As promised, I give you a post dedicated to the five nibs I bought at the DC Pen Show this year. This post is part showing off — sorry, but at least I admit it — because the nibs are awesome, and part review.
This is absolutely not a rating or ranking post. I’m sharing these alphabetically by nibmeister then by nib grind name. You can click on any picture to view it larger.
All in the Nib – Damien
Double Stack Reverse Chimera
Damien does an excellent job explaining this nib in his Instagram post. The short version is that I asked Jim to make me a double stack nib and sent it to Damien to turn it into a cursive italic on the front and architect on reverse, which happens to be the inverse of his Chimera grind.
The nib has a hint of feedback, but not to the level of a Sailor nib. The line variation is lovely for both the cursive italic and the architect grinds. The architect grind actually has different cross stroke widths depending on the writing angle — it’s significantly broader at lower angles.
While it’s just fine for everyday writing, for me it shines for notes and blog posts. I can get regular writing with the cursive italic, then flip it over for titles and underlines.
Left Foot Oblique
I was very kindly gifted a 21K Sailor F nib a while ago, and I knew instantly I wanted it “obliquefied.” Because of the nib width, I was concerned I wouldn’t get so see much of the oblique writing characteristics. But, I’m pleasantly surprised. Unlike F stubs, cursive italics, and architects — in my experience — this little baby oblique still has obvious oblique character.
Damien even managed to preserve most of the iconic Sailor nib feedback. Most impressive.
Custom Nib Studio – Gena
Left Foot Oblique
Yep, another oblique. Allow me a short interlude… I’m on a quest to collect an oblique nib from every nibmeister who attends shows. I have to narrow it to shows since oblique nibs are probably the grind most tailored to an individual, and I want to make sure that the angle is correct for me. My plan is to compare them all. This is in the name of curiosity and love of oblique nibs.
To further that quest, I got a broad oblique from Gena. Their nibs are buttery smooth and run toward wet, two favorites of mine.
This is an awesome nib, but, having written with it much more now than at the show, I wish I’d asked for the downstroke to be narrowed a bit more. I like my oblique nibs more like cursive italics than stubs. That’s on me, though, and something I only realized after writing several pages with it.
Pilot FA Spencerian Mod
If you read my 2024 DC Pen Show post, you know how I ended up with this nib. So, I need to preface this overview with an acknowledgement that I’ve only had one ink in this pen so far. If you don’t know, some inks are better than others for use in/with flexible nibs.
With that in mind, when inked with Colorverse Winter of Mudeung, you need to write rather slowly. I also had some issues with skipping on the downstrokes, so I don’t think Winter of Mudeung is good for flexible nibs.
However, when the ink wasn’t being cranky, the nib performed beautifully! Like Gena’s other nibs, this one is buttery smooth. I love the line variation you can get with only moderate pressure. This nib also has a lovely bounce to it. It’s glorious for both standard writing and flexy fun.
Regalia Writing Labs – Ralph
Crossflex
This is a glorious nib, but it’s not for the faint of heart. You need to want to have some flexy fun. While the nib is capable of “normal” writing, it doesn’t really like it. You need to write large and you need excellent paper for this one. Oh, and don’t be in a hurry, it’s going to take a while to dry.
I like that you can comfortably write when only slightly flexing, for just a bit of character and smaller writing. The Crossflex is very smooth, unless you’re writing at a super-high angle (70° or higher).
If you choose to put the Crossflex in a cartridge/converter pen (like I did), you’ll need to write slower, since the ink flow can’t quite keep up with this firehose. Next time I use it, I’ll try it in my Opus body, just to see the difference. Regardless, it’s a lot of fun.
Did I cause any nib envy with this post? Do you have any of these nibs? Or did I convince you that you want any of them? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear from you.
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Doing vertical/horizontal strokes to show line variation doesn’t work that well for obliques unless you’re holding the pen awkwardly (perhaps you were to get the pics). The more natural way is doing X shapes so that you see the thinnest and thickest that it gets.
To write with an oblique you should rotate the pen for optimal nib contact with the paper, so writing vertical/horizontal lines is just as useful as writing x’s. But, I also wrote with each nib for those who don’t like seeing lines.