~Could this be magic? (The CM nib...??)

[Skip]

The CM (Calligraphy Moderate) nib that's optional with Pilot's pocket-size Piera pen is my absolute favorite, and I always considered it one of the best writing flex style pen/nib combos available. However I recently learned from a fellow Geeker that with these CM nibs the line variation is created by the nib style and not by flex... ~Huh???

Now that's interesting! ~How does that work? If the space betwixt the CM's tines does not widen and narrow depending upon hand pressure, how does this nib accomplish it's neat line variations? I get some really great cursive and print writing out of these CM nibbed pens w/o hardly even trying... No special hand pressure or twisting to speak of; ~it feels like one just has to think of writing a fancier line and presto, -the pen obliges!!

So having a good imagination, I have occasionally wondered if the way the Pieras' CM nibs write so interestingly (and easily) varied lines is perhaps a bit magical?
So wot say y'all? ~Can someone enlighten (and disillusion?) me here?

[~JJ]

Put up some writing samples?

[Lloyd]

Is it just a stub nib?

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[Yazeh]

It's in the architecture of the nib. You can have line variations with fude nibs, stubs, italic/oblique and a few other nibs. Unlike flex nibs, you create line variations depending how you hold the pen / angle the nib. CM as Lloyd said is kind of stub.

[Skip]

When this nib is used with the Piera it's called a "CM". When it's on the Cosmopolitan Retro Pop it's called an "Italic" nib. ~Same nib/different name. It definitely has it's own style of writing; it doesn't write at all like a stub IMO, but also not like a true flex either. ~I'll post some writing samples tomorrow...

[Jon Szanto]

The stub/italic family of nib styles creates line variation through the shape and grind of the nib tip: vertical strokes are wider, and horizontal strokes are narrower. As you note, pressure is not in play, merely the change in width of the surface of the nib that is in use at any given moment. You may find this page of interest. There you can see the basics of nib shape and architecture, and with people grinding in new ways and styles, the amount of variety in nib styles today continues to grow.

[Bisquitlips]

In my experience, every nib stands on its own. You have to try each nib before settling on what it does.

Over the decades, I've gotten fairly good at judging stub nibs and what they'll do by sight, but not others. Before I buy a pen, writing samples are a must. And even then, writing pressures, angles, and grips are different for each writer so there is no guarantee that the nib will work for you.

I can take a well-ground stub and use it for 98% of versatile writing such as caps printing, gothic, and free-hand cursive. Scripts like Spencerian I need a noodle.

This is the true thrill of fountain pens to me! 😁😁😁

[Yazeh]

This is done with a Sailor Fude De Mannen. If I hold the pen vertically, I have a fine line, the more I angle the pen the wider the line.

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[~JJ]

I'm admittedly a sucker for stubs. I'm twice as likely to buy a pen if it's equipped with a stub, & more often than not have passed up on pens I otherwise would've, because they weren't.
🖋

[Motomachi10]

Handwriting with a stub nib shows line variation without moving the angle of the pen in your normal writing style. The Latin letters require strokes in different directions, and no extra effort is needed with stubs and italic grounds unlike the fude nibs you have to change the angle to have variation. There are many nibs now in the market that help you to find the easiest way to write as you want, which is also an auxiliary way to increase fountain pen enthusiasts.

[Skip]

OK, well my shaky hand printing style needs a lotta work but here's a couple of samples from my Pilot Prera pens. It may not be pretty, but I think you can still obviously see the difference between using a Prera with a "CM" nib and with an "F" one...Prera-nib-samples.jpg

I guess from the explanations posted above, this "CM" (Calligraphy Moderate) nib could almost be considered a stub nib? ~However I do have several pens with stub nibs (a TWSBI Echo for one?) and IME they do not quite write the same way this Pilot Prera CM does...

[calamus]

There are variations within the stub/italic family. They're all "edged" nibs, while flex nibs are "pointed" nibs. Stubs can be found with and without tipping. There are also oblique stubs, in which the end of the nib is not straight across, but at a slight angle to straight across. They're often described as "left foot" and "right foot." (Imagine looking down at your bare feet, and see the angle defined by an imaginary line from the tip of your little toe to the tip of your big toe on each foot.) That's to help you differentiate between left foot and right foot, but on a nib the oblique angle is less pronounced than the toes' angle on a human foot. Left foot oblique stubs are generally best for right-handed writers, and vice-versa. The biggest difference between a stub and an italic nib, as I understand it, is that the corners of a stub are more rounded than the corners of an italic nib. A "cursive italic" is about halfway in between. Someone who's more knowledgeable please correct me if I got anything wrong; I'd be glad to learn more about the subject, being a stub and italic fancier.

[calamus]

Does anyone know if the CM on a Prera is different from an Italic on a Metropolitan? I do know that Prera and Metropolitan nibs are interchangeable.

[WaltZucher]

There are variations within the stub/italic family. They're all "edged" nibs, while flex nibs are "pointed" nibs. Stubs can be found with and without tipping. There are also oblique stubs, in which the end of the nib is not straight across, but at a slight angle to straight across. 3d Trcek They're often described as "left foot" and "right foot." (Imagine looking down at your bare feet, and see the angle defined by an imaginary line from the tip of your little toe to the tip of your big toe on each foot.) That's to help you differentiate between left foot and right foot, but on a nib the oblique angle is less pronounced than the toes' angle on a human foot. Left foot oblique stubs are generally best for right-handed writers, and vice-versa. Eldfall Chronicles The biggest difference between a stub and an italic nib, as I understand it, is that the corners of a stub are more rounded than the corners of an italic nib. A "cursive italic" is about halfway in between. Someone who's more knowledgeable please correct me if I got anything wrong; I'd be glad to learn more about the subject, being a stub and italic fancier.

That’s a great breakdown of the differences within the stub and italic family!