Who Writes With 3B Or Extra Extra Broad?

[Inky.Fingers]

Who writes with 3B?

 

I find that I prefer to have an italic grind on any 3B nibbed pens that I own. For I do not know of any script that can use the benefit of a 3B other than writing really big or as a highlighter.

 

Who here writes with a 3B on a regular basis?

[Driften]

Have you checked out the Welcome to the Broad side in the nibs area? https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/325098-welcome-to-the-broad-side/

 

More then 28 pages of people using wide nibs

[zaddick]

I do most every day. A stub or CI grind is preferable to keep the writing compact.

[hari317]

I use them regularly. Mostly with an Oblique cut.

[benbot517]

Guilty lol

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a eyeball** OBBB, 30 degree maxi-semi-flex Pelikan 500.....I don't use in a legal signature takes up 2/3rds-3/4ths of a page.....like... The quick red fox jumps....end of page.

 

** nibs were not width marked then '50-54( outside the '54 Pelikan 400 Transition), and with the rolled gold piston cap, no place to mark the nib size. Having a BBBB and a couple OBB's eyeball it to BBB.

 

I have a cheap BBBB Manuscript....I don't need to do headings; it's so wide that's all it can do....so after dipping it, it stays in the deep pen box.....when I do start selling pens, it will be one of the first.

 

I do have two German vintage semi&maxi-semi-flex OBB's that are usable. They like all vintage nibs are 1/2 a width narrower than modern German pens.........so are OB1/2's to modern measurement.

I find though I prefer the vintage B and OB of that era to OM&OF.

[Tom Kellie]

Who here writes with a 3B on a regular basis?

 

_InkyFingers:

 

Me.

Tom K.

[wspohn]

While normally an XF kind of guy, I do use this one a fair bit. Think it is more than a 3B, though.....it is 3 nibs welded together.

 

[GOTO10]

I find my self using a O3B I recently acquired multiple times a day, but that might just be the love of a new pen.

 

I also have a Sailor Cross Concord nib that I use in an Edison Collier all the time. For that pen I use the Broad side more than the EF side.

[WLSpec]

I actually don't have any yet, though my Sailor Zoom nib is pretty broad. Thinking of getting a Platinum course nib, those look pretty nice.

[OMASsimo]

I love to use some super broad vintage OBB nibs, particularly Kawecos and Pelikans from the 30s-60s which easily could be labeled OBBB today. But their chisel like characteristics are very different from modern nibs, even modern O(multiple)B nibs. One stroke is super fine while the other one is super broad - and everything in between. Fantastic nibs with tons of character - and gone since decades.

[DilettanteG]

My M1000 has an O3B nib ground to a custom italic by Richard Binder. Between the huge nib and the massive pen, it's a bit like a very, very nice magic marker.

 

I'm not sure where my new Pelikan M800 with a factory IB sits on this scale. I know my Bexley stubs are 1.1mm. They're pretty manageable next to my Pilot Parallel set with the crazy 6mm nib. No idea what my Sheaffer factory stubs are. I like to see some ink shading, sheen, or just pure saturated color. Wide nibs are great for that!

[Intensity]

I hate broad round point nibs like Lamy steel B, modern Pelikan gold M, B+, Omas B, Platinum B and C, etc. Too marker-like for cursive, and I dont print. But stub and cursive italic broad and wider are great; I have many. The line variation allows for legible cursive writing in small enough font size.

 

It makes sense to specify whether you mean 3B Round grind nibs or 3B stub grinds like in vintage nibs. Different beasts.

Edited January 23, 2020 by Intensity

[Inky.Fingers]

@Driften Oh yes I have. Very nice collective items. It says "Here I am, bold and beautiful.". Any actual writing samples?

 

@Zaddict and Hari317 Love to see samples of your script, if you are using 3B (Not stubs and CI or 3OB. )

 

CI for Italic, uncial and Fraktur are common. Stubs? And 3B? I haven't a club how to use it and for what script other than writing really big and as highlighters.

 

@Tom Kellie I've seen your writing. It is most effective with your artistic writing and illustrations. However I don't see any 3B ..mostly OBBB

 

Oblique are stubs ...not the same as 3B. There is thick and thin. True 3B is defined as 2mm round ball, as per my definition. Some regards 3B the same as 3B Stubs...no no. I like to see a script of round 3B.

 

My apology for not clarifying the definition

[Tom Kellie]

@Tom Kellie I've seen your writing. It is most effective with your artistic writing and illustrations. However I don't see any 3B ..mostly OBBB

 

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/329223-enjoying-montblanc-pens-broad-oblique-extra-fine-le-bespoke/page-127

~ Please see post #2530, introducing a 1959 149 BBB.

On the following page are several handwriting samples using the BBB nib.

I've often written with it, posting examples.

I'm sorry that you somehow missed them.

It's a superb writer.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

1959 Montblanc 149 BBB

1959 149 BBB Nib

BBB Writing Samples

[Inky.Fingers]

@Tom Kellie. Thanks for pointing out your post of MB's BBB. As your sample showed there is thick and thin representation of a stub. Did MB label the nib BBB or just purely some coincident that MB defines a stub as BBB. Whichever the case, thanks for the post.

[Tom Kellie]

@Tom Kellie. Thanks for pointing out your post of MB's BBB. As your sample showed there is thick and thin representation of a stub. Did MB label the nib BBB or just purely some coincident that MB defines a stub as BBB. Whichever the case, thanks for the post.

 

~ _InkyFingers:

 

The 149 shown was crafted by Montblanc as a Triple Broad, BBB, and offered as such in 1959.

As it happens, this particular pen was a NOS pen, with yours truly as the initial purchaser.

Having written with two other late 1950s Montblanc 149 BBBs owned by East Asian friends, they're all more or less the same.

You and Montblanc would know best how to characterize nibs. I accepted the nib as described and have greatly enjoyed writing with it.

I also write with a Bespoke 149 Small Signature, which is somewhere between a BBBB and a BBBBB.

It's also a pleasurable writing tool.

I hope that the replies posted in this thread are of use to you.

Tom K.

[oldrifleman]

I don't use it everyday, but I have one OBBB (MB149) in my rotation. It is a sweet nib and a treasured part of my set.

[zaddick]

Once we get past B width in MB pens, they take on a stubbish characteristic. that is true of the pens Tom has tried and my own MB 3B from the 1970s. (They stopped making them around that time. Now you can order a bespoke BBB, but it will cost you a pretty penny.) They largest ball tipping from MB was the S nib available on the 145 model as a special order. It was pretty much a ball of tipping that made a nice broad line. I do not have one do I cannot say if it qualifies as 3B or not.

 

All other manufacturers I know of that make amodern 3B nib give it a stubbish grind. There really are no giant ball tips from the factory that I have seen. The closest I have is a rate OMAS 3B only made for one special edition pen right before the went out of business. Scribo looks to have reintroduced the 3B and it looks from photos a lot like the old OMAS since they are using the same/super similar equipment.

 

Anyhow, I dug the pen out, inked it up and made a writing sample. Paper is decent but not great for FP.

 

Edited January 23, 2020 by zaddick