Conflicted On Sailor Pro Gear

[nhylan]

Looking for some advice from more experienced officianados. I recently bought a sailor pro gear - rhodium trim with a broad nib. I LOVE the look, feel, and size of the pen but I find the nib has quite a bit of feedback in my mind. I've had it ground down and I love the way it writes but it still has some feedback. Is that feedback something that can be gotten rid of it is it just part of owning a sailor? I know I have a heavier hand, I've only been writing with fountain pens for a couple of years but when I conpare my xf lamy 2000 to this it's just no contest on the smoothness aspect.

 

Thanks,

Nate

[GardenWeasel]

Michael Masuyama can do wonders with making it smooth. I'm surprised whoever ground it down - did not also smooth it for you.

[nhylan]

I didn't actualy ask for it to be smoothed, so I certainly don't blame the person, they did an excerpt job for my noob request. I simply didn't know if this was something inherent in the nib or something that could be changed.

[Scribblesoften]

When I received my Pro Gear it had quite a bit of feedback. The times were aligned but the nib was unpleasant to use. I hesitated to do it on a pen of this price and reputation, but I smoothed the nib and now it works well. A number of people describe the Sailor nibs to be very smooth. Our pens might be the exception.

[Joe in Seattle]

My ProGear, an M-F is smooth as silk. I've had 2 other Sailors, they all were.

[Algester]

ok from my dip test experience this will be a hit or miss (maybe it applies to all pens) there will be some feed back on the normal nib by sailor as I have tried on EF, F and FM on Profit and Pro gear models alike which is why I'm also going to dip test an M again just to make sure its not going to be a dud as I previously dip tested a Sailor Pro Gear Sigma AKA pro gear 2 M nib it was ok. but the special nibs due to how broad they are should not have any feed back if any.

[OTDoc]

Sailor nibs are often 21k which means they can be very smooth and soft but can also be knocked out of alignment easily and react to pressure with some scratchiness from catching the inside of the tines. I had one tuned by Richard Binder and he mentioned that the 21k nib was less than ideal. If you get one of their "hard" nibs (14k) you may enjoy it more. Of course, if you have a 14k you may want to try the 21k....

[ink-syringe]

I had one tuned by Richard Binder and he mentioned that the 21k nib was less than ideal.

 

 

Did he also say why?

[Scribblesoften]

I have read a number of reports that the Sailor 21K nibs are very soft. This is not my experience. Every one that I have tried has been extremely stiff.

[nhylan]

I would agree, this is not a soft nib. It's not quite a nail - it has a little variation w/ pressure but I couldn't do it while actually writing.

[Algester]

21 kt nibs are quite springy but not soft I tried one with a KoP so I know my soft nib still goes to a soft medium Pilot or Platinum they are bit more springier to the point of semi-flex but I can't make the 21kt nib write like a semi-flex pen so I know else thats automatically spread tines...

[dkim87]

21K gold is indeed softer than 14K vs 18k if you are merely looking at gold itself. But you also have to consider the nib shape in regards to how it feels on paper (nail, springy, etc.). For example, if you look at most sailor nibs, the thickness of the nibs is appears to be thicker than that of nibs from Pelikan or Platinum, which is why it feels more like a nib.

 

In regards to sailor nibs and feedback, out of stock they do give a more tactile feel when writing which I prefer, but as one poster mentioned, since you had it ground down it is no longer so much of an issue with "sailor" as it is with the person who ground down your nib.

 

Keep using it on cheap paper, sometimes that tends to smooth the nib out a little.

[churl]

In regards to sailor nibs and feedback, out of stock they do give a more tactile feel when writing which I prefer, but as one poster mentioned, since you had it ground down it is no longer so much of an issue with "sailor" as it is with the person who ground down your nib.

Ditto. Hard to know whether your issue is Sailor or who ground he nib. But that being said, all Sailor non-specialized nibs have some feedback. It's a love it or hate it feeling. Ink can make a huge difference. There are definitely inks I do not use in Sailors.

[Jeff_H]

Sailor nibs can be just as smooth and silky as any other nib. If you had it ground down, although you didn't say what you had it ground down to, it should have come back smooth. There is no reason for it to be scratchy just because it's a Sailor. I have 5 Sailors and they all write smoothly, from a 14K MF nib to a 21K B and 2 Naginata-Togi's. There are several places to get your nib smoothed. I suggest Art's Nibs. Art is a member here and does great work.

 

http://www.artsnibs.com/home.html

[Scribblesoften]

I just purchase a Realo piston filler. Wow what a difference. This pen is exactly as everyone has described smooth with just a touch of feedback. The tines can spread a bit with light pressure to give variation in ink flow. This is completely different than my Pro Gear. My experience now suggests that Sailor, like other manufacturers, has some variation in there production. I now see what people get excited about.