Wide nibs for fountain pens

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Daniel

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I have received an e-mail that is asking if I have a large fountain pen with a broad nib and converter.
my first thought was a gents fountain pen. but I am not the best person to be dealing with when it comes to fountain pens as I would rather not make them. I know there has been conversation about replacment nibs for some of the kits we make. are there any broad nibs that work with gents pen?
thanks
 
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btboone

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Daniel, I haven't made fountain pens yet but was going to look into them. What is the problems you've had with them? I appreciate any insight.
 

Daniel

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Bruce,
I havn't so much had any problems with them, as I just don't use them. I am a Rollerball type. they require maintenance to work reliably. and I like to just toss my pen on the desk and still have it write when I want it.
more of a personal preference. but it leaves me at a disadvantage when trying to meet the wants of a customer looking for something specific in a fountain pen.
 

wdcav1952

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Daniel,

You can buy broad nibs and fine nibs for the El Grande fountain pens from Berea. I think Ernie at Beartoothwoods.com has them as well or can get them. The El Grande is the only FP that I know of that has a broad nib option.

William
 

PenWorks

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Daniel, the Gent, Statesman, use the same nib, it is available only in a medium nib, And it can almost pass off as a broad. The Jr. comes with a medium nib, which is almost like a fine, but you can relpace the nib with the extra widths on the Jr from CS, in fine , med, braod & calligraphy . They are 5.00. The only down side to that, is the nib is black & 10K gold only. So you would have to make a 10k Jr and buy the broad nib. I have no problems with the nibs or converters. From CS. Anthony
 

PenWorks

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William, have you tried these nibs, both the replacement and the ones that come with the El Grande? I bought some stream line El Grande kits, for the first time several months ago, I always make the first one for me as a feild test model. I was not real happy with the way it fed and wrote. I know one nib is not a test, but do you have any feedback about the nibs? I use a fountain pen daily at work. Anthony
 

Randy_

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Originally posted by wdcav1952
<br />Daniel,
You can buy broad nibs and fine nibs for the El Grande fountain pens from Berea. I think Ernie at Beartoothwoods.com has them as well or can get them. The El Grande is the only FP that I know of that has a broad nib option. William

Actually Berea sells two sets of nibs.....large ones for the El Grande pen and a smaller one for the other kits. You can get fine, med. or broad in each style. They range in price from $3.50 to $8. I did not see them on the web site; but they are in the catalog!!!
 

ashaw

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I make a lot of fountain pens as well as use them. Beara Hardwoods have a range of nibs from fine to broad for both the El'Grande and it's smaller cousin the american series.

I have tried them all and all work fine. I use a converter only since I like my own ink (Private Reserve). I takes about three weeks to break in the nib.

CSA also sells universal nibs as well.

Good luck
 

PenWorks

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Thanks, I will try another nib and see what happens. I changed to Private Reserve ink this year. It has really improved the flow of some of my pens and tends not to dry as quick on the nib when it sits for a day or two. Good Ink, good price, lots of colors. Anthony
 

Daniel

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Since everyone is haveing so much fun with this thread, I thought I would give you a little more gat to chew on. Now remember this is only my persoanl opinion so don't go off the handle because I may have said bad things about yoru favorite pen. I have only made one El Grande. and that was in a Rollerball. when I finished it it was so light, and the barrel material was so thin. I started hearing Birds. (you know, cheap, cheap, cheap). I simply wanted a little more heft to that size of a pen. Now I did pay for that kit so I am not saying it is a cheap kit. It just didn't set well with me. sad as it seems to be the best answer to this question.
Now not being a fountain pen user. how do those of you that do use one like the "feel" of it.
actually I would love to have a fountain pen on my desk, and actually had one for awhile. but got tired of haveing to get it primed everytine I went to use it. sounds like this private reserve ink may be part of that answer. I may have to order two or three kits when I do this and try it out for myself.
 

