Franklin-Cristoph- HPSteel S.I.G vs HPS Fine Cursive Italic (Masuyama)

[Igraine]

I don’t want line variation or flex or any of the other options...just even, consistent lines...so I got the standard steel #6 nib. I must say, since I got this pen, it’s the one I use the most in my little collection. It seems to be happy with whatever ink I put into it, feels comfortable in my hand, and is just a pleasure to write with.

Love to be able to support an American company, and really looking forward to buying more Franklin-Christoph pens....but it’s slow as molasses, waiting for them to restock.

[mizgeorge]

Well I've got a Nagahara Broad CI on the way, so can add to the comparison. I thought the SIG lacked a bit of variation for me - but I enjoy a fairly crisp italic and I've got plenty of stubs of all sorts (including many I've stubbed myself) to play with. I'm very much looking forward to its arrival, whenever that may be!

[wingwiper]

Well I've got a Nagahara Broad CI on the way, so can add to the comparison. I thought the SIG lacked a bit of variation for me - but I enjoy a fairly crisp italic and I've got plenty of stubs of all sorts (including many I've stubbed myself) to play with. I'm very much looking forward to its arrival, whenever that may be!

I agree with everything you said..............

I got the broad SIG #5 and depending on the angle is where I find more of the line variation. Some other stubs I have write fat with little line variation, but still nice. Geg Minuskin's stubs will write with some line variation as well------in regards to talking abt stubs.

However pretty much every italic I have had grounded or stock from the factory all have that crispness, some a little more, some a little less.

Pendleton's BLS grinds are a hybrid like the SIG grinds from FC, however if you want a little more crispness he will grind a little more on the italic side, albeit still being a hybrid. The FC SIG extra fine/#6 I find just exceptional. I ordered a Nagaha CI in it, but since I swapped out to just see.............am really enjoying it. Writes a tad wetter, of course smoother bc it is not all cursive where the SIG is a hybrid between both the sub-italic.

[mizgeorge]

It had actually arrived when I said that earlier - but my beloved had hidden the box with a bunch of other mail and hadn't told me. It's amazing that I can order a pen in NC on Friday and have it in my house 3600 miles away before 9am on Monday, but the order I placed for some bits and pieces from about 35 miles away (and in stock) won't get to me until Wednesday or Thursday at the earliest.

It's certainly crisp - and absolutely lovely to write with - not sharp at all, and able to keep up with really very fast scribble as seen, but I think I was hoping it would be slightly broader. Next time (and there definitely will be a next time) I don't think I'll bother with the extra for the grind and just order a stock 1.1 or even 1.4 and modify it myself if I need to.

I'm absolutely delighted with it overall though, and will be using it a lot. Not least because it's murky green, and I love almost anything murky green!
FC45L-XLV-2.jpg
FC45L-XLV.jpg

[Jon Szanto]

...but I think I was hoping it would be slightly broader. Next time...

Just as an aside: I've gotten in the habit of measurement in mm. In any conversation with a nibmeister or ordering a certain nib, I always communicate how wide I want the tines to actually be (of course, we're talking italics). Not F,M,B, etc, and not line width on page, which can vary with ink and paper. If I get a nib that is the physical dimension I am expecting, I can deal with all the other variables on my own.

Likely something you have thought of or done yourself, just thought it was worth mentioning.

That is a nice ink, too - where can it be purchased?

[mizgeorge]

...but I think I was hoping it would be slightly broader. Next time...

Just as an aside: I've gotten in the habit of measurement in mm. In any conversation with a nibmeister or ordering a certain nib, I always communicate how wide I want the tines to actually be (of course, we're talking italics). Not F,M,B, etc, and not line width on page, which can vary with ink and paper. If I get a nib that is the physical dimension I am expecting, I can deal with all the other variables on my own.

Likely something you have thought of or done yourself, just thought it was worth mentioning.

That is a nice ink, too - where can it be purchased?

I think almost exclusively in mm now - and I knew that a BCI would be narrower than the 1.1, but I didn't really think very hard about it - I was just in the buying zone and wanted it NOW! It's a lovely nib, and not a problem at all unless I want to use a much lighter ink, which with spring approaching may well happen before too long! I've got plenty of JoWo 5's I can swap in if I want to though.

The Blackbird Inks are very nice. Only a limited range, but the green and the blue/black (Magpie) are both very usable. There's also a very bright green that I've like much more than I expected. They're available from the pen blanks site that now own the Mabie Todd name, and also on ebay. Happy to send you some samples if you'd like?

[Jon Szanto]

The Blackbird Inks are very nice. Only a limited range, but the green and the blue/black (Magpie) are both very usable. There's also a very bright green that I've like much more than I expected. They're available from the pen blanks site that now own the Mabie Todd name, and also on ebay. Happy to send you some samples if you'd like?

Thanks for the info AND the offer. I should wait on that, tho, as I have 3 bottles and a sample on the way from Vanness. I'm also starting to do some periodic use of "inks that haven't come out of the collection in a while" to get some variety! PM me if you want some other murky green samples, in case some of the inks I have you don't.

