Why big nibs?

**scud80** · November 7th, 2021, 10:22 PM

I definitely find the Tohma pens intriguing, but I don't like the carbon-fiber look of their normal pens and the urushi ones are far too expensive for me. Maybe I'll get to try one at a pen show sometime to see how it feels (anybody in LA own one?). With a nib that big it almost seems like it would put the hand too far away from the contact point to be comfortable.

**bunnspecial** · November 9th, 2021, 10:17 AM

Originally Posted by BoBo Olson

a. What we grew up with influences what we think of as a big nib, the youth who grew up with large pens as their standard ones, don't see a 149's nib as big as I do.

I'd probably be classed as a "youth" given I'm in my early 30s and have never been around FPs as a primary writing instrument.

Still, I think that it's incorrect to call big pens/nibs a modern phenomenon. Lest we not forget that the 149 has been continuously produced for nearly 70 years now, and as part of my collection I specifically seek out larger pens. Even relatively common pens like the 1920s Parker Duofold Senior are the size of a modern 146, give or take. I have pens specifically sold in the 30s as Oversize including the Vacumatic and Balance.

Lest we not forget also that Montblanc once made, if I'm not mistaken, eyedroppers/safeties/button fillers with a size 12 nib, and I think Waterman went up to a size 20 or so.

**pajaro** · November 20th, 2021, 08:50 PM

Easier to see a big nib when your eyesight wanes.

**BoBo Olson** · November 25th, 2021, 02:27 PM

My MB Safety Pen only has a size 6 nib so must be a small one. Just a touch longer than a Pelikan 600 with longer nib of course.
My day was late '50-s-mid 60's for fountain pens. And no one was using old '30's fountain pens then. I didn't even know what they looked like. A P-51 was an old pen. Even if still the Prince of Pens.

One did strive to keep up with the Jones even with Wearevers, one had to keep up to date. Even if better made, one didn't use post war Wearever fountain pens any more than one drove an 8 year old car.
(Outside of us...but the '49 Buick Roadmaster was still a solid 'powerful' car.) There was a jump of HP in the mid '50's as the Mercury muscle car came in.....like with in the last 5 or 6 years with the basic 500 HP car. When Ferrari just wrecks a 750HP test car, 500HP is no longer much to write home about.)

**KBeezie** · November 25th, 2021, 02:55 PM

Size doesn't matter as much to me as long as I can see the point and orientation of the nib well. That seems a tad easier on a larger one versus a skinny partially hooded nib (though a larger nib hooded which isn't likely to happen. Would probably have the same drawback).

And at least the bigger vintage ones I've tried felt nicer to me than the modern, is reiterates that the size isn't the only thing that changes the feel if anything.

So I just think it's mainly about appearance, preference if it matters how you see it, and mostly a luxury to have it big.

**although** · December 1st, 2021, 08:51 PM

It seems to me that, from a design standpoint, once the ink leaves the safety of the barrel it is in danger of drying out and causing problems. Big nibs leave a lot more acreage for air to contact ink. I see big nibs as a risk factor when it comes to reliability. I think there is a reason that the Parker 51 has a reputation as being a reliable writer. Big nibs look cool. I've got a 149, and it's a lovely pen. But, I feel like any pen maker has chosen a more difficult path when they go for the giant nibs...

**Jon Szanto** · December 1st, 2021, 09:11 PM

Originally Posted by although

I've got a 149, and it's a lovely pen. But, I feel like any pen maker has chosen a more difficult path when they go for the giant nibs...

Which begs your own question: is the pen still reliable? Does the ink "dry out and cause problems"? Where theory and practice meet is right in your hand.

**vdiantonio** · January 14th, 2022, 12:18 PM

This is a very interesting question and I've been watching the replies with interest. I like big nibs on my pens and, conversely, I don't like small nibs on my pens. (I also don't like very large pens, rather I like smaller pens with big nibs!) The Edison Beaumont is one of my very favorite pens precisely because its a smaller pen (when posted) with a larger pen nib (#6 I think). Disturbingly, I'm not sure I can adequately articulate why I like big nibs. It must be the aesthetic beauty of large nib running over the paper, its the only way I can describe it. Or maybe its due to the BIG FORD PICKUP factor that someone else posted a picture of!