Flex Fountain Pen 101: What is Snapback from a Pen Writer's Point of View?
Snapback has been one of the most important parameters related to flex fountain pens. So, what is it and what makes it so important in flex writing? In general, snapback is regarded as the speed of the tines returning to their unflexed state. Good snapback means the nib takes no time to return to its unflexed state right after the pressure is lifted. Good snapback also means crisp line variation, which is an indicator of good expression in handwriting and calligraphy.
One thing to note, a lot of people, even some vintage fountain pen sellers, tend to misidentify the tendency of returning as snapback. This is a common misconception. Snapback is NOT how strong the FORCE of a nib wanting to return is, but the SPEED of the actual returning process. It is the speed that determines how crisp the line variation is. This misconception may lead people to believe that vintage flex fountain pens are the snappiest flex pens because most of them have a strong tendency of returning after flexing. The statement, being vintage means the snappiest and the best, is not true. The ones with good snapback are certainly out there but they are hard to come by. A lot of vintage flex fountain pens on the market only have a strong tendency but not a fast speed. That’s why I felt vintage flex fountain pens have been apotheosized due to this misconception.
Anyway, after knowing what snapback is, the other part of the story would be how we determine the snapback performance of a flex nib, regardless of being vintage or modern.
Depending on whether you are a pen writer or an artist, there are 2 ways to determine the snapback performance of a flex nib. Very often, we see lots of writing samples of quick flexing followed by unflexing in straight lines.
An example of quick flexing followed by unflexing in straight lines
These samples are from an artist’s point of view rather than a writer’s. They are not very useful for pen writers or calligraphers because a writer doesn’t flex and then unflex vertically. Instead, our handwritings follow the rules of basic strokes, which consist of downstrokes and upstrokes. Snapback happens in the connection between downstrokes and upstrokes. Therefore, the best way to see snapback performance is to see writing samples of “minimum” or loops of “8”.
In this post, I have included samples of writing both “minimum” and loops of “8” using different flex fountain pens to show you how to determine the snapback performance of a flex nib. [ALL SAMPLES WERE WRITTEN IN A VERY SIMILAR SPEED. ]
The rule of thumb is simple. Just look at the connection between the downstroke and upstroke, the fastest of the latter upstroke transitioning to the same width as the previous upstroke is the best. It sounds a bit mouthful in the explanation. It’s easier if we look at an example:
Blue arrow = the previous upstroke
Red arrow = the latter upstroke
Green circle = the transition from downstroke to upstroke
The upper writing sample is from flex nib A, while the lower one is from flex nib B.
In a writing sample, the previous upstroke represents the line width in the unflexed state. In the connection between the downstroke and the latter upstroke, it shows the transition from flexed to unflexed, where snapback happens.
Let’s start with the boxed area in the right. Both latter upstrokes from nib A and B completely return to their unflexed state in the end, as the line width of the latter is the same as the previous.
However, near the lowest point of the downstroke, flex nib A has already returned, while in flex nib B, it did not completely return until it already rose up some distance from the lowest point. At this transition, flex nib A has a better snapback than flex nib B because A takes less time to return to its unflexed state. There are many transitions in other “n” or ”m” letters, we can also see that flex nib A can return to unflexed state faster than B most of the time.
The same rule applies to the example of loops of “8”. Look at each transition of each “8”, nib A already returned to the same line width as the previous upstroke at the lowest point of the downstroke while nib B did not until it rose up some distance.
After checking most connections in the writing samples, we can say that nib A has a better snapback than nib B.
Now, you can test yourself using the following examples. The answers can be found here.
This is only a way to eyeball how good the snapback is. It is still not very precise and there are ways to ‘cheat’ (that will be another topic). The best way to tell how the snapback is of a flex nib would be writing “minimum” yourself to test it. Surely, it is not possible most of the time. The next best thing would be watching a video of the seller/reviewer doing it. That way you can still see the actual speed of the tines returning.
Overall, this blog is written with my personal experiences using different flex fountain pens, modern or vintage. I am open to discussing snapback or any other flex fountain pen related content. You can simply leave a comment below this blog. I will try to answer or reply with what I know. If you find this article helpful, please share it with your friends in the community. It’ll be much appreciated. ;)
