Flexible nib & Music nib & Stub nib

Flexible nib & Music nib & Stub nib last up date 2005/02/10

The "Flexible fine nib"

In addition to our "fine" nib, we have created a "fine flexible nib."
Fine, extra fine and super fine nibs are more difficult to make than bolder sized nibs.

Because there is less ink flow, and less surface area of the iridium tip, there is more friction between the pen and the paper. While some people prefer a fine soft nib, others have a difficult time writing with one. If you prefer a fine nib with a bit of stiffness, then Nakaya recommends the ordinary fine nib.

However, if you prefer a soft touch, then Nakaya recommends the fine flexible nib.
We make these fine flexible nibs especially thin in order to be flexible. When you put a little pressure on your pen, the line gets bolder. If you prefer a consistent line width, the Nakaya recommends the ordinary fine nib.

Nakaya does not shave its other nibs, so if you discover you don't like the thinner fine flexible nib, feel free to have it exchanged with another nib when you have it adjusted.

The "Flexible medium nib"

Many of our overseas customers have stated their preference for flexible nibs. Nakaya has a special flexible type of gold which was originally intended for our fine nibs to give them a less scratchy feeling. However, in response to our customer demands, Nakaya has also released a flexible medium nib. Development of this nib took over six months of trial and error, and Nakaya now has 15 perfect flexible medium nibs out of 100 pieces produced ( 85 nibs did not meet our standards).

Please note the following:

*As mentioned above, this flexible medium nib has been produced for the benefit of our overseas customers. Foreign customers living in Japan cannot purchase a pen with one of these nibs "on the spot" at our pen clinics because the Nakaya artisans must use special tooling at our workshop to fit the nib to the feed, etc.
*Although we are making every effort to produce more flexible medium nibs, at present we only have 15 in stock. So there is a chance that a waiting period may be involved if you request a pen with a flexible medium nib, and our inventory has depleted.

An explanation concerning the use of the word "flexible" nib as opposed to "soft" nibs:
In English the term "soft nib" usually refers to a nib of soft gold material that gives under pressure for a bouncy feel, but does not necessarily impart any line variation, in contrast to "flex" nibs which are usually found on vintage pens, and do give line variation.
In Japanese, the word "soft" (yawarakai) is used to describe true flex nibs, and not just bouncy springy soft nibs. Nakaya uses both terms (soft and flexible) to describe our flexible nibs. These are true flexible nibs that impart line variation with a little pressure. Although Nakaya nibs will not be damaged under light pressure, any gold nib will bend and break under excessive pressure.

The Nakaya "Music" nib is now available!

The music nib has two slits. The feed also has two slits (this feed design comes only with the music nib). This design enables you to write fine horizontal lines and broad vertical lines. Since this nib is perfectly suited for music notation, it is called a "music" nib.

This nib comes in the gold single tone style only and the price is $80.00 USD in addition to pen.

In general, the broadness of Japanese nib is thinner than international one.
So Nakaya extra broad nib is similer to international broad nib. On the other hand, since shape of the stub nib is square in order to write thin line for horizontal side and broad line for vertical side, the writing feeling is a little scratchy. So if you are interested in broad side stub nib, it is worth to try a "Music nib". A music nib has two slits, so that you can express stubby line without many scratch writing feelings.

(A writing sample of "Music nib") nearly actual size

This nib is available on all kinds of Nakaya pens except the leather roll type.

The Nakaya "stub" nib is available!

Nakaya can make a stub nib for you according to your requirement. For reference, we make broad stubs from NAKAYA regular broad nibs, medium stubs from NAKAYA medium nibs, and fine stubs from NAKAYA fine nibs. Please note that the thinner nib makes less the difference between the vertical line width and the horizontal line width that is a primary characteristic of a stub nib.
An explanation of the "stub" nib
A stub nib is wider rather than it is slender, and the iridium tip is somewhat elliptical. That brings it the broader vertical strokes than the horizontal strokes.

For example, we make a broad stub from an ordinary broad nib. The vertical line is similar to the ordinary broad nib while the horizontal stroke is thinner and similar to the ordinary medium. If you choose a medium stub nib, the vertical line is similar to a medium nib while the horizontal stroke is thinner and similar to the ordinary fine. A medium stub nib can actually be made from our medium soft nib. The flexible characteristic of the medium-soft nib makes for a smoother line, with even more variation.
We hope this helps you to envisage what types of lines are produced by our various stub nibs.

Also, please take a look at the writing samples on this page which show the variation of line widths made with different Nakaya nibs.

Price and time differences for stub nibs.
The delivery time for stub nibs is the same as the case of Nakaya ordinary nibs. However, we would like have an additional 20 US dollars cost for a stub nib.

*notice*
In writing with Nakaya's stub nib, you might feel sometimes the scratchiness on the paper. The stub nib has a characteristic that can produce a broad vertical line and a fine horizontal line, and in order to get that writing result, the shape of the tip made of iridium is not roundish, rather close to rectangle. So, the scratchiness is inevitable depending on the angle of your holding a pen in writing, even if it is just slightly different from your usual way. Therefore, if you prioritize the smoothness over the other characteristics of a nib, we would like to recommend you choosing a nib out of our standard lines (from super extra fine to extra broad), instead of a stub nib. And we try to satisfy your requirement by adjusting the nib carefully and finely. Your kind understanding will be appreciated.

The following pictures are samples of the "extra bold stub" made from a Nakaya extra bold nib.

The following pictures are samples of the "fine stub" made from a Nakaya fine soft nib.

The notes example of Stub (extra bold)

The notes example of Stub (Fine soft)

The fountain pen of the Stub nib is ordered.
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