Angle

Some days ago I wrote a review on a Sailor Fude Pen. On that pen, the nib is bended up at an angle of 40 degrees. The result was, as I concluded, a nice and fun pen, although definitely not a daily writer.

Soon after I finished using that pen, I inked its counterpart—a Sailor Fude Pen with the nib making an angle of 55 degrees. This small detail is, in actual terms, very significant in order to write comfortably. Therefore, here I am adding these additional notes to complement the above-mentioned review.

The nibs under analysis face to face: the 50-degree on the left, the 40-degree on the right.

In summary, there are three different cheap Sailor Fude Pens:
—a long pen in blue with a 40-degree nib,


—a long pen in green with a 55-degree nib,


—a torpedo in blue with a 55-degree nib.

The first two of them have exactly the same dimensions and price—JPY1050 (about €10). The third one is shorter and slightly more upscale in appearance. Its price is twice that of the previous two—JPY2100.

Then, how does the angle affect the writing? The answer is, however, very personal because it depends on the way each user holds the pen, and on the preferences regarding the line width. My experience is as follows:

With the 40-degree nib, writing with a thin line is relatively easy—the angle between pen and paper has to be greater than those 40 degrees. In my case, that is not difficult, and the line variation associated to the pen inclination is easy to achieve.

On the contrary, the 55-degree nib requires a higher angle to draw that same thin line. But higher than those 55-60 degrees, the pen is very perpendicular to the paper and that makes the grip uncomfortable.

The torpedo Fude Pen's 55-degree bended nib.

So, my writing style is such that I tend to hold the pen at a nearly 55 deg with respect to the paper, which is the optimal angle for the very wide horizontal lines. But these are not convenient for usual writing. Therefore, I rather use the 40-degree Fude Pen –the one I reviewed— and make a conscious effort in making a thick line at 40 degrees than making that conscious effort in writing my usual thin line.

Those are my personal constraints. People who enjoy writing with thick lines –those B or BB or BBB nib people— might choose the opposite strategy.

(Sailor torpedo Fude Pen 55 – Sailor Red Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, August 8-9 2010)
[labels: plumín, Sailor, caligrafía, Japón]