Tom's Studio - Fountain Pen Nibs

UPDATE: They sent a replacement nib that has none of the issues of the first one. Seems the tines were a little misaligned originally. I really like how it writes now and I don’t have the issue of it digging in to the paper. I can both get a fine line that I can write pretty small with and a thicker, almost marker like, line. It’s a bit drier than I expected but I think I actually like that about it since I can get a decent line down without it all being sheen using my sheening inks. Really great nib and shout out to customer service being so great and sending a replacement based on this review and a few pics.

Original review below for posterity:

At first I didn’t like this nib and even wondered if it might be defective. I was used to a much finer Sailor Fude nib and this one seemed scratchy and finicky. I decided to give it another try though and am starting to really like it. I’m finding it needs very smooth paper, even more so than fountain pens normally do, and preferably fairly thick to really shine. With a bit more practice I could see it becoming a go to for sketching, and calligraphy when I want more of a brush look.

But you do have to spend some time to learn it because it’s sharp enough to dig into the page if you aren’t very careful about not exerting pressure when it is traveling at certain angles.

This puts down a pretty dry line but it does not hard start or skip. It has the expected line variation you want from a Fude.

Reverse writing is very dry and very fine.

I've set this pen up as an eyedropper and I thought it might be wetter with this nib, but as I've said it is relatively dry, which, honestly I'd prefer to too wet.

I've been using this nib consistently for about two months now and I think it's my favourite out of all the one's I have from Tom's Studio. It's a dream to draw with, SO smooth and soft, the ink flow is perfect even though I have it on the pocket pen, which has a smaller, refillable cartridge. It's as flexible as the pro-flex nib in my opinion, just not as thin. And it's really beautiful as well.

My new hobby is old handwriting and since I’m German I practiced some Sütterlin.
Next step (back in time) would be german Kurrent and it was written with a quill and later with flexible nibs.
Sadly there are not many good and reasonably priced offers nowadays.
I found the Tom‘s Studio pen with flex nib and read about the titanium nib on the website and thought: go for it!
The pen seems to be crafted wonderfully but sadly the flex nib (at least this titanium one) needs way too much pressure to flex to write comfortably. Feels more like engraving the paper than writing. And you can find some spots of ink on the next sheet.
Maybe it would work for outlining sketches (I don’t know) but for my writing purpose I‘m not happy with it.
But for sure I cannot afford something like a Montblanc with gold flex nib…
Maybe I‘ll find some soft flex nib in ballpark of the Studio in the future?!

Pros: getting a dip pen nib in a fountain pen makes it easier for not having to constantly dip into the ink.

Cons:
I had a few issues with the ink feed. From day one I bought it was railroading and had inconsistent ink flow. The ink feed was the original that came with Tom’s studio fountain pen. And today, after filling up the pen with ink last night, when I’ve unscrewed the cap ink came out. Nearly all ink was emptied out.
On a good note the screw cap didn’t allow any ink to leak in my pocket.
This issue is mentioned in the description page of the product, so fair enough. I didn’t realise it’s going to leak that much thought.
I guess I have to ink it up any time I need to sketch or journal and not leave it sitting overnight.

I don’t actually believe the nib I received is titanium. It is superfine and stiff to flex causing paper to shred before obtaining any tip spread at all. The variation aI was able to achieve was between superfine and extra fine. It is also dry when not given some pressure. Not impressed.

This is a nice nib, allowing different line width by varying the drawing angle. The reverse writing allows very thin line, while the normal writing (low angle) allows very broad strokes, useful for shading large areas. This is especially good for drawing. Another nice thing is that this nib is in Bock #6 housing, so can be used with any other pen that is compatible with this (e.g. Asvine V200 Bock #6 version), by simply screwing in the nib unit.

Note there may be some QC issues. Originally the nib unit I received was actually quite bad -- it is very scratchy in some angles and constantly has hard start issues. However, Tom's Studio's customer service was very good. After showing them a video of how the nib behaves, they confirmed that it is highly likely a fault unit and sent me another unit right away. The second nib unit works much better.

I am extremely impressed with this nib. I got it with the ebonite feed, and I am so impressed with how well it keeps up! If you are looking for a good flex nib for a beginner, I highly recommend this nib!

Left-handed artist here: I love this nib. It's my new favorite. I know Fude nibs can be great for art, too, but I hate the angles at which you have to use those nibs to get a fine line. With this zoom nib, I can mostly just draw normally. All I have to do to get a fine line is flip the pen over to use the top side of the nib. And when I want a big bold line, that's easy too!

