Who Make Their Own Nibs

[terminal]

Another one to add. Otto (the) Hutt. How I found it is kind of fascinating. I'm on the Colorado Pen mailing list, and so I got an email saying that they had started carrying this brand. In the email it said very clearly that the nibs are made by Bock. But the folks at Otto must have gotten wind of it and made Colorado Pen take down that graphic, because now when you go to the site, the same graphic appears, but the specific mention of Peter Bock AG has been removed! It's possible this means that Co. pen was wrong, but I suspect it mostly means Otto doesn't want that information so widely known.

 

Anyway:

Otto Hutt: Bock

[lurker]

Remember, not all Bock nibs are the same.

 

Each manufacturer can specify what they want in a nib as long as they buy sufficient quantity to justify making a run. Then, in addition, many manufacturers further process the nibs in house to create something truly unique. Some go so far as to then run in the nib/feed/section/pen by hand to assure quality.

 

All Bock nibs may be equal but some are more equal than others.

 

This.

[terminal]

Latest updates captured:

Brands who make nibs in-house:

• Ancora
  
• Aurora
  
• Delta – select models
  
• Dupont
  
• Guider - gold units
  
• Hero
  
• Inoxcrom
  
• Lamy
  
• Montblanc / Cartier
  
• Pelikan
  
• Pilot / Namiki
  
• Platinum / Nakaya
  
• Ratnamson - gold units
  
• Romillo
  
• Sailor
  
• Visconti - select models
  
• Wality
  
• Waterman/Parker
  
• Wing Sung
  

Brands that outsource to Peter Bock:

Astoria

Bexley

Caran D’Ache

Classic Pens

Cleo Skribent

Conway Stewart

Danitrio

David Oscarson

Delta

Dns-Drechselstube Neckarsteinach

Dupont – select models

Elie Bleue

Faber Castell

Graye Tighson

Kart Meisenbach

Kaweko

Krone

Lepine

Marlen

Montegrappa

Norbert Zeplien

Omas

Onoto

Otto Hutt

Sheaffer

Signe Audiard

Starbound Europa

Stefan Fink

Stipula

Taccia

Visconti

Waldmann

Yard O'Lead

Brands that outsource to Jowo of Berlin

Conklin

Edison

Libelle

Lominchay

Monteverde

Signum

Tibaldi

TWSBI

Waterford

Brands outsourced to other:

Camlin – Ambitious

Cross – unknown supplier(s) in China

Duke – Hero

Hakase – Pilot

Noodlers – Indian nib maker Ambitious

Parker (Vector nibs) – Ambitious

[Inkling13]

Hakase uses pilot nibs? I Koda Adachis video( Virtu the 3rd) I have seen Hakase using Pilot nibs.

That's what I have seen too. I think they use Pilot nibs. Pilot makes their own, even the tipping material from their own mines.

Edited February 6, 2014 by Inkling13

[solitaire]

From time to time I have attempted to list nib manufacturers but its a thankless task. Contracts change frequently. Some pen makers buy only a part of their range of nibs from outside. Some pen makers finish their nibs bought from outside.

As someone said above; Bock is a first class company and will make nibs to the customers exact specification.

[Florida Blue]

 

Cross – unknown supplier(s) in China

 

I've read several times on the Cross forum that Pelikan makes the nibs for the Townsend. Pelikan also makes Cross ink, which is really just relabeled 4001 ink.

 

Also, they have used Pilot/Namiki for nibs in the past. The Solo, Radiance and Verve nibs were all made by Pilot. I don't know of any Cross pens that use Pilot nibs today, but I wouldn't be surprised if they still supplied Cross with nibs.

[fphilipp]

Anybody here knows who makes Franklin Christophe nibs? Thanks!

[Blue_Moon]

Anybody here knows who makes Franklin Christophe nibs? Thanks!

 

Franklin Christoph. They make their own, and they're considered very high quality.

[tomgartin]

 

Franklin Christoph. They make their own, and they're considered very high quality.

 

I thought they used Jowo nibs. Looking at the pictures on their website, it really looks like the Jowo nib units I've handled. Seems odd that the F-C logo would be laser etched instead of embossed if they made their own. They've only been producing pens since 2001, and do not produce high volume, so it would make sense for their business to buy in their nibs instead of investing in purchasing the machinery and hiring/training technicians all on their own.

[Blue_Moon]

I thought they used Jowo nibs. Looking at the pictures on their website, it really looks like the Jowo nib units I've handled. Seems odd that the F-C logo would be laser etched instead of embossed if they made their own. They've only been producing pens since 2001, and do not produce high volume, so it would make sense for their business to buy in their nibs instead of investing in purchasing the machinery and hiring/training technicians all on their own.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought I read that they made their own. I'll research it and get back.

