Penbbs Nib Swap Suggestions?

[awa54]

Hello all PenBBS nib swap gurus, let me in on your secrets

 

So far I have purchased all "standard" F nibs in my PenBBS pens with the exception of one EF and one M, they're both functional, but the EF dries out very quickly when uncapped and the M is really only a tiny bit broader than most of the standard F nibs...

 

So far I enjoy the way the standard nib writes (unlike many here it seems), but I also like a bit of variety. To that end I ground the tail off of a Nemosine B to keep the length the same as an original nib and mounted it up, writes very nicely, but the nib stock in the Nemosine is a whisker thinner than the PenBBS nibs, so it's not very tight in the unit/sleeve, any suggestions on a way to fix this issue? I intend to do at least one with a Nemosine EF as well, since theirs is a real EF, unlike so many other Euro EFs and a stub re-grind on a broad will be in the works eventually as well.

 

I also have an ebonite feed and sleeve on the way to try those out.

 

TIA for any pointers you may share!

[Mech-for-i]

what are you looking for, and what's your retail channel, I've found that pretty much most No.6 , the de facto German type, the Indian 6mm , the Chinese type 28 sized , they all would fit ( OK sometime some work in fitting but only typical thing in fitting nibs ) so its all up to you. Kanwrite or FPR flex / ultraflex nibs made interesting options, Bock Titanium could be an alternative , its pricey though. Personally I would like an XXF XF, and Fine ( as in Japanese type XXF, Xf, and F ) and those can be had in many brand. The typical PenBBS F write more like a Japanese FM , and the M is sort of Japanese M so for anything else I would go for a European M and B.

 

As for the native Chinese options, Well Fuliwan had no.6 in short ( 32mm narrow wing ) and long ( 35mm wide wing ) in M, F, and XF. If you can source it Hero's no.6 ( the one they now put on the 856 ) is a wet M somewhat ( varies between batches ). And pretty much any sized 28 nib they had on hand

 

And finally vintage nibs ... that is wide open for all possibilities

Edited January 10, 2020 by Mech-for-i

[awa]

Where do you get the Bock Ti nibs and what sort of prices should I expect for those?

 

As I mentioned, the Nemosine nib bodies are made of slightly thinner sheet stock as well as having a narrower tail than the PenBBS ones (and are longer, but that's easily dealt with), is there anything I can do to fix that issue?

 

Specific to the Nemosine nibs: Has anyone tried modding the feed to allow an un-cut Nemosine nib to seat at "stock" depth? If so, did that produce a tighter fit in the collar?

 

 

My previous repair and restoration experience has been almost exclusively in the realm of filler repair on vintage pens, nib exchanges have always been in pens with ebonite feeds and have all been thinner gold nibs, not modern steel and plastic. Nib swaps between sections on modern pens of the same model, with unit nib/feed systems (Pilot, Plat) don't really count, though I've done plenty of those...

[awa54]

btw, the above post is me... just an account that got activated in duplicate during the period where applications for an account were taking a couple of weeks to activate. sorry!

[Karmachanic]

You can find Bock nibs here:

https://www.beaufortink.co.uk/bock-fountain-pen-nibs/bock-standard-size-6-fountain-pen-nibs-type-250

[penzel_washinkton]

The guys at FPNibs also have Bock Ti nibs in stock:

 

https://www.fpnibs.com/

[awa54]

OK, no new input here, so I'll post some

As far as the fit on the Flexible Nib Factory ebonite collar and feed combo, *yes* these hold a thinner nib like the Nemosine firmly, not vintage ebonite firm, but much tighter than the PenBBS collar and feed do. The ink supply may be a bit overkill for an EF nib though...

 

Another thing to note about the FNF feed and collar is that they are designed specifically for Jowo nibs, and as such the forward portion of the feed slopes downward slightly, this means that for other nibs that have a totally flat spine, the ebonite feed needs to be heat-set (which I did successfully do using a mug full of hot water), it also means that the acrylic version is *not* compatible with any nib but a Jowo #6.

 

The feed modification concept (alter PenBBS feed to accept a full length Nemosine nib), the verdict is... not much difference. Which is a bummer, since the PenBBS feed and collar can be had for about $3, rather than $30.



