The only Pelikan nibs I've used to any great length were those that had been "Binderized" to meet Mr. Binder's standards of flow and smoothness.

I have a few Pelikans coming in with factory nibs, and I'm wondering how they might compare.

I have only one currently produced Pelikan: the M215 "Lozenge", with an XF steel factory nib. It is such a great pen and nib that I cannot put into words how pleased I am with it. For one thing, it is hands-down the best steel nib I have: soft and springy, with a luxurious feel to it, and buttery smooth out of the box. My pen has excellent flow and it is highly ink-tolerant: from gushy Noodler's to dry MB inks, this pen will take them all without a peep. The piston functions perfectly. And did I mention the blindingly gorgeous Lozenge pattern?

I have read posts about some pretty nasty experiences with out-of-the-box Pelikans. Luckily, quite the opposite was the case for me with the stunning and ultra-reliable M125 Lozenge.

Is this a newer pen, or one from before the regime change?

Do you mean a nib you've sent to be customized to your specs? Or a "stock" nib that's been adjusted?

I have one of the latter, a 215 F. That would make it adjusted, but not customized, and it's the only one I can use for comparison. It is indeed a very good nib, but I have a stock M400 fine nib that is just as smooth. Lest one think that it's the difference between gold and steel, I also have a M150 fine that is also very good. I have had Pelikan nibs that were not as smooth, and one that had a bit of baby bottom (and has since been stubbed to perfection by Sean Gosse). I think that you might take your chances with a stock Pelikan, but if the chances fall your way, you'll get a very good nib.

That said, if I were to buy a Pelikan nib right now, I would definitely buy it from Mr. Binder. I'm saving money for one

eta: I have some nibs that are probably Bock nibs, on modern M400s and M150's. I also have what I assume were original Pelikan nibs, on and M140 and old style M150. The post-regime change nibs happen to be smoother, but I think others have experienced the opposite.

I don't know when was the regime change, but I am guessing mine is a newer pen: bought April 2007. I think the Lozenge pattern only came out in 2007.



No, just a regular nib that came with the store-bought Pelikan. It was touched by no one other than the Pelikan factory. I bought the pen from Pam Braun, and this was how I received it.

After a year and 2 months of heavy use, the pen performs just as well as in the beginning and hasn't got a scratch on it. It is almost always in my rotation. The only thing I would want to change about this pen, is make the XF nib just a tad narrower, but this is a difference in sizing standards rather than a defect.

In my experience (~12 nibs) - badly.

If I may ask, Pthalo, is this because of the noted problem with Pelikan XFs? I only ask because I saw your blog post with tiny handwriting. (I'd kill for handwriting like that)

So far I had no real bad nib.
I had nibs I like better than others because they are smoother or have more springiness.

I bought a M605 a while ago and the display pen had a very pleasant soft and springy nib. The new, boxed pen the salesperson wanted to sell to me had a stiff nail. There was nothing wrong with this nib except that I don't like this kind of stiff nibs. So we switched the nibs and I was a happy customer ....

Yeah... I am a bit of a harsh critic though, as it is XXXF or bust for me.

Regardless, I have found one factory Pelikan EF which was suitable - not a cool track record by any stretch, especially when I have more than a couple of EF nibs which wrote thicker lines than my F nibs.

Wow, thanks. Good to know this stuff

No XXXF's for me. I'm more talking along the lines of medium. By what I gather, mediums and broads are less touchy than fines...so perhaps a Pel medium might compare more favorably to a Binderized medium?

NOTE: When I say Binderized, I do not mean full custom. I mean a stock nib that has been inked by Binder and adjusted as required to bring it up to his standards of flow and smoothness. An adjusted or tuned nib, not a customized one. I use round nibs, not any of the fancy stuff (not that there's anything wrong with that, I kinda like the look of the italics...)

The only Pel medium I've had, in the "grown-up" pens was the M400 nib that had a little baby bottom. Nothing serious, just a little hesitation on the first downstroke now and then and it probably would have gone away on its own in time. I don't know how common that is with medium nibs.

But if you throw the cheap, student Pelikans into the mix, I have two Pelikanos and two Pelikan GOs with incredible medium nibs. Completely smooth, flawless, reliable. Resistant to abuse by schoolchildren Embarrassingly good nibs, which seem to show their more expensive brothers up.

Binderized nib: I have one Binderized nib and this is a good nib. Maybe better than most of my modern bicoloured Pelikan nibs - at least as far as the ink flow is concerned. But not better than all of them: I have very good pre 97 nibs, too. And: I still do like a vintage Pelikan nib better than any of the modern nibs, Binderized or ootb.

If your new Pelikans have nibs from medium to broad you have good chances to get a good nib ootb. I use to have medium or broad nibs and this may be the reason why my Pelikan nibs had been good so far.

Edited: should use the preview first

I've had 5 nibs so far and only 2 of them have been good. One is an F and the other an M, both from an M150. The bad three are EF (scratchy) & EF that writes like a Broad, both from an M150 (after that I gave up trying to find a good EF) and an M from an M200, which skips on upstrokes.

Not a very good ratio. I've had better success with Lamy but other than my 2000, Lamy nibs just don't compare in smoothness to a good Pelikan.

The good thing is that it's pretty easy to change a faulty nib through Chartpak. I will be sending my bad nibs in soon for replacement.

Neill

Not that one shouldn't expect good nibs from the M1XX class, but I'm talking M6XX to M8XX nibs.

I seem to recall that Richard Binder himself has stated that roughly 50% of Pelikans with nibs wider than XF are good to go right out of the box. This would give you a 50-50 shot at getting a nib straight from the factory that meets or exceeds all internationally recognized Binderization standards.

IRBS. Now we have a new abbreviation

they ..... just don't.....

my experience with M200 and M600 nibs at least....