Not looking for myself, but for a gift for my dad, who knows how to write with those things. Some research shows that flex nibs fell out of favor by the 1950s, because people were writing in increasingly simplified cursive, which did not require flex nibs. Flex nibs can produce a stroke from very thin to about 6 times as broad. It takes practice to master writing with a flex nibs. Now there are almost no makers of flex nibs. Almost all the big brand have stopped making them. Apparently the knowldge of how to make such nibs has been lost, since the manufacturing process is rather complicated. The only domestic brand of flex nibs, or rather a semi-flex nib is Noodler, a company run by a former master nib maker. Then there is the Japanese maker Pilot Namiki, which makes most notably the Pilot Custom 743 with a variety of nibs. The Falcon tip in size 15 seems to be the best choice for my dad. The problem with this nib is that it designed for rather short strokes instead of the long strokes of the Latin alphabet. Thus, ink starvation may be an issue with ink supply becoming insufficient in midstroke.
Does anybody here have experience with either the Noodler pen with a flex nib or with the Pilot Custom 743? I don't really know about old pens and wouldn't want to end up buying a pen with a nib on its last leg.
A width vraiance similar to the one in the sample below would be desirable:
I myself have pretty lousy penmanship and I doubt I could write with a flex nib without much practice. Sample below with a Montblanc Classic with a very rigid nib. Not very pretty! Just okay for unelegant signatures. As you can see, the stroke width does not vary a whole lot due to the rigid nib.
Does anybody here have experience with either the Noodler pen with a flex nib or with the Pilot Custom 743? I don't really know about old pens and wouldn't want to end up buying a pen with a nib on its last leg.
A width vraiance similar to the one in the sample below would be desirable:
I myself have pretty lousy penmanship and I doubt I could write with a flex nib without much practice. Sample below with a Montblanc Classic with a very rigid nib. Not very pretty! Just okay for unelegant signatures. As you can see, the stroke width does not vary a whole lot due to the rigid nib.
