Steel nibs better than gold nibs | Since when?

These are my arguments to sustain this "Steel nibs better than gold nibs" statement - let me know if you think the same when it comes to choose the nib on your next fountain pen purchase.
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[@PenFriends]

Steel nibs are extremely versatile, some can provide a soft experience too. Especially the m200 from pelikan and Faber Castell steel nibs. You can even go flex with some nib modifications. Gold certainly is nice, but there’s a ton of gold nibs which are stiff as nails, or don’t really add anything to the writing experience. But when you do get a good gold nib, it can be a glorious experience. I just guess it comes down to how much you wish to pay for that experience

[@speedyspin]

stiff or not stiff is a taste...some people look for gold stiff nibs, specially for speed handwriting like Palmer...people always think a fountain pen should be smooth and flexible , that's completely wrong.

[@pen.venture]

Yup - steel nibs that are more stiff than a gold one can be very versatile in many scenarios. We all know that there is gold nibs... and then THOSE "gold nibs" that make you pick up your jaw after a few words written :D

[@julienzerilli4082]

I had this mind-blowing moment a few months ago. I realized that stiff steel nibs may be more suitable than gold nibs for me because I have a very small handwriting. They offer more control because they are less flexible (although it is more about the size than the material for small nibs). I also realized how much of a snob I became after "entering" the hobby. I came back on the right path though. Now I can enjoy fountain pens like I did in school, just for what they are.

[@pen.venture]

hey there J - I had this moment for the past 2 3 weeks thinking how to put everything in this video :D Softness of the gold is really charming but you need that space and time to enjoy it - calmness of spending the afternoon with a good paper at your home desk and simply enjoying - but on the go in normal use, steel prevails .

[@julienzerilli4082]

@@pen.venture I always see fountain pens as tools. I tend to gravitate solely around work horses/EDC. So it makes total sense !

[@najeebahmad3103]

Emy, I appreciate your willingness to explore topics like this! I'll take design and craftsmanship in a well-tuned steel nib over a poorly-made or tuned gold nib any day.

[@pen.venture]

hey there Najeeb :D thank you for your feedback - yes, I agree - I totally forgot to mention this in my video, I would take any day a well made steel nib pen which is priced like 150 200 eur (around there) than go for a gold nib pen which is way under this, knowing it has a lot of reasons why is under the amount

[@ichirofakename]

1. Thanks for providing this analysis. Coming from a luxury retailer, it carries a lot of weight. 2. I like to draw with flex-nibbed fountain pens, such as my current Pilot 743 and my vintage Waterman 52V. I would be interested to hear your opinion on steel vs. gold in flex nibs. 3. I have always assumed that gold nibs were manufactured with more care and QA than steel nibs. Do you disagree? 4. Some specialty nibs are only available in gold, I'm sure.

[@pen.venture]

✌🏻😅 I know that it’s possible that other luxury pen retailers may not like this approach of mine - but here I can share my own view and perspective 2 - noted, will address such a matter 3 - since I seen how a nib is made, I think the more attention goes into only the making of the gold alloy and since the rolling sheet of metal that goes into the matching for stamping, the process is basically the same 4 - yes

[@jonandresen1483]

Gold, steel, palladium, titanium…the material does not matter that much. Geometry, hardness, tipping, grind, feed, ink, etc. all matter more than the material itself when it comes to writing.

[@pen.venture]

:D you are right Jon - just that a lot of ppl divide this realm in black and white - gold and steel :D

[@crouserm]

Yes to all you have said here! I have gold nibbed pens which I enjoy so much, and yet, I have steel nibs I have used for long enough that they have developed the line variation over time that some gold nibs offer right out of the box. In terms of "edc" pens one might be willing to risk at work, some of my precious old steel nibs would be a sad loss to accident or misplacing. Thank you for this excellent reflection!

[@pen.venture]

Thank you Rob for confirming that sometimes people just go really logic with their choices in the regards mentioned in my video :D

[@stargazer1359]

Love the glasses, Emy. 🤓. Welcome to the club.

