Practice with the 830 nibs

This afternoon I got some of those vintage nibs out and decided to experiment with the 830s.  Everything we do really is a learning process isn't it. 
I often see posts in the OP yahoo group about what nibs work with what.  One nib does not work with all papers and all inks.  I am using the 830 with walnut gall ink and I tried four different papers to see which would work best with this nib.  Here are the results:

The first paper, from the top, is Canson Pro-Marker.  It's bright white and very smooth.  Good results with this paper.

The second is a linen stationery by Southworth in ivory, 25% cotton.  Not good.  The hairlines weren't good and it feathered. 

The third from the top is a slick papered placecard I picked up at Michael's (I think).  This wasn't bad.  Still not much in the way of hairlines but the ink 'stuck'.  Since this paper is slick (you can see the gloss) it takes a bit for the ink to dry.

Last one was a cream-colored parchment.  This fell somewhere between the linen stationery and the Canson.  It didn't feather but it was too thick for my taste. 

This nib is a large nib so hairlines aren't going to be very hairy.  It also needs a very smooth paper to write the best. 

Vintage nibs

So, I've had a chance to experiment with some of the vintage nibs I've acquired.  Here's my take thus far .
Hunt 100--very dainty, catches on practice paper and envies.  Not sure if these are going to be keepers. 
Hunt 103--kinda like these.  Less fiddly and dainty than the 100s IMO.  Love the hairlines.
Esterbrook 354--another good choice.  About like the 103s.  A small nib and very flexible but again, not as temperamental as the 100 I tried
Esterbrook 355  First one out of the box won't hold ink for squat.  Highly flexible nib compared to ones I've used in the past.  Second one is good.  Very similar to the 354 and I like the hairlines.

These are all very fine nibs and I probably should practice some more with them before rendering judgement.  I'vce been using the Zebra G and it's more on the medium flex side so I'm not comfortable with these really sharp, flexible nibs. Many people like the Gillott 303, which I'm not nuts about, and these are more flexible than that one.   I'll have to train my hands to ease up.  Also, in every box of nibs there are probably going to be duds so I should discount the 100 just yet.  It happens.

Eagle 830
I really kinda like this one.   It's bowl shaped and the first of it's kind I've ever tried.  It's a bit stiff, I guess a more medium flex.  I don't like really stiff nibs like some of the Falcon nibs I've tried in the past (the Esterbrook 44 comes to mind).  Those nibs are BIG IMO and a little weird with how far they have to stick out of the holder.  I think you get used to your hand being a certain distance from the paper and a large nib raises that out of your comfort zone.