Recommendations For A Good Flex Nib/pen?

[ImThatGuy]

Hello fountain-pen-knowledgable-people - I hope you can help.

 

I'm looking for a flex nib fountain pen (just starting a little calligraphy) and I'm struggling to arrive at a choice. I'm wondering if you good people have any favoured recommendations that could help me narrow the field.

 

I know I should start with a basic dip pen, but I want something I can travel with so I can practice out and about. Price isn't a major factor, although I think I'd be foolish to spend hundreds at this stage.

 

Any suggestions much appreciated - thanks in advance.

[Honeybadgers]

Ehhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

 

one of the factory steel nib flex pens might just be a little frustrating and tiring to use.

 

 

If you really want to practice pointed pen calligraphy, you really, really do want an oblique dip holder (like $3 on ebay) and zebra G dip nibs.

 

If you really want a portable option, a noodlers ahab with zebra G dip nibs (need replacing every 2-4 months, cost about $1 each) can be had and set up for about $30.

 

Of the factory flex pens in the beginner range, the noodlers nib creaper/ FPR #5 flex nibs are softer than the #6 in the ahab/konrad/ FPR #6. I don't like the ease my flex mod (cutting two half moons into the sides of the nib makes it much softer, but I find it mushy and unpleasant) but others swear by it. None of them are great everyday writers.

 

If you get to the really serious range, vintage pens like eversharp skylines and waterman 52's and pelikan 140's (the 140 with a flexible nib is a good everyday usable pen) or someone like pablo at Fpnibs can custom grind a super flexible nib. But we're north of $300 at that end. Good flexible vintage pens can be found in the $100-150 range pretty routinely.

 

Check out Greg Minuskin's website for good vintage flex. he's reliable, though a hugely weird jerk. But his work is so good that I still recommend him.

 

But seriously, Zebra G nibs and an oblique dip pen. If your goal is learning pointed pen calligraphy, you should start with the tools that make it easiest. Fighting the oblique angle that the style requires with a straight pointed pen, let along a fountain pen, is just a distraction.

[loganrah]

As Honeybadgers says a dip pen is the best bet if maximum flex is the requirement, being so cheap is also a plus if you are just starting out.

If you definitely want a fountain pen (which is totally reasonable, I'm also in that boat) then I would also recommend a Noodler's Nib Creeper. They're quite cheap so a good place to start. I'm sure that if you like flex you'll want to upgrade eventually, but for a starter pen to test out and learn on they are great. Being cheap enough that most people can probably afford to accidentally destroy one or two without too much worry is very nice for a first flex pen. You don't want to spend $200 on a Pilot Falcon and then spring the nib immediately, $16 on a Nib Creeper is not such a worry.

[Honeybadgers]

come to think of it, I have a nib creaper with a 14k eversharp #1 flex nib. it's a M nib, but has pretty substantial flex to BB and is quite soft. It's tuned and ready to write, and I'd be willing to let it go for $60 plus shipping. So if you're interested in that (and that pen can be used every day) PM me. I made it and used it a bit and have no use for it.

 

Also have a user grade waterman 301V in brown celluloid with a nice 14k semiflex nib (XXF-B ) I'd be willing to part with for the same. No cracks or anything, just well loved, and a superb writer. Neither is a substitute for learning with a dip nib, but both would be extremely satisfactory everyday writers and can lay down some serious spencerian.

Edited April 13, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[cunim]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/345424-wheres-a-good-model-to-start/?p=4194225

[Bo Bo Olson]

""""Pelikan 140's (the 140 with a flexible nib is a good everyday usable pen)""""

....I find Pelikans of that era to be either semi-flex or maxi-semi-flex to a 5 to 1 rate, in the maxi's are rarer.

My two 140's are semi-flex.................SEMI-flex.............not semi-FLEX........semi-flex will give you flair, and either maxi or semi will give a 3 X tine spread vs a light down stroke.

