Comparison of EF nibs from Lamy, Faber-Castell, and TWSBI

[RustyDarkMatter]

Intro: Personally, when I’m taking notes during class or while at work I prefer a fine line so that way I can fit as much onto a page or write small if needed. I initially only owned a Lamy EF steel nib and I was curious about how the other main Extra Fine Nibs measured up. So, I purchased a Faber-Castell LOOM and a TWSBI 580 Diamond (with my own money) and I sought out to find which one performed closes to my preference.



Testing Criteria: I would test each nib with with two criteria, line thickness and nib smoothness. I chose only these two because I felt like these were the most important because typically the finer a nib gets the more likely it will be to have feedback. So if a nib was finer but smoother that would make it a clear winner.
Line thickness: I tested line thickness by drawing lines on a page with pre-set lines with thicknesses on it. The lines are both vertical and horizontal. I would draw some lines and compare to see which most closely resembled the line that I drew.
Result (winner is thinnest): 1st: TWSBI 580
2nd: Faber-Castell LOOM
3rd: Lamy Steel (Aion)

Smoothness: It was hard for me to quantify smoothness because I didn’t want someone to watch the video just have me verbally say “oh yeah that feels smoother” because feeling can be manipulated if you like a pen or if it is more comfortable. So I figured out if I put a weight at the end of a paper and write lines a smoother nib would be able to write further from the weight without moving the paper.

Result (winner is smoothest): 1st: Lamy Steel (Aion)
2nd: Faber-Castell LOOM
3rd: TWSBI 580
Conclusion: Each of the Extra fine nibs performed with their own unique characteristics. The Lamy is the “fattest writer” but is the smoothest, and the TWSBI 580 is the “finest” but has the most feedback, and the Faber-Castell LOOM is in-between. With this I would say the Faber-castell is the “winner” because it has a good balance between feedback and line thickness.

[Scooby921]

Your results make perfect sense. All being EF nibs I would expect the TWSBI to be the thinnest line and the least smooth (most scratchy). The GvFC and Lamy are European nibs and historically the sizes run larger than an equivalently named size from Asia. TWSBI being Taiwanese should produce a smaller EF line. The smoothness relates back to the width of the line. If you use equal force in every test then your largest nib spreads this over the largest area resulting in the lowest pressure on the paper. Less pressure along with more lubrication (wider line comes from more ink on the page) would be a smoother writing experience. Nice to see a comparison which supports what we've heard or read. I've written with plenty of nibs from the different regions, but never took the time to do something like this and compare them to a printed line of a known width to establish an absolute. So...thanks!

[KrazyIvan]

Like Scooby points out, The only flaw in the testing is the difference in weight of each pen. I'd imagine that would cause the nib to react differently based on the weight behind the nib. The test (writing a line under the pens own weight I assume, but it was not specified) is also one used to determine how well tuned a nib is. If the nibs are tuned differently, that would affect test outcomes also.

Edit, I couldn't see the video and it popped up after I posted. Now, after watching the video, I do think the way the pen is being held will skew test results. I would just put the barrel in my open palm and pull the pen across the page as if testing for a properly tuned nib.

[RustyDarkMatter]

Like Scooby points out, The only flaw in the testing is the difference in weight of each pen. I'd imagine that would cause the nib to react differently based on the weight behind the nib. The test (writing a line under the pens own weight I assume, but it was not specified) is also one used to determine how well tuned a nib is. If the nibs are tuned differently, that would affect test outcomes also.

Edit, I couldn't see the video and it popped up after I posted. Now, after watching the video, I do think the way the pen is being held will skew test results. I would just put the barrel in my open palm and pull the pen across the page as if testing for a properly tuned nib.

The way I held the pen was at the very end of the body of the pen. Then I would only use enough pressure to get a consistent line. I tried to have it lay in my palm but there wouldn't be enough pressure for some of them to write and they would often rotate. The test isn't perfect but I feel that it gets some quantifiable information it there.

[RustyDarkMatter]

Yes I had the same idea how the test was likely to turn out but one thing I didn't expect was how similar the line width were. Everyone says asian pens are much thinner but the paper showed they were only one point off. But with that difference the amount of feed back was quite considerable

[grainweevil]

Um, TWSBI are still using German Jowo nibs, aren't they...?

[RustyDarkMatter]

TWSBI actually uses both Jowo and Bock depending on the pen. but i'm sure they have some sort of agreement for how TWSBI wants them made. the nib on the 580 also isn't a standard size so it also should be some kind of custom order.

http://danielpi.com/fountain-pens/20...who-makes-them

[grainweevil]

My understanding is TWSBI used to use Bock and then switched to Jowo. But either way, not an Asian nib, so not sure how any expectations can be entertained on the basis of nationality. It's based on brand.

[Scooby921]

TWSBI actually uses both Jowo and Bock depending on the pen. but i'm sure they have some sort of agreement for how TWSBI wants them made. the nib on the 580 also isn't a standard size so it also should be some kind of custom order.

http://danielpi.com/fountain-pens/20...who-makes-them

The 580 nibs may not be a standard size in the sense that they could be called a #6 like so many others, but they aren't unique to TWSBI. The same size / shape nibs are used by Visconti in their "midi" size pens, and also by Franklin-Christoph in their smaller pens.

[Scooby921]

My understanding is TWSBI used to use Bock and then switched to Jowo. But either way, not an Asian nib, so not sure how any expectations can be entertained on the basis of nationality. It's based on brand.

Every TWSBI pen I've used produced a smaller / narrower line than any non-Asian manufactured pen with an equivalently named nib size. I agree that using nibs produced in Europe one would think they run the same size as every other non-Asian nib, but that isn't the case in my experience. A TWSBI EF is a noticeably narrower line than my Visconti and Lamy EF nibs. I make some allowance for the fact that gold is softer than steel and the Visconti/Lamy nibs will flex a little more, but even under very light pressure they are a broader line.

[grainweevil]

My understanding is TWSBI used to use Bock and then switched to Jowo. But either way, not an Asian nib, so not sure how any expectations can be entertained on the basis of nationality. It's based on brand.

Every TWSBI pen I've used produced a smaller / narrower line than any non-Asian manufactured pen with an equivalently named nib size. I agree that using nibs produced in Europe one would think they run the same size as every other non-Asian nib, but that isn't the case in my experience. A TWSBI EF is a noticeably narrower line than my Visconti and Lamy EF nibs. I make some allowance for the fact that gold is softer than steel and the Visconti/Lamy nibs will flex a little more, but even under very light pressure they are a broader line.

Not, I have to say, my experience overall. But having said that, it would depend which nib I compared it to. Say I chose to compare a TWSBI broad with a Lamy - do I choose the Lamy B that's more like a medium, or the one that rivals the Kaweco BB? The former will agree with my overall experience, but the latter will definitely back you up. I honestly think the whole nib width comparison business is futile, but, hey, it keeps us off the streets.

[Scooby921]

Yeah. I suppose we have to factor in the additional variables of where one holds a pen, how the nib is oriented to the page, and how much pressure is used during writing. Roll in nib-to-nib variation from each manufacturer as well. The EF in my Visconti HS Jade produces a finer line than the EF in my Visconti HS Bronze. Then add the complexity of vendors and nibmeisters who may tune a nib before it goes out the door (Mottishaw at CFP, Brian at Edison, etc). If they do any bit of polishing to a nib it's going to change the shape and how it writes compared to a true off-the-shelf nib.