quality of nib & ink supplied w/ kits?

[KP]

Folks - A related question to that posted by dbriski - I didn't want to hijack his thread though.

For folks that like and use fountain pens regularly, how does the quality of the nib and ink supplied with Berea kits rate? I'm making a streamline american as a present for a friend. This is my first FP, and I hadn't realized how much there was to nib selection until I read some of the threads posted here in the past couple of weeks.

This friend does use FPs regularly, but isn't a fanatic. She refers to her daily use $50 pen as her "cheap pen", but does use cartridges (at least at work, where I've seen her change them out).

Anyhow, I have been wondering if I should buy a different nib and/or ink cartridge to put in the pen, or to give her along with the pen. (You can change the nibs later, right?) If folks do recommend a different nib, I'd appreciate specifics on which one and where to get it.

If there's any simple info source (I'm looking for something at the level of "Fountain Pens for Morons") I'd appreciate hearing about it. However, I'm not a seller of pens and while I might make another FP at some point, I'm not going to be making lots of them. I just want to be sure that my friend likes her new pen.

Many thanks -

Ken

 

[jeffj13]

I'm a fountain pen user and the nibs on kits I have used (Churchill, gentleman's) are fine. I have some brand name fountain pens tht cost in the $30 - 50 range, such as Cross, Waterman and Pelikan. imho, the kit nibs are every bit as good as the Waterman and Pelikan, better than the Cross.

jeff

 

[wdcav1952]

Ken,

I tend to agree with Jeff on the nibs. The standard nib is a medium, and I prefer to write with a fine or extra fine, but that is just me.

Include the cartridge and the converter with the pen. That way, she can use her own ink if she prefers.

 

[Firefyter-emt]

I have been a daily user for maybe two or three months now and I don't have much to compare it on, but the nib on the Americana and the Jr. Statesman are both very nice nibs and I have no problems with them.

Now the nib on the churchill is just awesome in looks. It's twice as big as the CSUSA nibs on the Jr.Statesman / Americana kits and just looks so nice. I have a kit that is in progress that I had bought for myself and had to sell it before it ever came in the mail. So, I have another one on it's way to replace it. []

 

[gerryr]

I've used the CSUSA Jr. Gentleman's nib, the Baron nib, two different Churchill nibs as well as Anthony's 14K nib. Also, I have a Cross FP that I think cost about $75 15 years ago. The stock nibs write every bit as well as the Cross, but none of them can equal Anthony's 14K nibs, which are probably all gone now. If someone is used to writing with a steel nib, the stock nibs will be fine. If they're used to writing with a 14K nib, they probably won't like the stock nibs.

 

[cbonner]

I love writing with fountain pens and yes, I can tell the difference between the nibs that come with our kits (plated steel) and the ones that come on the higher end commercial pens (gold). My pen of choice is the CSU Statesman. I have about ten of them that I play around with (different colored inks). I also have a Waterman that I paid about $200 for a number of years back. The Waterman nib is gold and it does writes smoother. However... I can not afford a bunch of the Waterman pens and the nibs on the Statesman pens are not THAT less smooth that I do not enjoy writing with them. I just purchased one of Turchetta's 14k nibs and will see how this compares to my Waterman. I have sold/ gifted about 30 of the steel nibbed fountain pen kits and have not had a single person comment about lack of smoothness, or anything else.

Anyhow, my 2c

 

[bob393]

Nothing compares to a well made 15k gold nib.
That said the nibs on the better CSUSA kits are not that bad.

 

[KP]

Thanks, folks. I'll just give it to her as is, then.

Ken