I have a new Souveran 800 with a fine nib. I am thinking of exchanging the nib for an extra fine nib, but have read some negative things about Pelikan's extra fine nibs. Several people have stated that they are scratchy and not up to the standards of the fine nib, which is a wonderful nib. Your experience and suggestions would be apprciated.

From what I've heard, you are correct in that Pelikan EFs are very hit and miss. Richard Binder has a comment about them on his website. IIRC, he doesn't sell the EFs and instead grinds one from a F. Your options are you could have a nibmeister grind you an EF, in which case you'd almost be guaranteed a good nib, but you'd be out >$35 + S&H. If you send it to Chartpak for an exchange, you're only out S&H, but you may get a scratchy one or one that writes wider than you want.

None of my Pel EF's were scratchy, they were all just huge - a couple wrote larger strokes than my Pel F! Ridiculous.

The one on my 200 is fairly nice. The one on my 605 was scratchy until I polished it, and now it is better, but the ink flow is what I would call inconsistant.

I must be one of those lucky ones, after two M805s, 3 M600s (in varying types), even two M100s and a M200, all in EF not a single problem, all very smooth, and the M805 Black was my first Pelikan after the trials and tribulations of my Parker Duofolds. The EF on the duofolds were almost twice the width of my Pelikan. Now I have had two nibs from Richard Binder made for my Pelikans, but that was because I wanted something even finer, because I like really fine lines. I have added a XXF to my M805 and a halfway between XF and XXF to my M200. I have had F nibs from Pelikan and they were no EFs. But like I said, maybe I have just been lucky.

Note I have received my pens from fleabay to Martini to Pam Braun to PENguin to Niche Pens. So I have gotten them from all different sources and even different countries. I really like my EF nibs from Pelikan and am standing up for them

Congrats on getting such an excellent pen, although you should have gone with the 805....

What colour did you get? And what made you chose the Pelikan M800? Excellent choice.

I have an EF as a spare on my M800, I think it writes pretty smoothly, certainly as smoothly as the F nibs on a couple of my M200s

This is a black 800. I wanted a Big Black Pen with Gold Trim (the ever popular BBPGT). That's why I picked the 800 over the 805. I do have an m605, however, which is an awesome pen. I don't know what to do. It may pay to get the nib adjusted, just to make certain that I get it exactly the way I want it.

I must be one of the lucky ones, too. My Pelikan EF nib is as smooth as my F nibs and the line width is as it should be. I'm considering getting another one. I do, however, have one F nib (out of 4) that writes like an EF.

Best,
Ann

simple solution to the "hit-&-miss" Pel nibs... buy vintage and will only need a light smoothing...

I've sent one of my spare Pelikan fine nibs to Pendemonium, to be ground to an EF stub - only $19. I'll let you know how it goes, if you like.

My Pel nibs have all been smooth, it's just that the size of the nibs don't seem to have much of a correspondence to the letter(s) inscribed on them. I have a medium that's finer than some of the fines, etc. I think this is more of a problem the finer the nib. I bought a Binder XF which was pretty fine, but still broader than I liked so I got an XXF from him. Boy, is that fine. I'm tempted to ask him for a 1.5XF, but that would be tempting fate...

Doug

I have an M200, which I got from eBay with an OM nib. I ordered an F from Richard Binder the same day I won the auction, and ironically, the pen and the nib arrived in the mail rubber banded together. I removed the OM and installed the F before I inked the pen. The F is wonderfully smooth and wet, but nearly as wide as my Phileas M.

I have an M100 EF NOS, and it is wonderfully smooth and wet, just like my Binder F; however, the line is between the F & M of my Phileas. I may buy a spare F and send to Pendemonium, if I can get it ground to an EF for $19. Richard Binder charges $50, and I'm not complaining, but $11 is enough for a bargain pen or two

Donnie

I love Pelikans, but I do wish that they developed a nib in between their Medium and Fine. Their mediums run too broad for me, while their fines I have found to be very ungenerous in their ink flow. I actually get cramps in my hand from writing with the fine!

If you have that problem (low flow on a fine) you might consider purchasing a standard Fine from Richard Binder at richardspens.com (not affiliated). My Binder F, which cost the same as a Chartpak replacement nib, is wonderfully wet and smooth. I just wish it were a little narrower (finer).
Donnie

I have a question. Is there correlation between a wet nib and the width of the nib? i.e. a finer nib writes dryer and a broader nib is wetter ???? Thanks

from my limited experience I would say that is a fairly accurate baseline assumption. Keeping in mind that both can be idependently adjusted.

That's exacly what makes the Binder XF on my 805 so great! It is fine (I understand I could seem too broad for some people, but for me it's just... fine
AND it delivers a wet line that I've never experienced with such a thin line. It's the nib I've been looking for for so long! With Sailor BB it is a delight.
Now I regret I have already taken the M805 away from my wish list

Thanks, Richard!