[@pen.venture]

Hehe 🤓 I always said if I where to rock a pair - it must be something epic / ever since I’ve seen Tony Stark in avengers rocking these ones - I wanted a pair like that

[@gky7170]

Like many things in life, the steel vs gold nib discussion depends on a number of factors (including personal preference) such as tipping material, desire for the physical qualities of one over the other, aesthetics of steel vs gold, etc....

[@pen.venture]

We can expand this and branch it out as much as we like - generally talking I think we have something of a competition where steel is almost catching up with gold nibs

[@gky7170]

@@pen.venture I appreciate your position and you make some important points. I feel that It's mostly in the preparation of the nib no matter the material - the quality of the grind, the use of rare earth tipping material, how that material is treated and polished, the position and quality of the feed unit that supplies the nib with ink, etc. A famous German nib maker remarked that the perception that gold is better than steel is correct but not for the correct reasons. Gold nibs that his company made tended to get better quality tipping materials and more time was spent in finishing gold nibs. In my experience, needle-point and extra fine point nibs are better served by steel as steel is harder than gold and will stand up to regular use. For broad/medium nibs used for signatures primarily, I find that high karat gold works best as it is more flexible and "bouncy" which gives my moniker a nice flare!

[@jamesespino1358]

With my limited experience, the feel of tuned gold nibs are far better than tuned steel nibs. I have 2 Leonardo steel nibs (M and B) and both required tuning. The B nib was really bland, so much so that I simply sold it quite recently. On the other hand, all of the gold nibs I had (tho some needed tuning) works well and feels very interesting.

[@pen.venture]

hmmm ... well this "a tuned gold nib is far better than a tuned steel nib" is questionable .... depends on which gold and which nib, but to summarise everything, a lot more normal steel nibs well tuned are far better than some tuned gold nibs. You need a lot of experience to say that a nib needs tuning or it just doesnt write how your other nibs that you enjoy are writing... this is again a questionable point.

[@astromanager]

Thanks for getting this out, Emy. I think whenever I've had a choice, I've gone with the steel nib, since as you point out, the cost difference is hard to justify. That said, I'm pretty happy with my gold nib pens as well. Sometimes, it's worth paying more for that last 10%, but in general, it's really not necessary. One could say something similar about cartridge converters vs. piston fillers as well, I think. I also always think about how telescopes are just these big complex machines designed to push a drop of silver or aluminum (the coating and the primary mirror) around the sky. Fountain pens are essentially a bunch of pretty stuff designed to push a drop of tipping material around a page.

[@pen.venture]

Hey there Scot :D Looking at my collection I have everything ... and I cant say I dont like a gold nib vs a steel one but when it comes to the aspects that I pointed out, I have to take the stance with steel nibs. And also ... I really dig the cartridge converter :)) it is really easy to change inks with it and a lot less things that can go wrong VS a piston or others

[@Volkmannx]

Interesting, appreciate the honesty! You asked about your glasses, I think they look badass 😉

[@pen.venture]

Thanks! 😃 Its such a great feeling to see that the feedback of the community is received and not only in things that are pen related :D thank you so much

[@deniseplasse5126]

Love the glasses! I can totally relate, my eyeballs get all blurry without my glasses when watching the computer monitors

[@pen.venture]

Thank you Denise - now I can say that I feel so much better with them all day

[@pen_journal]

Please take care Emy! You look cool though! Theoretically speaking, I think gold has properties that gives it the "Better" writing experience, like conducting better ink flow and also, being non-corrosive, and also having a softer feel (not all cases). But i do have cases, in my experience, where the steel actually writes better than the gold nibs, my two TWSBIs are actually my top 3 writers in terms of feel and ink flow... Would like to hear from all :) Sad and disappointed that Leonardo are discontinuing the ebonites on the steel nibs! :(

[@pen.venture]

Thank you my dear friend 😇 Although gold is nice in so many ways - steel nibs are very practical and affordable and when they come in the same pen … it’s more than ok. Same feeling here for Leonardo but it was expected for a long time … :(

[@osirisgolad]

I've not had the best experience with steel nibs and iron gall, even the milder modern formulations. After a year, there will always be a little bit of pitting on the underside of the nib that gradually gets worse. I've never had any such issues with a gold nib, but I guess most people don't use iron gall as much as I do.

