A couple weeks ago, I asked about people's experiences with the Pilot Scholar, an older Pilot made for the Korean market (I think). The ebay seller speerbob sells these NOS from Thailand. A few people mentioned that the nib was a bit dry and scratchy. I ordered one anyways because I liked the look of the pen so much, especially the inlaid nib. I also scrounged up a loupe, and ordered a nib smoothing kit from Tryphon, hoping that I could tweak the pen to my liking when it arrived. (I practiced on a few beater pens before the Pilot showed up)

Yesterday the pen arrived from Thailand, about 15 days after I ordered it. Not too shabby! I rinsed and inked it, and quickly found that the comments I heard were correct. The flow was very stingy. It didn't really skip, but left a pale, dry line. The nib had a few noticeable rough spots as well.

I rinsed it out and grabbed my box of pen supplies. I used some brass sheet to floss the nib a little bit, then used some of the finer abrasives from the Tryphon kit to smooth the nib. I checked in regularly with the loupe, and I was able to get it pretty smooth/shiny.

I then re-inked the pen, and voila! -- a smooth, consistent writer. Flow is medium-wet, just how I like it. The fine nib writes closer to an extra fine, and is at least as smooth as the fine Pilot 78g that I used to own. The Scholar is also more substantial than the 78g, and much more comfortable for my hand. I'll post a proper review with pictures soon.

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself. Out of the box, it wasn't a pen that I would use. Now it's easily one of my best writers, and a steal for the price. I was surprised how easy the adjustment was, and how little time it took.

If anyone has thought about trying simple nib work (smoothing, flossing, etc), give it a shot! I'm glad I practiced on a couple junkers, but it wasn't difficult and saved this pen a trip to a nibmeister.

Good to hear that the nib adjustment worked well.

I am expecting my Pilot Scholar from the same seller in maybe another 10 days.

purpledog

I think you'll like it. I've been using this pen all day long, and I'm in love with it. I think that flossing the nib was the crucial adjustment. I read in a thread somewhere that you can use a strip of 35mm film to spread the tines a bit if you don't have brass or plastic sheet. I've tried this on other pens with good luck.

Good job. I have advised a few of my buyers to try nib adjustments in thier Scholars and most have reported great success. The scholar is a great pen for the price and and fairly large for a Pilot. While I have only one in stock in my store right now, i will be getting more soon. Cheers, BOB

I've had two pens that I've felt the need to loosen up the ink flow a bit. What I did was to use my thumbnail to spread the tines a touch. It worked wonderfully.

One was an English Duofold Sr. The other was a Vanishing Point.

I doubt any experts would recommend this method. I was careful to be gentle, however, and never felt like the nib was in any danger.

The other technique I've seen is to manipulate the shoulders of the nib to loosen up the tines. No possible on the vanishing point, however, and probably messier than the thumbnail technique.

Can one use the old razor blade for the flossing?

I have received the pen from SpeerBob. As usual, fast shipping from outside US.

The pen was a bit dry at first, but after flossing and smoothening the nib, the pen writes wet and smoothly. However, there is always a tiny drop of ink around the slit area. This is not really an issue, but I am curious if other Pilot Scholar users have similar observation.

thanks,
purpledog