[Blade Runner]

 

That's not really true either, many makers enhance the 7750, Hamilton's H21 adds a longer power reserve and some other features for example. Breitling enhances the Valjoux and 2892 A2 movements too.

 

Either way, I wouldn't pay huge money for a pen that outsources nib manufacture on a matter of principle.

+1

[fphilipp]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought I read that they made their own. I'll research it and get back.

 

Thanks!

[UK Mike]

This is "The thread that wouldn't die"

 

Going back to Harlequin's suggestion that a TWSBI Mini could be better that a Graf von Faber Castell - well statistically it "could" but I know from personal and extensive experience that it isn't. The GvFC is a hand finished gold nib from their in house "nib meisters" (I so hate that word) whereas the TWSBI and Faber Castell nibs are stamped out in their thousands and given a quick inspection. I can agree that the fact that one nib is steel and the other gold but that may not define the final quality of the nib - we do in the main write on iridium - but the hand finished nib will always be superior and this is borne out in practice.

 

Could it be there is some confusion between the Faber Castell and the Graf von Faber Castell brand going on here?

 

I will also say that the manufacturer of the nib is largely immaterial and I would have confidence in buying a pen with a nib made by a specialist nib manufacturer just as much as I would one made by the maker of the pen itself. Long term, in reality it affects the value of the pen not a jot.

[Blue_Moon]

Maybe I'm mistaken, but I thought I read that they made their own. I'll research it and get back.

 

I stand corrected. FC uses JoWo nibs.

[85AKbN]

I have a Peter Unbehauen fountain pen on the way with a Bock nib.

[max dog]

 

 

I've read several times on the Cross forum that Pelikan makes the nibs for the Townsend. Pelikan also makes Cross ink, which is really just relabeled 4001 ink.

 

 

If you compare the Townsend two tone nib to the Pelikan M400, there is a striking resemblance which I dont think is an accident. The Townsend nib I think is the 18K version of the M400 14K nib. I dont know if Pelikan still supplies the nib for the Townsend or not. I am no authority here but I read on the Cross Forum someone mentioned Cross moved all it's nib manufacture in-house to their plant in China. Hopefully if they do have their own physical plant there instead of contracting out to a 3rd party, we can expect some consistency and quality control, not that there isn't any as my Townsends including the steel nibs are excellent writers, both the old USA and newer ones.

 

Of course re-instating their manufacture back to Rhode Island would be preferable. Hint, hint in case the new CEO Mellon is lurking these forums.

Edited February 22, 2014 by max dog

[sexauerw]

 

I most definitely am intimating that. You may treasure the FC nib, others may not. Whether a nib is any good is COMPLETELY dependent on how the nib is made. Just b/c a nib is made from gold, in house, by a brand you like does not mean it is the superior of another nib made to better specifications by a third party nib maker. As a matter of fact, the material the nib is made from almost doesn't matter in regards to its performance if the specs being used to make it suck- it's all in the specifications requested.

 

Just b/c FC made the nib in house doesn't mean that it isn't a POS. Likewise, just b/c TWSBI outsources nibs to Bock or JoWo doesn't mean they aren't superior in every way to an in house made nib by anyone.

I think you've overlooked the point that "better specifications" almost invariably imply higher cost. It's highly unlikely that a maker of $50 to $80 pens can afford better specifications than a maker of $600 pens! GvFC is going to get better nibs because they can afford to buy them, plain and simple.

[Blade Runner]

I think you've overlooked the point that "better specifications" almost invariably imply higher cost. It's highly unlikely that a maker of $50 to $80 pens can afford better specifications than a maker of $600 pens! GvFC is going to get better nibs because they can afford to buy them, plain and simple.

Good point.

[terminal]

Just found out on this thread that Romillo uses Bock nibs for their #6 and #8 and then hand makes their #7 and #9 nibs.

[arran]

Although the nib may be the soul of the pen, its personality is also determined by the type of barrel material, its weight, size and particularly balance.

 

If that were not so, we could all buy a Universal Bock/Jowo pen and be satisfied, knowing that it was unlikely to be bettered out of the box.

 

Platinum do indeed make Nakaya nibs - and all of them are reputedly hand finished to some degree. Possibly Nakaya has extra attention?

 

Aurora also make their own nibs - although the popular opinion is that these nibs are more toothy than the competition.

 

Pilot are believed to have been the suppliers of the nib to the Cross Solo and in terms of writing experience I would support that. Probably Cross nibs are now made themselves from their Chinese suppliers.

 

It becomes clear how so many different pens have similar writing characteristics!

I am not at all convinced that Nakaya have better finished nibs than platinum.Nor better attention

On the contrary is my experinience