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View Full Version : Sailor Specialty Nibs, the Naginata Cross Point in Particular



Susan3141
August 10th, 2015, 11:42 AM
Hi,

Lately I've been obsessing over the Sailor specialty nibs. But, I owned a Sailor with a Naginata Togi nib and didn't really like it. My current obsession is over the Cross Point. It looks like a really cool and versatile nib, but, dang they're expensive. If I go through nibs.com and get a Realo (seems like a piston fill would be wise since these nibs are super wet) plus a Cross Point I'm looking at over $600. A concord nib is much cheaper, but the video I watched on it made it sound super scratchy.

So, have any of you tried these nibs? What are your thoughts? I realize these are really made for Japanese calligraphy and not for English, but I would also use mine for Hebrew (or that's how I'm trying to justify it!).

Susan

Zhivago
August 12th, 2015, 09:57 PM
I have a 1911L with a Concord Emperor nib. When writing in the standard position, it puts down a fine wet line. It isn't scratchy at all. Flipping it over is mostly for fun or a signature. I picked it up used at, I think, a good price. The same seller had a Cross Point in the FPN Classifieds. I don't know if that pen sold or not.

mhosea
August 13th, 2015, 09:40 AM
I have a Cross Concord, so it has a cross point on the reverse. It is different. With the right twisting action, it can indeed produce swooshes that look like brush-strokes. If I want to fill in some area with ink, it's a snap. It's a fun nib. I don't have a lot of use for the cross point, though. I knew that when I bought it, but the Cross Concord's main point is a simple fine, so I felt like I could justify it as a regular pen, mainly, but with this fun reverse point. Writing with the main point is a little weird, however, in how it is "pick-like" it is in shape. I suppose the Concord would be rather worse in this regard.

BTW, the layered Sailor nibs are quite stiff. The attraction is all in the "cross".

I have been tempted at times to get one of the other cross points, with the main point being a cross. I no longer have any good excuses for this, however. It would be purely for fun.

Susan3141
August 13th, 2015, 09:56 AM
Thank you both. I thought I decided on a cross concord, but I really don't like hard-as-nails nibs. The concord part of the nib is what I would be using most of the time, probably. The cross part would be useful for big strokes to test shading inks. Maybe for really big Hebrew, like that's practical. I guess that's why these are called specialty nibs. They really aren't for every-day writing. I think they look amazing, but when it comes down to what matters to me most in a fountain pen, it's how it writes. I have a regular Sailor Pro-Gear with a hard-fine. Probably going to sell it, because it's not much fum to write with. If I could try one of these nibs before I bought it, that would be great. But Abilene, Texas doesn't have a pen store. I suspect that if I don't like the regular Sailor nibs, and I didn't like the Naginata Togi, I won't like the specialty nibs.

mhosea
August 13th, 2015, 10:34 AM
I suspect that if I don't like the regular Sailor nibs, and I didn't like the Naginata Togi, I won't like the specialty nibs.

That's an interesting question. There's some individual character involved in the specialty nibs. I don't think we could rule them all out on the basis of the Naginata Togi, which to me seems unique in its textured feel on the page. Sailor's regular (hard) nibs are somewhat unremarkable, at least in the H-M and H-B nibs that I've tried. My Naginata Togi Medium-Fine (NMF) is the same as my H-B in stiffness, but the Naginata Togi's tipping writes more like a pencil. Compared to the Naginata Togi, the Cross Concord is a step towards normalcy in texture, but the layered nib doesn't give at all. It's a nail. If you don't like nails, I'd say you won't like the fine point of a Cross Concord at all, though the stiffness is a non-issue for the cross point on the reverse. Flexibility would not become it somehow. In other words, I think there's a chance you would tolerate the lack of flexibility in the cross point but positively hate the fine point on a Cross Concord.

The Sailor music nib I had, OTOH, was quite soft. Very nice in its own way, but basically just a very un-crisp stub. I crisped mine up a little in combination with trying to cure its little start-up skip problems (due to over-polishing at the factory).

I'm not sure whether the cross points are very good for demonstrating shading, anyway. Mine is remarkable for the evenness and uniformity that ink is deposited on the page by such a broad point. In a sense, it seems designed to minimize shading, though of course if it's adjusted to be wet, shading at times occurs, anyway.

Zhivago
August 13th, 2015, 11:14 AM
but the Cross Concord's main point is a simple fine, so I felt like I could justify it as a regular pen, mainly, but with this fun reverse point. Writing with the main point is a little weird, however, in how it is "pick-like" it is in shape. I suppose the Concord would be rather worse in this regard.


I find writing with the Concord in the standard position to be essentially the same as writing with a regular nib. What is or would be the issue for you? At first, I thought I might have a minor issue in orientating the nib, but that hasn't been the case.

@Susan: What didn't you like about the Naginata Togi?

mhosea
August 13th, 2015, 12:41 PM
I find writing with the Concord in the standard position to be essentially the same as writing with a regular nib.

I think you exaggerate my meaning. It's a visual effect that generates a sense of strangeness for me. The nib body seems rather high above the paper when the tip is in contact with it.

Zhivago
August 13th, 2015, 12:56 PM
I find writing with the Concord in the standard position to be essentially the same as writing with a regular nib.

I think you exaggerate my meaning. It's a visual effect that generates a sense of strangeness for me. The nib body seems rather high above the paper when the tip is in contact with it.

That is also what I was initially concerned with (the same for the Pilot PO nib). Fortunately, it has been a non-issue for me.

From reading your post above (#5), I'd say you have a more refined feeling for how nibs write than I have.

Susan3141
August 13th, 2015, 01:45 PM
@Susan: What didn't you like about the Naginata Togi?

I think it was having to hold the pen at certain angles to get the line width I wanted. It wasn't the most comfortable writing experience. I tend to do best with oblique italics because I apparently turn my hand inwards naturally when I write. But, the Togi required holding the pen at a high angle for a fine line. That's why I thought maybe a cross concord might work well. I could write normally with the concord nib and then have the exceptionally broad side for other things--signatures, Hebrew, etc. The more I think about it, though, the more I think I just need to stick with Pilot, Nakaya, Platinum, and Omas (I love their extra flessibile nibs). Those nibs are springy and I enjoy writing with them. As much as the Sailor specialty nibs fascinate me, I probably don't need such broad lines. Some people compare the cross nibs to writing with a marker.

mhosea
August 13th, 2015, 01:48 PM
Some people compare the cross nibs to writing with a marker.

Yes, but better, somehow. It's like...a magic marker. Oh, wait...