[@pen.venture]

Yes - on the aspect of using iron gall inks I would pick gold nibs but this is something that has to do with the nature of the material and not performances

[@Alex-mp8ro]

Thank you!

[@pen.venture]

You're welcome!

[@fountainpengraphy1796]

a brilliant topic, also I must add there are a lot of steel nib pens that write much better than many gold nib ones, like Otto Hutt, Diplomat, Leonardo and so on , an strange experience for me, was I liked the writing of my diplomat aero with steel nib much more than the gold nib on a very pen, I end up keeping the steel one and sell the gold nib one

[@pen.venture]

Thank you my friend :D there is a really good sign one nib is really good - you keep inking the pen right when its finished the ink in it :)) on and on and on...

[@jolienkrispijn]

Nice glasses! Hope your sight will be calmer now :) Great video, thank you! Very interesting viewpoint. I have 1 pen with gold nib, which i love. But also love my steel nibs and they can be as enjoyable as the gold nib. And I agree totally on not bringing your expensive pens in situations where they can be damaged. There are so many nice affordable pens on the market.

[@pen.venture]

I feel like a new man since rocking these ones 🤓 - totally agree with you on everything

[@jolienkrispijn]

@@pen.venture ahh that's wonderful! Happy you feel good with them.

[@signorenzo5957]

Tony Stark vibes! nice glasses :) I think if you put in my hands a steel nib or gold nib fountain pen and write with it, with the eyes closed, I don't think I will notice a huge difference. Nice video! greetings

[@pen.venture]

Naild it! 🙌🏻 these are the exact frames and lenses like those Iron Man glasses - this is one of my dreams since I seen Tony rocking this cool vintage inspired DITA006 aviators. PS I know I’m a Marvel FanBoy 😁 Back to the topic - thank you for your feedback

[@TheOriginalXultar]

Just had a discussion about this on Reddit. I love steel nibs. I have gold nibs but they are in storage because they were so expensive and I have anxiety using them based on fear of losing and damaging them.

[@pen.venture]

Yes gold nib pens are a little expensive and in some cases a lot more... but the fact that I take with me whenever I go out and choose a pen to take with me, I always take a steel nib pen that writes well, that can be a easy tell that in cases of need ... I take steel because it behaving well and I dont run the risk of messing one up and then feeling sorry about my choice

[@wittwittwer1043]

I don't loan fountain pens to people. I usually have both a ball-point with me as well--a cheap one--and I will loan that. OR, I will offer to take a note for them, either on paper from a notebook that I carry with me, or on paper that they supply. The reason for this is that a friend of mine and I were wedding guests. Both of us signed the attendee register. He loaned his Montblanc 149 to someone who didn't have a pen. When that person was done, he jammed the cap back on, and bent the nib.

[@pen.venture]

Yup ... loaning pens is such a tense moment, when the person asking is jus simply not having any experience with FP ... they sort of treat it like a ballpoint ... snappy actions, careless use... and its a heart stopping moment for me to watch it.. so I dont pass my pens to be used when im asked by a person that I know is not having experience with fps

[@tonibat59]

For whatever reason, I often find that a well-adjusted, well-ground, stiff steel nib is smoother than gold one, other things being equal. (BTW, this is why small nibs are often better than large ones: because they flex less; they are stiffer and therfore smoother). Moreover, some people just prefer the feeling of a rigid, stiff nib, as long as it is smooth. It is smoothness that everyone values. Softness per se only provides the benefit of changing the thickness, and this some ppl don't need nor like. As an example, consider a high-quality rollerball pen: it can be extremely smooth and yet very stiff. That's why they are so popular and main contenders to fountain pens. And a little advice for the future: If fountain pen makers don't improve their products in terms of smoothness under small variations of the pen (angle of rotation, inclination, and pressure), they are going to lose the battle against the ballpoint pen and the rollerball. Lets face it: Most pens today, including expensive ones are scratchy. (Or feedbacky, to use a widespread euphemism 😅). The only thing that has prevented rollers from overtaking fountain pens for the masses is the high price of refills. But this is ending soon, as ballpoins get better and more rollers are designed to be refilled with ink.

