“Calligraphy, like a fingerprint or the voice is unique within every person…
‘Hermann Zapf
Flex, the ability to write letters, lines and strokes with maximal variation of width, has always been the unicorn of fountain pens. A pen nib with flex imparts character into your handwriting, and allows the exploration of true calligraphy. Pens prior to the 1950s all had flex. In that era the nibs were often gold, it was relatively cheap, very soft, and it easily flexed when you applied pressure. The ever present danger was to go for too much and permanently bend the tines into a spread position. To spring the nib on another person’s pen was the ultimate faux pas of the fountain pen world. Still times have changed, gold is now more expensive, and most modern flex nibs are steel, harder to damage, but intrinsically resistant to flex. This 2026 Chinese Majohn P136 gold plated steel flex nib is actually very impressive. It achieves the trick of flex by having a long tine slit that extends proximally to the breather hole #mywritingisstillcrap #letsmakelemonade
Pen Paint and Scalpel 