Pens, Nibs, Pens and Nibs

18 February 2015 By ian

Lamy nibs

I’ve been writing a review of a Lamy Linea this week. This is my seventh Lamy and the fifth that I’ve reviewed (either here or for The Pen Company). They all use the same, easily interchangeable, nibs. Most manufacturers use the same nibs across many different models: Faber-Castell use identical nibs with all their pens; Pilot use the same nibs across their cheaper range (and possibly with more expensive ones too but I’m not fortunate enough to know); Kaweco are the same; Franklin-Christoph too although they have so many you could review all of their range and never have to repeat yourself. No doubt most manufacturers are the same. In fact, many manufacturers use the same nibs as each other, mostly from the big two nib manufacturers, Bock and Jowo.

Not only are the same nibs used across different models and even across different brands, the same nibs vary from example to example. I’ve a Kaweco medium nib that writes a narrower line that a Kaweco fine nib, and a Faber-Castell medium nib that is wider than a Faber-Castell broad (and one that isn’t). I’ve had a rather dodgy Lamy nib and half a dozen great ones.

Then there’s the Frankenpen: putting a nib from a different manufacturer into another’s pen. I’ve got a Franklin-Christoph (or should I say JoWo?) extra-fine in my Levenger L-Tech Stealth and a Franklin-Christoph medium stub in my Karas Kustoms INK.

So all this leads to the question: does it make any sense to review a pen and its nib as one unit?

What do you think?