A Brief Guide to the Lamy Stainless Steel Nib System

The German-based Lamy is one of the most popular pen brands in the world, and their wonderful pens are known for being absolute workhorses that can be relied upon for comfortable everyday writing. Lamy fountain pens, such as the popular Safari, AL-Star, Studio and CP1 models, are fitted with the Z50 stainless steel nib, which is a versatile system designed to allow you to switch out the nibs and experiment with various line widths ranging all the way from extra-fine to the 1.9mm stub nib. We wanted to guide you through these nibs available to install onto the plastic nib section of your steel-nibbed Lamy pen. A very thin line can be made with the Z50 extra fine (EF) nib, and the line width gets progressively larger up to the Z50 broad (B) nib. There are also stub nibs available, which have a greater variation between upstrokes and downstrokes, with 1.1mm being the smallest stub nib and 1.9mm being the largest, with the most variation. These nibs are wonderful for calligraphy and show the special sheening and shimmer properties of certain fountain pen inks.

Below is a writing sample chart we have prepared to show you the differences in line widths between each nib size in the Z50 line-up.

This nib system is versatile because the nibs can be easily slid off of the black plastic nib section of the pen, and another can be added by sliding it on, lining up the grooves on the underside of the nib section. It is a great way to have multiple line widths from a couple of different nibs all while only having to invest in one pen. Another great option is the new Lamy Cursive nib, which can also be added to any Z50-compatible pen. It has wider sidestrokes and narrower downstrokes and is particularly smooth when writing curved lines.

The Z50 nibs can be purchased here, and then by specifying the nib size and adding your desired line width to your cart. We hope you enjoy this brief visual guide to the Lamy stainless steel nibs and their interchangeability.