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Texatdurango

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Joined
Apr 23, 2007
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4,649
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Wow, stiff, standard, semi-flex, flex, super flex nibs, lots of choices! I thought I had the bases covered by having an assortment of fine, medium and broad nibs in steel plated and gold.

I have assembled what I considered a fair amount of paraphernalia to make a decent presentation at any upcoming shows. Aside from my pens with either large or small nib holders, an assortment of nib widths, sample inks with some nice paper to try out nibs, even a few bottles of different colors of ink and refills to purchase.

To those who know, a few questions come to mind please;

How do most pen makers at pen shows handle fountain pen sales? Do they concentrate on selling their pen and treat the nibs as accessories that can be either purchased from them or other "specialty" sellers?

Would it be a fair assumption that the average customer we are likely to encounter at craft shows, while interested in fountain pens, is not going to be so discriminating as to request a broad semi-flex nib?

Until now I have only seen nib widths as a choice when ordering nibs, where does one go to purchase these flex, semi and super flex nibs? Or should that be left up to the customer to deal with as an "aftermarket" purchase?

And lastly, so as not to look like an idiot when selling to a knowledgeable customer, what is the stiffness of the nibs used by Craft Supply and Berea when used in their kits, I am guessing that they are either stiff or standard, right?
 
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DCBluesman

Passed Away Mar 3, 2016
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WOODBRIDGE, VIRGINIA
George - Speaking only for myself, since others HATE it when I speak for them :D, when it comes to fountain pen sales, the pen grabs the attention and the nib often makes or breaks the sale. In general, nibs cannot be acquired from specialty vendors as they are most often specific to the pen. That being said, nibs can be acquired and custom fit to pens, but the cost is considerable, sometimes equalling the cost of the nib itself.

I have not done craft shows, but I would expect there would be less numbers of discriminating buyers than at pen shows. In general, there will be far few numbers of fountain pen users looking for a "Broad, semi-flex nib". In fact, my experience indicates that nib requests break down this way. Medium/standard and fine/standard account for approximately 90%. All others account for a total of about 10%. Those who require specialty nibs generally know how and where to get the nib they require fitted to their pen of choice.

In terms of the flex of the nib, that is normally controlled by the manufacturer. Certain pens come with a super flex nib, like the Pilot/Namiki Falcon. Certain Sailor pens come standard with a double broad or music nib. Expert nib meisters can adjust many different nibs to write like the specialty nibs, but at a price. My choice of nibmeisters is Richard Binder, but there are many other talented grinders.

The steel nibs that come as standard with our component kits are generally stiff to semi-flex. The beauty of these nibs is that an inexperienced user will not destroy the nib with the first use. The disadvantage is that the nib allows of very little control over the line.

Overall I think you will be well-prepared if you carry combinations of nibs to cover semi-flex and standard flex, steel and gold, medium and fine tips. That's still a lot of territory, but fountain pen buyers understand this and are generally more willing to pay a premium over a rollerball based on the advantages of multiple fountain pen nibs.
 
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