Question Regarding Pilot Metropolitan In Fine

[vPro]

Hello FPN!

I just received my Pilot Metropolitan with a fine nib after a good 2-3 weeks of waiting. I wouldn't say I'm completely dissatisfied with it, but I'm a bit disappointed that it is so scratchy. My 7 years old Waterman Phileas M is much smoother when writing.

 

Does the Metropolitan need time to "break in" or are fine nibs just made that way?

Thank you!

[enlvalencia]

Mine did ok out of the box, but that might be because I'm used to writing with Japanese fines? Maybe try drawing some figure 8s on a brown paper bag, and see if it helps?

[1maddog1]

I like writing with fine nibs, but because the Pilot fine is like a Western extra-fine, I find I use it only to make notes.

[graystranger]

Hi vPro! Welcome to FPN.

 

My Fine Metropolitan was quite smooth and not scratchy and I did not need any break in time at all. But, I think these less expensive pens can vary more, and a second one may be as smooth as the one I have.

 

The Waterman Phileas that a friend at work let me try about 6 or 8 years ago was incredibly smooth, and I had a smooth Waterman Carene at the time. Should have run out and bought one then, but that's another story.

 

If you have a loupe or good magnifier, look at the tines and see if they are aligned. If not you can carefully align them. If the nib scratches on one direction (left to right, or right to left) that is an indication that one tine is higher than the other one. This can be corrected carefully, but in my experience doing so makes the nib write a little wider. This is an excellent video for you: http://blog.gouletpens.com/2013/06/goulet-loupe-tutorial.html

 

If the tines are aligned, you can smooth the tip carefully. Here is another video. Take your time, go slowly so you don't remove the tip. http://blog.gouletpens.com/2013/06/goulet-nib-tuning-supplies.html

 

I forgot to say, that the paper makes a huge difference. Rhodia, Apica, Clairefontaine, Midori, and other smooth papers will be much less scratchy. You did not say what paper you are using the Metropolitan on. On some papers any fine will be scratchy. And Japanese fines more so than European fine nibs because they are much finer.

 

Good luck.

Edited March 31, 2015 by graystranger

[Lou Erickson]

This is probably just a case of slight misalignment of the tines. Don't start "smoothing" - IE: sanding - on it until you've tried to adjust it other ways.

 

It may be scratchier than other pens, but it shouldn't be very scratchy. I have a Metro in F, and it's got some feedback, but isn't too bad.

 

If you draw large figure eights, does the scratchiness seem worse going one direction?

[ANM]

I have had a Metropolitan fine for a couple weeks and can't get over how well and smooth it writes with the very first filling. I have had a lot of expensive pens that needed some fiddling with before they wrote as smooth as this one.

[vPro]

Well, I guess it's the paper, then. I'm using "high" quality paper of unknown origin since I have no better alternatives (can you believe it's almost impossible to find anything like Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Tomoe River etc here in Denmark?).

 

I guess scratchy isn't the right word here - but there's definitely more feedback with this pen than the Phileas.

I'm starting to like this pen a lot more, but it's still not really what I expected.

 

Its pretty amazing - when you write upside down the lines are hair-thin. The nib is also a bit springy which allows for some line variation - not much, but I'm in love with flex nibs so this just makes me want one more.

 

Could it be the ink? I'm using Diamine's Autumn Oak which is a lovely ink and has some really nice shading, even with this nib!

 

Thanks for your wonderful feedback!

 

Regarding writing eights: the pen seems a bit scratchy when writing in "north-east"-direction.

Edited March 31, 2015 by vPro

[ANM]

If the pen is scratching on the left to right upstroke, you may be holding the pen at to high an angle to the paper. Also quite likely is the previous suggestion that the tines are ever so slightly mis-aligned.

[vPro]

Thank you very much sir. But to be honest, I'm dead scared of messing with nibs. I dropped my Phileas on its nib and I have been able to repair it, but it was more luck than skill and I want to stay away from any modifications if possible. However, I'll try grabbing a loupe and check if they actually are misaligned

[Lou Erickson]

I bought a cheapie loupe that said it was a 10x, and could only get nib tipping to be blurry smears with it. When it was lost in the move (it's still in a box ... somewhere ...) I gave up and bought a nice Belomo 10x. WOW, what a difference! I can see nibs clearly, and it makes a huge difference.

 

So, if you do get a loupe, know a better one might work better. You do get what you pay for.

[ac12]

The other thing is the nib size itself and the paper.

For comparison, the Pilot F would be like a Waterman XF.

The finer the nib, the more sensitive it is to the texture of the surface of the paper.

A somewhat rough paper that feels just fine with a Waterman M nib, might feel really BAD with a Pilot F nib.

I have run into paper that I will NOT use a F nib on, because the scratchy feel coming up the pen is too irritating to me. But I can use a M nib on it without problem.

 

Secondly is the ink and ink flow.

You need to have enough ink flow to provide a lubricant between the nib and the paper. If the pen is writing dry, you will feel the drag/friction of the pen on the paper.

I also found that some inks seem to make the F nibs feel smoother than other inks. Think of it like grease and oil. For some situations grease works better than oil. But this is highly individual, as this does not always work.

 

Third is you the writer. If you press down on the pen, you will magnify any issues that are as a result of the above.

