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Pelikan Extra fine nibs


entropy_00

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well, I have all F's on my Pelikans and have finally decided to have the two newest swapped to XF's by Chartpak to see for myself how Pelikan XF's do--I'll post my experience when I get them back. Their regular F's tend to be too broad for my tastes, though there is some pretty significant variance between different nibs of the theoretic same width I notice with Pels.

Scubie,

 

Please do post your experience once get your XF nibs back from Chartpak. It would be very much appreciated! :thumbup:

 

Best Regards,

-Clive

-Clive Merrick Morel

. Please do not send PMs...E-mail me: clivemmorel@earthlink.net

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Look here to see just how fine Mr Binder's nibs can go: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...showtopic=32136 :)

Laura,

 

That was truly an exquisite post -- filled with very useful, detailed information... Thank you.

 

What a glamorous collection (below)... And to think -- all have been custum-tuned by the Nibmeister himself... WOW!!!

http://www.ciar-roisin.net/photos/nibs/PenList-01.gif

 

 

Thanks again, Laura, for providing the forum with your informative and thoughtful post. :thumbup:

 

Best Regards,

 

-Clive

-Clive Merrick Morel

. Please do not send PMs...E-mail me: clivemmorel@earthlink.net

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Clive - I have a polishing stick (think big emery board for pens) I picked up from a restorer, it has three fine grades of polishing surface (two on one side one on the other). Start on the roughest making figure 8's and making writing motions with an inked pen, then to the finer grade and then to the finest. Try the pen and if not smooth enough repeat process. I've fixed up about 1/2 dozen fine to EF nibs this way. The only thing to be carefull about is if you get carried away you end up with a broader writing nib in addition to it being smoother. Made that mistake once, so I am more careful.

 

Perry,

 

Thank you so very much for describing your FP tuning procedure! :thumbup:

 

Question: Does the polishing stick you described use replaceable polishing surfaces, or do you have to throw the whole thing out and by a new one each time it wears out?

 

Just guessing here . . . but I wonder if one could use a flat piece of material (metal comes to mind) and to it, mechanically attach varying grades of wet/dry sandpaper or emery cloth, in lieu of using a dedicated polishing stick?

 

I enjoy figuring out how things work . . . and once I have, I further enjoy improving upon them... Fountain pens have so captivated my interests that I'd now like to see what 'makes them tick.'

 

Best Regards,

 

-Clive

-Clive Merrick Morel

. Please do not send PMs...E-mail me: clivemmorel@earthlink.net

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I just went through three rounds of trying to get a suitable XF nib for my m800 with Chartpak. This last time, Abi sent me an XF and a Fine. The XF was fairly smooth and sufficiently wet, but, it had the same stroke width as the Fine nib! So, I kept the Fine and will return the XF. The Fine was close to a true fine, which is what I was looking for.

 

Out of four extra fine nibs that I tried, they were all scratchy and/or had terrible feeds and skipped. How is it that Pelikan can produce such excellent fine nibs and such terrible extra fine nibs? They all come from the same place.

 

I'm happy with the nib I have now and should get a lot of use out of it. One day, I'll get it tuned or purchase another nib for the body.

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I just went through three rounds of trying to get a suitable XF nib for my m800 with Chartpak. This last time, Abi sent me an XF and a Fine. The XF was fairly smooth and sufficiently wet, but, it had the same stroke width as the Fine nib! So, I kept the Fine and will return the XF. The Fine was close to a true fine, which is what I was looking for.

 

Out of four extra fine nibs that I tried, they were all scratchy and/or had terrible feeds and skipped. How is it that Pelikan can produce such excellent fine nibs and such terrible extra fine nibs? They all come from the same place.

 

I'm happy with the nib I have now and should get a lot of use out of it. One day, I'll get it tuned or purchase another nib for the body.

Jonro,

 

What a pain!..I really and truly want to buy a Pelikan Majesty with an XF, but I'm leery about doing so, especially after hearing what you've suffered through . . . not to mention so many others, as well...OTOH, PelikanPenman has had very good luck with his EFs...See what I mean?!??..It's a (bleep) shoot, at best.

 

Maybe the (OK, one of the) safest methods of securing a stellar-writing EF (XF) nib is to purchase the pen from a nibmeister directly - and have him make absolutely certain that its EF (XF) nib writes as you wish before it's shipped to you, or it's no deal.

Best Regards,

 

-Clive

-Clive Merrick Morel

. Please do not send PMs...E-mail me: clivemmorel@earthlink.net

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I bought a Pelikan 150 brand new with an non-custom EF nib. It was a bit scratchy at first, but at the time I couldn't distinguish that from the feel I get from using a regular rolling-ball or gel pen. After a few months of use, it smoothed out. It feels great now.

