Manuscript Drawing and Mapping Nibs Set

I bought this set of Drawing and Mapping Nibs and the Winsor and Newton waterproof India Ink about a year ago. This was actually my second set of the Mapping and Drawing Nibs, because I had left my first set back home in Perth, and was looking to do Philip Harris’ Domestika Course. My local art supplies store stocked these, and it is a good, convenient starter set as it comes with 5 nibs and 2 nib holders. I could get started straight away.

Through the course I found out about the Tachigawa nib holder and Nikko nibs recommended by Philip Harris which I then purchased. To get it out of the way, the Tachigawa holder by far my favourite holder and I literally never use the ones that came with this set anymore. I’ll explain why later in the post. For now, back to this set.

What’s in the set

The set comes with 5 different nibs, 2 nib holders and a handy little box to store your nibs. I store all my nibs in this little box now, and it sits permanently in my sketch kit.

Of the two nib holders provided, one holds tubular (or ‘crow quill’) nibs. This set only contains one such nib: the Hiro Leonardt (no 800) nib.

The second holder is a maroon/dark brown holder which holds all the other nibs in the set (the more common slightly curved nibs - I’m not actually sure whether they have a specific name).

I also want to point out here that I am no expert on nibs, nib holders or dip pens. I have tried this set, the Tachigawa model T40 holder (blue) and a set of 5 Nikko nibs. That’s the extent of my experience with dip pens, so this review is based on my experiences as a beginner/someone who enjoys dabbling in drawing, sketching and line work occasionally but generally now paints mostly with gouache.

So, with that disclaimer out of the way, I personally found that the maroon/dark brown holder works a lot better than the red holder for ‘crow quill’ nibs. Nibs were a lot easier to insert and remove from the maroon holder, and while in the holder, they felt secure and comfortable to use.

The red holder on the other hand has been atrocious. I’ve tried two of these now, and they’ve both been a bit of a disaster. Firstly, they feel cheap. More importantly, with both of the ones I’ve owned, the nibs are inserted easily enough, but are nearly impossible to remove. I damaged a nib trying to remove it from the first holder I had and still wasn’t able to remove it.

This would not be as big a problem if it wasn’t such a hazard keeping the nib in the holder. I’ve jabbed myself on the nib a few times while reaching for anything else I have stored in whatever container I’ve kept this in. This is potentially just a me problem, but it is a problem I don’t want to deal with if I don’t have to. Enter the Tachigawa holder:

Tachigawa T40 vs the Holders in the Manuscript Set

The one big thing the Tachigawa has over these, and many other holders I’ve seen is the cap. I mean, genius. Why all holders don’t come with one is beyond me. I can stow whatever nib I’m using in it and put the cap back on - no more stabbing hazards. AND, I can take it out with me in my travel sketching kit if I want to - which I have done.

In fact, I used it quite a bit while we were stuck in Fitzroy Crossing for a few days at the end of September/early October 2022 waiting out the rains. I also enjoyed using it while in Broome, and now I’ve got a much better organiser for my on-the-go supplies, I hope to use it even more.

Another genius thing in the Tachigawa design is its double-ring structure. I am not sure if other holders do this too, but having only used the Tachigawa and the two holders in the Manuscript set, for me, this double-ring design was a massive game changer. You can see them side-by-side below.

It allows you to use both types of nibs tubular/’crow’s quill’ and standard in the same holder (not at the same time of course). The outer ring holds standard nibs, while the inner ring holds the tubular nibs

This design means that you don’t need two different types of holders to use all your nibs. The one holder will do. It also has a design that feels very comfortable in the hand and the rubber finger support is beautiful for writers/drawers like me who sometimes use a lot of pressure when working with pens. It is super comfortable compared to the 2 holders in the set.

Nibs

There are 5 Leonardt nibs in the set: General, 33, 518, Hiro No. 800 and the IIIEF nibs. Below, I’ve shared some of the exercises I’ve done with these nibs, showing the different marks they can make. Before we get to that though there is another question to address given I’ve just raved about why the Tachigawa holder is better than the ones in this set:

Are the nibs in the Manuscript Drawing and Mapping Nibs set compatible with the Tachigawa T40 holder?

Yes and no. So, the tubular/’crow’s quill’ Hiro Leonardt No. 800 fits perfectly into the Tachigawa inner ring without any manipulation.

The standard nibs however don’t fit the Tachigawa T40 straight out of the box. The outer ring of the Tachigawa holder is a bit too big for these nibs and they will fall out as you go to use them.

However, it is a relatively easy and quick fix with a couple of small pliers. All I did was pull the edges outward so their edges sat slightly flatter, and voila, they now all fit the Tachigawa holder comfortably. Jewellery pliers worked well for me for this.

You could also try doing it by hand but I found it quite fiddly and painful, while it was super easy with the pliers. The amount you need to adjust is very, very slight, and it does not take much to get the holders to fit, so, go slow, adjust slightly and try it as you go.

Note however, that as they’ve now been adjusted, they may not fit the original pen that comes with the Manuscript set anymore without having to readjust them. For me, I didn’t really care about that as I knew I’d only be using the Tachigawa, but it is something to bear in mind if you’re not sure.

The Marks I could make with these Nibs

The nibs themselves are good. I really liked them, and I liked the variety of the 5 nibs that came in the set. Together they are very versatile and allow for a wide range of marks. So instead of telling you more about them, I’ll just show you the practice pages I did for each of the nibs, following the exercises in the Philip Harris course.

If you’re interested in this set, I hope this post helped. I am by no means an expert in pen and ink illustration but I do dabble and love having the option of using a dip pen. The tactile feeling of a dip pen is really quite special.