As before, let me know if you've tried any of this and how it worked out for you!

Edited January 14, 2020 by awa54

[Honeybadgers]

JoWo, Bock, whatever you want. the penbbs line is very open to various nibs.

 

The only model to be careful with is the 355, which will only accept bock or jinhao, as the inner cap is too short for JoWo (I have a medium bock titanium in mine)

[penzel_washinkton]

JoWo, Bock, whatever you want. the penbbs line is very open to various nibs.

 

The only model to be careful with is the 355, which will only accept bock or jinhao, as the inner cap is too short for JoWo (I have a medium bock titanium in mine)

And also the 308.

[awa54]

JoWo, Bock, whatever you want. the penbbs line is very open to various nibs.

 

The only model to be careful with is the 355, which will only accept bock or jinhao, as the inner cap is too short for JoWo (I have a medium bock titanium in mine)

 

 

Thanks for the confirmation, I assumed tight clearances from the start and shortened the Nemosine I mounted in a stock feed/collar (in my 355) and I was able to set an unaltered Nemosine nib deep enought to be "stock" length in the FNF ebonite feed/collar (in a 308), which allows about 2mm more setting depth.

 

My only gripe with the FNF kit is that the terminal threads at the inner end needed to be trimmed for the collar to screw all the way into a section.

Edited January 17, 2020 by awa54

[A Smug Dill]

To that end I ground the tail off of a Nemosine B to keep the length the same as an original nib and mounted it up, writes very nicely, but the nib stock in the Nemosine is a whisker thinner than the PenBBS nibs, so it's not very tight in the unit/sleeve, any suggestions on a way to fix this issue?

 

I assumed tight clearances from the start and shortened the Nemosine I mounted in a stock feed/collar (in my 355) and I was able to set an unaltered Nemosine nib deep enought to be "stock" length in the FNF ebonite feed/collar (in a 308), which allows about 2mm more setting depth.

 

 

I didn't have a problem with looseness, when I assembled replacement screw-in nib units using housings and feeds from the PenBBS replacement 'consumable' parts pack and (unmodified) nibs 'donated' by Nemosine Singularity/Fission pens. They are fine in terms of clearance inside the cap on my PenBBS 308 and 309 pens (which are the only models I have and/or am inclined to "ever" get, to date).

[Mech-for-i]

I had to chime in ; my 308 is perfecting fine with a standard no.6 nib , actually 3 of them , I've switch out the stock with a Broad, an XXF, and one Cursive Italic and those 3 are if 3 different brand / manufacturer. And also on 2 of my 309 which got M and B ( before they release their M nib ) and I am having no clearance issue .. I must say its down to individual fitting , the PenBBS nib housing and the feed certainly is a very tight fit and it take patience and gently working it to fully sit the nibs but it can be done

[awa54]

My parts kit from PenBBS and another FNF ebonite feed/collar arrived today, so my project at lunch (rather than eating...) was to mount a Monteverde F nib in the FNF collar and a Nemosine EF in one of the stock feed/collar sets.

 

As before the Nemosine needed to be shortened by about 1mm to retain "factory" OAL and feed positioning and like the last attempt the nib is very definitely looser in the collar than a PenBBS nib, not so loose that it flops around, but the nib can easily be moved off center from the feed with a fingertip... which is much looser than the stock nib fit.

 

The Monteverde nib is a standard Jowo #6 with a custom imprint and fit in the FNF setup without a hitch. The collar still need to have the tail end of the threads trimmed to screw in without binding... it also benefits from doubling up the o-rings (or using a thicker one) at that end to prevent ink from creeping up between the nib unit and inside of the section, since there's a deep relief cut where the o-ring sits. The overall length is identical to stock, when the feed is correctly positioned and the nib is in there tight!

 

On the subject of nib unit overall length, the clearance available varies from model to model, I can only comment on pens I own that have clear(ish) caps; the 308s "headroom" is close enough, that even slightly longer nibs may interfere, the 309 has a whisker more room, but could still have issues with a nib that was 1mm longer overall, 480s have lots of extra room, but the width narrows at the top, so some nibs might touch there. The 456 is also fairly close, I'd guess theres less than 1.5mm of extra space, pretty similar to the 309... the 491 on the other hand has lots of extra room.

