The NibA brief history of the fountain pen nib. Today, the nib is usually made of stainless steel or gold, with the most popular gold content being 14 karat and 18 karat. Gold is considered the optimum metal for its flexibility and its resistance to corrosion, since fountain pen inks tend to be somewhat acidic or alkaline. Gold nibs are tipped with a hard, wear-resistant alloy that typically uses metals from the platinum group. The tipping material is often called "iridium", but there are only a few penmakers that still use this metal in their nibs. Steel nibs may also have harder tips; those with un-tipped steel points will wear more rapidly due to abrasion by the paper. The nib will adjust itself more readily to the user's style as it wears down.
 The nib usually has one
slit cut down its center, to convey the ink down the nib by
capillary action, as well as a "breather hole" of varying shape to
promote the exchange of air for ink in the pen's reservoir (or
drilled as a part of the manufacturing process to prevent the nib
splitting when the slit is cut with a saw). The whole nib narrows
to a point where the ink is transferred to the paper. Broad
calligraphy
pens may have several slits in the nib to increase ink flow and
help distribute it evenly across the broad point. Nibs divided into
three 'tines' are commonly known as 'music' nibs, as their line
which can be varied from broad to fine is suited for writing
musical scores.
Although the most common nibs end in a round point of various sizes (fine, medium, broad), various other nib shapes are available. Examples of this are oblique, reverse oblique, stub, italic and 360 degree nibs. |
