# about fp nibs



## avbill (Jan 22, 2008)

Hi everyone,
Is it a very old tradition that the nibs of foundation pens are gold / brass to them? If its a grand old tradition how did it get started? 
Can you get a all silver nib one?

I hope I'm asking the correct question? Bill Daniels


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## mrcook4570 (Jan 22, 2008)

The gold nibs generally have more flex than steel nibs.  This allows for greater line width variation when writing with one.  Gold is also fairly inert - meaning the nib won't oxidize.

You can get a silver colored nib (rhodium or platinum plated), but an all silver nib would probably require to much maintenance.  Some inks would be very harmful to the silver.


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## gerryr (Jan 23, 2008)

I believe the Jr. Statesman and Statesman still come with a silver colored nib.


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## DCBluesman (Jan 23, 2008)

Nibs can be made of just about any metal.  Speedball calligraphy nibs, for example, are brass.  Fountain pen nibs are traditionally steel or gold, primarily due to the fact that these are stable and inert metals...neither tarnishes (at least not in any reasonable amount of time).  You can get a "white metal" nib, often made of white gold or else plated with white gold or platinum.  Platinum is another inert metal.  A silver nib would be impractical as the tarnishing would cause a fairly rapid deterioration.  If you have a special need, you can probably find a jeweler who would be willing to plate a gold nib.  Getting a steel nib plated might be a little more difficult as there would need to be at least two plating steps for proper adhesion.


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## Firefyter-emt (Jan 23, 2008)

All the latest Jr. Statesmans I have gotten in latley have been very nice Danacom 2-tone nibs. They do not have the IPG tag on them and to be honest, they seem to be far heavier than the IPG ones and write very nice. (3 out of 3 have been flawless from recently recieved pens.)

Here is one of mine:


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## avbill (Jan 24, 2008)

Thank you all for answering the question.  AS I sink deeper and deeper into into this hobby I develop questions  Aain thank you for the answers. 

Bill Daniels


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