Lamy Nibs

[IanP2303]

Is it just me, but I just can’t see a forum regarding Lamy nibs. If there is a forum about Lamy nibs, do me a favour and tell me about it. Back to the main issue. I know that Lamy nibs are interchangeable, but there’s something weird I found. Both my Lamy Safari and AL star are using an EF nib, however my Safari has a thinner stroke than one from my AL star. I just can’t understand why. 
 

This particular question left me puzzled for quite a while now. I use the same ink for both pens. Any suggestions? 
 

 

[A Smug Dill]

How or why would such a narrow topic warrant a separate forum, when so many prominent brands these days don't even have their own respective forum sections?

 

I have discussed Lamy EF nibs before, in a thread in the Of Nibs & Tines section.

 

[bonnie-scott]

8 hours ago, IanP2303 said:

Both my Lamy Safari and AL star are using an EF nib, however my Safari has a thinner stroke than one from my AL star. I just can’t understand why. 

Sadly I'm lazy and haven't got round to doing it yet, but I wanted to do a comparison of the Studio, Scala and safari as they all use (I think) the same feed and nib so the difference in 'feel' would be down to the design.  However I was intending to use the same Z50 nib and swap it between the pens during testing.  Probably a forlorn attempt at being scientific......

 

But you could swap the nibs and see if the variation remains?  I suspect it is just down to manufacturing tolerances but it it would be interesting to see if there was something else going on.

 

And yes I know I should do my own tests, but did I say I was Lazy......

 

As your location is given as Hong Kong I would be interested in your view on the Asian market EF that someone (sorry can't remember who and yes I'm lazy) posted the other day. 🙂

[IanP2303]

6 hours ago, bonnie-scott said:

Sadly I'm lazy and haven't got round to doing it yet, but I wanted to do a comparison of the Studio, Scala and safari as they all use (I think) the same feed and nib so the difference in 'feel' would be down to the design.  However I was intending to use the same Z50 nib and swap it between the pens during testing.  Probably a forlorn attempt at being scientific......

 

But you could swap the nibs and see if the variation remains?  I suspect it is just down to manufacturing tolerances but it it would be interesting to see if there was something else going on.

 

And yes I know I should do my own tests, but did I say I was Lazy......

 

As your location is given as Hong Kong I would be interested in your view on the Asian market EF that someone (sorry can't remember who and yes I'm lazy) posted the other day. 🙂

The Hanzi architect nib? Oh, I’ll check it out for you. I’ll  try swapping the nibs, thanks! 

[A Smug Dill]

15 hours ago, IanP2303 said:

I know that Lamy nibs are interchangeable, but there’s something weird I found. Both my Lamy Safari and AL star are using an EF nib, however my Safari has a thinner stroke than one from my AL star. I just can’t understand why. 
 

This particular question left me puzzled for quite a while now. I use the same ink for both pens. Any suggestions? 

 

1. Understand that there is apt to be measurable variation from one unit to the next of a physical product, even if they are in the same batch coming out of a particular production process. Some differences are greater and/or more readily observable than others. (Look up Six Sigma and all that jazz, if you want.)
    
2. Inspect both nibs under a loupe, or with the macro lens on a camera, or a USB ‘microscope’, etc. Check for observable differences tipping width and geometry, as well as size of the tine gap, and whether the tines are perfectly aligned, on each nib. If you can spot differences, then that may well be your answer to ‘why’ there are differences in writing outcomes with the nibs, with or without producing sufficient actionable information to change the performance characteristics of one nib or the other in a directed manner.
    
3. Depositing a higher volume of ink per unit area along an ink mark on the page, i.e. writing ‘wetter’, may result in different resultant line widths; and ‘wetness’ is not solely dependent on the nib. The pens are fitted with two separate feeds that are entirely independent of each other, and again there may be variation between the two feeds as physical objects, even if they are meant to be identical. You already know that the nibs are interchangeable, so you could swap the nibs over, to see whether it is the nib or the pen that the “thinner stroke” follows. Maybe it's something in the particular pen (including the feed, but excluding the nib) that causes finer lines to be produced; and that would be a sufficient explanation of ‘why’ two apparently identical nibs would produce different writing outcomes.

 

[IanP2303]

6 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

1. Understand that there is apt to be measurable variation from one unit to the next of a physical product, even if they are in the same batch coming out of a particular production process. Some differences are greater and/or more readily observable than others. (Look up Six Sigma and all that jazz, if you want.)
    
2. Inspect both nibs under a loupe, or with the macro lens on a camera, or a USB ‘microscope’, etc. Check for observable differences tipping width and geometry, as well as size of the tine gap, and whether the tines are perfectly aligned, on each nib. If you can spot differences, then that may well be your answer to ‘why’ there are differences in writing outcomes with the nibs, with or without producing sufficient actionable information to change the performance characteristics of one nib or the other in a directed manner.
    
3. Depositing a higher volume of ink per unit area along an ink mark on the page, i.e. writing ‘wetter’, may result in different resultant line widths; and ‘wetness’ is not solely dependent on the nib. The pens are fitted with two separate feeds that are entirely independent of each other, and again there may be variation between the two feeds as physical objects, even if they are meant to be identical. You already know that the nibs are interchangeable, so you could swap the nibs over, to see whether it is the nib or the pen that the “thinner stroke” follows. Maybe it's something in the particular pen (including the feed, but excluding the nib) that causes finer lines to be produced; and that would be a sufficient explanation of ‘why’ two apparently identical nibs would produce different writing outcomes.

 

Oh, thanks a lot! I will try the said methods.