The wet and dry of it.

[Sailor Kenshin]

Can anyone help me figure out which pen (brands) are known wet writers? And known dry writers? I'm trying to match dryer inks to wet pens and wet inks to dry pens. It's a thing now for me.

(I think Pelikans write wet, yes? Further examples will be appreciated!)

Platinums such as the Preppy and Plaisir---where do these pens fall on the scale?

Thanks.

[Driften]

Also know in Japanese pens Medium and wider tend to be wetter then the finer nibs. It's not always a brand but also a nib width. Sometimes it just what nib you get and has nothing to do with anything else....

[Robert]

Don't know about Preppy and Paisir, but my Platinum 3776's (3 of them) have broad nibs and write smooth and wet.

[fountainpenkid]

Pelikan's Souveran models do seem to write wet, leaving minimal shading with many inks. TWSBIs seem to be a bit drier, although I have a more limited experience (in terms of nib grade) with the brand.

[Blue Note]

I have two 3776s with medium nibs and both are wet and smooth. Two Pilot Custom Heritage 92s, a Namiki Falcon and a Custom 74 are a bit pickier when it comes to ink. Two Metropolitans with mediums that I fattened up a bit are both smooth and wet with any ink. I generally refill the cartridges with whatever I like. My Pelikan M800 Broad is a gusher with Pelikan Royal Blue ink. MB 146 medium is smooth and wet with most inks. I find Waterman Serenity Blue, Aurora Blue and most Diamines work with just about everything.

[VertOlive]

Hmmm. For starters: Both my modern and vintage Sheaffers are smooth and wet. The four Deltas are on the dry side (including the persnickety Fusion Nib Delta). My Safaris all lean to the dry side. The Brass Kaweco is perfect in Fine nib, but dry with broader nibs.

[Sammyo]

That's really tough...

Firstly, it can depend on not only the manufacturer, but also the nib grade, the specific nib, the specific feed. There are examples of the same pen model, with the same nib grade writing very differently.
Secondly, the chart of wet vs. dry is a very personal scale. What is wet to one person is dry to another and vice versa...

Sorry, this really isn't helpful is it...

From my own experience and nothing more:
All Visconti nibs tend to be wet
Sailor/Pilot fine/medium nibs are right in the middle (for me what I like from a pen)
Sailor broad/stub/specialty nibs tend to be on the wet side
Pilot broad nibs tend to be on the wet side
Platinum fine nibs tend to be a little dry (only a little, nothing to write home about)
Platinum medium nibs tend to be a right in the middle
Platinum broad nibs tend to be on the wet side (especially the C nib)
TWSBI/JOWO stub nibs (1.1 / 1.5) tend to be dry (mine write wet for about 4 words and then start to get very dry!)
The Lamy nibs I've tried, the fines and mediums are quite dry and the B/BB are wet
All my Parkers are real MOR flow
All cheap Chinese pens depend on what hour or day of the week they were produced

Of course, any feed or nib can be adjusted to suit your preference too...
... really not helping...

[Sailor Kenshin]

Pelikan's Souveran models do seem to write wet, leaving minimal shading with many inks. TWSBIs seem to be a bit drier, although I have a more limited experience (in terms of nib grade) with the brand.

Interesting...I'd have thought that wet writers would enhance shading.

I seem to have my work cut out for me. Thanks, everyone, so far!

[fountainpenkid]

You're right in this case; I thought I was writing about vintage Pelikans (which tend to be even wetter) for some reason... The modern ones shade very nicely in general.

[dneal]

I never really associated it with brand. Any nib can be adjusted to write more wet or dry, depending on your preferences, and if you are trying to compensate for a particular ink.

[Sailor Kenshin]

I'm not really looking to amend any nib or inks...just looking to match up what I already have.

[Driften]

Pelikan's Souveran models do seem to write wet, leaving minimal shading with many inks. TWSBIs seem to be a bit drier, although I have a more limited experience (in terms of nib grade) with the brand.

Interesting...I'd have thought that wet writers would enhance shading.

I seem to have my work cut out for me. Thanks, everyone, so far!

It seems like being somewhere in the middle is what is best for shading. To wet and its just dark ink on the page, two dry and its lighter ink but no shading... It does seem like my pens that shade the best are just above the middle of the wetness spectrum.

[Sammyo]

I don't know if this helps you, but I thought I'd put it down anyway. You may not want to go this far... but I'm a slightly OCD engineer... and I can't help it!!!

I normally do a first fill with a pen using Pilot Blue Black. I know this ink very well and it allows me to learn what I need to about a new pen / nib.
By using the same ink I have a "known zero" from which I can benchmark a pen based on a set of personally collated and calibrated data... in my head!!!
It sounds boring, but it also allows me to adjust/tune all my new pens to "my" preferred flow, using a standard ink that I know how it behaves and how I expect the pen to behave with it in.

Without the adjusting/tuning part, you could select a single ink that you can put into each pen and use that to "judge" the flow to your own personal scale.
I would recommend using a boring, cheap ink that it is easy to get a lot of and easy to clean out.

[stub]

Yes there are tendencies (of the dozen or so Pelikans I have owned, exactly one has been dry).

But pens are individual.

The best guide is your own eye and own hand. Trial and error.

& keep an ink log if you are that into the ink thing. I fill a pen and after using it make a notation in a little notebook if the ink worked out in that pen or not. Just had a pen filled with Aurora Black that was a little out of control. Made a note of that, when the fill was done I cleaned that sucker out and then put Lamy Black in there. Works better. Scratch out old entry & make a new one and I write "good match for this pen" and now I know I want a drier ink in this pen and that Lamy black works better than Aurora. Not exactly rocket surgery but fits the haphazard and hand tuned inexact world of fountain pens.

[Marsilius]

I tend to think modern pens in general have the tines much tighter than my vintage pens, making the modern ones write generally drier. And I seem to recall being told that modern feeds do not always favor as much flow as older ones?
But my main association with wet vs. dry is how much I have had the nib adjusted for flow. I almost always want to adjust my modern pens to have more flow.