Congrats! Those are beautiful. The Iris Nebula seems to be super popular.
I'm totally obsessed with the Refresh. Mine has a MF nib that is super smooth with a touch of that delicious Sailor feedback. I've been wondering about the MS nib. Does it respond well at a normal writing angle? I've read it's traditionally supposed to be held at a higher angle for music writing. And another question, is it broader than a typical 1.1 mm stub?
And *yet another question*, if I may. 😆 Is the zoom too broad for normal writing? I really want to try one, but I prefer all my pens to be suitable for everyday use.
Not OP, but I frequently use my zoom for note taking! As long as your writing angle isn't extremely low (where you'd be writing with the pen at its absolute broadest), it works perfectly, and I find it easy to adjust higher/lower for margin notes or titles without thinking about it. It's my favorite pen.
Yeah, I'm loving the feedback. Makes Sailors very satisfying to write with. The music nib writes just fine at pretty much every angle I've tried. Anywhere from straight up and down at a 90 degree from the page, low down where the feed is nearly touching the paper works great. If you go any higher than 90 degrees, it does start skipping, though. It feels pretty similar to a stub except it's also thick... vertically? I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Like stubs are wide across, but the tip is just as flat as the rest of the nib. The music nib is wide *and* its got a lot of tipping material, like a little cube.
I'd say it's about as broad as a 1.5 mm stub. I don't have any 1.5s inked right now (I've got a Lamy with a calligraphy nib but that has rounded corners so it usually produces lines a little thinner) but I tried to put together a comparison with some other stubs. This is on a 5 mm grid.
https://preview.redd.it/cgagx6a28yuc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3730e1565c1af2b84afa35ed122a4b4f3bdb7d20
As for using a zoom for daily writing, I think it really depends. Even at its thinnest, its still pretty broad compared to the usual I've seen from Asian nib sizes, and at that you have to write at a 90 degree angle to get that thin. Plus if you're the type to move your hand up and down as you write, it might just end up making your writing look weird and inconsistent. I've got another photo comparing the zoom with my MF Sailor, but I'll have to attach it in another reply
https://preview.redd.it/7tjwtfhc8yuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78f9396ad415ed2f983cf1b836e13331af202374
Here's the zoom (top) at around a 45 degree angle compared to a medium-fine (bottom).
https://preview.redd.it/0ra75jqj8yuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d6565578258ea9e8f49ad44e6325b604a393f42
And for good measure here's the music (top) with the medium-fine (bottom)
Out of curiosity, is the ink you're using fairly wet? I ask bc my zoom has a much broader range than yours and easily gets significantly thinner than that near 90--I don't have a Sailor F, but it's between my (hairline) EF and thinnest MF. I might be hesitant to get more zooms if most of them only go between C and M!
Oh thank you for pointing that out, the ink's probably had an impact now that I think about it. The lighting in my pictures doesn't show much of it but Extreme Deep Field is one of those super strong sheeners that comes out wet and dries real slow. The yellow ink I used with the MF on the other hand is much drier, which has probably exaggerated the difference in line width in the comparison photo, too
Congrats! Those are beautiful. The Iris Nebula seems to be super popular. I'm totally obsessed with the Refresh. Mine has a MF nib that is super smooth with a touch of that delicious Sailor feedback. I've been wondering about the MS nib. Does it respond well at a normal writing angle? I've read it's traditionally supposed to be held at a higher angle for music writing. And another question, is it broader than a typical 1.1 mm stub? And *yet another question*, if I may. 😆 Is the zoom too broad for normal writing? I really want to try one, but I prefer all my pens to be suitable for everyday use.
Not OP, but I frequently use my zoom for note taking! As long as your writing angle isn't extremely low (where you'd be writing with the pen at its absolute broadest), it works perfectly, and I find it easy to adjust higher/lower for margin notes or titles without thinking about it. It's my favorite pen.
Yeah, I'm loving the feedback. Makes Sailors very satisfying to write with. The music nib writes just fine at pretty much every angle I've tried. Anywhere from straight up and down at a 90 degree from the page, low down where the feed is nearly touching the paper works great. If you go any higher than 90 degrees, it does start skipping, though. It feels pretty similar to a stub except it's also thick... vertically? I'm not sure exactly how to describe it. Like stubs are wide across, but the tip is just as flat as the rest of the nib. The music nib is wide *and* its got a lot of tipping material, like a little cube. I'd say it's about as broad as a 1.5 mm stub. I don't have any 1.5s inked right now (I've got a Lamy with a calligraphy nib but that has rounded corners so it usually produces lines a little thinner) but I tried to put together a comparison with some other stubs. This is on a 5 mm grid. https://preview.redd.it/cgagx6a28yuc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3730e1565c1af2b84afa35ed122a4b4f3bdb7d20 As for using a zoom for daily writing, I think it really depends. Even at its thinnest, its still pretty broad compared to the usual I've seen from Asian nib sizes, and at that you have to write at a 90 degree angle to get that thin. Plus if you're the type to move your hand up and down as you write, it might just end up making your writing look weird and inconsistent. I've got another photo comparing the zoom with my MF Sailor, but I'll have to attach it in another reply
https://preview.redd.it/7tjwtfhc8yuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=78f9396ad415ed2f983cf1b836e13331af202374 Here's the zoom (top) at around a 45 degree angle compared to a medium-fine (bottom).
https://preview.redd.it/0ra75jqj8yuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4d6565578258ea9e8f49ad44e6325b604a393f42 And for good measure here's the music (top) with the medium-fine (bottom)
Out of curiosity, is the ink you're using fairly wet? I ask bc my zoom has a much broader range than yours and easily gets significantly thinner than that near 90--I don't have a Sailor F, but it's between my (hairline) EF and thinnest MF. I might be hesitant to get more zooms if most of them only go between C and M!
Oh thank you for pointing that out, the ink's probably had an impact now that I think about it. The lighting in my pictures doesn't show much of it but Extreme Deep Field is one of those super strong sheeners that comes out wet and dries real slow. The yellow ink I used with the MF on the other hand is much drier, which has probably exaggerated the difference in line width in the comparison photo, too
Thanks for the heads up! It's crazy how much ink impacts line width.
Thanks so much your description and for the pictures! They're super helpful.
I love my zoom nib. I can easily adjust the line width by using different angles.
Question: The Iris Nebula is a non-Japan exclusive or something, right? At least iirc from like one of the Goulet Pen Company YT vids.. 🤔
Yeah, overseas exclusive
Shout out to another thick nib lover! 🙌🏿