Gillott 404 Nib

The Gillott 404 is not recommended for beginners, and I am a beginner who’s been using pointy nibs enthusiastically, but only for three or four months. This is my experience with the Gillott 404: it is a little bit stiffer than both the Gillott 303 and the Hunt 101. It makes nice thick and thin lines, although not as thin as the those made by the Gillott 303. It holds ink well, lays it down well--it does everything a good pointy nib should do and does it well. What I dislike about the Gillott 404 is its scratchiness. It catches on Canson Pro-Layout Marker Paper and that’s the smoothest paper I have. On https://www.paperinkarts.com/ blog/gillott-nibs/ the 404 is described as smooth, but that has not been my experience.

Great nib for all textured papers or Metallic inks. Cheap And good.

I recommend this nib if you are going to be using more challenging inks. If you are writing with a metallic ink, you can't go wrong with this nib. I have had wonderful success with Finetec, and Dr. Martin's iridescent, as well. It even puts up with and responds nicely to the watercolor paints I thin. I haven't had blobs or other issues. It handles card stock without skipping or catching. You will need to clean it often due to the rapid dry time of some inks. There may be better nibs out there for this purpose, but, so far, I have been happy with it for my use.