Semi-flex can be made to write fancy up to a tine spread of 3X a light down stroke.....for me in I don't abuse the nib, an occasional decender normally at the end of a paragraph, or a t to be crossed. The rest is the natural slightly wider first letter or a thin trail on a last of the word e.

Maxi needing only half as much pressure is easier to write fancy......but still a 3 X tine spread limit is suggested or you will spring the nib, be that semi or maxi.

 

It is not a superflex (called 'flex' by some , which is a tine spread of 4X, mostly 5 or 6 X and the rare non-sprung 7X.............sprung pens are bought from folks making vintage nibs do Olympic Spits, while selling them on |Ebay or after making a Youtube showing.

 

I have a post war Pelikan 100n, with an 'Easy Full Flex' nib, that would go to a 5 X tine spread....(I strive to stay at 4 X as a max)......with any vintage nibbed superflex pen one wants to stay under maximum width or one risks springing the nib through metal fatigue.....eventually, even if one hasn't exceeded it's limit, by pushing it to it's limit often will fatigue the metal.

 

Go to Richard Binder's site and look up his article on metal fatigue. That impressed me enough that I ....having the experience to be able to do so with out pressing a nib too far. It helped I took a long time working my way up the flex ladder, and had a lot of semi-flex pens before I found my first superflex nib, and it was 'flexi'. A German no-name War pen with a Degussa nib in what later I class as Easy Full Flex.........the first stage of superflex.

 

@ A decade ago, definitions were not so clear as today. 'Flexi' was used for (by some any nib with more than regular flex ease of tine spread. Others used that as anything over semi-flex that was not a 'Wet Noodle'. Some used 'Flexi' for any pen with some to much flex.....not using the just in coming superflex or even the then rare term Wet Noodle.

 

I have a system that rates flex in a pen............as a beginner in superflex, Easy Full Flex, Wet Noodle and Weak Kneed Wet Noodle is adequate, the more superflex pens one has the more borders between 'flex sets', blure.

 

The most important thing when looking for a superflex nib for Spenserian or Copperplate is the speed of the snap back............when that is slow the nib is considered mushy.

Some think a Wet Noodle is or must be mushy..........I don't know. The few I have (3 for sure & a couple nearly's) don't appear that to me....but I don't do enough writing to have a clear idea, if I have good snapback or not on my Wet Noodles.

 

My Easy Full Flex...first stage of superflex appear to have nice snapback.......as do all of my superflex.............could well be none of my superflex nibs have been sprung.

 

...... Do have a fair selection of Dip pen nibs. To bad I don't use them.

I have Hunt 99-100-101 that quake/flex when there is an earthquake in California.......others that are middle in what I see in dip pen flex....that make a Wet Noodle look uncooked.

 

The Zebra G nib that is often recommended for beginners, I don't have and don't know exactly how flexible it actually is...........but it is on the lower edge of dip pen flex.......and is at least as much and perhaps more to much more than a Wet Noodle.

It is cheap, so when one wears it out, or springs it.............no big deal.

 

There are also half moon and or slots that are ground into JoWo or Chinese nibs that take a pen into superflex; that will cost you more money and one should be sure the slit grinder can back up his claim. (Such a modified nib might last 3 years of work....might not.....they have a shorter life than the $$$$ expensive vintage superflex nibs that have not been choppered into superflex.

 

There are expensive Pilot pens with slits ground in them that some claim are at least semi-flex.....others claim they are superflex...............but I don't get the impression anyone is swapping his 52 even Steven for one...............(By the way not all Waterman 52's are Wet Noodles...some are not superflex from some comments I've read over the years.)

 

I suggest a pen that will take a Zebra G nib as least expensive start.

 

I have a stiff nib italic Calligraphy book......there are many wonderful italic styles.....but what that book taught me was the proper way (push-pull) to draw a letter, that I was able to use drawing a flexible letter.

