Nibs

The Parker 75 nib started out in life by being stamped out from a thin sheet of solid 14K or 18K gold. Solder the tipping material of the approximate size and form the desired size. Here you see an unfinished nib while it is flat, unpolished and without the cut to form the two tines. When that is done, this flat piece will be curved for fitting onto the black plastic feed. Update of 12-31-2004



While most Parker nibs were made from gold, there were a few made of other metals, which are listed in increasing scarcity:

Octanium, Parker's name for an alloy of eight metals

Titanium

White gold

Parker 75 nibs were offered in a multitude of widths from the narrow accountant super-fine to double broad. Also various nib styles were offered along with the range of widths. This style specified how the ball of the tip was cut. This would affect the variation of the line widths depending on the stroke of the writing. The available styles were:

Style Description Normal For general use, this style had a rounded tip. Oblique The ball of the tip is cut at an angle (about 30 degrees to the left, resulting in a chisel-like appearance. Sometimes also called right oblique. Reverse Oblique Also chisel-like in appearance, the ball on the tip is cut an at angle to the right. Italic Like a stub nib, this one has a straight horizontal cut. The difference, however, the cut had a sharper edge allowing for good variations in widths, from extra fine to broad. Stub Straight cut horizontally but with some rounding at the tip.

Except for the first month or two of its production which did not have any marking, Parker engraved the size and style on the black plastic feed attached to the nib for the entire model. The size and style was first engraved as digits and later replaced with letters representing the nib’s width alone. A list of such markings are given in the tables below.

Please note that there were significant design changes between the 14K and 18K nibs. The latter could only fit into the last sections without the triangular grip and having the thin gold band. Upon removing the nibs from their sections, the design changes become readily obvious .

In the picture above, the 18K section and nib are placed on the left and the 14K components are on the right. Notice the combed collector on the 18K and how much larger it is. Therefore the inner diameter of the 18K section is substantially larger than the same for the 14K section.

Also note the nib size is usually stamped on the underside of the black plastic feed, either as a number or letter. This is not always the case though as I have several samples where nothing was stamped.

The following tables show the nib size matching each stamped value.

14K US

The following information was obtained from a Parker 75 nib guide brochure printed in April, 1967. To see a side-by-side comparison, click here.

Mark Description 6 1 Needle. An extremely fine point for precise figure work. 62 Accountant. Very thin lines with a delicate touch generally considered for bookkeeping work. 63 Extra fine. Very fine line with a light touch. 64 Steno. Fine point adapted for shorthand use. 65 Fine. Fine line for general use with a moderate pressure. 66 Medium. Optimal for average writing pressure producing an average line width. 67 Broad. Excellent for general writing to produce a thicker width. 68 Extra broad. A large round tip producing very wide lines. 69 Fine stub. A flat nib, omitting the normal round tip, intended for delicate shaded writing. It produces a wide line on the vertical stroke and thin line on the horizontal stroke. This nib was intended for people who write with the slightest slant in their pen. 70 Medium stub. A wider flat nib for shaded writing. It produces a noticeable variation in line widths between the vertical and horizontal strokes. It was intended for people who write with a slight slant of the pen. 71 Broad stub. A wide flat nib that produces a large variation in line widths between vertical and horizontal strokes, adding a significant flair to the written words. 72 Extra broad stub. The widest flat nib available from Parker. Very wide vertical strokes and thin horizontal strokes that adds a lot of flair, somewhat reminiscent to the writing found in the US Declaration of Independence. 73 Stub thin music. A flat nib thinner than the fine stub nib that was intended for sheet music writers. It permits the user to write small musical notes. 75 Medium right oblique. It has the largest surface on the right side of the point. 77 Broad right oblique 79 Medium left oblique. For those who slant the pen when they write. It has the largest surface on the left side of the point. Intended for left-hand writers. 82

83 Fine Arabic

Medium Arabic Intended for shaded print-writing. Good for those who hold the pen nearly vertical to the writing surface. 88 Extra broad executive with a HUGE ball tip. 97

98 Fine italic

Heavy extra broad italic. With a flat and broad edged point, this nib was especially designed for italic writing with contact to the paper typically at an angle of 45 degrees.

14K (585) France

This nib guide below is for the later model sections with the thin gold band that lacks the triangular grip as shown here. This information was obtained from the brochure Parker issued in August, 1991 which you may see by clicking here which also included this nib number table. Click here to view a side-by-side comparison of these nibs.

Mark Description 11 Needlepoint 32 Fine oblique 33 Fine reverse oblique 34 Fine italic 35 Fine oblique italic 15° 38 Fine oblique italic 30° 42 Medium oblique 43 Medium reverse oblique 44 Medium italic 45 Medium oblique italic 15° 48 Medium oblique italic 30° 52 Broad oblique 53 Broad reverse oblique 54 Broad italic 55 Broad oblique italic 15° 58 Broad oblique italic 30° 61 Extra broad 62 Extra broad oblique 63 Extra broad reverse oblique 71 Extra, extra broad 72 Extra, extra broad oblique 73 Extra, extra broad reverse oblique

18K France

These nibs are used with the earlier triangular grip section for the Premiers or the later section with the thin gold band for the 75s. To see a side-by-side comparison, click here.

Mark Description Normal 80 Needlepoint 81 or X Extra fine 82 or F Fine 83 or M Medium 84 or B Broad 85 Extra broad 86 Extra, extra broad Oblique For the right hand 87 or FO Fine right oblique 88 Medium right oblique 89 Broad right oblique 91 Extra broad right oblique 92 Extra, extra broad right oblique Reverse oblique For the left hand 93 Medium reverse oblique 96 Fine reverse oblique 97 Broad reverse oblique Oblique Italic Nibs cut at 15° angle for the right hand 74 Fine oblique italic 75 Medium oblique italic 76 Broad oblique italic Nibs cut at 30° angle for the right hand 77 Fine oblique italic 78 Medium oblique italic 79 Broad oblique italic Italic 94 or MI Medium italic 95 or BI Broad italic 98 or FI Fine italic

Update of March 27, 2005

Here is a Parker nib guide from 1991, with the interesting addition of French-made 14K nibs.

Update of December 18, 2005

Here is a hand-made nib gauging tool that Parker used to size the exotic nibs.

The nib is place at the top where the channel is widest and then slid down until it stops. Where it stops indicates the size of the nib.

Update of July 15, 2006

Here is a picture of the progression of how the nib is made.

Update of June 30, 2012

Here is a nib die for taking the imprinted and tipped flat nib to one with the characteristic curvature of the 75 nib see in step 3 above.

Update of December 31, 2011

As a supplement to the 14K US, 14K French, and 18K French nib comparisons, here are side-by-side comparisons of the range in ultra-fine to fine nibs available, disregarding gold carat content and country of manufacture.

61 62 63 (US 14K) or XF 11 80 F or 64 (US 14K) 14K 14K 14K or 18K 14K 18K 14K or 18K US US US or France France France US or France Needle Accountant Extra-fine Needlepoint Needlepoint Fine Thin feed Thin feed Thin or thick Thick feed Thin or thick Thin or thick

Here is a closer look at those nibs Parker labeled as needlepoint:

At least from this sample set of nibs, it appears as though the finest is the #61 14K US, followed by the 18K French #80 with the 14K French #11 having the largest point size.