Hiro 700 Nib

I purchased this nib to try out new points for Spencerian and ornamental penmanship. It worked well with walnut ink, but performed best with India ink. It lasted about one month with consistent use, until I used iron gall ink. Upon the first use with iron gall ink, it corroded quite quickly, even though the iron gall I used has a lower pH and I always clean my nibs immediately after use. So if you are wondering what inks to use, you can use vegetable (e.g. beet juice), nut-based, and acrylic inks, but might want to avoid iron-gall. The nib created fine hairlines, but not as fine as the Hunt 101, Hunt 103, Leonardt EF Principal, or Brause 66 EF. The swells were thick, but the contrast between the hairlines and swells was not as dramatic as what I could achieve with the aforementioned nibs, so I ended up using the nib for modern and engrosser's script. Overall, it performs well as a practice nib and is like a mixture of a Nikko G with a Hunt 103 (it has the size of the 103, flexibility somewhere in the middle of the two, and the shape of the Nikko G). I would recommend this nib as a good beginner alternative to the Nikko G, as it is flexible, but not quite as flexible as the Hunt 101 or Leonardt EF Principal, but can handle a bit more pressure without breaking. I would definitely include this nib among my favorites, especially on days when my arm is tired and I have a heavy hand.

I purchased this nib to try out new points for Spencerian and ornamental penmanship. It worked well with walnut ink, but performed best with India ink. It lasted about one month with consistent use, until I used iron gall ink. Upon the first use with iron gall ink, it corroded quite quickly, even though the iron gall I used has a lower pH and I always clean my nibs immediately after use. So if you are wondering what inks to use, you can use vegetable (e.g. beet juice), nut-based, and acrylic inks, but might want to avoid iron-gall. The nib created fine hairlines, but not as fine as the Hunt 101, Hunt 103, Leonardt EF Principal, or Brause 66 EF. The swells were thick, but the contrast between the hairlines and swells was not as dramatic as what I could achieve with the aforementioned nibs, so I ended up using the nib for modern and engrosser's script. Overall, it performs well as a practice nib and is like a mixture of a Nikko G with a Hunt 103 (it has the size of the 103, flexibility somewhere in the middle of the two, and the shape of the Nikko G). I would recommend this nib as a good beginner alternative to the Nikko G, as it is flexible, but not quite as flexible as the Hunt 101 or Leonardt EF Principal, but can handle a bit more pressure without breaking. I would definitely include this nib among my favorites, especially on days when my arm is tired and I have a heavy hand.