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    Member Amanda's Avatar
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    Default Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    Most of my pens are fine or extra fine Japanese nibs, and one soft fine. I like them all very much, but I'm thinking I would like something broader and juicier to add variety and still get some line variation.

    The Sailor with a Zoom nib appears to do all that - broad and wet, but fine if reversed.

    Or, I also looked at reviews of a Platinum #3776 Century with a bold nib. It too seemed to write nice and wet with a good fine line if used upside down. It has the advantage over the Sailor of my being confident it won't dry out - the bane of living in a place that's hot and super dry.

    Has anyone used one or both or something similar to be able to comment?
    It's all about the greys...

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Amanda View Post
    Most of my pens are fine or extra fine Japanese nibs, and one soft fine. I like them all very much, but I'm thinking I would like something broader and juicier to add variety and still get some line variation.

    The Sailor with a Zoom nib appears to do all that - broad and wet, but fine if reversed.

    Or, I also looked at reviews of a Platinum #3776 Century with a bold nib. It too seemed to write nice and wet with a good fine line if used upside down. It has the advantage over the Sailor of my being confident it won't dry out - the bane of living in a place that's hot and super dry.

    Has anyone used one or both or something similar to be able to comment?
    Vintage Platinums with music nibs offer a little flex and great line variation as compared to the newer ones- would be great for drawing

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    Quote Originally Posted by Amanda View Post

    Has anyone used one or both or something similar to be able to comment?

    Here is a very short writing sample of a Sailor Zoom nib. Broad and juicy for sure, with very fine writing if reversed. I don't get as much difference in line width as I expected until I get to an angle so steep it is uncomfortable to me for writing, but I love the nib at more normal writing angles. I haven't had any trouble with it drying out, although I live in Ohio which is not extremely hot and dry.


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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    The thing is, Sailor's broad aka H-B behaves the same way (I think all their nibs are "zoomy", it's just harder to notice on finer ones). I can post a pic tonight.

    So I'm still not sure what exactly is the difference between their regular nibs, the Zoom, and the Naginata Togi, except maybe the range of line variation. And the Naginata Togi comes in F-M-B as well...

    Finally, to add something that is hopefully useful to the OP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VwKqOiJkgU - an artist's review of the zoom nib.
    Last edited by Ahriman4891; September 12th, 2017 at 09:22 AM.

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    The Sailor Zoom nib is enormous, and wet. The Platinum 3776 B nib is also enormous, but the biggest firehose in my entire collection, and I have yet to find an ink (six inks in) that'll tame it.
    My other pen is a Montblanc.

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    FWIW, my Sailor B isn't a very wet nib. It's by no means dry, but it seems to not be as much of a firehose as my Conklin Stub or my Masuyama B Stub. Both of those have been known to make ink feather on even the best of papers if I decide to snail-pace my writing.

    The line it produces is a Western M at best, and the upside down writing isn't as smooth as the Naginata Togi I've tried. Hell, it's not even as smooth as my Visconti gold nib upside down, and marginally worse than the VP EFs. It'll work in a pinch, but not really the way I would choose to write with it.

    For those confused about the differences, I found this at the other forum, if this is bad form, I'll remove it... otherwise, it's here: http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/fo...ogi-shoot-out/

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    Quote Originally Posted by naimitsu View Post
    FWIW, my Sailor B isn't a very wet nib. It's by no means dry, but it seems to not be as much of a firehose as my Conklin Stub or my Masuyama B Stub. Both of those have been known to make ink feather on even the best of papers if I decide to snail-pace my writing.

    The line it produces is a Western M at best....
    My Sailor 1911L with its B nib put down a 0.6mm line just like the western M's I have. For me it is just the right wetness. Not too little and not too much that the ink comes out too saturated and just dark. It gives me a little shading and I love it. The funny thing is my Franklin-Christoph #6 steel B also writes the same width line. I expected that one to be wider since its a Jowo. Oh well... I am very happy I went B on my Sailor and not M.

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    As promised. Angles of incidence elevation are approximate to the best of my ability. Paper is Rhodia with 5mm dot grid.
    IMG_20170913_000539.jpg
    Last edited by Ahriman4891; September 12th, 2017 at 10:29 PM.

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    Naginata Togi any day of the week... The nib also feels better and softer to write with than the Zoom nib... By comparison the Zoom nib feels rigid and with very little variation.... But this is just my personal opinion.
    Sam O

    "A fountain pen with a bad nib is like a Ferrari with a flat tyre..." - Brian Gray, Edison pens

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    Default Re: Sailor Zoom or another pen for drawing?

    Wow! Well, that does it, I will be saving for a Sailor 911 with a Naginata Togi nib - which is going to take a while. I think that makes it my grail pen.
    It's all about the greys...

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