Pelikan P30 Arrives - Slick! Converter Issue?

[Buzzie]

Aloha - (drumroll, please) My first P30 Pelikan, produced between 1957-to-70 vintage (14k, cartridge model) extra-broad nib just arrived, sans cartridge. I tried a converter from another Pelikan, but it does not seat properly. Additionally, this prevents the barrel from screwing all the way back to its proper seating by a few millimeters. I immediately ordered some Pelikan cartridges and a new converter, so maybe that will do it. Oddly enough, a Parker converter seats perfectly but is just a tab too long (sigh).

 

Like a kid with a new toy, I decided to use it as an eyedropper fill to experiment. The nib is REALLY broad, another first for me. The first fill tonight is Noodler's Blue Eel. Results?....glassy smooth, almost slippery. The nib just floats along the big wet line. The operative word is big. And wet. And super-smooth, even on dime-store notebook paper. I'm plenty pleased.

 

Now that I have it, what do I do with it?? How does one get the most out of a clearly out-of-the-routine silky wide line? Suggestions?? I'm excited! ...hope the photo posts - another first for me:-)

 

 

 

[watch_art]

you can use a pencil sharpener and shorten the handle on the converter to get it to fit. There was a thread about that here a few weeks ago.

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/203760-pelikano-junior/page__view__findpost__p__2094712

 

And wow what a beautiful pen. I'd draw with it personally. Lots of worms and coffee mugs.

Edited October 1, 2011 by watch_art

[Buzzie]

What a wealth of information!! Thanks so much -

 

Your talent for drawing - a hobby or pro?

[watch_art]

A bit of both I guess. I'm a high school art teacher - and sell the occasional portrait and commission. Mostly hobby and passion - as the money doesn't make it any more fun - just a means to buy more art supplies (and pens!).

 

Thanks!

[pathobby]

The P30 is in my opinion one of the all time great Pelikans. They are very elegant pens and write extremely well in all nib widths.

 

German pens of that era were superbly made. The only problem with these pens is that they usually start a collecting habit that is hard to break!

 

PH

Edited October 7, 2011 by pathobby

[Professor Zlatko]

That is very good pen! Which size of the nib?

[Mr Tutt]

One of the first pens I got when I got into this a few years ago, and the first Pelikan, with pen like this. I pictures on eBay weren't too good, and I didn't know what was up anyway, and when I got it, I couldn't figure out what it was. It looked like pictures of a P30, but it was a C/C rather than a piston filler. From the references I found, I finally decided it was a P490--same style as the P30 but a C/C and Pelikan's first cartridge pen. I bought a standard Pelikan convertor on the Web and it has worked fine. Is P490 the correct designation?. I use mine a lot and it's probably the smoothest writing pen I own. I've looked for a P30 piston filler, but so far I've not found one for the bargain price I'm usually looking for.

 

EMS