Safari feed question

[Lt. Tom]

In another thread, we're discussing the flow properties of Lamy Blue cartridges. I didn't want to hijack that thread, but it got me wondering. Do all Safaris (AlStars, Joys) regardless of nib size have the same feed? I tried Lamy USA's website, but they don't sell the feed seperately. Can a XF nib and a 1.9 mm nib each happily use the exact same feed? I've swapped nibs on them without a thought, and they've always worked fine. That other thread has just got me curious.

[Bogon07]

I have no technical knowledge of this but I would say the Safari and Joy would be identical. The Al-Star maybe slightly different due to the front grip section having to dock with the metal barrel in a slightly different manner to the plastic Safari/Joy barrels.

Makes you wonder if there is any significant difference in the feeds other Lamy pens such as the Nexx, Studio, Logo etc.

The interchangability of nibs is feature of many pen in the Lamy range so they must have given some thought to the feed flow characteristics being able to cope with the nib variations.

Do other pen manufacturers tweek their feeds for particular nibs ?

[Lt. Tom]

I honestly have no idea. I had never even considered the question before today. I had always just assumed that all Safaris came with the same feed in them, because when you swap nibs on them, they work just as well with the new size nib as they did with the old. I guess I just spent too much time at my desk today staring into space, wondering why some of us have had no trouble with the Lamy blue T10s and some of us have had trouble. Altitude? Barametric pressure? Humidity? The fact that my desk faces east?

[tytoalba]

The little I can share is that Safari has been made for a long time, with some refinements. At FPN Haywoody's dissection (autopsy thread), of Safari shows "the parts" in a series of photos. The most radical changes have been to the cap, to simplify clip retainer. As to the feed, I do know there was a "run" which tended to crumble, and which Lamy readily replaced. I do not know if there was ever any small changes to the feed. Now that I have models ranging from original Red to Apple, I personally discern that the feed is competent, and the nibs are consistent.
I do have issue with two of the original Lamy Joy nibs, (in the set). They 'seem' to have sharper edges than the regular Safari italics. Is this possible? I suppose they could be replaced. Or I could pass this set on, since it still writes much better than any other calligraphy sets I've used.
Also, I posed a question in the other thread.. when writing with wider italic, much like writing with flex pens, shouldn't one slow down their writing to allow for optimum flow? When writing with flex, obviously one wouldn't press beyond the capacity of the tines, to railroad, so even though Safari italic has no flex, when using the extra wide's, wouldn't one slow down to allow capillary action of feed to perform at its best?

[JustDaveyB]

The little I can share is that Safari has been made for a long time, with some refinements. At FPN Haywoody's dissection (autopsy thread), of Safari shows "the parts" in a series of photos. The most radical changes have been to the cap, to simplify clip retainer. As to the feed, I do know there was a "run" which tended to crumble, and which Lamy readily replaced. I do not know if there was ever any small changes to the feed. Now that I have models ranging from original Red to Apple, I personally discern that the feed is competent, and the nibs are consistent.
I do have issue with two of the original Lamy Joy nibs, (in the set). They 'seem' to have sharper edges than the regular Safari italics. Is this possible? I suppose they could be replaced. Or I could pass this set on, since it still writes much better than any other calligraphy sets I've used.
Also, I posed a question in the other thread.. when writing with wider italic, much like writing with flex pens, shouldn't one slow down their writing to allow for optimum flow? When writing with flex, obviously one wouldn't press beyond the capacity of the tines, to railroad, so even though Safari italic has no flex, when using the extra wide's, wouldn't one slow down to allow capillary action of feed to perform at its best?

The 3 nibs in my Joy calligraphy set are definitely crisper than the ones I bought separately - They must give them an extra sharp edge.

[Bogon07]

The 3 nibs in my Joy calligraphy set are definitely crisper than the ones I bought separately - They must give them an extra sharp edge.

It would make sense that the nibs in the Joy set are optimised for dedicated calligraphy use, after all you would hardly expect someone to whip a Joy out of their pocket/purse to sign a cheque or document.