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The Fountain Pen Community -> Modern Pens @1970 to Current -> What are your thoughts on Titanium nibs?
Post Info TOPIC: What are your thoughts on Titanium nibs?
DWL


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What are your thoughts on Titanium nibs?
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pros/cons & general impressions.

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Frank


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They sound pretty cool!

They are unique, and though I have never used one, it would seem like a nice nib treatment on Savage Pens!

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bphollin


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I plead ignorance when it comes to titanium nibs. Who's using them? Would it be like a steel nib, only more springy like a gold nib? I guess it all comes down to the tipping anyway.

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InkaFX


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I've seen some nice examples of titanium nibs [OMAS, Stipula 22 comes to mind], have never used one though.
Nice thing about the material is that it's nearly impervious to most you can through at it chemically.
It's incredibly hard to machine without galling, it is NOT really flexible so if you want a flex nib forget about using titanium.
Titanium will give you a bit of "spring", but press too hard and the nib is sprung, nearly impossible to straighten back out again, unlike steel or gold.
Because of its porosity [crystalline structure], I'd imagine that titanium also won't allow ink to flow as well as gold or stainless, ink will likely fill the pores of the metal causing surface tension and ink flow could be a serious issue.
I may not have ever used a titanium nib, but I've worked with and own enough titanium to know its' fundamental characteristics.
Contrary to what some believe titanium CAN be polished, I've done so many times, normally don't see it polished as it shows off fingerprints better than polished stainless or gold.
It's a warm metal when held, hypoallergenic, absorbs heat from its surroundings and body heat especially, a good choice for surgical implants but not so sure about using it as a nib material.
Yeah, it looks cool when made into fountain pen nibs, but actual function as a nib material would be highly questionable/doubtful to me.

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Mahutr


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Is the famous Parker T1 just a collector's thing? Or someone has ended up using it to... write!!?

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bphollin


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InkaFX wrote:

It's a warm metal when held, hypoallergenic, absorbs heat from its surroundings and body heat especially, a good choice for surgical implants but not so sure about using it as a nib material.
Yeah, it looks cool when made into fountain pen nibs, but actual function as a nib material would be highly questionable/doubtful to me.

The Savage Pen "Surgical"... now that's got my attention!

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DWL


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this is savage and surgical as well.

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InkaFX


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Mahutr wrote:

Is the famous Parker T1 just a collector's thing? Or someone has ended up using it to... write!!?


As rare as they've become, I'd sure they'd be both collectible and users.
It was designed to write, the integral nibs were never meant to have flex and the tipping itself a nightmare getting it to adhere to the titanium [I've heard the tipping actually separated on these pens at times!].
If you can find one that's been used then by all means use it.
If you can find one that's NOS that's one pen I'd not so much as dip, just for the rarity alone and not because it wouldn't write.
I have, however, read they never wrote as well as advertised, not sure why.
I'd rather have an all-titanium pen body/cap with a nice gold nib than a titanium nib, but the nibs do look cool.

 



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Chthulhu


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See, you need to come up with a titanium nib shaped like a knapped blade ...

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That would be cool, or even a 'hammered' look to it.

HHHmmmmmm...

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InkaFX


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Chthulhu wrote:

See, you need to come up with a titanium nib shaped like a knapped blade ...


That would be cool!
Lightweight too but not sure what kind of edge it would hold.
It's used to coat drill bits and razor blades, plus the gray color would look awesome in a knapped blade I think, like real stone instead of metal!
Great idea!


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Chthulhu


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The coating used on cutting tools is titanium nitride.

The more I think about it, a titanium nib shaped like an SR-71, or at least the front part of one, would be awesome and VERY appropriate.

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InkaFX


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Hey, I was just looking at the Mohs Hardness scale and found that Aerospace-or-military-grade hardened titanium [there are different grades of titanium] rates @ 6 on the Mohs scale, while Iridium rates a Mohs of 6.5.
Most pen nib makers don't use iridium these days anyways, despite popular misbelief, usually a different alloy altogether in the platinum-group or possibly even *Chromium [*rates an 8.5 on Mohs and is far more abundant than iridium].
So why not make a titanium nib without tipping, just shape the tips as any real tipping would be?
You could make nibs with a bit extra at the end of the tines, hand-shape into a ball or any type of writing edge [Italics or Cursive Italics come to mind, even a Stub for that matter] and seems it "could" hold up well with use.
Sounds logical, except it's been my hands-on experience that despite titaniums' impact resistance/hardness, it also scratches pretty easily, so that leaves me pondering once again...

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InkaFX


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Chthulhu wrote:

The coating used on cutting tools is titanium nitride. ...



Yep, you're right, my bad.



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bphollin


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InkaFX wrote:
I'd rather have an all-titanium pen body/cap with a nice gold nib than a titanium nib, but the nibs do look cool.
My big beef with the Lamy 2000 LE is that the stainless steel body is very heavy.  A Ti 2000 FP to match the Ti 2000 BP, if it were lighter than SS, would be pretty sweet. ETA:  An unofficial measurement of the Ti BP (that I found online) shows it at ~50.64 g.  The SS 2000 FP is ~56 g (as compared to a M800 @ ~28.8g).  All that to say, I bet a Ti FP would be a touch lighter than the SS, but still a heavy pen.  Also, it looks like the Ti BP is smooth, whereas the SS FP is brushed/textured.

202_titanium_eng.png


-- Edited by bphollin on Monday 8th of February 2010 03:24:49 PM

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InkaFX


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There's a guy out there than can transform a Pelikan M800 into a titanium cap & body, still uses the M800 gold nibs.
He can even anodize them into a rainbow of colors, plus the ti Pelikan M800s aren't any heavier than the original since titanium is Uber-lightweight for a metal as it is.
Pretty sweet, but too tired and stressed right now to show pics or Links, must go lay down before I collapse from exhaustion.

C ay'all!


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deirdre


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Titanium nibs are probably my favorites. Stipula currently produces them only in one width, but Omas produces them in F, M, B. Bock has a patent.



Due to texture, they are more prone to nib creep with Noodler's bulletproof inks:



I don't mind nib creep personally, and this way I know what color's in what pen.

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InkaFX


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Really love this picture, thanks!
Looks like they're not for the anal-retentive neat-freaks out there.
I have no issue with nib-creep, personally, it's just a part of using inks I like and not being concerned.
I've seen many totally freak out over any inks that creep, one idiot going as far as saying *if there's ink creeping on a nib top then the pen is defective [*totally ignorant to reality, that comment is].
How much spring do any have?
Seems to me they'd be stiff, or have a point-of-no-return if over-extended, more so than do gold or stainless nibs.
Can't believe with all the Ti stuff I've owned and still own that I've never had even one nib made out of it, especially considering my mechanical background and work  in aerospace technologies.


3449547762_12148363f0_b.jpg

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Frank


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Deirdre,

Happy to see you over here!
I did not know about Stipula (or OMAS) using titanium nibs.

Looking forward to your input/information on these pens!

Frank

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deirdre


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Omas uses Ti nibs on the Emoticas, but also used them on an earlier pen. For a long time, they were mostly used by Stipula.

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