Which nib is best for fountain pen?
You are new to the fountain pen hobby and wonder what you should look for in a nib when buying a new pen. The basics of fountain pen nibs is straight forward for a beginner, the important things to know are the material the nib is made of and the size of the tip, which determines the width of the written line.
A nib to have a few qualities that allow it to be a good nib. It must be durable and stand up to long use, and it should be flexible so to add variation and character to the lines.
Fountain pen nib size
Nibs come in many different sizes and some different shapes. Which size you think is best depends on how you use your pen and what you want the outcome to be.
The most common fountain pen nib sizes are Fine, Medium, and Broad. Most nibs are also commonly available in Extra Fine and Double Broad. There are even a few nibs available in Ultra Extra Fine and Coarse.
The size of nib you choose really is determined by your writing style, and how you want to express yourself.
If you find that you enjoy filling up a whole page with text, long lines full of words and thoughts, then you would want a Fine or Extra Fine nib to help you write smaller letters. The smaller the nib the more words you can fit on a page.
If you find yourself writing large letters, quotes and meaningful thoughts, that show off the ink in broad strokes, then you will want to use a Medium or Broad nib. These will make a thicker line, and are wonderful when paired with inks that shimmer and shade, inks that have character you want people to notice.
Size difference between makers
An important thing to understand when determining the size of the nib is to know who made the nib. There are two different groups of nib makers when it comes to the named nib sizes. The Western nib size and the Japanese nib size. For two different nibs, with the same exact size name, such as Fine, the actual nib size will be different depending on who made it. With Western Nibs being thicker than the Japanese Nibs. A Western Fine is similar in size to a Japanese Medium. A Western Extra Fine, is similar to a Japanese Fine.
There are two other common nib sizes, most often seen on Sailor Fountain Pens, Zoom and Music. These nibs are particularly shaped for specific needs.
Steel vs Gold nibs
Almost every fountain pen will have a nib made from either steel or gold. Traditionally gold has been the preferred material as it was flexible and durable. Gold is still the preferred metal, and found on many higher-end fountain pens.
Steel, while inexpensive, was less durable than gold, and would corrode when used with acidic inks, most inks used to be very acidic.
Today the quality of steel has greatly improved. Most steel nibs are actually steel alloys which enables them to be flexible and resist corrosion. Also, most ink these days is far far less acidic than in the past, and corrosion is not an issue.
For someone new to fountain pens I would focus less on gold or steel and instead look to pens that are in your price range, and fit your style. The quality of the nibs will very high.
Gold or Steel make for a great nib. Find a pen you like in your price range.
The shape of the nib
Nibs have another size characteristic that's important to understand. The size of the whole nib itself. You will sometimes hear of a Number 5 or Number 6 nib. This refers to the width of the tail and body of the nib.
The larger fountain pen manufactures make their own nibs, and form fit their nibs to their feeds. Making it difficult to impossible to swap a nib from one maker into the body of another maker, even if the width of the body is the same.
There are however pen manufactures that use standard nibs. These are often Western companies, and smaller makers. They generally do not make their own nibs, opting to source nibs from Bock or Jowo, two German makers of fountain pen nibs. These pens also use the International Standard cartridge system.
Some pen makers use an odd size for their pens, such as TWSBI having a tail/body that is 5.5mm wide. Which they use across their Eco, 580 Mini, Eco, Swipe, and Go lines.
Are fountain pen nibs replaceable?
The nibs of fountain pens are replaceable. The two different ways you will find replacement nibs is as a loose nib itself, and as a nib unit.
Most fountain pens have the nib and the feed friction fit into the grip section. The nib sits on the feed, and together they are pushed into the grip section, and held there by the tightness.
The nib unit is a nib and feed combined with a small section and one single unit. This is itself not taken apart. These units are then screwed into the grip section.
If the nib is damaged, for either of these, the nib can be replaced. You would simply buy a new nib, remove the old one, and reassemble with the fresh nib.
How do I know what size my nib is?
Each nib will have an imprint, often with a decorative engraving. The imprint will have the brand and information about the nib itself, including how much gold it is made of, sometimes an identifier, and the nib size.
How long does fountain pen nibs last?
Nibs these days are of very high quality, and will last a very long time. The largest concern is dropping a pen and deforming the nib in the impact. It used to be that nibs could corrode but as ink is far less acidic these days, along with improved alloys, corrosion is not considered an issue.