 

Oh, all the Wet Noodles I have ....I just scribble with them letting them give me some flair, being too lazy to learn how to write. I have to sweat to make one go EEF, think to make them go EF, so basically scribble F, with an occasional fat letter or decender. Like I said, I stay under max. I have two that will go 7X, so keep them at 6X....BB is enough coming from EEF. The one that is a 6 X....keeping it at 5 X or B is enough coming from EEF.

 

As soon as you get a pen that will nib swap a Zebra G nib, go over to one of the two subsections for folks that write and pick up how to, there.

Edited April 13, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[Honeybadgers]

most 140's I come across these days are what bo bo would call a maxi semi flex. Soft, but not insanely flexible

 

I wouldn't recommend an insanely flexible nib anyways. A brause rose is garbage to learn on. There's just too much finesse to a wet noodle. Learning to write spencerian with a semi-flex nib will teach a lot about not mashing the thing down for maximum shades. Look at most proper spencerian from the "old days" and shades were almost always less than 1mm. Easy for a semiflex nib.

 

There's a reason kids are given big thick pencils that are easy to hold with enormous tips that are hard to break. You're learning to write the letters, and adding distractions like easily broken lead or hyperflexible nibs are just complicating things.

Edited April 14, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[OMASsimo]

I'm surprised. I have a number of Pelikan 140s and non of them is what Bo Bo Olson would label as "maxi semi flex". Unless you have different vintage Pelikans on your side of the big pond, those pens were definitely NOT made for flex writing. Pelikan offered broad or oblique nibs to achieve line variation instead.

[WLSpec]

You always have your Pilot Falcon nibs, which are good enough writers, but probably don't have the flex you're looking for calligraphy. As Honeybadgers said, Zebra g nibs plus a nib holder is your best bet for starting off... cheap and lots of flex.

 

And again as he said, Waterman 52s and Pelikan 140s are really flexible, but because they're so sought after, they will be a real investment. And yes, they are quite difficult to learn with. So I would either learn with a less flexible flex nib (Pilot Falcon, Noodler's flex nib, etc.) and move from there, or go with the dip pen.

 

And I know that Jetpens has a small guide to dip nibs and holders for beginners if you want to check that out HERE.

 

Good luck!

Edited April 14, 2019 by WLSpec

[Guardy]

I've got a fun flexy vintage steel nib in a Geha 780 I picked up at the flea market for two bucks, but y'know what? For actual calligraphy, nothing beats a Zebra G dip nib, ideally with a reservoir. You just don't get those really fine hairlines with a fountain pen nib.

 

Flex fountain pen nibs are nice to add some flair to your writing, but for actual calligraphy? Zebra G, oblique holder, ink reservoir, sample-sized ink bottle, some tissues. Works pretty well, even on the go. Believe me, I've tried.

 

If you absolutely do want flex, just go for an Ahab. The nib kinda sucks, quite frankly, but at least the pen's good for adjustments and general tinkering.

 

/EDIT:

Actually, I realized I had all of my soft nibs inked up anyway, so here's a comparison:

Note that all those nibs were flexed with a very gentle touch; I don't push nibs very far as a general rule.

Here's a bigger view: [click]

Edited April 14, 2019 by Guardy

[Honeybadgers]

I'm surprised. I have a number of Pelikan 140s and non of them is what Bo Bo Olson would label as "maxi semi flex". Unless you have different vintage Pelikans on your side of the big pond, those pens were definitely NOT made for flex writing. Pelikan offered broad or oblique nibs to achieve line variation instead.

 

That's because reg minuskin buys all the flexible ones on earth and resells them. He always seems to have 10 or 20 of them for sale.

[Dmact]

Are you doing calligraphy or are you wanting to write in a flex script? Theres a massive difference. Im a calligrapher i wouldnt even THINK of doing calligraphy with even a disiterata (outside of like 1 script that i know of), but i desperately want a real flex WRITING pen to add flex to my standard writing (which is very palmer inspired)... I have no interest in pens running ZG nibs

Edited April 15, 2019 by Dmact

[Honeybadgers]

You sound like you need a wet noodle, dmact. Modern wise, your only option is a custom 14k JoWo full flex XXXF from pablo at FPnibs.com with a keyhole breather. He'll set you up. But be prepared to spend $300.

[Inky.Fingers]

I used tobe that guy. I will tell that guy ...Just to practice with any fountain pen ...Once you can form the letters as perfectly as you can get it...Well then....You don't need that flex pen.

 

Now..If by chance you already can form the letters correctly and perfectly...Then you already know that the best and only way to practice is with a dip pen.

 

Done!

[Bo Bo Olson]

There are regular flex US pens, some Sheaffers, Some Esterbrook nibs, some Wearevers. I don't collect US pens so I can't telly which ones to get. But regular flex is called regular flex in it use to be the regular nib on many pens.

Pelikan 120, Geha school pen, Pelikan 200(100/150) are regular flex pens.

 

One needs a regular flex pen to make sense of my 1/2 & 1/2 system....otherwise it don't work.

Regular flex, semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex are in the 3 X tine spread subset.

 

One really has to Mash a regular flex to get the tines to spread to 3 X a light down stroke. (One can not write so maxed not even for a single fancy letter.

Semi-flex takes half that pressure to reach 3 X tine spread vs a light down stroke .One can if one works hard enough make a fancy decender but is actually a bit of work. One gets flair with out doing anything.

Maxi-semi-flex half of that or 1/4th the pressure needed to max a regular flex nib. Here one gets more ease of making a fancy letter.....up to 3 X tine spread...........

 

If I leave my Osmia/Osmia-Faber-Castel pens out I end up with @ 1 in 5 of my semi-flex being maxi.

I have some 29 semi-flex and some 16 maxi-semi-flex.(including my Osmia nibs)

 

IMO, having realized Degussa made gold for Osmia even before Osmia was forced to sell it's nib factory for debt in 1932 to Degussa the gold and silver manufacture of Germany. Osmia had in both gold and steel semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex nibs.

 

I think the scattered maxi-semi-flex in Pelikan, Geha, MB and other brands I have......all came from Degussa..............which would have made the gold rolls that nibs were made out of.

Degussa had to have made the nib spectrum.....nail like the Pelikan D nib, semi-nail like the Pelikan H nib.....regular flex, semi-flex, (Maxi-semi-flex for Osmia) superflex....in I have a Pelikan in Easy Full Flex, and a Soennecken Wet Noodle.

 

Because outside of Osmia, none of the maxi-semi-flex nibs are labeled; it could well be depending on the day's gold price.........if Degussa could make more by sending off a ready made and warehoused roll of maxi-semi-flex that was only ordered by Osmia to fill a semi-flex gold roll order, they would.

That is the only logical explanation I can come up with of why the major brands have unmarked semi & maxi-semi-flex nibs.

[Dmact]

You sound like you need a wet noodle, dmact. Modern wise, your only option is a custom 14k JoWo full flex XXXF from pablo at FPnibs.com with a keyhole breather. He'll set you up. But be prepared to spend $300.

Yup, I've gotten to PLAY with other peoples fountain pens but ive only ever OWNED calligraphy ones. So i know basically what i need having come from years of dip pens. The price tag is why i don't OWN a good vintage flex... A shot sac i feel comfortable with but all the good nibs I've come across were shot... I cant currently justify the prices of refurbished for anything with a fine or ef nib (i write fairly small to boot)

[Dmact]

There are regular flex US pens, some Sheaffers, Some Esterbrook nibs, some Wearevers. I don't collect US pens so I can't telly which ones to get. But regular flex is called regular flex in it use to be the regular nib on many pens.

Pelikan 120, Geha school pen, Pelikan 200(100/150) are regular flex pens.

 

One needs a regular flex pen to make sense of my 1/2 & 1/2 system....otherwise it don't work.

Regular flex, semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex are in the 3 X tine spread subset.

