# Is there a Fountain Pen that offers a Variable Line Thickness???



## TDolce

I'm a cartoonist who has been looking in vain for a fountain pen that offers an expressive and variable line thickness to match the personality of the artist's style. The problem seems to be that the tines on a Fountain Pen nib do not separate as a traditional dip pens' would due to the nature of the feed design needed for the fountain pen. This bothers me,&#8230;but I guess it has to be this way by the nature of the design. 



 I was told that the "closest" Fountain Pen that had what I was looking for is the Namaki Falcon. Does anyone agree or have experience with this pen? Do the tines separate at all? Will they allow for a thick to thin varying line? 




I'm just very curious about this Falcon pen that keeps coming up in my inquiries about a Fountain Pen Solution for
a cartoonist's quest.

Thanks


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## cedarman320

There are a couple of ways to get line variation in a fountain pen: an italic or stub nib, or a flexible nib. The mechanism by which the two ways work is different.

Check out this pen site:
http://www.richardspens.com/
In the left column, click on "Reference Info". Then scroll down to "Nibs, feeds and filling systems. Plenty of topics of interest for you ("Specialty Nibs", "Flex v. Italic", "Condor" and "ItaliFine"). The entire website is a gem and could keep you busy for months.

Another "nibmeister" website is here:
http://www.nibs.com/mainpage.html
And this page has samples of various nibs, including a Falcon w/ modified nib:
http://www.nibs.com/writing_samples.htm

Both these guys do great custom work.

Here are two reviews of the Falcon:
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=22872
http://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=23492

Hope this helps,
Rick


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## Kafka-Cloud

I have two pens that have line thickness variation. The first is a vintage aurora 88 with a fine flexible nib and the other is a danitrio raw ebonite with a fine flexible nib. Line thickness variation is around a factor x2. In other words initial line is around 1.25mm and can go up to 2.5 mm


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## scuttle

TDolce said:


> I'm a cartoonist who has been looking in vain for a fountain pen that offers an expressive and variable line thickness to match the personality of the artist's style. The problem seems to be that the tines on a Fountain Pen nib do not separate as a traditional dip pens' would due to the nature of the feed design needed for the fountain pen. This bothers me,&#8230;but I guess it has to be this way by the nature of the design.
> 
> 
> 
> I was told that the "closest" Fountain Pen that had what I was looking for is the Namaki Falcon. Does anyone agree or have experience with this pen? Do the tines separate at all? Will they allow for a thick to thin varying line?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm just very curious about this Falcon pen that keeps coming up in my inquiries about a Fountain Pen Solution for
> a cartoonist's quest.
> 
> Thanks


You need a flex nib. Be warned that they are not easy to use - as the tines spread to widen the line drag increases, and controlling line thickness requires good hand pressure control. Otoh, an artist may find this a snap.

Standard Falcon's are somewhat flexy, and are probably the only such modern pens. You'd probably need a flexed-up Falcon to get the effect you want - google "John Mottishaw" - he offers Falcons set to different degrees of flex.

A lower cost way of getting flex to try would be to buy an old dip pen holder with a flex nib; these can be dirt cheap. Ask on the Fountain Pen Network forum or some place similar. Oh - and Esterbrook pens go for very little and ebay and can use interchangeable nibs, with one option being a flex.


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## Mike T

Not true at all. A fountain pen with a flexible nib will write just like a dip pen. The problem may be that you seem to be restricting yourself to _new_ pens. Modern writers prefer stiff nibs, so modern pens are usually made with them. Try earlier in the 20th century and you'll find other choices. I have a gorgeous Eversharp Skyline in 14k gold [similar to http://penhero.com/PenGallery/Eversharp/WahlEversharp.htm ] 
that dates from shortly after World War II, and it has an extremely flexible gold nib. (But I'm a modern writer, so the Eversharp is actually more flexible than I like. I do almost all my writing with a 1950s Sheaffer Snorkel that has a very stiff, fine nib).

The people who sell and restore vintage pens are very knowledgeable, and you can probably find something you like. Here's a website that catalogs its pens by flexibility of nib (disclaimer - I haven't actually bought anything from this place. I just found it in a search) 
http://www.vintagepens.com/vintage_pens_catalog.shtml

QUOTE=TDolce;1458566]I'm a cartoonist who has been looking in vain for a fountain pen that offers an expressive and variable line thickness to match the personality of the artist's style. The problem seems to be that the tines on a Fountain Pen nib do not separate as a traditional dip pens' would due to the nature of the feed design needed for the fountain pen. This bothers me,&#8230;but I guess it has to be this way by the nature of the design. 

 I was told that the "closest" Fountain Pen that had what I was looking for is the Namaki Falcon. Does anyone agree or have experience with this pen? Do the tines separate at all? Will they allow for a thick to thin varying line? 

I'm just very curious about this Falcon pen that keeps coming up in my inquiries about a Fountain Pen Solution for
a cartoonist's quest.

Thanks[/QUOTE]


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## NeoTiger

There are some semi-flex pens available on new pens, including the Pilot Falcon (or the more expensive Pilot Custom series with a "falcon nib", which is not the same nib as the Pilot Falcon pen but also does flex).

Also some of the Omas or Stipula titanium nibs sometimes are semi-flex.

But the best bet is to get a custom job from someone that customizes nibs, such as Richard Binder or John Mottishaw.


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## ZIPPER79

Hello penpeeps,
My suggestion is the SAILOR with a MUSIC NIB. It's not inexpensive but extremely well made!
I have a Sailor 1911 model with a medium nib that writes with a nice wet line.
Happy hunting.


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## TimeZero

Flex is one way to achieve line variaton, but as Rugman pointed out, there are others. You could easily buy a "music", "stub", "italic", or "cursive italic" nib that will allow you to create narrow horizontal lines and thick vertical ones, or a "hebrew" or "arabic" style nib which would create thick horiziontal lines and narrow vertical ones. 

Some makers offer "italic" style nibs as OEM, but in my experience, you're better off having the nib custom-ground by a nibmeister such as Greg Minuskin. 

James


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