It's a wonderful nib.

 

Stub nibs for Sonnets do exist. Good luck in your search!

[kissing]

Do Sonnet Stubs and Italics only come in the 18K?

 

I only have the steel Sonnet you see <_<

[BillTheEditor]

  kissing said:

Do Sonnet Stubs and Italics only come in the 18K?

I don't know, but it would not surprise me if that were true. Note that Glenn's Pen Page has an article by Ludwig Tan, stating that the Sonnet has a stub option, but not italic.

 

Nibs.com currently shows four Sonnet nibs in its Modern Parker Nibs section, indicating two stub nibs are available, and both of them are 18K.

Edited November 3, 2006 by BillTheEditor

[antoniosz]

OK... This is indeed confusing, and I am not 100% sure that I have the "full truth" but the distinction between stub and italic is something relatively recent. The most commonly used (accepted?) definition and destinction between the two is given in R. Binder' page in http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/stub_italic.htm in which it is explained that a stub has rounded edges and is relatively thick at the tip, on the order of half the breadth.

An italic has sharp edges and sharper cut. Companies do not make the same distinctions. For example Parker calls there "wide" nibs italics, which Sheaffer calls them stubs It is ironic that what Parker calls an "Italic" nib is closer to stub (i.e. with less sharp edges), while what Sheaffer calls "Stub" has extra sharp edges so it is more an Italic (per R. Binder' definitions). Of course there are people like George Kovalenko, who claims that "a stub is an italic and an italic is a stub" in his article: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/stub_italic.htm

 

If you have not given up yet here is some discussion relative to my favorite Sonnets

 

A complete list of Sonnet nibs can be found in

http://www.penservicing.co.uk/Repairs/parker_nibs111003.xls

 

In this spreadsheet look at Sheet 5 which refers to the old (first generation Sonnet nibs). You can see that 15 grades of nibs which are avaialble for all nibs

steel, gold plated steel, 18K single tone and 18K two-tone nibs.

 

Then look at Sheet 5 that refers to second generation Sonnets (thicker band).

There are 7 nib grades, including medium and broad italic.

 

I have 2 italic nibs one medium and one broad on my Sonnets and they are both marked S

Although you can call Parker for full confirmation my understanding is that there is no "stub" nib. Parker's italic is the "stub".

 

For confirmation of available grades look at:

 

http://www.parker.ru/en-SONNET.htm

Edited November 3, 2006 by antoniosz

[kissing]

Now if only someone had a writing sample using the Sonnet italic nibs

[BillTheEditor]

  kissing said:

Now if only someone had a writing sample using the Sonnet italic nibs

OK -- a very small sample, but maybe it will work for you.

[BillTheEditor]

Some comparisons: Sonnet medium stub italic, Parker 75 medium stub italic, Bexley stub.

[BillTheEditor]

Sonnet stub italic closeup.

[kissing]

Thank you very much

 

It sure looks broader than I expected But it seems like a good nib. Definitely something I would consider buying sometime in the future

[Bernie0104]

Thanks everyone for the replies. I have seen the medium italic nib in my usual pen shop - looks nice, if the writing samples here are anything to go by. In reply to Kissing, as far as I am aware, you can buy these in either steel or 18K - but the 18K nibs are quite expensive... around £45 here in the UK. It's possible to buy the complete pen (with an 18K nib) for not much more than that if you shop around online! The pen will probably come with a medium or fine nib fitted though, but most Parker dealers will do a nib exchange. Look here for example:

 

Lewertowski

 

These are GENUINE Sonnets... I have bought from this guy before, and he's very good! No connection here - just a satisfied customer!

 

Bernie.

[kissing]

When I asked at a big pen store in the city, they told me that they didn't import the steel italic nibs into Australia, but just the gold ones

 

Perhaps one day I'll purchase an 18K Sonnet new, and exhange the nib to italic. (When I have enough money that is )

[Maja]

  antoniosz said:

I have 2 italic nibs one medium and one broad on my Sonnets and they are both marked S  

Although you can call Parker for full confirmation my understanding is that there is no "stub" nib. Parker's italic is the "stub".

I agree; I received a Parker nib chart from the Parker Pen Company in the US and there was no stub nib option option on it. A pen friend in the USA handled my 18K two-tone Sonnet nib exchange for me (I sent him the $10 USD for it) and he even talked to someone at the company who confirmed that there was no stub nib option.

[Bernie0104]

OK, I finally got a new nib for my stainless steel Sonnet! It is a Medium Italic, which I had to order from my local Pen Shop. And yes... sure enough, it IS marked with a letter 'S' as described by Antoniosz and others here. It isn't exactly sharp-edged like you would expect an italic to be. In addition, it is a 'stubbier' shape than the normal Sonnet medium nib, with shorter tines and less 'springiness'. It is a very smooth and wet writer - I'm very happy with it! I expected to lose some smoothness in return for more line variation, but I was very pleasantly surprised by this nib. I would say that it is a great improvement over the medium nib I previously had fitted to this pen. Great!

 

Fancy an 18K one now for the Black Laque pen...

 

Bernie.

Edited November 28, 2006 by Bernie0104

[JimStrutton]

That is good news Bernie, I must treat myself to one of those nibs then

 

Jim

[london]

I tried one in the Pen Shop (Regent Street) about 6 weeks ago. Sadly, I wasn't that impressed and purchased a 1.1mm italic in a Lamy Studio instead.

 

The stub on the Sonnet just didn't give much line variation. Certainly it looked nothing like the samples above. In hindsight, it may have just been that particular nib, and another one (due to manufacturing tolerances) might have given a more pleasant experience.

 

Having played with a few Sonnet nibs in the past I know they can vary considerably.

 

They were very helpful in the Pen Shop though, it was a standard option to swap nibs over at no extra cost.

 

- Mark

[chrisoslo]

I think there is a lot of confusion here because Parker seems to print "S" under all the specialized Sonnet nibs.

 

When posters above have written about a "stub" sonnet nib, they probably have been using italic nibs (my Sonnet italics are quite forgiving and might most accurately be termed "cursive italics" as someone pointed out).

 

To go one step further; if you have an "S" nib, unscrew the nib and feed, and you will see printed a number where the nib "wings" come round to clasp the feed. Unless someone has switched the nib over to a different feed than it came with (this can be done easily), this number will tell you the nib grade.

[AndersLarsen]

Hi all,

 

I realise this thread is somewhat old, but it's the most relevant one I could find for my question, and I'm hoping someone can answer my question:

 

For many years, I've been using a dip pen at home (Brause), with an Italic 1.0mm nib. I've experimented with many different nib widths over the years, and this is the width that suits my handwriting the best.

 

Now, I can't really bring my inkwell and dip pen into work. I have therefore been using my Parker Sonnet with a medium (non-Italic) nib. I really do want the Italic experience though, to the extent that I took my medium nib to a hone and ground it down to the best of my ability. It still writes OK, with some increased line variation, but it's not what I want, and I'm concerned about knocking it out of action altogether. I have a feeling that I'll achieve befter results if I purchase an Italic (or stub as the case seems to be) nib.

 

Now my question is this: does anyone on this forum know what the exact nib widths are of the Sonnet medium and broad variations? If I know their width in mm's, I'll be able to choose the closest one to 1mm.

 

Hope someone out there has the answer.

 

Anders