18K M600 (Old Style) Nibs?

[Garageboy]

Just picked up one of these

How do they write?

Any different from the 14 k monotones?

[whych]

They are great nibs and are much nicer to use than the modern nail nibs Pelikan offers.

[Albinoni]

They are great nibs and are much nicer to use than the modern nail nibs Pelikan offers.

What's your definition of a nail nib, seriously are all Pelikan nibs that bad.

 

I've got a 1997 beautiful green stripe M800 with a medium nib and mind you it's a flawless writer, I prefer it over my Montblanc 146 any day.

[Garageboy]

I happen to like modern Pelikan nibs

Was wondering how different it would be from a 14k monotone of the same era

[sargetalon]

The 18K and the older 14K mono nibs are both great writers that I prize highly. That was a very good time for Pelikan nibs. I prefer them over today's nibs because they are softer and have more personality. I have many modern nibs and like them too but they just don't have the personality that their older brothers and sisters do.

[DrCodfish]

I am not sure if I am in the minority or the silent majority but, .... flexible nibs don't work for me. When someone uses that scornful term 'Nail', my ears perk up. It's not that I don't ike the results which flexible nibs produce, quite the contrary, I think the resuts are fabulous and I would very much love to be able to produce those swoopy, thick and thin lines.

 

But I am a lefty overwriter and as such all my vertical strokes are push strokes, so anytime I am using a flexible nib, for me it is like pushing an exacto knife blade along - I canlt apply enohg pressure to spreasd the times to get soem ink to floe, s (the narrower the nib, the worse it gets - EF's are more like trying to write while pushing a hypodermic needle into the paper). That said I can use some of the 'soft' or slightly fexible nibs available. So when a pen is adverstised with a nib which has 'some flex" my antennae go up, I am interested but so much depends on the definition of 'some flex'

 

I have a couple pristine old DF nibs and I get along just fine with them, I have a 'some flex' nib on my 100, and it's just at the edge of usable for me. I need to be in the moment whenever I am writing with that one. The minute my mind wanders, my writing comes to a screeching halt.

 

If you are one who can make beautiful lines with a flexible nib, count youre blessings but reconsider dumping on those horrible 'nail' nibs, they are someones best friend.

 

 

[MartinSimonnet]

My old M600 has a very smooth nib. A great writer, probably my favourite nib out of my collection. It has that slight bit of give to it, it is not a flex nib but it is a springy nib that makes any line much more enjoyable to write. I have not tried a 14k nib from the same era so I would not be able to compare them with their 18k brethren.

 

However, I can vouch for this old Pelikan M600 nib. It is brilliant in every aspect.

[Baric]

I am not sure if I am in the minority or the silent majority but, .... flexible nibs don't work for me. When someone uses that scornful term 'Nail', my ears perk up. It's not that I don't ike the results which flexible nibs produce, quite the contrary, I think the resuts are fabulous and I would very much love to be able to produce those swoopy, thick and thin lines.

 

But I am a lefty overwriter and as such all my vertical strokes are push strokes, so anytime I am using a flexible nib, for me it is like pushing an exacto knife blade along - I canlt apply enohg pressure to spreasd the times to get soem ink to floe, s (the narrower the nib, the worse it gets - EF's are more like trying to write while pushing a hypodermic needle into the paper). That said I can use some of the 'soft' or slightly fexible nibs available. So when a pen is adverstised with a nib which has 'some flex" my antennae go up, I am interested but so much depends on the definition of 'some flex'

 

I have the exact same reaction. "Nail" is such a bad way to describe Pelikan's stiffer nibs. I love them, they write very well for me as I have similar problems as a lefty overwriter. I come at the line from more to the side than say someone with a pronounced "hook hand" style, my wrist is fairly straight so that a soft or semi flex nib tends to be very scratchy due to so many long lateral strokes for the letter verticals. I have a soft Danitrio nib that I have to be VERY careful with, or the tines get some severe lateral movement.

 

I know many folks like soft, semi-flex, or flex nibs, but they are NOT the goal of everyone or even desireable to folks like me. I tend to feel a tiny burst of irritation and indignation when I hear the wonderful modern Pelikan nibs referred to as "nails". I have to keep telling myself that everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I think that it's overdone sometimes and might cause those new to fountain pens to feel uncomfortable. Or maybe I'm just "too sensitive"

 

This said, I would also like to be able to use a more flexible nib and get all that wonderful line variation that makes scripts like Spencerian and others so beautiful. I'm trying to teach myself to write as a lefty underwriter but I'm finding this VERY difficult to get the desired slant. I feel like I'm in 2nd grade again with penmanship to match.

[mAsTeRmInD-L]

I have one 18C M point nib (no flex, EN mark), one 14C M point single-tone nib (semi-flex), one 14C two-tone HF point nib (hard like a rock), and one 14C single-tone HF point nib (hard like a rock). All of them are from pre-97 era.

 

The 18C nib I have is from NOS M600, it's not soft at all. I don't quite like the feel when it writes on the paper. It is very smooth, but it has no character to me.

 

I like all my 14C nibs. I don't mean 14C nib is better than 18C nib. It's just those 14C nibs I collected coincidentally write more interestingly than my 18C nib. And, the degree of satisfaction mostly depends on personal preference.

 

My 14C semi-flex nib writes like a pencil. It's smooth, but somehow generates a sound just like a pencil writes on paper. I can feel a little bit friction which helps me get a better control of writing rhythm.

 

It's really hard to say which nib is better due to different personal preferences and the age of the nib.

 

 

 

- L

[Garageboy]

Thanks

Seemed like the choir was all 18k bad, 14k good

I bought a NOS old style M400 a while back, and a friend had wanted the mono tone nib from it, so I gave it to him, and found this as a replacement for a good price

So now I have a slightly upgraded M400

[DrCodfish]

Something I would add is 'they are not all the same'. By that I mean the single tone 14K gold nibs which Richard Binder refers to as M250 nibs exhibit a wide range fo flexibiity (I can't comment on 18K nibs). I have a number of these that are so flexible (in older pens) that I can't use them. Frustrating because they are so nice. I have a few that are newer which I've had customized that work wonderfuly for me. They are either soft or flexible (I'm no expert here) but they have some flex and add a certain character to my writing. I know thy are no longer in production and supplies are getting scarce. Too bad, I like them in my M101\form pens .

[EclecticCollector]

Apologies for not doing my research first, but can anyone tell me if a modern 600 can take an old style 14k or 18k 600 nib? IIRC the 600 was made larger at some point, prior to that it was the same size as the 400 but with upgraded internals. Did they change nib types before or after this size change? Much appreciated.

[whych]

Apologies for not doing my research first, but can anyone tell me if a modern 600 can take an old style 14k or 18k 600 nib? IIRC the 600 was made larger at some point, prior to that it was the same size as the 400 but with upgraded internals. Did they change nib types before or after this size change? Much appreciated.

The only difference in the old style M600 and the modern M600 is the nib is slightly longer. The modern M600 will take any old the M series nibs.

[Miles Hand]

Bo Bo, are you there?

[EclecticCollector]

The only difference in the old style M600 and the modern M600 is the nib is slightly longer. The modern M600 will take any old the M series nibs.

Thank you!

[JulioPB]

What's your definition of a nail nib, seriously are all Pelikan nibs that bad.

 

I've got a 1997 beautiful green stripe M800 with a medium nib and mind you it's a flawless writer, I prefer it over my Montblanc 146 any day.

Agree.

 

No complain on any Pelikan nib, old, new, steel, gold, etc.

Only comment is: current nibs are too broad, so consider a thiner nib before your purchase.

 

Julio MX