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Picking A Nib Size For Lamy 2000


Karenne

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Hello everyone!

 

I am planning to buy a Lamy 2000 as a celebratory gift (to myself). I plan to use the pen for extensive note-taking in graduate school. I do not know how often I will write on crappy paper, but I do plan to continue my trend of buying Apica/Kokuyo/Maruman to write on. I am debating between fine or medium nib, and I do plan to send the nib to Mr. Pendleton Brown for his BLS grind. My handwriting is relatively small, and I use mild-medium pressure when writing.

 

I would love to hear (or read) your opinions and experience between the 2 nib sizes and which one would be more fitting for note-taking!

 

 

Karenne

 

 

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For 6MM note lines I find the B a little too think, even M requires larger letters. So I guess F is a safer bet. If you can provide your writing it's easier to tell.

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https://www.flickr.com/photos/149640763@N04/shares/760t77

 

Here you go. I am sorry it's a link. I could not figure out how to get it linked to FPN directly. (I tried that "picture" button but it didn't work :/ )

 

 

Edit: I just saw a nib size called "Fat Fine." What do you think about that?

 

 

Karenne

Edited by Karenne
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Hello Karenne,

 

My advice is: if you're going to send it to PB for nib treatment; I would consult with him on what nib size to get. :)

 

- Anthony

Edited by ParkerDuofold
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Hello Karenne,

 

My advice is: if you're going to send it to PB for nib treatment; I would consult with him on what nib size to get. :)

 

- Anthony

 

Ah, that sounds like a good idea! Why didn't I think of that... Thank you kind sir!

 

 

Karenne

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Ah, that sounds like a good idea! Why didn't I think of that... Thank you kind sir!

 

 

Karenne

You're quite welcome, Karenne... enjoy your new 2K... I love mine. :)

 

- Anthony

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As you are going to send it to PB it really doesn't matter, but L2000 nibs seem to have a fairly narrow sweetspot.

 

And indeed, confer with PB on which nib he needs to work on is good advice.

 

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

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If you have access to a local bricks and mortar store, take both the fine and the medium for a test drive.

 

I have a medium Lamy 2000 which I enjoy immensely. Its a wet and thick writer, exactly the kind of writer I prefer. I tend to write average sized letters (font), if I wrote with a smaller font I'd probably get a fine because the thickness of the line the medium nib lays down would simply not cut it. The easiest way to determine the appropriate sized nib is for you to actually try them both out if you have that option. The medium has a wonderfully large sweet spot and is very smooth. I'm not sure about the fine nib as I was debating between a medium and a broad nib.

 

Whatever nib you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy your 2000 as much as the rest of us do. It is a beautifully made pen, a great writer and I feel the perfect writing tool for a student - consistently high quality over decades of production, light weight for long hours of taking notes, holds a lot of ink and built tough. And smooth, soooo smooth, it makes you want to write even when there's nothing to write.

 

Good luck and do let us know which nib you end up getting!

Edited by flow
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If you have access to a local bricks and mortar store, take both the fine and the medium for a test drive.

 

I have a medium Lamy 2000 which I enjoy immensely. Its a wet and thick writer, exactly the kind of writer I prefer. I tend to write average sized letters (font), if I wrote with a smaller font I'd probably get a fine because the thickness of the line the medium nib lays down would simply not cut it. The easiest way to determine the appropriate sized nib is for you to actually try them both out if you have that option. The medium has a wonderfully large sweet spot and is very smooth. I'm not sure about the fine nib as I was debating between a medium and a broad nib.

 

Whatever nib you choose, I'm sure you'll enjoy your 2000 as much as the rest of us do. It is a beautifully made pen, a great writer and I feel the perfect writing tool for a student - consistently high quality over decades of production, light weight for long hours of taking notes, holds a lot of ink and built tough. And smooth, soooo smooth, it makes you want to write even when there's nothing to write.

 

Good luck and do let us know which nib you end up getting!

 

I would love to try out the pens in person, but unluckily, I live in an area/state (I am in the U.S.) where there are zero bricks and mortar stores, and any local fountain pen shops. If I wanted to go to a local fountain pen store, I would have to drive 3+ hours to reach one, with no guarantee that they will have those nib sizes at the shop. So, my only real "test drive" is from what the internet saids, and from you guys. I would love to test it in person, but I do not have the option to do so....

