Fountain pen users, rejoice!

[WriteNow]

Some gold nibs are coated or plated.

I've seen pictures of pens like that. The ones that get me are the ones that have some sort of non-gold color plating. If I had a gold nib, I'd like to see the pretty gold. Then, again, I suppose that for some applications some might want to keep the pen looking understated.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

As mentioned elsewhere, my 'grail' pen has arrived -- a Pilot Custom 823 Vacuum-filler. It has a 14k gold nib with Medium tip.

My first fill was with a tiny tad of my 'precious' Parker Penman Sapphire. It worked perfectly. However, as others have mentioned elsewhere on the InterWebs, the 823 nibs are a little wet. A little gentle squeezing fixed that.

One of the benefits of getting a good gold nib is that there is much care taken in the factory to grind, smooth and adjust the nib and tipping so that it leaves the factory absolutely perfect. I saw this in my Pilot Custom 742 WAverly, Sailor 1911 Naginata Medium Fine, and now in the 823. When the nib is dry, you can see under a loupe that a tiny bit of baby-bottom has been explicitly ground into the tipping.

Now, my only problem is what ink to use with a proper fill -- continue with the Parker Penman Sapphire, or use Monteverde Horizon Blue*, or perhaps Iroshizuku Asa Gao? A truly major first-world problem...

Also, how does it compare to the Wing Sung 699 clones? First, they come with gold-plated stainless steel nibs. I have spent a lot of time shaping and smoothing those nibs so they write to my satisfaction. Of the three, only one is now as good as the Pilot nibs. Next, the fit and finish on the Wing Sungs is not nearly as good as the Pilot. The blind cap screw is rough and loose, unlike the smooth, close-fitting one on the Pilot. The exception is my Wing Sung 630, where the fit and finish is every bit as good as the Pilot.


* A modern PPS clone

I've never had a chance to use a gold nib that I know of, but I'm aware that they are loved. This comment raises an interesting question: how much of the love for gold nibs are properties that come from using gold, and how much might be better quality control?

(That said...I will say I've been quite happy with Pilot cheap steel nibs. I'm sure they do and can have better quality on a $$$$ pen, but what they do do even with a cheap Varsity disposable is impressive.)


I'm sure Pilot's vote for would be for the Asa-gao!

My personal favorite ink of the ones I have now is Asa-gao. It's the ink I use for applications where I want the nicest ink (e.g., birthday cards). (I don't have experience with either the Parker or the Monteverde mentioned.)

The tipping is what's important in a nib. The tipping on gold and stainless steel nibs is all the same - an alloy of extremely hard metals like osmium and iridium.

Assuming it costs 50 cents to make a stainless steel nib, it doesn't make sense for a company to then spend $20~$50 worth of worker's time to shape and adjust the tipping. However, since a gold nib is worth about $200, it does make sense to spend time and money on the tipping. This is why they are almost always a delight to write with out of the box, but the cheaper S/S nibs often need adjusting.

I have a set of Wing Sung 699 pens, all with S/S nibs which I have put the time and effort into in making them good writers. Of the three, one is as good as the Pilot gold nib, and the other two are nearly as good. But, I have put about $50 worth of time into each $2 nib. Now, I have the time and opportunity to do that, but a factory doesn't.

The other property of gold nibs is that they aren't as springy as S/S nibs. The lower ratio gold nibs (10k, 14k) are ok but the higher ratio nibs (18k, 21k) are often thicker to make them a bit stiffer. This makes them easier to adjust for alignment and tine gap than S/S nibs, but they are also easier to put out of kilter if you drop them.

Some gold nibs are coated or plated. My Sailor Naginata nib is 21k, plated with 24k. Talk about gilding the gold...

Since the above post, I remembered I not only had once used a gold nib pen, but owned--and actually still do own--the pen. I'd forgotten about it... (Today's lesson: be very careful about using the words "I never" because it can so often come back to haunt you. 😆) That pen, however, was a used/vintage Sheaffer Snorkel desk pen I got and used (only lightly) over 30 years ago. It was last used in 1992 or earlier. At this point, it would certainly need work. I just looked and it says "14K' on the nib, so I assume gold nib. I also had back then a Parker desk pen, but I don't know what kind of nib it had. It too was last use more than 30 years ago.

I also might admit that my Cross Radiance--in occasional use--has gold plating, but it's only plated.

I have a boring black Cross Radiance, but I found an interesting one pictured on-line. Thankfully sold, so I won't have to worry about caving to temptation...

Cross Radiance aka Solo Fountain Pen - Vesuvias Red w/Gold Plated Trim, C/C, Extra-Fine GP Nib (Excellent in Box, Works Well)

Peyton Street Pens has been restoring and selling vintage pens for over 10 years.

www.peytonstreetpens.com

These posts prompted me to examine (with a small magnifying glass) the nibs on my MB Meisterstuck 144 (one black, one sterling silver) fountain pens, and yes, (and, to my embarrassment I had to look up AU in the periodic table) the nibs do contain gold, which offers yet another explanation for why they are such a delight to write with.

What a wonderful thread; one learns so much.

 

[WriteNow]

I had to look up AU in the periodic table

I certainly didn't remember AU--at least not readily.

But then, I last took chemistry in high school, only a few years after the first atom came along. 😂

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I certainly didn't remember AU--at least not readily.

But then, I last took chemistry in high school, only a few years after the first atom came along. 😂

Well, the magnifying glass allowed me to see the numbers 4810, and underneath, in far smaller script, AU (I vaguely remembered that AR was silver, which prompted a further search as to what AU might mean) and a different actual number (presumably denoting the quality - or degree - of gold used) on each of the two pens.

I would never have thought to even look for this until I read the recent (and fascinating - I hadn't ever considered that gold nibs were one of the reasons my MB pens write so smoothly) posts on this thread discussing this very topic.

 

[SalisburySam]

…I had to look up AU in the periodic table

My memory device for Au is the third James Bond film and Ian Fleming novel. Key character was Auric Goldfinger.

 

[SalisburySam]

…AR was silver…

Er, isn’t Silver Ag, from the Latin Argentum meaning silver?

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My memory device for Au is the third James Bond film and Ian Fleming novel. Key character was Auric Goldfinger.

Ah, excellent.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Er, isn’t Silver Ag, from the Latin Argentum meaning silver?

Oooops.

Mea culpa.

I stand corrected.

Without looking this up to confirm it (for AU had vaguely tickled my mind and memory, and a quick check served to confirm it)- which is something I almost always do, for very good reasons, an old teaching habit - I had lazily (and complacently) assumed that Argent was silver, not Ag for Argentum.

You are, of course, quite right.

 

[SalisburySam]

I had lazily (and complacently) assumed…

Laziness has immediate rewards, so so understandable.