Who Makes The Best Nibs Today

[TassoBarbasso]

After a few months of continuous usage of my Pilots, Auroras and Viscontis, I think it's safe to say these are the best makers. I had couple of old 1990s OMAS pens at hand in the last couple of days, and those are also awesome.

[Icywolfe]

I have too many Pilots, but any JP manufacturer. But Pelikan seem to work fine too.

[coinlvr]

I think that Sailor Japan's Naginata Togi is the best nib out there on the market. I mean out of the box. It gets the ground running when it hits the paper.

[Humanities]

For me, the one company who's nibs just can't be beat is Pilot/Namiki. They have gone above and beyond with QA on all their stock nibs. I have multiple Pilot pens that were amazing right out of the box. However, the "best" nib is all about individual needs. While I like really wet writers, you may not, and so on. It all depends on what you're looking for, and your writing style. For a truely personalized feel, bringing it to a nibmeister is the way to go. There are several out there that can make even the most stubborn of nibs glide across the page. I had a particularly stormy relationship with a vintage Indian ebonite pen, and was considering just tucking it into a drawer and forgetting about it. After a small adjustment from Mike Masuyama, that pen is one of my favorites.

 

TLDR: Out of box, undoubtedly Pilot/Namiki, for the "best" nib, send it to a nibmeister, who can make it the best for you.

 

For the uninitiated, do Nibmeisters usually have drop-in-hours at pen shows for nib adjustment work, or do most people simply send their pens by mail, with a description of the hoped for outcome? How pricey are you talking for the magic of the nib meister? Many thanks!

[rpsyed]

I'd have to say Romillo, for the amount of character and expressiveness they have. Platinum/Nakaya nibs are great, reliable nibs. I've not had as much experience with Pilot but the experience I've had has been good. Bock and JoWo nibs are good too, though occasionally prone to hard starts from the inside tines being over polished.

[gerigo]

Hmmm, I guess I'll jump in as nib performance to me is as important as the design of the pen itself. Although my love of fountain pens is the reason why I am in the hobby, my development of lettering skills is a direct and desired outcome of the hobby. As such, my favorite nib type are italics and stubs. Preferably as crisp as it possibly can get.

 

Nibs I love best. Aurora italics, Platinum music nibs, OMAS italicos and stubs, Montblanc BBs and Bs.

 

Nibs I want to love but are always problematic and require tuning or finishing. Visconti stubs, Pelikan IT and BB nibs, Danitrio Stubs.

 

Nibs I should love but are characterless, nevertheless always deliver. Delta Fusion, JOWO italics in pens in many small handmade pen shops.

 

Nibs that are fantastic but don't have stubs. ST Duponts, GVFC, Namiki, Sailor, Caran D'ache.

 

I would LOVE to love Sailors, but they don't make nibs I like with the exception of the Music nib. But that is only available on their regular pens.

 

It goes without saying that if I could get a pen tuned at purchase, I would definitely pay to get the service done. It's almost a service that has to go hand in hand. That's why so much of my money goes to a certain establishment in the West Coast that feed many of our hobby.

[Newjelan]

For everyday writing (work, notes on the run etc), I can't go past Pilot's gold nibs.

[columela]

In my opinion Sailor has the best nibs that I have tried. Whoever makes the Fussion delta nibs are also consistently good.

[irondome]

As far as my collection goes. I find that pelikan and montblanc has the best nibs. I also noticed that pelikan has more issues out of the box compared to montblanc. So the quality control of montblanc is better.

[Aramchek]

1)Platinum

2)Pilot

3)Sailor

4)Lamy

5)Jowo

 

Ambitious tend to be remarkably good considering the price of the pens they come in. Hero is uneven - I guess the good ones are mainly from the part of Hero that used to be Wing Sung. Not really a fan of the Bock nibs I have.

[Sergio 46]

GVFC, Montblanc, Pilot/Namiki , Lamy, Diplomat, Faber Castell, in no order, but my last purchases, a Faber Castell e-motion and a GVFC guilloche were outstanding out of the box..

[pen tom]

Visconti Palladium Dream Touch nibs are the most pleasurable nibs I have assailed paper with.