 

I did contact Mr. Pendleton Brown, and he kindly told me that he does not work on EF and F Lamy 2000. I am leaning more to the M nib now due to his response, but I still fear the nib size might produce too large of line while I write.

 

For sure, when I decide, I will let you guys know what I choose!

 

 

Karenne

 

Edit: I can't English properly.

Edited by Karenne
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Of your handwriting is small then go with a fine nib. Mr Brown will tell you the same.

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The Lamy 2000 EF nib is known to be scratchy out of the box. Any skilled nibmeister can smooth it out, though... so I'm surprised that Pendleton won't touch them! But it's quite an expense if you have to ship a pen out somewhere to be tuned, given the purchase cost.

 

The Lamy 2000 F nib tends to write somewhere between your average fine and medium nibs. Some might say closer to medium. The medium does write more like a broad, in my experience.

 

Another thing to consider is keeping a look-out for someone selling a Lamy 2000 where the nib has been tuned or ground to a finer line. If memory serves me, this has been done quite a bit over the years given the Lamy 2000 nibs tending to be wet writers. So that might be a good way to go.

 

But frankly, if you've got a tendency to write small, you may want to reconsider and get a PILOT fountain pen. Their nibs are absolutely fabulous right out of the box and they tend to be conservative. I've got some <F> nib PILOT fountain pens where the nib is more like an <EF>. Are you familiar with the Vanishing Point or Decimo pens?

Edited by MYU

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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The OP is wanting to get a BLS grind from Pendleton Brown - I think the advice that Mr Brown doesn't work on finer nibs needs to be read in light of that information. True, Lamy nibs tend to run broader than Pilot (for example) - but a larger nib tip will allow more scope to create the ideal grind, and obviously Mr Brown doesn't feel comfortable starting with anything narrower than a Fine. If that's what you want him to do do... best to take his advice!

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Hi everyone,

 

So after talking to Mr. Pendleton Brown, he suggest that I should try a "Fat Fine." With this answer, I think getting a Medium nib will be my best bet. Thank you so much for all of your opinions and experiences; it truly helped me picking out which nib is better for what I am looking for.

 

 

Karenne

Edited by Karenne
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Hi everyone,

 

So after talking to Mr. Pendleton Brown, he suggest that I should try a "Fat Fine." With this answer, I think getting a Medium nib will be my best bet. Thank you so much for all of your opinions and experiences; it truly helped me picking out which nib is better for what I am looking for.

 

 

Karenne

 

Hi Karenne,

 

Yes. Medium is an excellent choice; when doing a custom grind, you can always take more off, but you can NEVER ADD more on. ;)

 

- Anthony

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Hi Karenne,

 

Yes. Medium is an excellent choice; when doing a custom grind, you can always take more off, but you can NEVER ADD more on. ;)

 

- Anthony

Thanks Anthony - I meant to make this comment, too, in my previous post. The joys of making comments via mobile device (while on holiday without my computer :( ) - my finger taps lag so far behind my train of thought that I tend to lose it...

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Thanks Anthony - I meant to make this comment, too, in my previous post. The joys of making comments via mobile device (while on holiday without my computer :( ) - my finger taps lag so far behind my train of thought that I tend to lose it...

 

Hi Jamerelbe,

 

No problem. :)

 

I know exactly what you mean, mobiles can be tedious, but due to the nature of my work (and lifestyle); 90% of my time is spent on one mobile device or another. I have a tablet and two smartphones and that's where I spend my time... while my beautiful, state of the art, Dell desktop collects cobwebs. :(

 

Oh well, such is life. :D

 

- Anthony

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The Lamy 2000 EF nib is known to be scratchy out of the box.

 

 

Most of the time, perhaps. I know that mine wasn't scratchy right out of the box.

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Hi. Just my experience here: I have had a fine for 2 years. I love it. I find it a tad wet for cheap copy paper at work so I use drier inks like Pelikan Black. It works perfect and is so easy to disassemble and clean. I just bought an xf stainless body. Scratchy. No sweet spot. I kept it 2 days and just returned for exchange. You can get a bad one but these really are great pens. Regards and enjoy this great hobby. Ron

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I read on here that the Lamy 2000 nibs are no longer a size larger than they should be. I had a fine and later bought a medium that wrote exactly the same width. I'm not sure if Lamy began to make their nibs narrower than in the past and I bought a medium after that transition, or their nib sizes aren't very consistent.

 

In any regard, you may want to disregard the old Lamy rule.

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