SusieG Studio

I had been following River City Pen Company’s pen making adventures since the 2021 DC pen show where I first saw one of Richard’s fountain pen creations with a silver turtle roll stop on the cap. I watched his IG posts and frequented his website looking to see if anything caught my eye.

It was in 2022, when I bought my first resin nib holder from River City Pen Company. I ended up purchasing two more that year and created blog posts about them. Links to my reviews are located at the end of this blog post. Here’s a few pictures of my previous contoured nib holder purchases.

I like using the contoured nib holders as it’s comfortable to hold and fits in my hand. My fingers do not slip or turn as I write or sketch with them.

My third and last nib holder purchase for 2022 was this beauty called Voodoo Vineyard. Rich had this blank available and I asked him to make a contoured holder with a single cut out. The swirls of colors are just stunning.

Fast forward to this year. I added two additional nib holders to my collection. One purchase happened before the pen show and the other during.

I was looking for a mini version that I could keep in my Rickshaw pen case. I purchased a mini nib holder a few weeks before the DC pen show and I ended up using it while I was at the show’s ink swatching tables.

I had a hard time using the pen show’s inexpensive nib holders with the inexpensive nibs. I was happy that I remembered to put a JoWo fine nib in my holder.

I wrote and swatched the ink colors using my nib holder in my pen show journal and used my water brush to blend out the inky color. Having the right tools made my inky swatching an enjoyable experience.

I mentioned that I added another nib holder to my collection. This one I purchased from Lucky Star Pens called Mercury. This material is made by Bob Dupras and the nib holder made by River City Pen Company. It’s always fun to find cool collaborations at the pen show. Lauren still has a few holders available here if you are interested.

So, how many nib holders do I need? I use them for different reasons. I could easily just use one holder and use the many different nibs I have and swap them in and out. Or I could just have a holder for each of the different types of nibs I use. Yes, that sounds like a better answer. Hahaha!

Here’s my family of nib holders all together.

The River City Pen Company nib holders can hold several different nibs. Here’s what I have used with my holders:

• Nikko G
• Zebra
• Blue Pumpkin
• Kakimori Brass & Steel
• Colorverse Shuttle Brass
• JoWo nibs

I have not tried other nibs (e.g. Bock, Nemosine, Pilot CM, etc) to see if they fit into these nib holders. Once I have a loose nib available, I will give it a try and update this blog with the information.

If any of my blog readers can confirm other nib brands will fit, please let me know and leave a comment.

TIPS/NOTES

Tip #1 Kakimori nibs: To remove the nib, I gently twist the nib as I remove it from the nib holder. This slowly releases the air that’s built up inside of the Kakimori nib while in the nib holder. Have you ever noticed the “pop” sound when the nib is pulled straight out of the holder? Probably not a good idea and weakens the rubber holder.

Tip #2 Kakimori nibs: Because I follow my own Tip #1 for removing the nib, I also do the same for inserting the nib into the holder. I do this out of habit and plus if I twist to insert, I will remember to twist to remove.

Tip #3: I’m mindful as to how deep I will dip my nib into a bottle of ink. I don’t let the nib holder itself touch the ink. Just the nib. It’s easy to clean off the nib. It’s a bit harder to clean the rubbery part of the nib holder.

Tip #4: When using lots of different colorful inks, I prefer to use a regular nib (e.g. JoWo) for my swatches and writing samples. It is so much easier to clean a regular nib than it is to clean a Kakimori or Colorverse Shuttle nib.

Tip #5: I’ve already mentioned my preferred nib. Use the one that you are most comfortable using. The Kakimori nibs are great for writing samples and for sketching. The nib can create different line variations and can hold a lot of ink.

Tip #6: For use at the pen shows! Get the mini nib holder and put a JoWo nib or Kakimori nib in it and use this winning combination for swatching/testing inks at the pen show. As I mentioned before, the mini nib holder with nib installed fits in the Rickshaw pen cases and does not take up much room.

Note: The Colorverse Shuttle nib that I have appears to be bad. When I try to write with it, the tip is rough. Rough as in catching on my paper. I’ve looked at the tip under my loupe and it appears to be unfinished. I will get back to the seller and see what can be done. That’s unfortunate and at this point I can’t recommend that it writes well as I don’t have any experience using it.

HELPFUL LINKS

Here’s a link to my blog post where I created a review for the Kakimori nibs back in 2022.

Here are past blog posts reviews for the current nib holders I have. There’s additional information and helpful tips: Barrier Reef, Pink/Green/White Diamondcast, and Voodoo Vineyard. Also here’s my quick review of using a JoWo nib with the nib holder.

Pen Holders: River City Pen Company nib holders in Barrier Reef (Turnt Pen Co), Pink/Green/White Diamondcast, Voodoo Vineyard, Aluminum M3 (mini), and Lucky Star Pens Mercury (Lucky Star/Bob Dupras)

Journal: Stalogy Editor’s series A5 grid