Steel fine nibs

[OldGriz]

I have fine steel nibs on a couple of my Pelikan 200s and modern Sheaffer Triumphs and Sheaffer TipDips and Esties. I also have octanium nibs on some Parker 51 Specials and 21 Supers and Parker 21s...

I have yet to have any problems with any of them.

A properly tuned steel nib can be every bit as smooth writing as a solid gold nib... However, do not expect to see flexible steel nibs.. the are generally nails.

As for the dealer stating the gold or gold plated is better for a fine nib, he either is not very knowledgeable or he has no fine nibs in stock...

The statement of gold plated being better than steel in strange, since the nib is still steel and gold plating is there only for decoration. It has absolutely nothing to do with the writing quality of the nib... You are writing with the the iridium tip. You are not writing on the gold or steel. Gold nibs do tend to be softer feeling than steel. But even that is not a hard and fast rule and depends on the thickness of the nib and how it was manufactured.

[Sharkle]

 

I dropped my Waterman Harmonie (steel fine) nib-down on the rug here at work last year, causing the tip to be slightly bent at a right angle. It wrote flawlessly. I dropped it again a few weeks later and it got bent out a little more. It writes flawlessly. Hope this helps

 

 

[wildblueroan]

I use only Fine points and have a wide range of pens and nibs. One of the very best is an inexpensive Pelican steno pen with a steel nib! They have a slight bit of spring or flex, can write hair-fine (but also have nice flow, and lots of range in the line width), and my nib is incredibly, unbelievably smooth. Swisher pens imports them from germany and sells them for $25!

[bernardo]

I'm currently using a Sheaffer Imperial with stainless steel nib feeded with Noodler's bulletproof black ink. The performance is just great. I can tell no difference between it and solid gold nibs.

[jperdix]

Thank you all for your replies. They have helped me immensely. You were all very kind to help me out with this. Now I look forward to getting the pen even more. Thank you once again.

 

Jason