Nib Scarcity

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CFPT

Member
Joined
May 10, 2021
Messages
9
Location
Portland, OR USA
Hello Advanced Pen Makers,

I started making kitless pens back in 2016, stopped for a few years and have recently started up again. Those of you who make pens without a kit know the tremendous investment of time and resources involved. When I was recently shopping for a new batch of Jowo's I was reminded that everything we do as pen makers relies one or two nib manufacturers and importers. If Jowo called it quits I guess I would switch to Bock but I believe that would be the only other source of nibs. I do understand that we're doing something rather unique and there's risk in everything, but I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this subject. Has that ever given you concern? Are these companies here to stay? I don't know much about the history of either maker.

PS – I just joined the forum and thought this might be a way to say hello too, so hello from Portland, OR
PPS – Portland is a beautiful place to live. Don't believe the news. 🙂

Thanks!
Craig
 
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Welcome Craig.

I would think both Jowo and Bock are here to stay as they supply a lot of the nibs to the companies making fountain pens now. If they both disappeared there would be more than just us affected. People would as some do now, get nibs from production pens, Pelican for example, and use those and I am sure the nib makers in China and India would step in to fill the hole left by the the departure of Jowo and Bock. Might take a while for people to get used to the idea of using those nibs but they wouldn't have much of a choice would they?
 
I think there is also a valuable analogy in the watch industry. For the longest time, a large portions of watch movements were made by ETA. Everyone was using their movements and it made the industry a little stale since everything was basically the same on the inside and people started asking "why should I pay $10k for a watch with a $200 movement in it?" Then ETA decided to limit production for other users and a whole bunch of in-house movements popped up out of necessity. I imagine something simialr owuld happen were Jowo or BOck to go under (though I highly doubt that would be the case).
 
It sounds like there's more demand than I imagined. When you're alone in your workshop lathing away it feels like you're the only one in the world who cares about these things. I guess one point of the forum is to mitigate those feelings. Thanks for the reassurance. 😁
 
If you do a quick search, you will see that fountain pens are experiencing a bit a of a renaissance and there is more demand at almost all price points than you likely would have guessed.
 
CFPT said:
Hello Advanced Pen Makers,

I started making kitless pens back in 2016, stopped for a few years and have recently started up again. Those of you who make pens without a kit know the tremendous investment of time and resources involved. When I was recently shopping for a new batch of Jowo's I was reminded that everything we do as pen makers relies one or two nib manufacturers and importers. If Jowo called it quits I guess I would switch to Bock but I believe that would be the only other source of nibs. I do understand that we're doing something rather unique and there's risk in everything, but I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this subject. Has that ever given you concern? Are these companies here to stay? I don't know much about the history of either maker.

PS – I just joined the forum and thought this might be a way to say hello too, so hello from Portland, OR
PPS – Portland is a beautiful place to live. Don't believe the news. 🙂

Thanks!
Craig
Click to expand...
Hi Craig,

Osprey pens ( https://www.ospreypens.com/) supply nibs/nib inserts that are JoWo thread compatible. So you don't have to worry !

Thanks,
Venu
 
CFPT said:
Hello Advanced Pen Makers,

I started making kitless pens back in 2016, stopped for a few years and have recently started up again. Those of you who make pens without a kit know the tremendous investment of time and resources involved. When I was recently shopping for a new batch of Jowo's I was reminded that everything we do as pen makers relies one or two nib manufacturers and importers. If Jowo called it quits I guess I would switch to Bock but I believe that would be the only other source of nibs. I do understand that we're doing something rather unique and there's risk in everything, but I'm wondering what your thoughts are on this subject. Has that ever given you concern? Are these companies here to stay? I don't know much about the history of either maker.

PS – I just joined the forum and thought this might be a way to say hello too, so hello from Portland, OR
PPS – Portland is a beautiful place to live. Don't believe the news. 🙂

Thanks!
Craig
Click to expand...
I wouldn't worry too much, I am not a pro, but my Fountain Pens sell much better than even my best segmented wooden pens in rollerball or ballpoint. My biggest issue is properly pricing the nibs into my projects!
 
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