Overall it's an incredibly flexible nib that never fails me. No matter the angle, I can always produce a good quality line, which is why I also think it's a great nib for lefties.i just love it! I've been drawing nonstop with it since I got it.

I just started practising calligraphy. This is very helpful and convenient.

Very flexible nib giving the finest hairlines and good thick strokes. Using it in my fountain pen is very convenient. With some inks I find the colour looks a little washed out (e.g. Quink black) so I would recommend finding an ink with lots of pigment. I had a few initial problems with my first nib, but received great customer service from Jade and Ena on your help desk, who sent me a replacement which works perfectly.

As a fountain pen enthusiast for my whole life, I have been searching for a good modern flex nib that will rival the vintage gold flex nibs, or give me the Zebra G experience without the scratchiness. As part of that search, I came across the Tom's Studio Semi-flex nib so ordered one, albeit with low expectations since it was being sold as semi-flex rather than full flex. But I was pleasantly surprised at how good it was to use, so much so that I ordered a second one. It wasn't perfect straight out of the box as I had to find a wetter ink to avoid railroading issues, and I had to use it for some time for it to 'break in' and soften slightly (or have I just got used to using it?). The extra fine nib gives me some lovely fine, crisp upstrokes, whilst the flex is sufficient to give a pretty reasonable line variation on the downstrokes as you will see from the image below. Does it give me the vintage gold experience or the delightful softness of the Zebra G? To be honest, no, but then it was never intended to. What it does give me is some really good flex, modern fountain pen convenience, a good ink flow with the ebonite feed, and a generally smooth writing experience. It is a pleasure to write with. Now Tom, if you could just make a softer, full flex version, I'll be first in line.......but until then, I'm really enjoying this one 🙂.

Originally I bought this nib primarily to stop the ink from leaking out of my Studio Fountain Pen while its Pro Flex nib was taking a much needed bath. I was pleased to find that its use extended far from being a plug, lending itself quite nicely to every day pen use - shopping lists, notes to the milk man etc.

As mentioned in the description, this is a nib that takes some breaking in - like a pair of new Doc Martens, you have to put up with a little pain before it becomes comfortable and has a chance to shine. It’s called Semi Flex, and in the first few days of use it might be more accurately be described as Barely Flex - you need to lean on it quite hard to get any line variation (but not too hard or you’ll f’up the tines). Fill a few pages though and it’ll soon begin to loosen up, like a debutante on their sixth martini – soon enough the lines will start to splay more freely.

I had no real expectations of this nib, but now, having broken it in, it has become a pleasure to use, both for writing and sketching - the Pro Flex can sit in its bath a little longer…

I just purchased the Extra Fine Semi-Flex Fountain Pen Nib with the Ebonite feed and I love it! It writes really well...not temperamental at all. I do need to press a bit when wanting thicker lines, but I'm fine with that. I'll be using this for artwork....doodle shown gives a good idea of line variation. I'm happy! :)

I personally enjoy nibs that allow variable line width, without the need to flex. As such, as fountain pens are concerned, I am a fan of Zoom and Naginata Togi nibs. The Zoom nib from Tom’s Studio performs very well, writes perfectly on the reverse and normal positions and is really smooth. It’s also quite wet, again a feature I appreciate. With line width raging from very fine to broad, this is definitely a fun nib to work with.

Would buy again. Surprisingly pretty all purpose. I use it in my bullet journal/planner. I can make headings and entries with one nib.

The Pro-Flex unit fits perfectly into a Asvine v200 vacuum filler with no need for adjustment. I have other Zebra G nib fountain pens which all seem to suffer from ink flow, trying to keep up with the thirsty Zebra G nib, but Tom’s Pro-Flex on the Asvine pen just keeps on giving and doesn’t tend to railroad either.

The nib is a thing of beauty visually and writes well though much more scratchy than I’d expected. Very limited flex also. I cannot achieve the beautiful writing effect shown in the example above. A lot of pressure is needed to get a wide line. However as a nib just to write with it does the job well on my Studio Fountain pen. If I had my time over I’d maybe just by a standard fine nib.

So I bought the nib unit to test it out. Cuz I ve heard good things about it. I didn’t have a fountain pen yet, so I used my dip pen holder as shown in the picture.
The sample writing was done with this setup (dip pen). I love it. I have now ordered a fountain pen to hold it and it will arrive this week.