Example more pressure down, will increase the friction of the nib on the paper.

The finer nibs need to be written with a light touch.

 

IMHO, the XXF and XF nibs need a HARD SMOOTH paper to write smoothly on.

With enough ink flow to properly lubricate the nib on the paper.

And be written with a LIGHT touch.

 

If you can find HP 32# Premium paper at your office supply stores, that is a good paper to use.

Edited April 1, 2015 by ac12

[Ink Blotto]

Mine was a bit scratchy when new also. I made a very tiny adjustment as others have mentioned, and that helped. Then I got a brown paper grocery bag and write on it until I had nearly filled a side. Since then it has been a very smooth F nib. Several months of use has also helped.

 

You can find more about "the brown paper bag trick" here on FPN. That's how I first learned about it. The brown craft paper is just abrasive enough to make a difference, but has a wider margin of error than micro mesh abrasives.

 

IB

[Bookman]

Step away from the pen!

 

Before you do anything to adjust the tines or engage in any nib-smoothing, let me share the following story about one of my own f-nib Metropolitans that had arrived with what I considered an uncharacteristically "scratchy" nib. (This same thing happened with a Waterman Hemisphere I bought a few months ago. The same fix worked in that case too.)

 

I inked the Metropolitan with Waterman Serenity Blue straight out of the box. When I test-wrote I knew right away that the nib wasn't as smooth as the one on my other f-nib Metropolitan. I hoped the problem was due to machining-oil residue slowing down the ink flow to practically nothing. So I gave it my routine new-pen cleaning—bulb syringe flush with a drop of Dawn liquid in a glass of tap water. After drying everything and reassembling, and re-inking I found the "scratchiness" to be no better, at least not appreciably better. Rather than start in on tine adjustment, I wanted to give it one more cleaning. I hoped the problem was still machining-oil residue that the bulb-syringe flush hadn't flushed. And so I pulled the nib and feed out of the section, took a toothbrush, and scrubbed the parts with the Dawn-soapy water. I took a piece of .002 brass shim, put a drop of Dawn liquid on it, and flossed soap through the tines just in case a toothbrush bristle hadn't gotten in there. After a thorough rinse using a diffferent toothbrush to get rid of all the soap, I dried everything again, reassemble it again, re-inked it again, and wrote. Now it was smooth. It wasn't Cross Solo smooth, of course. But it was as smooth as the other Metropolitan-F I'd already had in my collection.

 

YMMV. You might indeed have adjustment and nib-smoothing in your immediate future. But one more thorough cleaning couldn't hurt.

Edited April 1, 2015 by Bookman

[vPro]

Ah! I'll try flushing it before inking it up next time, thank you!

 

FINALLY found and purchased some high quality paper. I got an Oxford Optics Notebook 90 gsm and Diamine's Autumn Oak really shines on that paper. The Metropolitan works better, but not completely smooth.

[alc3261]

Well, I guess it's the paper, then. I'm using "high" quality paper of unknown origin since I have no better alternatives (can you believe it's almost impossible to find anything like Rhodia, Clairefontaine, Tomoe River etc here in Denmark?).

 

I guess scratchy isn't the right word here - but there's definitely more feedback with this pen than the Phileas.

I'm starting to like this pen a lot more, but it's still not really what I expected.

 

Its pretty amazing - when you write upside down the lines are hair-thin. The nib is also a bit springy which allows for some line variation - not much, but I'm in love with flex nibs so this just makes me want one more.

 

Could it be the ink? I'm using Diamine's Autumn Oak which is a lovely ink and has some really nice shading, even with this nib!

 

Thanks for your wonderful feedback!

 

Regarding writing eights: the pen seems a bit scratchy when writing in "north-east"-direction.

The Metro in Fine (Japanese fine=Western EF ) is much finer than a Phileas Medium (Western Medium=Japanese Broad) so you should notice a big difference!!

[vPro]

The Metro in Fine (Japanese fine=Western EF ) is much finer than a Phileas Medium (Western Medium=Japanese Broad) so you should notice a big difference!!

 

I'm not complaining about the width of the line - I'm complaining about the scratchiness

[alc3261]

None of my Metro Fines are scratchy compared to say Sailors so I reckon you probably have tine misalignment.

[EricaTX]

My medium Metropolitan worked well immediately, but I also had to flush my fine one several times to get it working right. Now I'm enjoying it (at first I hated it and preferred the medium nib).

 

I will say, however, that the fine nibs hurt if you accidentally stab yourself with it. I discovered that yesterday. :-/

[coinlvr]

Hello, I bought my first pilot metropolitan fine point on Amazon. The pen writes well, I checked the tines alignment and it is fine. However, the nib seems scratchy. It is it normal? I have flushed it several times but I am not sure on how to proceed. My second Metropolitan a medium nib one is buttery smooth. Can you please advise, if I can purchase the nib for metropolitan somewhere separately?

[inkstainedruth]

I don't have an answer for getting a replacement nib. But I will say that when I first looked at Metropolitans several years ago, I was lucky enough to be able to try both an M and an F in a B&M store (Bromfield's, up in Boston). And I thought the pen with the F nib was scratchy (and I normally like F nibs -- a lot of my pens are vintage and F is the easiest size to find in the wild). I found the M to be much smoother, so that's what I ended up getting.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth