Pilot Capless Décimo

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

As many of you who have been following my posts here know I have three Pilot Capless Décimo pens. Two pink ones with fine nibs and a purple one with an extra-fine nib.

 

First, the pictures:

 

The packaging of the purple pen:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8491/8342647075_1f919f0659_b.jpg

 

The packaging of my two pink pens:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8504/8343725878_31fc99b7e1_b.jpg

 

The pens all together with a few other Japanese pens:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8364/8342667751_85d2d08a7e_b.jpg

 

Of course no real review is complete without an intimate look in the pen

 

Cartridge cap installed:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3368/3543644476_ff25c810f4_o.jpg

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3368/3543644476_ff25c810f4_o.jpg

 

Apart

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3635/3542835203_74983b6a9b_o.jpg

 

Nib assembly disassembled

 

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2129/3543642564_2eda9945bd_o.jpg

 

The nib hits the door when being extended. Quite normal

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8504/8291112599_1ae3517f8c_o.jpg

 

Refill options and why you need the cartridge in place when using the cartridge cover.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8223/8304334594_0acfb9790a_o.jpg

 

Next, for the handwritten review-written with a pink Pilot Capless Décimo with a fine nib and Diamine Claret.

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8219/8342620457_c2d487b69d_b.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8353/8343679838_561a7bfb3b_b.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8222/8343681152_4189b1bfb7_b.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8076/8343682008_35d936675a_b.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8357/8343683124_3cab0d4dbb_b.jpg

 

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8499/8342625485_4d3736ce43_b.jpg

 

It's really an excellent pen if you want a lightweight capless fountain pen with an excellent nib that will start up immediately even if left alone for two months. With a Con-20 converter, you can write for a good while even with a 1.0 mm stub nib. (I've tried it, but I don't use those nibs much on a regular basis and sold that pen).

 

Dillon

Edited January 3, 2013 by Dillo

[Inkwellpens]

Beautiful pictures. I have a white one and love it. I am waiting for the EF nibs to come back into stock to order a lilac one like yours.

[Draless]

Howd you take the nib unit apart ? O_o

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

There is a special tool that I had custom made for my shop that takes apart Pilot Capless nib assemblies and Pilot short pens including the Myu.

 

If you are wondering about the fate of that pen, it was reassembled a few minutes after the picture (You can find pictures of the disassembly in the Japanese forum here. I took those pictures about four years ago), and it was the pen I used to write the review which was written two days ago.

 

That pen is five years old. I've also had it for five years, and it's been a very reliable pen for me. It never skips, complains, or acts up. The same is true with my other Pilot Capless in pink. I got the lavender one fairly recently. It was really pretty and I had to have one in that color, so I broke my rule of not buying new pens and got one.

 

Dillon

[drwright]

Thanks for the great review! Insightful pictures and information!

 

I recently sold my Vanishing Point to fund buying a Decimo. I had tried two different VP fine nibs, both of which were wet, yet scratchy, and I was never crazy about them. I always found the VP comfortable, but the slimmer and lighter Decimo really appealed to me.

 

The Decimo is a much lighter pen, and this fine nib is much smoother than my VP nibs were (though definitely drier).

 

Overall I much prefer the Decimo to the Vanishing Point!

[hari317]

Nice review. Thanks! In fact a plain black-chrome Decimo with a B nib filled with a Pilot B-B cart is riding in my shirt pocket to work today.

[Koyote]

I was on the fence about the Vanishing point for over a year before finally buying one (blue, rhodium trim, medium nib). I can't believe I waited so long. Along with the convenience factor, it is just a great writer. But then, I like heavier pens and the clip is no problem for me.

Edited January 4, 2013 by Koyote

[XiaoMG]

Nice review, Dillo!

I should give my Decimos more love. I've got a grey, white, violet, and red now. They are nearly perfect, as far as fountain pens go. I've been negative about a lot of supposedly great pens, but I just can't find much to be disappointed with with the Decimo. Perhaps some of the nib units are ho-hum...but the best ones are among the best nibs made or ground by anyone today. Brilliant pens...and probably the only reason I'm giving attention to other pens is that I like big obvious nibs. Never thought of myself as a size queen, but oh well. Will carry one or two of my Decimos around over the next few days, thanks to your review.

[marie9999]

 

Overall I much prefer the Decimo to the Vanishing Point!

 

+1

 

I like my Pilot Vanishing Point but love my Pilot Decimo!

[MYU]

I recently sold my Vanishing Point to fund buying a Decimo. I had tried two different VP fine nibs, both of which were wet, yet scratchy, and I was never crazy about them. I always found the VP comfortable, but the slimmer and lighter Decimo really appealed to me.

 

The Decimo is a much lighter pen, and this fine nib is much smoother than my VP nibs were (though definitely drier).

 

Overall I much prefer the Decimo to the Vanishing Point!

What puzzles me with what you said is that the nib assembly is identical. So it shouldn't matter whether it is housed in a VP or a Decimo... you may have just been unlucky with the two VP ones that you tried; perhaps their tines were not aligned.

[drwright]

I recently sold my Vanishing Point to fund buying a Decimo. I had tried two different VP fine nibs, both of which were wet, yet scratchy, and I was never crazy about them. I always found the VP comfortable, but the slimmer and lighter Decimo really appealed to me.

 

The Decimo is a much lighter pen, and this fine nib is much smoother than my VP nibs were (though definitely drier).

 

Overall I much prefer the Decimo to the Vanishing Point!

What puzzles me with what you said is that the nib assembly is identical. So it shouldn't matter whether it is housed in a VP or a Decimo... you may have just been unlucky with the two VP ones that you tried; perhaps their tines were not aligned.

 

Right, I didn't mean to imply that the Decimo nibs are better than the VP nibs (since they are the same nib units..), just that, for me, it happened that the Decimo Fine nib I have is much smoother than two VP Fine nibs I had and sold. The VP nibs upon examination under a loupe didn't appear to have any of the characteristic problems with scratchy nibs (misaligned tines, baby bottom, etc.), so I'm not sure what the issue was. I used both of them for quite extended writing with only minimal improvement over time.

[marie9999]

I recently sold my Vanishing Point to fund buying a Decimo. I had tried two different VP fine nibs, both of which were wet, yet scratchy, and I was never crazy about them. I always found the VP comfortable, but the slimmer and lighter Decimo really appealed to me.

 

The Decimo is a much lighter pen, and this fine nib is much smoother than my VP nibs were (though definitely drier).

 

Overall I much prefer the Decimo to the Vanishing Point!

What puzzles me with what you said is that the nib assembly is identical. So it shouldn't matter whether it is housed in a VP or a Decimo... you may have just been unlucky with the two VP ones that you tried; perhaps their tines were not aligned.

 

Right, I didn't mean to imply that the Decimo nibs are better than the VP nibs (since they are the same nib units..), just that, for me, it happened that the Decimo Fine nib I have is much smoother than two VP Fine nibs I had and sold. The VP nibs upon examination under a loupe didn't appear to have any of the characteristic problems with scratchy nibs (misaligned tines, baby bottom, etc.), so I'm not sure what the issue was. I used both of them for quite extended writing with only minimal improvement over time.

 

Hmm... I have to agree that my original Decimo nib was smoother than my VP nib. It was also smoother than the replacement VP nib assembly that I purchased to replace the Decimo nib quickly... (That reminds me... I need to send it out for repair - tile floors can make a mess of extended nibs )

 

But back to the topic - could Pilot be intentionally making a smoother/harder nib for the Decimo???