[fudefan]

I just stuck a Kanwrite steel flex nib in my PenBBS 500. Works great. PenBBS's feed keeps up surprisingly well.

 

[omarcenaro]

I have Goulet #6 nib in my 308 and 309 with out an issue.

[Mongoosey]

When I put a Jowo into my 309 it shifted around slightly if I wrote with medium pressure (which I do from time to time when I flare my writing or just have fun with it). I didn't like that.

 

I talked to Chrisrap52 and he said he had success with swapping Moonman nibs into PenBBS pens. The Moonman nibs are at most 5$, I've seen them at half that price, and the reviews on them are very praiseworthy.

 

I'd also be careful about swapping in a Jowo to a PenBBS 308. I've heard some people have success, but my 308 crunched a Jowo nib because there wasn't enough room in the cap

[TheVintagelife]

I have swapped nibs out on 4 of my 5 current penbbs pens. 3 have jowo nibs and one had a moonman #6 nib. All are performing brilliantly. 2 of the jowos (those being used in a 456 and a 500, hence not a CC equipped) are fitted into the ebonite jowo-penbbs feed and housing from FNF. The other one (on a 380 cartridge-converter pen) is straight swapped onto an existing Penbbs housing, and works surprising well (I had to open the slit in the feed to improve the flow, but this mod was not specifically for this swapped nib but required anyway). The last one (a 480) with the Moonman nib is also straight swapped into an existing housing and works great.
Couple of points to note :
(a) the jowos are obviously a bit longer than the native nib and hence may not work (though some seem to report otherwise) on 308s and maybe some other penbbs pens. I can confirm that none of the 456, 500, 380 or 480 have this problem.
(b ) in a jowo fitted into a penbbs housing, the distance between the top of the feed and the point of the nib is a little more than ideal. But surprisingly it hasn't created any flow issues for me at all.
(c ) the moonman nib is exactly same length as penbbs nib and hence the its basically like using the native nib.

Edited March 13, 2020 by TheVintagelife

[linkoiram]

I have swapped nibs out on 4 of my 5 current penbbs pens. 3 have jowo nibs and one had a moonman #6 nib. All are performing brilliantly. 2 of the jowos (those being used in a 456 and a 500, hence not a CC equipped area fitted into the ebonite jowo-penbbs feed and housing from FNF. The other one (on a 380) is straight swapped onto an existing Penbbs housing, and works surprising well (I had to open the slit in the feed to improve the flow, but this mod was not specifically for this swapped nib but required anyway). The last one (a 480)with the Moonman is also straight swapped into an existing housing and works great.

Couple of points to note :

(a) the jowos are obviously a bit longer than the native nib and hence may not work (though some seem to report otherwise) on 308s and maybe some other penbbs pens. I can confirm that none of the 456, 500, 380 or 480 have this problem.

( in a jowo fitted into a penbbs housing, the distance between the top of the feed and the point of the nib is a little more than ideal. But surprisingly it hasn't created any flow issues for me at all.

© the moonman nib is exactly same length as penbbs nib and hence the its basically like using the native lens.

Do you prefer the moonman nib? I have a couple #5 nib units from them coming in but most penbbs are #6. Edited March 12, 2020 by linkoiram

[awa54]

An update on the FNF feed and collar combos:

 

All three of my nibs mounted in the Flexible Nib Factory ebonite kit have excessive flow. The Goulet medium is in a 309, it regularly leaves ink in the cap, even when clipped upright to the neck of my shirt, The Monteverde fine didn't have ink in the cap when I mounted it in a 309 (not currently in use), but did write an extremely wet line and the Nemosine broad in a 308 both leaves ink in the cap regularly and sometimes pukes ink on to the page when in use.

 

On the whole the writing experience is good, as is the construction quality and I love how firmly the nibs bed in the collar, but ink in the cap regularly is a pretty big downside for me. I wish there was a one channel version of the feed available, to suit non-flex nibs better.

[A Smug Dill]

I wish there was a one channel version of the feed available, to suit non-flex nibs better.

 

 

Is the PenBBS pen's original feed not up to the task of adequately supporting a Nemosine, Monteverde or JoWo nib? As a user, I don't have any complaints using it with Nemosine EF and 0.8 Stub nibs.