Danitrio Soft Nib?

[sseskin]

I am thinking of getting a Danitrio, and of course, can only do that by mail. can anyone tell me about their soft niibs? Can you compare it to, for example, a Namiki Pilot (though the Namiki body is much smaller)? or to an old Waterman? Or...or...

Nibs.com says the Danitrio soft nibs don't work well and all need adjustment. Do you agree?

Is flexing done easily (i.e., with a natural hand) or only under pressure? So many discussions and photos of flex nibs don't address this issue...never say how much pressure it took.

And while I am at it--are the nib sizes similar to japanese or to European nibs? Are fine nibs scratchy or smooth?

Enough questions. Thanks for your thoughts.

[kiavonne]

I think I kind of agree with Nibs.com. I have soft nibs on some of my Danitrio pens and I haven't been particularly happy with them. They are soft, certainly, but I find my personal preference is for the stiff nib (I like Pilot nibs, as in the Vanishing Point). I'm not into flexing, but the soft nibs are fairly springy. They aren't necessarily made for flex writing. They have a little give with a little pressure. They aren't scratchy and are smooth and have a wet line. At least mine do. If you like soft nibs, might be just fine for you. The upside is if you get the pen from nibs.com, they'll make sure it writes well for your hand when you buy the pen at no extra charge.

Edited March 17, 2014 by kiavonne

[sseskin]

thanks.

Are you sayng the Danitrios write like a vanishing point does? At least I can test that at my local pen shop...

[Namo]

Got two Densho with soft nibs. One was at best kind of semi flex, but the second one was not far from vintage true flex. Not wet noodle, but still comparable to a Waterman #2 I have. I don't know which one was the unusual one.

[kiavonne]

No, Danitrio does not write like a Vanishing Point. VP is a stiffer nib.

 

The Danitrio nibs are closer to a western nib in line; i.e., Japanese fine is like a western extra fine, the Danitrio fine would be in between leaning to the western side. The 14K soft nibs do have some spring. I'm trying to think of what pen I have that you might compare it to, but I'm coming up empty. If you can find a shop that has a Platinum 3776 Century with a soft nib, this might work. You can try to compare the Platinum 3776 soft nibs using the Goulets' nib comparison tool here, but they cannot show you a Danitrio nib, of course.

[geoduc]

I have two Takumis with soft extra fine nibs. Like Namo, I ended up with one that is close to vintage flex and the other has hardly any flex at all. Not sure which one is normal, but I prefer the stiffer of the two nibs. The one with lots of flex does not have the snapback and responsiveness of a good vintage flex nib and thus feels a bit mushy. The unflexed line width for both is closest to a western EF.

[sseskin]

  On 3/18/2014 at 7:08 AM, Namo said:

Got two Densho with soft nibs. One was at best kind of semi flex, but the second one was not far from vintage true flex. Not wet noodle, but still comparable to a Waterman #2 I have. I don't know which one was the unusual one.

htanks; your comment is similar to others. It certainly suggests caution in picking the soft nib type when buying by mail.

[sseskin]

  On 3/18/2014 at 2:26 PM, kiavonne said:

No, Danitrio does not write like a Vanishing Point. VP is a stiffer nib.

 

The Danitrio nibs are closer to a western nib in line; i.e., Japanese fine is like a western extra fine, the Danitrio fine would be in between leaning to the western side. The 14K soft nibs do have some spring. I'm trying to think of what pen I have that you might compare it to, but I'm coming up empty. If you can find a shop that has a Platinum 3776 Century with a soft nib, this might work. You can try to compare the Platinum 3776 soft nibs using the Goulets' nib comparison tool here, but they cannot show you a Danitrio nib, of course.

Thanks for referencing the Platinum pens, and for pointing me to the Goulet nib site, it's impressive. i will save it and refer to it more often.

[sseskin]

  On 3/18/2014 at 3:37 PM, geoduc said:

I have two Takumis with soft extra fine nibs. Like Namo, I ended up with one that is close to vintage flex and the other has hardly any flex at all. Not sure which one is normal, but I prefer the stiffer of the two nibs. The one with lots of flex does not have the snapback and responsiveness of a good vintage flex nib and thus feels a bit mushy. The unflexed line width for both is closest to a western EF.

Thanks. Has the "hard" nib a little spring at all? I am not driven to have a flex, i just don't want to have a nib that writes like a nail. (for reference, my standard is a Pelikan 800 nib, which feels great.)

