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There’s a lot of lingo that gets thrown around in conversation about fountain pens, and many can be confusing for newbies and journeymen alike.
I’m starting a series of posts about fountain pen vocabulary geared towards helping people understand each part of the pen and how they work. This week, we’re going over the nib; arguably the most important part of the pen itself.
Most parts of this Sailor’s nib, labeled
Nib Anatomy
Nib – The part of the pen that transfers ink from the feed to the paper. They come in many shapes and styles, and the shape of the nib often determines other aspects of it’s writing experience.
Hooded Nib – A nib that is covered by a piece of the section, which is done to try and extend the amount of time the pen can be uncapped without drying out. The most notable example of this nib is Parker 51.
Semi-Hooded Nib – The same as a hooded nib, but the section doesn’t completely cover the nib like on the Parker 51. This serves the same purpose as the fully hooded nibs, but to a lesser extent.
Inlaid Nib – A nib that is held into the section by a plastic mold, most commonly found on Sheaffer pens.
Inset Nib – A nib held onto the section by an adhesive. An example is the Waterman Carene.
Nib material – The material the nib is actually made out of. Often, nibs are steel, or 14k/18k gold, but other nibs do exist including titanium, palladium, and glass.
Feed – A (usually black) piece of plastic or ebonite that is set under the feed that carries ink from the body of the pen into the nib, to then be transferred to the page. Often in modern pens, feeds have slits cut into them that allows the ink to expand from temperature or pressure without leaking into the cap or page.
Breather hole – A hole made at the end of the slit in the middle of the nib that helps the nib deal with stress that is usually centered around that area. Sometimes stiff nibs (like on the Waterman Carene) don’t need the breather hole to help with stress, so it is omitted.
Slit – A channel cut into the nib that carries ink from the feed to the tip. The breadth of this channel often determines how wet the nib is.
Tines – The two halves of the nib, starting at the base of the slit running to the tip. Often when a pen is scratchy, people will ask if “the tines are misaligned”. This means that one tine has been set lower or higher than the other, so they need to be realigned.
Shoulders – The widest part of the nib, where the nib ceases to grow wider and instead begins narrowing into each of the tines, and eventually the tip.
Engraving – The design that is cut or engraved into the nib.
Tipping material – A ball of a very hard metal welded onto the tip of the nib to provide a lasting surface to write with. The material is often called “iridium”, but actual iridium is rarely used. Usually, the metal is ruthenium combined with other metals. The tipping is polished and ground to create all of the different sizes you find on a pen.
Nib size – Determines how fine or broad the nib writes. Also, tipping material can be ground (by the nib’s manufacturer or by a nibmeister) into many other styles, including italics, obliques, and architects.
Grinds – Refers specifically to specialty nib sizes (cursive italic, architect, oblique, needlepoint, etc). I.e. Nib size of medium, with an italic grind.
Retipping – Welding a new ball of tipping material onto the nib, usually done if the material breaks off of the nib or if it had been worn down almost completely (especially in vintage pens).
Writing comparison between a rigid, soft, and semi-flex nib
Nib Properties
Wetness – How much ink passes through the slit. If not much ink is put down, the pen is deemed “dry” (often doesn’t feel as smooth, not many ink properties will show, but better on sub-par paper), but if the pen puts down lots of ink, it is “wet” (feels smoother, ink looks better, but behaves poorly on sub-par paper).
Smoothness – How smoothly and easily the pen writes. Smoothness is determined by a number of factors, but the 3 most common are that the nib is too dry, the tines are misaligned, or the tipping material is not well polished (must be fixed using micro-mesh or mylar paper).
“Tuned Nib” – A tuned nib is one that has been adjusted specifically to a person’s taste. One thing that should always be remembered is that almost any nib can perform like any other if it is tuned correctly (except for flex, flex can be added to some nibs but it is very difficult).
Softness – When a nib feels smooth and responsive on the page, or when you push with a but of pressure it feels like a cushion on the page, and can provide a bit of line variation to add a bit of character to your writing. Using pressure while writing is ill-advised, you should allow the line variation to happen naturally.
Rigid – a nib that is stiff and the tines do not give at all when writing. Often, steel nibs are considered more rigid than gold, titanium, or palladium, but rigid gold nibs do exist (see: Waterman Carene).
Springiness – When a soft nib springs back quickly, providing a writing experience that feels like the nib is squishy like a spring.
Semi-flex – A soft nib with more flexibility, allowing for a good amount of line variation and a nice springiness that allows the tines to come together quickly. A semi-flex pen performed well enough that you can purposefully use a bit of pressure to add nice flair to your writing. I define a semi-flex pen to be one that can flex 2 nib sizes above its original size. So, a semi flex could flex from a fine to a broad size.
Full Flex – Even more flex than a semi-flex, these nibs can flex 3 or more nib sizes higher than its original size. These pens are often used for calligraphy or hand lettering, as this much flex isn’t needed for normal, everyday writing.
Wet Noodle – A nib (often vintage) that flexes a whole lot, more than the average full flex. These noodles are often also characterized by their very wet ink flow.
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8ballpens 
Thanks for sharing! That was super comprehensive!
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