[wingwiper]

The Blackbird Inks are very nice. Only a limited range, but the green and the blue/black (Magpie) are both very usable. There's also a very bright green that I've like much more than I expected. They're available from the pen blanks site that now own the Mabie Todd name, and also on ebay. Happy to send you some samples if you'd like?

Thanks for the info AND the offer. I should wait on that, tho, as I have 3 bottles and a sample on the way from Vanness. I'm also starting to do some periodic use of "inks that haven't come out of the collection in a while" to get some variety! PM me if you want some other murky green samples, in case some of the inks I have you don't.

Wow..............I really like that ink- Mabie Todd and who carries it? It looks to be pretty saturated, is it very wet? Would love to try there blue/black

I can imagine it being crisp, as my FC #6 Fine CI (Nagahara) and FC #5 Medium CI (Masuyama) are, with just a little bite on the horizonal depending on the angle you are holding the pen.

I need to get a micrometer and "agree" measuring is probably the best way to go vs uses my architectural ruler from days I used to work

I know a couple nibs or pens I order from Greg Minuskin I pretty much tried to measure the tines on a CI I got from John Mottishaw and you are so correct to state paper is a determining factor, which can make your tines vary a mm or two

[wingwiper]

So please excuse my lousy handwriting as I am a disabled vet who can only write in block these days............

Examples of the Franklin Cristoph nib grinds I just received and through in a couple of Pendleton Brown's BLS grinds and 2 John Mottishaw grinds I have had for better than 20 years.

I was running out of ink in the Sheaffer Balance w/Greg Minuskin's stub grind

[IMG][/IMG]

[Jon Szanto]

So please excuse my lousy handwriting...

Don't ever apologize for this. It is eminently readable and you've displayed the nib characteristics well.

[wingwiper]

So please excuse my lousy handwriting...

Don't ever apologize for this. It is eminently readable and you've displayed the nib characteristics well.

your to kind............not whining, have had to learn how to write again twice due to nerve damage in my hands, from an injury I got while on active duty-

still haven't abandoned by fondness for FP's. actually any person that has an injury, disability, etc. in their hands will find writing with a FP is far easier than trying to push a ballpoint around on paper. you get it tuned right and its like pushing a paint brush around

you guys are very considerate

[SlowMovingTarget]

[SlowMovingTarget]

Better writing sample from the "written in" thread...
20210319_221929_001.jpg

[wingwiper]

love it............congrats

[Brad Pearce]

I have a SIG in F, too.

I don't know how a F nib can be compared to a stub....

[silverlifter]

I uploaded this to the other place: a comparison between the <F> and <M> SIG nibs by Audrey. Both are lovely to write with:

sig-nibs.jpg

[FredRydr]

I think highly of Franklin-Christoph's products. But why can't fountain pen people agree on standard English names to describe these nibs and grinds? It's not like these names are coming from different language roots. Okay, okay. Vendors have the right to distinguish their products from others. (They might even end up registering them as trademarks.)

I remember one nibmeister at a pen show years ago professing that there was "no such thing" as cursive italic, while Richard Binder was offering his services at the same show including his cursive italic grind. Then there're the architect nibs that used to be called Hebrew/Arabic nibs (and at least one architect/fountain pen collector has expressed his puzzlement why an architect would even choose such a nib for professional work).



No matter, the semantic battles over nib names haven't produced any casualties yet, so my chances of survival are quite good.

[silverlifter]

I have always found cursive italic to be a helpful way of describing a nib that can be used for cursive, as opposed to a pure italic which is really only suited for calligraphy.

Like you Fred, I am more bemused by the variants that seem to have more of a trademark approach, where nib grinders are offering variants that lie between a stub and a cursive italic, offering a more forgiving point:

* Cursive Smooth Italic (Bacas)
* Stub Italic Gradient (Rouse, now Matteson)
* Butter Line Stub (Brown)
* the Daily Italic (which does, in fact, have a TM appended to it - Kennedy)
* Smooth Italic (Salorino)

[Igraine]

Ah, I have and I love this same exact pen, even though it’s everything I thought I didn’t like about a fountain pen. Quite large in my little hands. Even the nib is huge. No clip, and I love a clip, for decoration. The fine steel puts out a much thicker line than I thought I preferred...yet, here I am, using it way more than any of my other pens. Right now I have Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo in it, but it seems to perform well no matter what ink I put in it. Just a great pen!!

[mizgeorge]

Well I'm going to have to revise my opinion slightly.

I got my new FC this morning, and this time I didn't bother with a custom nib, opting instead for the stock 1.1, and I'm afraid I prefer it to the more expensive option. The BCI has its place, and will be used a lot, but for sheer fun, and especially given that I'm rather keen on pale inks at the moment, the 1.1 just works for me. It's smooth, has great flow, even with the slightly dry ink I decided to test it out with before it gets something really interesting, and I'm delighted with it. It's the 'girliest' pen I've ever owned and I love it. Perhaps not quite as much as the 45L, which is just a touch smaller, but it's right up there in my favourite acrylic pens list, and we've not even really got to know each other yet...

fc-20-marietta-candystone.jpg

(Apologies for rubbish quick phone pic)