Gold versus steel nib

[spilled ink]

I recently purchased several vintage pens in fantastic condition from a reputable seller.The nibs on two of the pens are original war time production steel nibs.Should I have the seller replace these with gold 585 nibs?The pens are Pelikans.What are the differences in feel between the steel and gold nibs?

Edited March 7, 2009 by spilled ink

[Trom]

I recently purchased several vintage pens in fantastic condition from a reputable seller.The nibs on two of the pens are original war time production steel nibs.Should I have the seller replace these with gold 585 nibs?The pens are Pelikans.What are the differences in feel between the steel and gold nibs?

 

The few steel nibs I have are scratchy. Most gold nibs are smooth.

[AndyH]

There is a world of difference between good steel nibs and bad ones. In my experience steel is almost always less "flexy" but gold gets out of adjustment more easily.

 

Before you go to the trouble and expense of re-nibbing, be sure that your steel nib is not worn or misaligned. Check with a loupe and read up on nib problems in the repair forum.

 

 

ETA

 

+1 on wykpenguin's point.

Edited March 7, 2009 by AndyH

[wykpenguin]

Gold nibs may be softer. But as far as smoothness is concerned, it's the iridium point that makes the difference. Though it is possible that gold nibs, being able to command a premium, have been better made and better quality controlled. Hence the myth that gold nibs write better.

 

Any well made nib will write well. Just that some nibs are not given the same amount of attention as others.

[Doug Add]

My experience has been different from that of Trom and AndyH. The steel nibs I have used have all been smooth writers, and I have had some very nice semi-flex steel nibs. Not wet noodles, but then I don't care for that writing experience, so that is not what I am looking for.

 

The vintage steel nibs I have used have been quite good. Small sample, though.

 

I would not be inclined to replace the Pelikan CN nibs.

[OldGriz]

Let's go to the reason gold was used instead of steel on better made pens.... it had nothing to do with the writing characteristics of the nib....

As mentioned, the tipping is what controls how smooth a nib will write as the steel or gold body of the nib never touches the paper...

Gold was used on better grade pens because it stood up to the corrosive properties of the inks used back then.... Steel nibs would corrode because of the inks used.

As for the flex factor... steel dip pen nibs that were highly flexible were used for years before anyone put a gold flex nib in a fountain pen....

Yes, it is easier to make a flexy nib from gold due to the properties of the metal.... but that does not mean that steel flex nibs don't exist or can not be made to write as well as gold ones...

Let's look at my favorite pen, The Parker 51. The 51 comes with a gold nib standard. The 51 Super came with an octanium nib standard...

Which pen writes better... BOTH.... I have octanium nibs that are every bit as smooth and some smoother than gold nibs.

I find the tipping on the octanium nibs to be a bit larger and IMO that does lead to a smoother nib...

Gold English 51 nibs all seem to have larger tipping than gold US made 51 nibs and again I find a bit smoother...

However, it the tipping is badly worn, or the tines are out of adjustment, neither nib is going to write properly.

[ANM]

As Old Griz said, there is no difference in the way they write. CN nibs won't corrode and they are authentic nibs for the pens you got. Leave them with the pens.

 

 

 

[Rufus]

I think if I were blindfolded and asked to write with a good quality gold nib and a good quality steel nib, both adjusted for the wetness and smoothnes I like, I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I have Taccias and Marlens with steel nibs and they write every bit as well as most of my gold nibs. I also have four Esterbrooks (2 J's, a Transitional and a Dollar) fitted with 9xxx nibs and they too write extremely well. This makes me question why I would invest an addition US$100 or so in a pen to have it fitted with a gold nib if a good quality steel nib is available; snob appeal mostly I fear. As OldGriz so eloquently pointed out, it's all in the tipping.

Edited March 7, 2009 by Rufus

[sexauerw]

Some of the best writing pens I have are steel-nibbed Sheaffer "Imperials". And I really can't tell the difference between the way a steel or gold nib on a Sheaffer Targa writes, and the same for my Pelikans. As several others have said, only the tipping rides on the paper and affects the smoothness and feel.

[Titivillus]

Do a search on steel vs. gold nibs and you'll find several threads talking about the lack of differences.

 

 

K

[Jimmy James]

For whatever reasons, my favorite so far has been a palladium silver nib, for whatever that's worth.

[BearsPaw]

Just to add my "me too": My experience is mainly with vintage pens, but I have not found steel nibs to be any different from gold nibs in general. I have found good and bad writers of both types.

[GeeTee]

I prefer a good steel nib to a bad gold one.

[JayLo]

Some of my steel nibs, specifically Taccia and Visconti, provide a better writing experience than many gold nibs.

[archie001]

I have a Parker Sonnet which writes really smooth with a steel nib and I like it very much however, I won't buy now a days a fountain pen having a steel nib.

[Glenn-SC]

I have never had a steel nib in good condition that wrote as well as a gold one in good condition.

[Teaos]

They write the same if they have both been made to a high standard. However, I would always go for the two-tone nib since they look so pretty

[hamadryad11]

If there's something wrong with the nibs (signs of pitting or corrosion, missing tipping material, misaligned tines, etc.) change them. If there's nothing wrong with the nibs, and you like the way they write, why would you waste money replacing them?

[krz]

Generally I like gold over steel, especially in flexy pens. However almost any of my Esterbrook steel alloy nibs write as smooth as my gold ones.

[publius]

I find steel nibs perfectly acceptable, if they're adjusted properly (not, alas, a skill I have yet developed). On the other hand, I think I would expect a gold nib if I were going to spend more than, say, $50 on the pen. (Or palladium-silver, perhaps — I want to try that.) It's probably just a personal quirk, the same one which stops me from paying more than a dollar or two for a base-metal coin. There's some threshold where the little Accounting Demon says "preciousssss metalsssss…" :roflmho: