In today’s article, I thought I’d answer three questions I recently was asked about fountain pen nibs.
- What is the Tip of a Fountain Pen Called
- What is Nib Creep
- Do All Nibs Fit All Fountain Pens?
What Is The Tip of A Fountain Pen Called
The tip of a fountain pen is called a Nib. This metal tip is the part of the fountain pen which makes contact with the paper.
Fountain pen nibs have many parts. The very end of the nib is usually tipped with a strong, wear-resistant alloy that often contains platinum group metals. Extreme hardness and corrosion resistance characterize these metals.
The metals osmium, rhenium, ruthenium, and tungsten are utilized as an alloy and formed into small pellets that are soldered or welded onto a nib tip before the slit is cut and the tip is ground into its final shape. Due to abrasion from the paper, untipped steel and titanium points will wear more quickly.
What Is Nib Creep?
Nib creep is the term for what happens when ink from a fountain pen “creeps” out of the slit in the nib and onto the nib’s surface. This can happen for a variety of reasons, including the type of ink in the pen, the type of metal the nib is composed of, or a little flaw in the nib’s slit, which can cause the ink to flow out onto the nib. Some people dislike the way it looks or they worry about staining something with the excess ink, yet a little nib creep has no effect on a fountain pen’s function.
Do All Nibs Fit All Fountain Pens?
Unfortunately, not usually. Most fountain pen nibs are unique to the manufacturer, and cannot be combined to fit onto another manufacturer’s fountain pen. But some manufacturers design their nibs to be used interchangeably between product lines. One notable brand that does this Lamy.
Another thing to know is that many fountain pen brands use a German company called “Schmidt” to manufacture their nibs. So if your pen is a “schmidt-nib” pen then you can interchange.