 

One really has to Mash a regular flex to get the tines to spread to 3 X a light down stroke. (One can not write so maxed not even for a single fancy letter.

Semi-flex takes half that pressure to reach 3 X tine spread vs a light down stroke .One can if one works hard enough make a fancy decender but is actually a bit of work. One gets flair with out doing anything.

Maxi-semi-flex half of that or 1/4th the pressure needed to max a regular flex nib. Here one gets more ease of making a fancy letter.....up to 3 X tine spread...........

 

If I leave my Osmia/Osmia-Faber-Castel pens out I end up with @ 1 in 5 of my semi-flex being maxi.

I have some 29 semi-flex and some 16 maxi-semi-flex.(including my Osmia nibs)

 

IMO, having realized Degussa made gold for Osmia even before Osmia was forced to sell it's nib factory for debt in 1932 to Degussa the gold and silver manufacture of Germany. Osmia had in both gold and steel semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex nibs.

 

I think the scattered maxi-semi-flex in Pelikan, Geha, MB and other brands I have......all came from Degussa..............which would have made the gold rolls that nibs were made out of.

Degussa had to have made the nib spectrum.....nail like the Pelikan D nib, semi-nail like the Pelikan H nib.....regular flex, semi-flex, (Maxi-semi-flex for Osmia) superflex....in I have a Pelikan in Easy Full Flex, and a Soennecken Wet Noodle.

 

Because outside of Osmia, none of the maxi-semi-flex nibs are labeled; it could well be depending on the day's gold price.........if Degussa could make more by sending off a ready made and warehoused roll of maxi-semi-flex that was only ordered by Osmia to fill a semi-flex gold roll order, they would.

That is the only logical explanation I can come up with of why the major brands have unmarked semi & maxi-semi-flex nibs.

 

Basicially...

 

I have a pile of parts that was formerly a vintage 14k flex nib (i cry daily over the travesty i found under the hood)... In researching what on EARTH i had (only marks were engraved name and "waranted 14k 3" on the nib) i found a page talking about nibs being made for a specific company but a nibmeister "gotta keep the lights on" so to speak and would produce many lots of "generic" nibs that could be sold to other pen makers... Those nibs could come from a dedicated nib maker or it could have been a major penmakers nib department... Did it happen that way? I dunno, turns out my nib bears a triangle which was common among pens by Lincoln soooo semi generic? I think there's a lot more missing in the history here than just how the nibs were made, but where and why.

[OMASsimo]

There are regular flex US pens, some Sheaffers, Some Esterbrook nibs, some Wearevers. I don't collect US pens so I can't telly which ones to get. But regular flex is called regular flex in it use to be the regular nib on many pens.

Pelikan 120, Geha school pen, Pelikan 200(100/150) are regular flex pens.

 

One needs a regular flex pen to make sense of my 1/2 & 1/2 system....otherwise it don't work.

Regular flex, semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex are in the 3 X tine spread subset.

 

One really has to Mash a regular flex to get the tines to spread to 3 X a light down stroke. (One can not write so maxed not even for a single fancy letter.

Semi-flex takes half that pressure to reach 3 X tine spread vs a light down stroke .One can if one works hard enough make a fancy decender but is actually a bit of work. One gets flair with out doing anything.

Maxi-semi-flex half of that or 1/4th the pressure needed to max a regular flex nib. Here one gets more ease of making a fancy letter.....up to 3 X tine spread...........

 

If I leave my Osmia/Osmia-Faber-Castel pens out I end up with @ 1 in 5 of my semi-flex being maxi.

I have some 29 semi-flex and some 16 maxi-semi-flex.(including my Osmia nibs)

 

IMO, having realized Degussa made gold for Osmia even before Osmia was forced to sell it's nib factory for debt in 1932 to Degussa the gold and silver manufacture of Germany. Osmia had in both gold and steel semi-flex and maxi-semi-flex nibs.

 

I think the scattered maxi-semi-flex in Pelikan, Geha, MB and other brands I have......all came from Degussa..............which would have made the gold rolls that nibs were made out of.

