Stubbed Sheaffer Prelude

[wyldphyre]

Background

 

A little while back I had the opportunity to get a Sheaffer Prelude quite cheaply from one of those deal of the day sites, so I did. The pen looked nice and I figured it would be hard to go wrong. The only problem was that I couldn't choose the nib size. I figured I'd probably receive an M nib, and I did. Now as someone who doesn't like to use anything thicker than a western EF, I inked up the pen and grabbed a pad of Rhodia paper (since it would give me the thinnest line I was likely to get out of the pen) and started writing.

 

Oh boy. I think by the end of the first letter I was pretty sure I couldn't use the pen as it was. Compared to what I'm used to using (Japanese F, Western EF), this was a shockingly wide line. After finishing off a sentence I knew that I'd have to get something done to the pen if I was going to be able to use it. Fortunately I'd already given this some thought prior to receiving the pen, since I'd assumed I'd be getting a nib that was wider than what I'd have chosen if I'd been able to choose.

 

So, I contacted Jack at Aussie Pen Repair (also a member of this forum), and, a few emails later my pen was making it's way to him so that it could be transformed from the big round blob of tipping it had into a much finer stub nib.

 

Now this pen has already been reviewed before so I'm not going to go into the details of the pen here. There is a recent review by Lyander0012 if you want more details on the pen itself. My main aim with this post is to show the outcome of the stubbing and to give a shout out to Jack of Aussie Pen Repair, because, honestly, there don't seem to be all that many people in Australia that do pen work and I figure they could use all the support and recognition we can give them.

 

 

Review

 

Despite the fact that the original nib width was too wide for me, it was quite smooth. I'd used a couple of vintage Sheaffers in addition to this one and they've all been nice and smooth. Sheaffer seems to do a good job in that department, and Jack has kept the smoothness when turning it into a stub. The pen is an attractive sparkly blue colour, and despite having a mostly metal body isn't particularly heavy. It feels solid in the hand, and quite comfortable.

 

 

 

Below is a quick bit of writing and scribbling I did to give an idea of how the pen performs now that it has been stubbed. You can see from the crosshatching that there is decent line variation (given how fine the nib is now)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now a comparison between how the nib originally wrote and how it writes now. Unfortunately not done with the same ink or by the same person, but I think you'll get the idea.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

 

If you are in Australia and thinking about getting some custom nib work done, I can heartily recommend Aussie Pen Repair. He's done a nice job with my pen and tried hard through out the process to make sure I would get something that I'd like. Now that I've spent a bit of time with this stub I think there might be more of them in my future at some point.

Edited December 2, 2012 by wyldphyre

[whych]

Sheaffer service in UK is pretty good so I would assume they would be OK elsewhere. Next time, try them - they may be able to do a nib swap for free.

The trouble is, like most brands, they have all cut down on their nib choices on the lower end pens.

[wyldphyre]

Sheaffer service in UK is pretty good so I would assume they would be OK elsewhere. Next time, try them - they may be able to do a nib swap for free.

The trouble is, like most brands, they have all cut down on their nib choices on the lower end pens.

 

Good idea. I didn't even think to try because I've gotten used to these companies having little or no useful presence here in Australia. Still, I probably wouldn't have taken that route anyway in this case, as this was a good excuse for me to get myself a custom ground stub :roflmho:

[Lyander0012]

More than anything else, I'm both surprised and flattered at my review being referenced in another thread. It's a bit embarrassing, really

 

Anyway, glad to see that the stubbing turned out so well! I'm actually very much tempted to have my Prelude receive the same treatment, now that I see how well suited Sheaffer's M nib is to stubbing; you're not the only one who found the line laid down by the pen too thick for comfort. I'm going to have to look for a nibmeister that operates locally, though, since I'm a bit paranoid about international shipping (I think I've mentioned that before :/).

 

P.S.

On a side note: Does your Prelude also turn faintly violet, depending on the lighting? I'm starting to suspect my pen of having something of a unique mutation, haha.

[wyldphyre]

More than anything else, I'm both surprised and flattered at my review being referenced in another thread. It's a bit embarrassing, really

 

Anyway, glad to see that the stubbing turned out so well! I'm actually very much tempted to have my Prelude receive the same treatment, now that I see how well suited Sheaffer's M nib is to stubbing; you're not the only one who found the line laid down by the pen too thick for comfort. I'm going to have to look for a nibmeister that operates locally, though, since I'm a bit paranoid about international shipping (I think I've mentioned that before :/).

 

P.S.

On a side note: Does your Prelude also turn faintly violet, depending on the lighting? I'm starting to suspect my pen of having something of a unique mutation, haha.

 

I have a vague recollection of thinking it looked slightly purple once, but I'm not sure if that is truly the case or not. Given the glittery finish I'm willing to believe it could definitely look a bit different given the right viewing angle and lighting conditions.

[Lyander0012]

Hmm, I'm not sure whether it's just the fact that I spend a lot of time in areas with poor lighting conditions, but there are times when it's more purple/violet than it is blue. Not that I actually mind having a purple coloured pen, mind you, but looking at it feels a bit... trippy sometimes

 

Also, starting to wonder how much it'd take to have my pen shipped to Australia (the Philippines is practically next door, yeah?). How much did you say it cost to have your pen stubbed?

 

Cheers!

[wyldphyre]

Hmm, I'm not sure whether it's just the fact that I spend a lot of time in areas with poor lighting conditions, but there are times when it's more purple/violet than it is blue. Not that I actually mind having a purple coloured pen, mind you, but looking at it feels a bit... trippy sometimes

 

Also, starting to wonder how much it'd take to have my pen shipped to Australia (the Philippines is practically next door, yeah?). How much did you say it cost to have your pen stubbed?

 

Cheers!

 

From memory it was $45 plus postage, though that might vary depending on what you wanted done to the pen.