April 21, 2024

Sailor Specialty Nibs

The Sailor Specialty Nibs consist of 7 uniquely ground nibs: the Naginata-Togi, Naginata Fude de Mannen, Naginata Concord, Naginata Emperor, Cross Point, Cross Music and Cross Concord. Each has the ability to produce extraordinary variation and different line widths at different writing angles. Each piece of paper in the picture above shows a writing sample produced from just one nib in the series and I hope you can see how dynamic and expressive these lines can be. In this blogpost, we'll be explaining more about the writing experience of each nib within the Sailor Specialty Nib collection.

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Pictured from left to right: Sailor Cross (Stacked) Nib, Naginata-Togi, and Naginata Emperor

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Over the past few weeks, I have been spending a lot of time writing with these nibs and have truly gained a deep appreciation for how innovative and unique they are. Many of these grinds were developed for Sailor by Nobuyoshi Nagahara, who worked for Sailor from 1947 to 2011. After he retired, his son, Yukio Nagahara took over till 2020 when he, himself, retired.

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Pictured from top to bottom: Sailor Naginata Emperor with rolled tab and Cross Concord

Naginata-Togi (Available in MF, M, B)

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Nib Shape: Large tipping, almost in a triangular shape, ground for Kanji writing experience.

Writing Experience/Comments: Wider lines at lower writing angles, needlepoint on the inverse.

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Naginata Fude de Mannen

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Nib Shape: Bent upward as if hooked

Writing Experience/Comments: wider lines at lower writing angles. The thickest line you get with this pen is significantly thicker than the thickest line with a Naginata-Togi. My personal impressions of this nib are that it is the most ideal for calligraphy because of immense line variation it is capable of.

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Naginata Concord

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Nib Shape: Curved downwards like a bird's beak

Writing Experience/Comments: Fine lines or very thick expressive strokes--not much in between. A pretty stiff writing experience writing on the tip of the nib, but still feel softness in the body of the nib. Invert the nib for thicker calligraphic brush strokes. A very specific grind with specific "sweet spots." This nib takes a bit of getting used to.

Naginata Emperor (available in MF, M, B)

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Nib Shape: A Naginata-Togi grind with the addition of a gold rolled tab acting as an overfeed for an additional supply of ink to the tines.

Writing Experience/Comments: This nib was developed for writing on more absorbent traditional Japanese papers used for calligraphy. It has comparable writing angles and line widths to the Naginata-Togi nibs but produces a wetter writing experience. The Medium and Broad nib sizes are where this wet writing experience is most evident. In the below writing sample on a textured and more absorbent paper, the Naginata-Togi MF is comparable to the Naginata Emperor MF but the Naginata Emperor M has much more ink flow than the Naginata-Togi M.

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Cross Point

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Nib Shape: A stacked nib created by bonding two nib on top of each other and joining the ink channels, a very large tipping

Writing Experience/Comments: Very broad and smooth line in most positions with abundant ink flow. This nib is so fun to write with and satisfyingly smooth on most angles. It is probably not practical for writing, but if you make a lot of headlines or signs, this fountain pen can almost act like a marker.

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Cross Music

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Nib Shape: A stacked nib created by bonding two nib on top of each other and joining the ink channels, tipping with a long and slim shape

Writing Experience/Comments: thin downstrokes and dramatically thick cross strokes, similar to an architect grind

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Cross Concord

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Nib Shape: A stacked nib created by bonding two nib on top of each other and joining the ink channels, curved downwards like a bird's beak, similar to the Naginata Concord.

Writing Experience/Comments: Writing with the nib held normally upright, a thin line, and on the inverse, line variation depending on the writing angle. On the inverse, thin downstrokes and broad cross strokes.

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