Degussa had to have made the nib spectrum.....nail like the Pelikan D nib, semi-nail like the Pelikan H nib.....regular flex, semi-flex, (Maxi-semi-flex for Osmia) superflex....in I have a Pelikan in Easy Full Flex, and a Soennecken Wet Noodle.

 

Because outside of Osmia, none of the maxi-semi-flex nibs are labeled; it could well be depending on the day's gold price.........if Degussa could make more by sending off a ready made and warehoused roll of maxi-semi-flex that was only ordered by Osmia to fill a semi-flex gold roll order, they would.

That is the only logical explanation I can come up with of why the major brands have unmarked semi & maxi-semi-flex nibs.

 

 

Thanks for the clarification. I must have overlooked always that those of your Pelikans with maxi-semi-flex all had non-original nibs. That would explain why among my Pelikans there is not a single one, they all have original Pelikan nibs. Swapping nibs has been a standard practice in the days of shortage and economical thinking. I have a Pelikan 100 from 1942 with a 1937 nib unit. My interpretation is that the barrel broke and since the new one came with a war time CN nib, it simply was swapped out by the old one. Replacing broken parts with whatever fitting parts were at hand was common practice for a long time.

 

I think that Degussa made the gold alloys to customer specifications if the volume was large enough. And it's not only the alloy but also the design parameters which determine the character of a nib. Osmia and Soennecken on average were much more flexible followed by Kaweco (and maybe a few smaller ones like Matador, Greif etc.). Pelikan probably was in the middle, followed by Montblanc and Lamy on the stiff side of the spectrum. I'd guess that the gold mainly came from Degussa for all of them. That's just a rough compass from my experience with German pens. Many small to tiny manufacturers bough up generic parts like nibs, feeds, clips, and so on from the highly specialized producers and put together their pens from those parts. I'd imagine that the nib manufacturers for generic nibs also offered a spectrum of nib characteristics. Judging from the fairly substantial sample of German pens from the 1920 through the 1960s I own, I think the average German pen was at least semi-flex. And this preference for softer nibs reportedly is the reason why Parker failed on the German market. On the other side of the spectrum, full flex nibs are extremely scarce in German pens and I have no indication that they were popular at any point. The only examples in my collection have "Warranted 1st quality" nibs imported from England and are from the 1930s. It's way more likely to find a full flex Swan Mabie Todd or Onoto than any German pen of the period.

[AAAndrew]

If you're looking for a fountain pen because you want to take it places and write with it outside the home, like in a coffee shop, there are ways.

 

I have a portable kit I've shown a few times around here. These are older pictures but it hasn't really changed much at all in the last few years. (I have a different shoulder bag, and a few different inks, and more nibs, but not much else)

 

This works great at coffee shops, libraries, anywhere with a broad surface.

 

Here's basically what I carry. In includes my iPad, a container with different inks in Jumbo Dinky Dip containers, one of the wooden bases for the Dinky Dips, a small case with various nibs and holders, and my old iPad box in which I carry stationary, stamps, envelops, etc....

 

 

 

 

Here's the ink holder. It's a plastic container for lunches. It seals, though I've never had a problem with the Dinky Dips leaking, but better safe than sorry. I pad it out with a few napkins from coffee shops which work well to wipe off my nibs.

 

 

 

 

 

A closer look at the nib and holder box. I bought this from John Neal Books, along with the Jumbo Dinky Dips. It works perfectly for most straight holders, but not so well for the longer oblique holders. But it's perfect for the nibs.

 

 

 

 

This bag can hold a fair amount and was inexpensive. You can go as crazy as you want with the bag to carry it all in. I find that if it holds a full-size iPad and has enough depth, it can hold everything you need. The bag I use now is larger and holds a full-size notebook and full-size sheets to practice on.