 

 

Even thou I have come to prefer 1910-1929 nibs (mostly Waterman ) and 1950s Pelikans, of the modern nibs, I like Visconti and the Pelikan 1000

[Kastor48252]

Pilot makes the most reliable nibs right from their cheapest disposablefountain pen to their top of the line custom fountain pen.

[chandelle]

On 2/28/2015 at 5:27 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

MB, Pelikan, Aurora, Sailor, Pilot, ....Bock, JoWo.

Bock makes the nibs for many name pens.

 

Best modern nib......Pelikan 200.

 

I like the '50-65 German nibs MB-3, Osmia/O-F-C, (Degussa) 7 or so, Pelikan 8-9, Geha 6-7.

 

 

Santini is an honourable mention; it's the only Italian brand other than Aurora that makes its nibs in-house.

 

[como]

For me the four best nibs from still in business modern makers are (in no particular order):

 

1. Montblanc Rouge et Noir series nibs (the snake, the spider, Heritage 1912, Egyptomania etc)

2. Scribo nibs (essential modern Omas nibs)

3. Sailor KOP nibs

4. Santini Flex and Superflex nibs

[MoriartyR]

4 hours ago, como said:

For me the four best nibs from still in business modern makers are (in no particular order):

 

1. Montblanc Rouge et Noir series nibs (the snake, the spider, Heritage 1912, Egyptomania etc)

2. Scribo nibs (essential modern Omas nibs)

3. Sailor KOP nibs

4. Santini Flex and Superflex nibs

I agree very much with this list. At least the first three, since I don’t yet have a Santini, but I actually have one on the way with flex nib so your list makes me look forward to it even more.

 

[Inkyways]

Golden age of nibs era is over and my question  is who can make a good nib as the  "good old vintage" nib makers did?? for an affordable price??

[como]

1 hour ago, MoriartyR said:

I agree very much with this list. At least the first three, since I don’t yet have a Santini, but I actually have one on the way with flex nib so your list makes me look forward to it even more.

 

I have seen and heard others saying very good things about the new Montblanc Calligraphy nib. I believe it, but I have no first hand experience with it. Good luck with your Santini Flex!

[Inkyways]

8 hours ago, como said:

For me the four best nibs from still in business modern makers are (in no particular order):

 

1. Montblanc Rouge et Noir series nibs (the snake, the spider, Heritage 1912, Egyptomania etc)

2. Scribo nibs (essential modern Omas nibs)

3. Sailor KOP nibs

4. Santini Flex and Superflex nibs

I can say at leat something about MB and Sailor nibs. They are of course  "different horses for different courses " 

No experience about the rest of two Scribo and Santini

[MoriartyR]

43 minutes ago, como said:

I have seen and heard others saying very good things about the new Montblanc Calligraphy nib. I believe it, but I have no first hand experience with it. Good luck with your Santini Flex!

I have the MB 149 Calligraphy Flex but haven’t had it long and it feels like a nib you need time to get to know, so my impressions may change and others with more experience of it would speak with more authority. I also only have one MB Calligraphy Flex (so may not be representative) but I have several Scribos with the 14k EF nib. The MB is certainly a very good, very interesting nib, and I would absolutely recommend it, but I like the Scribo nib more so far.

 

I think Scribo 14k EF nibs are much easier to use, smoother, more suitable for everyday writing or fast writing, and for most people they will be more reliable and controllable for producing wide line variation. The Scribo nib feels more robust, but also can have a lovely paintbrush-like feel when you flex it. I think the ebonite feed on the Scribo performs better than the plastic MB feed. And I get greater line variation with the Scribo. Subjectively, for me the Scribo is more fun. The downside might be that the Scribo nib is very wet and you won’t get such a fine line unflexed (it does give a satisfactorily fine line to me, just not as fine as the MB).

 

The MB nib has a finer line but feels a little rough and it performs best when you go slowly. You have to be pretty precise with flexing as just slightly too much pressure will cause the tines to suddenly splay out and the ink will stop flowing. I have the feeling that the MB nib will also benefit more from finding the right ink with optimal viscosity and surface tension, whereas the Scribo appears less fussy.

 

I suspect for calligraphers (which I am not) the MB might be the preferred tool. For everyone else who wants a good, everyday pen with easy but impressive line variation, and greater tolerance for lack of skill or patience, the Scribo is the one to get.

 

My 2c.