Defining Nibs

Nibs are more difficult to grade. The way a pen writes in our hands might be different than the way it writes in your hand. We all write with different grips at different angles. Plus, lefties might get a totally different feel from a nib than right-handed writers. As such, we won’t grade our nibs on a scale of 1 to 10 or by using coin collecting terminology. Our nib definitions below will offer a glossary of our most commonly used terms to define the way a nib writes in our hands, which, again, might vary from the way it writes in your hand. We start with nib point sizes and then get into the various adjectives that define a way a pen writes. Using precise line or point measurements sounds like a very logical way to assign a point size to a nib. Unfortunately, vintage penmakers were nowhere near as precise and uniform in their definitions across brands…or even within brands. A Parker 51 extra fine in 1940 or ’50-something is likely much thinner than a modern Parker extra-fine. Plus, some point sizes that should measure as extra fine can write like a medium, and we have seen some obviously broad nibs write like an extra fine.

A = Accountant Nib: Many of the major pen companies of the Golden Age of Fountain Pens made a wide variety of nibs for different jobs and specialty needs. Accountant nibs were the thinnest and driest of the extra-fine nib varieties and intended for use with permanent ink in accounting ledgers, which often had very limited space to record vital business data. As explained in the XF section below, they are usually quite scratchy writers.

XF or EF = Extra Fine: Extra-fine nibs might be twice as wide as an accountant nib but are still remarkably slender lines for writing. XF nibs tend toward dry and scratchier writing, as the finest points are far more likely to dig into the paper more easily. Nevertheless, we find buttery smooth, wet writing extra-fine nibs from time to time.

F = Fine: Traditionally, fine and medium point nibs are the most commonly preferred nibs. Fine-point nibs also enter a more traditionally smooth zone for daily writing with a thin line. They might also be wetter and more easily read than an extra fine.

M = Medium: In our opinion, medium nibs are the easiest, no-fuss nibs for clear, smooth writing qualities. They can run the span from wet to dry, but most are in the middle-to-wet side. Medium nibs also can bleed a little into fine or broad territories. However, what makes them distinguishable is that they can still write clearly and cleanly without any extra effort on the part of the writer.

B = Broad: Broad nibs are joyfully wet, smooth writers under most circumstances. However, their bold lines begin to make it more challenging to write clear concise characters with your normal handwriting. If you have small handwriting, you really need to enlarge the shape of your letters to keep a broad nib from looking like a blob of ink on the page. Many companies and people like to keep a broad-nibbed pen on hand for special signing ceremonies.

BB = Double Broad: These are often the metallic equivalent of a paint brush. Super wet and thick writing. Often a more rare and/or European nib design. BB nibs sometimes feature softer characteristics of stub or italic nibs, which deliver some gentle line variation from thick to thin-ish lines in letters with lots of curves.

Stub: Stub nibs are sometimes jokingly referred to as shovels. Unlike the rounded tips of nibs A through BB, stub nibs have a flat writing surface that delivers distinctive line variation without flexing the tines of a nib. Vintage pen companies were apt to make stub fines, stub mediums and stub broads. However, it seems modern nib makers are advertising the widths of their nibs in metric sizes, with the most common being 1.1mm wide, 1.5mm wide and 1.9mm wide.

Italic: Italic nibs are the same as stub nibs. They have a flattened writing tip/surface to make more stylized letters. When purchasing an italic nib or stub nib, it is important to understand how it writes. Some italic nibs have very sharp cut and squared edges for really precise stylized writing. Once you get out of the “sweet spot” these nibs want you to write in, they dig into the paper and become a scratchy writer. Famed nib grinder Richard Binder describes a more forgiving italic or stub nib as the “cursive italic.” This is a nib that gives you gentler edges more suited for getting style out of your daily writing, without having to keep your writing angle so precise.

O = Oblique: Oblique nibs are slanted italic nibs. Traditionally, these have the sharper edges, but the slanting is designed to help right- or left-handed people do stylized writing more easily. With oblique nibs, people tend to refer to them as right foot or left foot obliques. Notice how each of your feet slant down from the biggest toe to the littlest? Same idea with these oblique nibs. A left-foot oblique is generally easier on a right handed writer. A right-foot oblique is generally easier for a lefty.

Music Nib: Composers typically used a music nib to more easily write the thin and thick parts of notes on sheet music. Most music nibs are easily recognized by having 2 slits and 3 tines.

Semi-Flexible: Semi-flexible nibs are nibs that can likely write a standard fine or medium line quite easily, but with a little extra pressure can write a much wider line…sometimes up to about 1mm wide. It can be a good way to get into specialty writing styles such as Spencerian writing techniques. You want to be very gentle and cautious with these nibs because you can ruin them quite easily with too much pressure. Once they get bent out of place, no amount of “fixing” will get them to write as they once did. These nibs also tend to have varying degrees of feedback/scratchiness.

Flexi = Flexible: True flexible nibs were very specifically designed to write an extra-fine line to sometimes up to a 2mm wide line or greater with very little extra pressure. In the United States, most flexible nibs were designed for people who practiced the art of Spencerian writing. These nibs are increasingly rare, and the metallurgy required to make a nib flexi is very challenging to replicate affordably in our modern age, given how few people actually need and/or use an actual flexible nib. Again, the utmost caution should be used not to apply too much pressure and bend a flexible nib out of shape. Once it is “sprung” there is no going back to it ever working properly again. The most flexible nibs are lovingly referred to as “wet noodles.”