Cs Italic Nibs -- Ink Flow And Feel

[JohnM]

I just ordered a CS Churchill in Classic Green and am really excited about it. I was leaning toward a Medium nib given positive past experiences with CS Mediums but have heard so many nice things (here and elsewhere) about CS italics that I thought I should be open to something new.

 

My only concern about an italic is that I lean toward a wet, free-flowing nib and am wondering if an italic (e.g., IF or IM) will be drier or toothy to the point of scratchiness. For those of you with CS italics, I would appreciate hearing more about your experiences relativel to standard, round CS nibs.

 

Thanks much!

John

[MisterBoll]

Congrats on the Churchill. I'm sure you'll find it to be a truly wonderful pen.

 

I've got a number of CS pens - most with italic nibs. Each and every one is smooth and has just the right ink flow (leaning more to the wet side). I've noticed no difference in the performance of a pen in so far as italic or regular nib.

[monanza]

Well, you already got my vote for italic nibs in your Churchill thread. So far my experience is with the IF tuned by Mike Masuyama, which writes wonderfully, moderately wet and smooth (for light pressure), giving subtle line variation very suitable for daily writing. I do not notice any difference in smoothness compared to non-italic CS nibs but I write with light pressure.

 

I have a 58 with a stock IM coming my way so will get to see how an untuned italic fares. Good choice on getting another Churchill; I am considering another one myself.

 

Cheers.

[warblerick]

John,

Please let us know how you like the IM nib. I am saving my money to order a new IM nib for my CS Windsor, which came with a M nib, and though nice, I have the same nib on my other two CS pens. I also have a CS Belliver Borealis, with an IF nib, that I got at the DC Supershow, that my wife has put away for Christmas, so I won't know if I like that for 2 months!

[RMN]

I have the whole set of CS italics (although out of rotation for some time due to a lot of new pens...)

 

They are al smooth writing. The are certainly not crisp bit rather cursive italics.

 

My favourite is the IM.

 

D.ick

[plumista]

I am sorry to tell you that my only CS (Marlborough LE) was ordered with a broad italic nib... only to discover:

 

1) the nib tip had the iridium halves so so so tightly closed that no ink could flow: the pen did nor write at all. I had to work very hard to get a usable pen.

 

2) the CS customer service did not answer my requests about this problem: silence was what I got.

 

3) The nib itself has nothing special whasoever, don´t get fooled by the lettering on it: it is only a standard Bock nib, just the very same nib you can easily find on a large number of pen brands. You could swap this nib for any Bock nib from any pen that has a #6 feeder.

 

Hope you are luckier than me with your CS, and utterly enjoy your pen!

[RMN]

I am sorry to tell you that my only CS (Marlborough LE) was ordered with a broad italic nib... only to discover:

 

1) the nib tip had the iridium halves so so so tightly closed that no ink could flow: the pen did nor write at all. I had to work very hard to get a usable pen.

 

This can be annoying, but it seems more companies do this these days because of the heavy pressure people used to BP give on pens. I remember this was a problem with our Stipula FPN-LEs as well.

 

2) the CS customer service did not answer my requests about this problem: silence was what I got.

 

Normally, service requests go through the shop that sold you the pen, unless you bought directly from them. Also your mail could have been directed to a spambox, which happens to legitimate mails often (I found out myself)

 

3) The nib itself has nothing special whasoever, don´t get fooled by the lettering on it: it is only a standard Bock nib, just the very same nib you can easily find on a large number of pen brands. You could swap this nib for any Bock nib from any pen that has a #6 feeder.

 

Bock makes nibs for a great number of great brands, including CS. Normally these nibs are made to specification. Probably you could swap nibs from several brands, but they are not the same nibs. AFAIK CS is the only brand offering 3 sizes of cursive italic nibs, so you could not find those on a large number of pen brands. Often brands do their own after-production on nibs and/or feeds.

 

Hope you are luckier than me with your CS, and utterly enjoy your pen!

See remarks above ^^^^

 

Besides: do not judge a brand on a sample of one. I had a very bad nib on my Lamy2000, and am still not happy with it after a replacement but there are many who are very enthusiastic about that pen.

 

 

 

D.ick

[monanza]

I am sorry to tell you that my only CS (Marlborough LE) was ordered with a broad italic nib... only to discover:

 

1) the nib tip had the iridium halves so so so tightly closed that no ink could flow: the pen did nor write at all. I had to work very hard to get a usable pen.

 

2) the CS customer service did not answer my requests about this problem: silence was what I got.

 

3) The nib itself has nothing special whasoever, don´t get fooled by the lettering on it: it is only a standard Bock nib, just the very same nib you can easily find on a large number of pen brands. You could swap this nib for any Bock nib from any pen that has a #6 feeder.

 

Hope you are luckier than me with your CS, and utterly enjoy your pen!

Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the Marlborough. That sucks big time . You've probably done this already but go 'hassle' Mary Burke (not really hassle just make her aware). Your case hopefully just slipped through the cracks. I hope you get your issues resolved to your satisfaction.

 

Cheers.

[georges zaslavsky]

On my CS 100 with its IB nib, I have no problems at all

[Ghost Plane]

I have 10 with IB, IM, IF & BB nibs. Wet, juicy, lovely writers. One was a little wonky, but Bryant organized his usual fab service & it's awesome.

 

Any pen brand can have a dud. CS nibs are so good I designed my bespoke Simpole around them.

[smk]

I have an I-F. It was quite dry when I got it (same issue as reported by plumista). A little tweaking to adjust the flow was all that was needed to make it a sweet writing nib. The nib is far from toothy or scratchy, if anything it is too smooth for my hands that are used to sharp nibs in dip-pens.

