Penbbs Nib Swap Suggestions?

[TheVintagelife]

Do you prefer the moonman nib? I have a couple #5 nib units from them coming in but most penbbs are #6.

Yes I do prefer the Moonman #6 to the PenBBS RM. with the PENBBS mini fude its close -the mini-fude is quite nice actually, IF the flow is wet enough - but with penbbs that usually means feed adjustments as I found most of them to be quite dry writers. I like penbbs but I quite dislike their RM nibs.

[linkoiram]

Yes I do prefer the Moonman #6 to the PenBBS RM. with the PENBBS mini fude its close -the mini-fude is quite nice actually, IF the flow is wet enough - but with penbbs that usually means feed adjustments as I found most of them to be quite dry writers. I like penbbs but I quite dislike their RM nibs.

Good call that I ordered a couple fine nib penbbs pens instead of medium which I was leaning towards

[awa54]

 

 

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.

 

 

It's a matter of the FNF collar holding the nib more securely... while original feed and collar combos work quite acceptably and don't allow the nib to flop around by any means, the ebonite sleeve and collar are definitely much tighter. I've also had a couple PenBBS collars develop stress cracks when seating off-brand nibs in them.

 

My 355 is fitted up with a Nemosine broad in the stock collar and I have a Nemosine EF mounted the same way in a 309, neither of those has flow, or ink puking issues, but both nibs can easily be moved in the collar with just light pressure.

[A Smug Dill]

... I have a Nemosine EF mounted the same way in a 309, neither of those has flow, or ink puking issues, but both nibs can easily be moved in the collar with just light pressure.

 

 

I'm sorry to hear that. I have a Nemosine EF nib in a PenBBS 308 and a Nemosine 0.8 (Stub) nib in a PenBBS 309 right now, and I must say I haven't noticed any movement or looseness when I wrote with them (on multiple occasions); and both pens offer enough headroom in their respective caps not to physically touch the Nemosine nibs.

[awa54]

 

 

I'm sorry to hear that. I have a Nemosine EF nib in a PenBBS 308 and a Nemosine 0.8 (Stub) nib in a PenBBS 309 right now, and I must say I haven't noticed any movement or looseness when I wrote with them (on multiple occasions); and both pens offer enough headroom in their respective caps not to physically touch the Nemosine nibs.

 

 

I may just be fussier about nib retention, having come from vintage pens as my main point of reference... a tightly fitted ebonite feed in concert with a tapered tail on the nib created an extremely tightly bedded nib interface.

[Honeybadgers]

that raises a question to me - how damn hard are you pressing on that thing to dislodge it?

[awa54]

that raises a question to me - how damn hard are you pressing on that thing to dislodge it?

 

 

HB, moving the nib in relation to the feed can be done with a fingertip. If your reference for a tightly retained nib is based on modern plastic feeds with straight gauge nib stock, then they're just on the weak side of acceptible retention, if your reference is *quality* vintage ebonite feeds then they seem quite loose.

 

The original nibs are a slightly tighter fit than the Nemosines. I've noticed that at least one of the factory collars had stress cracks in it before I did any more than unscrew it from the section, my guess is that this has more to do with the radius of the nib tail, or maybe sharp edges on the nibs outer shoulder, than with applied force, since setting a nib in the stock feed/collar requires only light pressure. I reserve the use of a hammer, punches and a knock-out block for feeds that actually require them

 

I'll also reiterate that this really isn't my first attempt at nib work, I've been repairing pens for at least 25 years... I started this thread with the hope that there were advanced techniques known to some here, which might yield better results with nib tension when using these clear plastic collars. I'm a bit sad that the solution is mostly just shoving a nib in and saying "good enough".