[geoduc]

  On 3/18/2014 at 5:13 PM, sseskin said:

Thanks. Has the "hard" nib a little spring at all? I am not driven to have a flex, i just don't want to have a nib that writes like a nail. (for reference, my standard is a Pelikan 800 nib, which feels great.)

 

Yes, the stiffer nib does have a nice amount of spring to it, not a nail at all. My wife has a couple of Pelikan 800s with EF nibs and the Danitrio is springier than the Pelikans. It's very pleasant to use.

 

FWIW, I also have a Takumi with a regular fine nib (i.e. not advertised as a soft nib) and it is very similar in feel to the stiffer of the two soft EF nibs. If and when I order another Dani, I'll just get a regular nib and not mess with the soft ones again.

[daoud62]

I have one Danitrio with a soft fine nib, and it has a nice, springy feel. I enjoy writing with it. Generally speaking, it puts out a broader line than one would expect of a fine nib. I recall that I used to use Noodler's Whaleman Sepia in it, and it was the only nib in which that ink did not dry up in between uses. However, I do not do any sort of calligraphy, and cannot comment on how adequate the soft nib would be for true flex writing. I simply write.

 

I hope that helps.

[sseskin]

  On 3/18/2014 at 6:08 PM, geoduc said:

 

Yes, the stiffer nib does have a nice amount of spring to it, not a nail at all. My wife has a couple of Pelikan 800s with EF nibs and the Danitrio is springier than the Pelikans. It's very pleasant to use.

 

FWIW, I also have a Takumi with a regular fine nib (i.e. not advertised as a soft nib) and it is very similar in feel to the stiffer of the two soft EF nibs. If and when I order another Dani, I'll just get a regular nib and not mess with the soft ones again.

It makes me wonder if the manufacturer just mixed up nibs by mistake...

Thanks for your insights

[sseskin]

  On 3/18/2014 at 9:00 PM, daoud62 said:

I have one Danitrio with a soft fine nib, and it has a nice, springy feel. I enjoy writing with it. Generally speaking, it puts out a broader line than one would expect of a fine nib. I recall that I used to use Noodler's Whaleman Sepia in it, and it was the only nib in which that ink did not dry up in between uses. However, I do not do any sort of calligraphy, and cannot comment on how adequate the soft nib would be for true flex writing. I simply write.

 

I hope that helps.

Like you I just write. Flex nibs sell on FPN classifieds in hours. There emust be a lot of calligraphers out there, or perhaps deep reservoirs of the curious and the nostalgic.I count myself as both.

[shuuemura]

In my experience, the Danitrio flex stub was mushy and kept clicking whenever I tried to write with it. Line variation due to flexing was minimal at best.

[sseskin]

  On 3/20/2014 at 12:30 AM, shuuemura said:

In my experience, the Danitrio flex stub was mushy and kept clicking whenever I tried to write with it. Line variation due to flexing was minimal at best.

Interesting.

thanks for this information.

[Nibble]

I have a soft stub on my FPN Danitrio and sadly I have never got on with it. The pen is beautiful, but the nib… well it writes well for a while and then (it seems to me) the ink flow isn't sufficient for the nib. I have been wondering whether to ask John Mottishaw whether he could either improve it or, perhaps change it for a firm stub. I have a firm stub on two other Danitrios (the Mikado and the Densho) and they are fine (in use. They are stubs in size!).

 

I would be delighted to know what the experience of other FPN-ers is when the Danitrio soft nibs have had the genius touch of Mr Nibs.

[Nibble]

Oh, and while we are on the subject, what inks work best with a Danitrio soft stub?

[Namo]

For some reason, all of my three Denshos were/are demanding regarding ink, whatever the quality of the nib. I've been using Noodler's Borealis black with success, but I had to clean the pen between every fill. Now using Waterman inks (blue and black); working fine!

[sseskin]

  On 3/21/2014 at 8:14 AM, Namo said:

For some reason, all of my three Denshos were/are demanding regarding ink, whatever the quality of the nib. I've been using Noodler's Borealis black with success, but I had to clean the pen between every fill. Now using Waterman inks (blue and black); working fine!

thanks

[mori45]

I have a soft stub on a Mikado and a soft BB on a takumi, and both write really well. They're soft and springy, but I wouldn't say they're flex nibs.