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My experience with Pelikan EF nibs out of the box has been at 50%....the EF 14K two-tone for the M400 was nice and smooth. The EF two-tone 14K for the M600, not so much.

Talking about fountain pens is like dancing about architecture.

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I've not had any Pelikan XFs, owning only one modern M405 with a fine nib. The XF problems thing almost put me of of buying a Pelikan, as I can't stand much thicker than XF, but the fine has proved alright. Looking at the prices, I wish I had gone vintage instead. (in fact, maybe I'll find an opportunity to sell the M405 and go vintage... hmm... good idea...)

 

How are the Pelikan vintage XFs? Specifically on the 140.

Publifhed According to the True Originall Copies

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Vintage vs. Modern? They might as well be from different companies....or planets. I have a few vintage 100's and a 100N. One of the 100's has a fairly firm xf (maybe xxf) nib. Smooth and reliable. Can't speak for the 140's. As usual... try before you buy if you can.

"A man's maturity consists in having found again the seriousness one had as a child, at play."

 

Friedrich Nietzsche

 

kelsonbarber.wordpress.com

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I've had so so luck with Pelikan XF. (All seem scratchy to me and they write wise). If you really want an xf (which I prefer to use myself) one really needs to send it to someone to get it ground and smoothed properly. The other possiblity is to go vintage Pelikan. My vintage XF's are the best I own.

 

Generally I prefer wet F- or M-nibs, but I have two vintage EF (=XF) nibs and they are good writers, smooth and without scratchiness.

I would try a vintage pen if you can find one ....

Edited by piembi
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  • 1 month later...

I've replaced my M150 with an M250 to tide me over while the M150 is being fixed (ran it thought the wash). This new nib is very scratchy. Around here, people occasionally leave behind plastic emery boards with extremely fine grits. These, I'm told, are intended for polishing the surface of the nail rather than shaping the edge. I'm thinking that this would be the ideal tool for polishing the tip of a scratchy nib. I'll have to see if I can find one of these boards on the way home.

 

I must have gotten lucky on the first shot with my M150's buttery smooth XF nib. I miss that feeling.

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  • 2 years later...

Hi there! I have a question that falls into the same category. I recently bought a Pelikan 600 fountain pen with a fine nib. I later realized that I would prefer a finer nib. The store has a 30 day return/exchange policy (it's the "Fountain Pen Hospital" in New York City), but after reading these posts here, I am wondering if I would be better off sending my fine nib to a 'nibmeister' (nice word, just learned it today) to have it be tweaked into an extra fine (or possibly even finer).

 

Any opinions, ideas, suggestions?

 

Thanks!

-J

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Why not use the free service, unless you need a nib that is finer than Pelikan's extra fine?

 

Well, after reading through this entire thread, I was of the opinion that the Pelikan extra fine nibs are highly inconsistent (some are scratchy, others not) and that the regular fine nibs have better ink flow and lend themselves better to be modified to extra fine or even finer than that. Is that not the case?

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Why not use the free service, unless you need a nib that is finer than Pelikan's extra fine?

 

Well, after reading through this entire thread, I was of the opinion that the Pelikan extra fine nibs are highly inconsistent (some are scratchy, others not) and that the regular fine nibs have better ink flow and lend themselves better to be modified to extra fine or even finer than that. Is that not the case?

 

Hi

 

As mentioned in a couple of other threads, Pelikan has improved their QC on nibs. These newer nibs (which will have only one baby chick on the logo) are softer than previous nibs and have more rounded points. My limited experience is that new extra fine's are particularly nice.

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I just received a Pelikan EF nib that I immediately put into my M215.

 

After reading some of the negative comments on these nibs, I did not expect much. To my surprise, this nib is pretty smooth for an EF. There is a decent amount of feedback when writing.

 

I love writing with my Pelikans but usually use some of their vintage nibs to get the line width I prefer. Now I can use this nib with no hesitation.

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If not enough smooth, then send it to greg minuskin or richard binder for flex transformation and ink flow increase.

Pens are like watches , once you start a collection, you can hardly go back. And pens like all fine luxury items do improve with time

 

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Hi

 

As mentioned in a couple of other threads, Pelikan has improved their QC on nibs. These newer nibs (which will have only one baby chick on the logo) are softer than previous nibs and have more rounded points. My limited experience is that new extra fine's are particularly nice.

 

Thank you -- this is great information. I will watch out for the baby chick when exchanging my fine for an extra fine nib and report back afterward.

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