DCBluesman

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Ever since I made my first Gentleman Jr I've used it almost exclusively. I'm very pleased with the balance in the hand. My hand is a medium, Daniel, so you might prefer the balance of the Gentleman. As for the Private Reserve ink, I've been using it for a couple of years in all of my fountains. I love the stuff. In my opinion it is better than the "big boys" make and it comes in a rainbow of colors.
 

PenWorks

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Top ten reasons to write with a Fountain Pen......[:D]

1. You don't have to exert any pressure to write
2. A wider varity of widths (Nibs)
3. You LOOK more important and get more looks
4. Easier to get ink all over yourself.
5. You can ruin more clothing and don't have to buy as many rags.
6. You can make designs like building blocks with all the bottles of ink on your desk.
7. People may just be able to read your writing.

I will let you guys finish it. [:p]

Daniel, Heft is not a perseved value, and Light does not allwasy mean cheap. If so, I would own a steal Mt bike instead of a TI one.

I hate to say it, but the FP that gets used on my desk most of the day,and I have about 15 to choose from, is a Lamy Safari that retails for only 25.00. It is plastic ( feels like your are holding nothing) has a steel nib that writes on demand any time. I can have this capped for 3 days and when I go for it, it writes. [:D] Anthony

Here is the link for the color selection from PRhttp://www.privatereserveink.com/colors.html

Anthony
 

Daniel

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Anthony,
I fully realize my flaw in evaluating the quality of the El Grande.
as I mentioned I did pay for the kit. I know it is not cheap quality.
I like your list of reasons for using the fountain pen. I will give them a second go with the better quality Ink. Of course I only wear ratty old t-shirts so I may not get the rag benefit.
 

PenWorks

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Daniel, there was no flaw in your eveluation [:D] After all, that is why there are so many pen kits and many variations of pen kits, Different strokes for different folks [:p] Anthony
 

wayneis

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I actually like the El Grande. I make all three versions along with CS's new knock off, the Ligero which is a little fancier. I think that they are similar in weight to the Jr.'s which is what I usually write with.

Wayne
 

Daniel

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O.K. Guys this is an emergency question.
Can I take an El Grande Rollerball and put the Fountain pen and converter on it. In my thinking it is simply a matter of screwing off the rollerball tip and screwing on the fountain pen nib. I also need a broad nib and Schmidt converter if anyone has they will sell me quick.
 

PenWorks

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Sorry I can not help you. [V] But you can screw the FP nib in and replace the RB tip. But why a Schmidt converter ? I believe the El Grande nib, uses a standard international converter. Anthony
 

Daniel

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Anthony,
My deal with my customer stated a schmidt converter which Berea offers as the Premium option. the pen can be made with either a standard converter or a schmidt. I hope I can order just a converter and Broad Nib from Berea.
If not I may have to order some kits.
 

PenWorks

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I is amazing when you actually open the catalog and read it, sure enough it is there. Schmidt is realy proud of their converter that they can get 2.50 more for it.

For any future reference, I just tried several nibs in different pens.(since I am bored and nobody is buying pens today like I thought) The Ligero & El Grande nibs are are not interchangeable. The nibs are the same size threads and will work in each other, BUT, the caps will not work if you interchange nibs between the two. They Ligero has the cap threads on the outside of the nib tip where the El Grande as the cap threads on the nib holder. Not that this means anything to anybody, just the facts. Anthony
 

Daniel

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Well Anthony,
while your board loose that nib in an envelope and mail it to me.
actually I will just place my order with Berea later this afternoon.
my customer went silent when I sent him the payment info.
 

PenWorks

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I would have Daniel, but don't have a broad nib for the El Grande. I found out I bought the Schmidt converters though, what was I thinking [:(!]

I just did another boring test, with about 10 fountains I had handy, The El Granda medium nib, looks like a fine point. The Gentlemans medium still looks like a broad point. The Havana's & Jr's mediums looked like mediums. and I won't bore you guys with the rest. [:D] Anthony
 
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