[@pen.venture]

Well thats exactly what I feel in some cases, where a nib which is a little bit more stiff you tend to be feel more safe to carry or use in any circumstances on any paper that you come by :D Im not so sure about the FP world being take over by ballpoints and rollers, I tell you this from a retailing perspective, in the past 6 years of pen venture we shipped well over 10.000 orders of writing instruments, consider that every pen gets to be offered from the manufacturer both as a roller or ballpoint if asked by the retailer... in these 6 years I only had 2 requests for a pen to be in roller configuration (both being Visconti - Homo Sapiens Bronze Age), out of 10.000+ orders, while we've seen a growth in the FP sector each year with an average of 35% (number of fountain pens being ordered). I think we can draw some conclusions from this numbers

[@kpurpose1078]

Love the glasses!

[@pen.venture]

thank you so much :D

[@archivist17]

Food for thought, Emy! Those glasses are pretty groovy, btw

[@pen.venture]

Hehe - happy to hear that both the glasses and the video topic is good 😁 thanks for feedback

[@Johan-vk5yd]

Before steel nibs could be manufactured to be stainless, steel nibs were a disposable commodity used for dip pens only, and gold was the only material suitable for fountain pens. Not any more. On the other hand: doing things in a hurry is the problem, not the pen, is another angle to the topic. But I agree absolutely with you! If I needed another pen, a gold nib would be alluring because of the golden sheen! Preciousss!

[@pen.venture]

Thank you for your feedback :D im so happy to hear that im not the only one thinking like this :D

[@Javi_C]

I like the glasses! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the steel vs gold debate.

[@pen.venture]

Thank you Javi 🤜🏻🤛🏻 - I think is nice to see things from a different perspective

[@wiplashw642]

Just curious how are gold plated nibs compared to steel nibs on cheaper fountain pens like Parker pens

[@pen.venture]

Gold plated or not it doesn’t change the writing experience at all - I need to check more Parker pens to have a better perspective - but in regards of the plating changing anything that improves or not the writing experience - that’s having nothing at all

[@awaken77]

Leonardo is specific case, because their. steel nib pens are quite expensive, and have exactly the same body materials. For Japanese pens i'd never go for steel nib, because entry-level 14K gold pens from Japan (Sailor, Platinum, Pilot, their entry level offerings) cost roughly the same as steel nib Pelikan M200 in Europe . some even cheaper, ex. Pilot Elite / E95s

[@Andy_Pandy2000]

I would never take a gold nib ( or any pen ! ) to a construction site LOL.

[@pen.venture]

well... we have clients that are construction managers taking their pens with them on the site quite often if not daily

[@rbf100]

Many steel nibs at least on the vintage pens are tipped with precious metals such as iridium which adds to their smoothness. That is where vintage pens shine.

[@pen.venture]

there are also nibs that are not tipped and still they are smooth

[@alexwhiteowl]

Thank you for this useful video! For me, steel can be better than gold for: bad paper (at work), fast closure (snap on capping), any ink, and Price! Whereas gold nibs usually come with ebonite feed, the experience is more luxurious, but also needs quality paper, not a very wet ink... My best nib experience comes from a Diplomat Aero, has a steel nib which makes any ink interesting. Besides, some modern steel nibs aren't that stiff, a bit of push shows some ink variation

[@pen.venture]

Thanks for sharing! Yes ... I do own myself a lot of steel nib pens that do the job really good :D I've heard this a lot of times with Diplomat steel nibs being really really good - need to try them

[@jondowee]

Emi, would you care to comment on how a brand like Sailor can offer 14K/18K nibs at affordable prices? Is it just sheer manufactured quantity/volume or some other or combination of factor/s?

[@pen.venture]

yes of course - my pleasure :D it only comes down to having volume + the fact that they make the pen body and all + the nib and then sell it as well, this is the only way you can have an affordable gold nib which performs great. We are talking about a process that gives a good margin and combining this with volume and 100 years of continuity .... it's innevitable this charm that Sailor haves and the pricing of their pens/nibs

[@jondowee]

Thank you for your generosity in sharing your expertise, as always.