 

 

 

 

If pointed pen calligraphy with modulated lines is truly your goal, then a fountain pen will not likely get you where you need to go. If you just want good handwriting, or want to learn unmodulated Spencerian, then a pencil is as good as a fountain pen, and any old smooth nail that is comfortable to hold and writes well will work.

[Bo Bo Olson]

""I must have overlooked always that those of your Pelikans with maxi-semi-flex all had non-original nibs."""

I must have somehow misstated something. My Pelikan maxi's....a 500 has no nib marking of size ..nor barrel marking due to the rolled gold piston cap. I eyeball it as OBBB, 30 degree grind. My barrel marked Ibis which is also a maxi. (OF off the top of my head.) My 400nn OF is a maxi ( I really didn't know that until after I 'discovered' my first maxi; that Rupp nib still my most flexible maxi-semi-flex nib.). That is all the maxi-semi-flex I have in Pelikans.

My post war 100n is a superflex, first stage, Easy Full Flex.

 

My '50's MBs, were a normal semi-flex KOB on a 234 1/2 Delux, The rolled gold 742 has the only nib of my semi&maxi nibs that is not somewhere near the others, it is right in the middle. The semi-flex mostly clump all toghter...the is more variation in the maxi-semi-flex set..........the basic set is easy enough to define; but one has to be really OCD to start dividing them out like I had with my F-1, F-1 1/4, F-1 1/2...that luckily died.................there's splitting hairs and then there are splitting the hairs into four or more parts.

I had thought the 742 a maxi when I tested it in the live auction, but when i got it home found it in the middle, between the two sets. I don't chase even old MB's much, so it took me a while to latch on to a maxi-semi-flex medium-large 146.

(somewhere I have a 320 nail I don't use.)

 

I only have one Kaweco Dia of that era...so can't really rate it. I do really like my grand steel or gold Osmia nibs.

I have an EF Geha 790 in maxi....two others and a 760 & a 725 in semi-flex.

 

That Degussa made the gold for it's own Osmia/Degussa factory and for it's own regular semi-flex and Supra nibs.....was the only logical reason I could come up with .... in the other companies didn't mark nor advertise their maxi nibs.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

DMAT......at one time in the '30's there were some 120 German pen makers, many were putting together parts ordered from other major companies.........Osmia made pens for Akkermann department stores under Akkermann's name. (For no reason I can think of other than, one should not have a better pen than one's boss, Osmia make 5-6 different Finals (top of cap)....5 or so clips, including Generic...or ordered them. There were a lot of basic Generic clips around on a lot of pens.

 

Oamia.Degussa made nibs for other 'makers'. I'm not sure if they also made for Herlitz/Luxor another Heidelberg maker.

Lamy outside its' sub brand Artus was nail nibs, Autus was regular flex.

So did Rupp (1922-70)

MB had also, in they made Pelikan's first nibs. At various times I think there were at least 60 MB sub brands. (I don't trust the 120 number I have lodged in my brain.)

 

As Soennecken was dying Degussa and Bock made nib for that company. They didn't get into ball points soon enough so died.

Bock today makes nibs for a great many companies....40-60??? or had. So in the old days at least in Germany certain brands had nib factories and made for others. Even if Rupp was making themas a stand alone company...marked in the nibs were good, eventually Degussa also sold Degussa marked nibs...........but if someone paid for the tooling, any nib factory could make other stamped nibs.

 

In the States Wearever was the biggest pen factory in the world. I had some good pre and just after the war and some poorer ones from a half or decade later............but they made good second tier, down to 4th tier ever since the start (IMO could be they didn't make 4th tier under the Wearever name). The nib quality was what one wished to pay for..........from good enough to poor. They made half the 3rd or 4th tier pens in America....with some one's elses name on many of them.

I don't know enough about US pens to say...Parker or Sheaffer made nibs for others with others names.

 

Warranted nibs, only warranted it was 14 k gold, not if it was nail or had a bit or more flex. Those had no maker names....so could well have been made by larger US, or British pen companies. Germans then having cheaper labor could also have made warranted nibs for the international market.