 

S.

[JohnM]

Thanks for your input everyone. I decided on an Italic Medium and will let you know how it goes -- should be here in a few days.

 

John

[Mary Burke]

I am sorry to tell you that my only CS (Marlborough LE) was ordered with a broad italic nib... only to discover:

 

1) the nib tip had the iridium halves so so so tightly closed that no ink could flow: the pen did nor write at all. I had to work very hard to get a usable pen.

 

2) the CS customer service did not answer my requests about this problem: silence was what I got.

 

3) The nib itself has nothing special whasoever, don´t get fooled by the lettering on it: it is only a standard Bock nib, just the very same nib you can easily find on a large number of pen brands. You could swap this nib for any Bock nib from any pen that has a #6 feeder.

 

Hope you are luckier than me with your CS, and utterly enjoy your pen!

Please send me your email to my address at: maryburke@conwaystewart.co.uk

Kind regards,

Mary Burke

[elderberry]

I've had two of them, an IB and an IM. Both required some servicing from the seller as they were skipping (as was the case for most of my factory stubs and italics so far, no matter the brand). I'm very happy with them now. They're nice writers with a hint of feedback at almost any angle, so I'd definitely say cursive italic. Compared with a Mottishaw'ed CI the line variation is a little more subtle as the horizontal strokes are a little wider (but then, John M. makes the most "extreme" CIs I've seen so far). Ink flow on both has been very wet which I like.

[raging.dragon]

Italic nibs have to be held to the paper so that the entire edged tip of the nib rests flat against the paper. Any italic nib will feel scratchy, and probably skip, if it isn't lined up right. The CS nibs are fairly forgiving in this regard; however, there will still be a learning curve if you're new to italic nibs. Having gotten used to italic nibs, I now find myself prefering crisper, less forgiving, italics (rounded just enough to allow cursive writing) as I find it easier to feel whether or not they're perfectly aligned with the paper.

 

I've had two of them, an IB and an IM. Both required some servicing from the seller as they were skipping (as was the case for most of my factory stubs and italics so far, no matter the brand). I'm very happy with them now. They're nice writers with a hint of feedback at almost any angle, so I'd definitely say cursive italic. Compared with a Mottishaw'ed CI the line variation is a little more subtle as the horizontal strokes are a little wider (but then, John M. makes the most "extreme" CIs I've seen so far). Ink flow on both has been very wet which I like.

 

 

I have an I-F. It was quite dry when I got it (same issue as reported by plumista). A little tweaking to adjust the flow was all that was needed to make it a sweet writing nib. The nib is far from toothy or scratchy, if anything it is too smooth for my hands that are used to sharp nibs in dip-pens.

 

S.

 

I've also increased the flow on most of my factory italics. They seem to be adjusted for writers with a heavier hand, and I'd rather adjust the nib than write with more force. My CS IF is one of the few I haven't adjusted, mostly because I've been using it with a rather wet ink (Private Reserve DC Super Violet).

 

I don't have any Mottishaw CI's, but I've had the opportunity to try several in various widths, and I've enjoyed them all. I have a rather extreme CI from Mike Masuyama that I enjoy.

[JohnM]

raging.dragon,

 

When you say you've 'increased the flow' on most of your factory italics, do you mean you've had someone work on the nib specifically or have you done something else to the feed or pen that increases ink flow.

 

The reason I ask is that I received the Classic Green Churchill with an IM nib. I like the line width and feel of the nib very much but wish the ink flow were greater. I'm trying to figure out how best to approach this and am keeping Mary Burke and the dealer (Bryant Greer) in the loop -- both have been great.

 

Oddly enough, the flow tends to be better/greater with more viscous inks, such as Diamine or Iroshizuku, compared with more watery inks, such as Sheaffer Skrip or Waterman. With most pens in my collection, thinner inks (like Shaeffer) work best, but not with this particular CS IM. Interesting.

 

John

[raging.dragon]

raging.dragon,

 

When you say you've 'increased the flow' on most of your factory italics, do you mean you've had someone work on the nib specifically or have you done something else to the feed or pen that increases ink flow.

 

The reason I ask is that I received the Classic Green Churchill with an IM nib. I like the line width and feel of the nib very much but wish the ink flow were greater. I'm trying to figure out how best to approach this and am keeping Mary Burke and the dealer (Bryant Greer) in the loop -- both have been great.

 

Oddly enough, the flow tends to be better/greater with more viscous inks, such as Diamine or Iroshizuku, compared with more watery inks, such as Sheaffer Skrip or Waterman. With most pens in my collection, thinner inks (like Shaeffer) work best, but not with this particular CS IM. Interesting.

 

John

 

I spread the tines further apart myself. I grip the nib shoulder, or sometimes the tines themselves with my fingers, and pull the tines apart. The tines spring back when released, but each time this is done are ever so slightly further apart. In the end, the increased distance between the tines is tiny, pretty much imperceptible without a loupe. If this isn't something you're comfortable doing (and despite my own previous actions, I wouldn't recommend practicing on an expensive 18K nib!) there are plenty of nib technicians who can do this. Bryant or Mary would probably help you arrange this. I've received nothing but the best service from Bryant, and while I've never had to seek after sales service from CS, from what I've read on this forum Mary has helped many other posters here.

 

Wattery inks often flow less freely than the thicker and more saturated inks. I believe this is because the highly saturated inks contain surfactants to keep their dyes dissolved, and these surfactants also help the ink wet (spread across) the nib and feed. In my experience the inks that have worked best with unadjusted italic nibs have been: Private Reserve, Iroshizuku, the wetter Noodler's inks, and some Diamine and Akkerman inks.