[@leegilbert6461]

Some people like the feel of scratching on paper and steel nibs certainly do that. I find it annoying and would rather have a pen glide over the page. Every single steel nib I have writes smoothly but the way this is achieved is by firehosing ink out to create the illusion of smoothness. I can use a Lamy2000 for a week but a safari needs ink after a few days. Any signature you make with a steel nib you have to blow on the paper straight away but a gold nib dries quickly on its own. Also, with a gold nib you barely have to touch the paper (the weight of the pen is usually enough pressure) making for an effortless experience while a steel nib is like a ball point. Very few people who’ve used both would think steel is a better choice.

[@viarnay]

We have been melting ore and forging steel for so long that we mastered it..steel is gold made cheap..☺

[@pen.venture]

:D it can be very close to gold in regards of how it is in use on paper - in some aspects is taking the edge in some gold its taking it

[@zveryok1]

My Faber castell emotion stealth writes significantly better than my Lamy2000. Extremely smooth, no sweet spot issue. Much more comfortable section and similar firm writing experience.

[@pen.venture]

Well ... it may be just the case that is not simply necessary to have a gold nib just to have a wonderful writing experience :D

[@zveryok1]

@pen.venture You're right. Most gold nibs today are very stiff and alike steel. Generally, gold nibs are a bit wetter. But, in the case of exceptionally tuned steel nibs, the difference can be very minor.

[@patrick9310]

Hi Amy, firstly you look a lot like George Michael with the glasses 🙂. My experience with steel and gold nibs is mixed. I have very good writing pens with steel nibs (Waterman, Twsbi,..) and also good writing pens with gold nibs. But I can only compare Leonardo, of which I have one with a steel nib. Honestly I wish I had bought that one with a gold nib too as I much more appreciate the same pen with a gold nib. So I guess it depends on the manufacturer, the grind of the nib etc.

[@pen.venture]

:)) hello :D thank you :D yes you are tight - it depends on a lot of factors, but if we have to level everything, I would say that steel is pretty good and underrated

[@carolcavallaro2476]

Disappointed to hear Leonardo stopping the ebonite feed with steel….

[@alexwhiteowl]

Same here :( i'll be looking for some older MZG/Furore models

[@pen.venture]

Hmmm…. It’s sad but I think is already started since the launch of the Mosaico series, we stocked up with a few pieces for each pen that has a steel nib/ebonite feeder

[@deprecor1]

I think you look better with the glasses, it makes you look more italian (and for some strange reason, it makes you look more credible). Actually, I watched first some of your videos with the glasses and then those without. Something felt wrong! Embrace your new look!

[@pen.venture]

It got to a point where now :)) I look funny without them 😅 I have to take care of my 👀 if I want to have plenty of years to enjoy my hobby

[@FranckAlcidi]

A gold nib doesn't make you a better writer too. It all comes down to experience and practice. People think if I buy a gold nib my writing will improve dramatically. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but Gold nibs won't make you a better writer.

[@pen.venture]

:D totally agree - this is a very arhaic way of thinking that a gold nib must be a prestigious thing and having it on a pen, makes a difference on the way of writing

[@tancreddehauteville764]

Steel nibs are NOT better than gold nibs. It's BS. It's like saying a Toyota Yaris is better than a Mercedes S class. Total bullsh*t.

[@pen.venture]

tone it down Rambo - its a open discussion where you're welcome to share your view on it as long as you keep it polite. Btw depending on what you judge a car for Toyota can be better it just begs the question where - if you afford a 160k S-Klasse to drive the kids to school and do the groceries and dont mind having it serviced for 2k an oil change and break pads - you are possible one of the very few that dont mind as well passing it after 3-4 years with 70K and loosing in depreciation this much. For this job alone, the Toyota choice seems one that is better if you think of it logically - if you just want to have class - buy the S-klasse / buy the Gold nib - have your cake and eat it too ;)