As a maker, seller, and practitioner of the fountain pen, I feel that I have to say something about the kits that we make.
I have no experience with the specific pen kits that are being discussed, but I have used a lot of the nibs that come with the Berea flat-top Ameroclassic, and the similar pen from Craft Supplies. I have to say that they are a pretty good quality writing point, and that they write as well as or better than any of the plated steel tips in the commercial pens that sell for less than $100. I have made and sold something over 300 fountain pens, and have never experienced the same quality issues that are being described here.
All fountain pens require some break-in time, regardless of their cost. Some will require more time than others, and there will always be some that will never get there; and this has nothing to do with what the nibs is made from. I have been concerned about nib quality for so long that I give every one of them a test drive, and then clean it before putting it in a pen and selling it. I give them a few circular strokes across a piece of grocery bag paper if they feel sticky on the paper. That usually takes care of it. Sometimes I may have to drop back to a coarser 1000-grit and work my way back up through 1500, 2000, and the brown paper. Sometimes there is a tip that will never make it, no matter what I do to it, but those are less than 1 in 10 or so. I send those few rejects back to where I bought them for a replacement, and I have never had either supplier question me about them.
The issue between the better quality solid gold nibs and the plated steel nibs that are in our kits has to do with flexibility, stiffness, and prestige; it has nothing to do with ink flow. The drip and skip problems are another issue; but not one that I have found with the kit nibs to the degree described.
Fountain pens are finicky. They are not the writing instrument of choice for everyone. They require a lot of care, cleaning, and maintainance. That is why they were replaced by the ballpoint and rollerball pens that someone can pick up and start writing immediately, and throw away when they quit. Like smoking a pipe, the fountain pen will teach patience and persistance. For those who can't handle that, they will be disappointed in a fountain pen.
There are three parts to using a fountain pen - the point, the ink, and the paper. The biggest issue is the paper. A piece of paper from the printer tray is not what we should be using for a fountain pen.
For me, there are three (3) types of fountain pen buyers. Notice that I said "buyers", not lookers.
The first group is the "ballpoint generation" who has never known anything else, and they see the fountain pen as a piece of history that they would like to experience. Some of them want something different to show off to their friends. They want a pen that writes well and looks good without spending more than $100.
Another is what I call the "Nostalgia Buyer". These are the older folks, often retired professional and executives who have memories of the high quality fountain pens they used in an earlier era. Some of them still carry a fountain pen. They will buy a wooden pen because it is unique. They are not a difficult sale, but they do want to talk about the old days before they part with their money, and they do want a pen that writes well. Some of them will prefer the shaded line from the softer gold nib. Some of them won't.
Then there is the "Collector" for whom cost is no object. These folks are nuts. They will fuss about the line quality, and the quality of the nib, from a pen they will put in a display case where it will never be used again. It has to be a beautiful wood grain with a perfect fit and finish. A few of them will buy a pen with a plated steel nib, but most of them will demand a gold one.
I have been losing 1/2 of the buyers of fountain pens because I didn't have a gold nib available. Since the remaining half are buying the pens as fast as I can make them, I have ignored the rest, and keep on making the "cheap" pens with the "cheap" nibs.
I think I have resolved the "better nib" problem for myself by machining the fitting for a commercial gold nib from a piece of 1/2" Sterling bar stock. The nib costs about $50, the Sterling about $10, and the machining is less than an hour. For that, I can add $200 to the price of the pen and get it; and I might be able to get some of that other half of the market I have been missing.
] I am awaiting the samples from Germany on the gold nibs. I hope I would have got them this week, but no show. Preliminary pricing appears to be in the 40-50 range, but I have not got into shipping costs and duty.
