Hi all,

I just got my first VP -- a Decimo with a medium nib -- and I am thrilled with it. However, the nib is a little bit wider than I have come to expect from a Japanese medium, and while I enjoy it a lot I would like to have the option of a finer nib.

By now I have truly lost my battle against pen addiction, so my first thought was to get another VP with an F nib. But if I want a rhodium plated nib (so I can swap them around), does that limit my options to the Decimo? Or do any of the "regular" VP:s come with a rhodium plated nib?

Also, I have read that while the M is close to a Western M, the F is more like a Western XF. Does that mean that there is no equivalent to a Western F?

Finally, is there any real difference between the 14k and the 18k nibs?

Grateful for advice!

I can only partially answer your questions...

You can probably buy a rhodium plated nib unit, separate from the pen. Try Richard Binder's website, and/or buy/trade here in the Marketplace. You can also buy nib units direct from Pilot, eBay, etc. Perhaps Ujuku can help.

Between F and M there is a difference that is not covered by a M/F or a F/M, but there's always the option of sending a M to a nib-grinder and having it made thinner, or getting a customized funky nib from Richard or another nibmeister.

Between 14k and 18k, some people will tell you yes, some will tell you no. I will tell you that, YES, the 18k fine nibs are different from the 14k nibs, and I prefer the 18k ones that I have tried. It may have been a clunker 14k, or just an awesome 18k (the 18k nibs haven't been uniform in their greatness...the gold plated one seemed "softer" than the rhodium plated one).

Good luck to you, and your new hobby (VP collecting)!

- George

I've also observed that nibs bought from Japan can be different from nibs bought overseas.

I believe my VP M nib is the same as a western F nib, but I have also heard some people say their VP M is like western M. Maybe Pilot have slightly different sizes for some markets.

As far as I know, the 'regular' VP normally comes with a gold nib and the Decimo with the rhodium plated nib. Not sure where you are, but Cult Pens in the UK sell the rhodium trim 'regular' VP with the rhodium nib. You can find details here They also ship internationally.

Both Cult Pens and The Writing Desk also sell the rhodium plated nib units separately from the pen.

No affiliation to either company, but a happy customer of both.

Regarding the width of the nib, I have tried three medium VP nibs, two ran close to what I would think of as a Western fine and the other was closer to a Western medium.

The Rh nibs only come with the Decimo, Fermo and Limited Edition models.

18k gold spare nibs are available for under $30 from US sellers. Japanese and US distributors cannot get 18k Rh nibs but European ones can. I haven't found a place selling Rh nibs in Europe for less than $60 which is over twice the price of a regular 18k gold nib.

Given that if you're lucky you can get a Decimo on ebay for under $90 I would probably go this route if you want another pen with a Rh fine nib. You'll have to be patient though!

Rhodium plated pens come with rhodium plated nibs (ie Capless and Decimo).

Gold plated pens come with plain gold nibs.

Both types are available as spares.

This is the situation in the UK. Availability in other markets may vary.

HTH,

Martin

Martin must have been posting at the same time as I was, I have edited this post. Basically I was making the same point that in the UK the rhodium plated 'standard' VP comes with a rhodium plated nib.

Pilot does not sell nib units or any pen parts in Japan, and they are not available from Japanese sellers.

Oh, this is very interesting. In the US, the Rh plated VP comes with an 18k gold nib. In fact all US VPs come with 18k gold nibs with the exception of the LEs (we don't get the Decimo or Fermo here).

I find this escpecially interesting because all the photos of VPs on the Pilot Europe website and most of the sellers websites have gold nibs. The only one that didn't was a Raden which had a Rh nib. IMHO this is how a Raden should be!

What would you say is the going price for a Rh trim VP in the UK? Here in the US, it's commonly available for around $90 + shipping (so about GBP45).

Therein lies the problem. VPs in the UK tend to be more expensive than in the US and the exchange rate doesn't help you guys much either.

As an example, Cult Pens sells the 'standard' VP, with rhodium nib, for £74.99 plus £10.00 for international shipping. At the current exchange rate, that works out at about $165!!

I recommend you send it to Dillo. He can resize it and rhodinate it, probably for less than you can get a new rhodium nib unit. I have a sweet rhodinated XXF cursive italic VP nib from him. His lead time was quicker than most of the other nib mongers at the time I got mine.

/Woody

I notice on Dillo's services page that he does somthing to modify a standard VP inserto to work with a Decimo. Is the Decimo nib unit different to the standard or Fermo? I was going to stick a Rh nib from my decimo into my Raden but this is giving me second thoughts!

As I understand it, the nib units are interchangeable between the standard VP, Decimo and Fermo, although they won't fit the older VPs.

This is also the information given on Richard Binder's site.

I hope it is correct, as I have just ordered a Decimo. It should arrive in the next couple of days, so I will try fitting the nib unit from my standard VP and will let you know how it goes.

Hi,

Some of the nib units for the regular capless have a taller alignment bump on the nib assembly, so they need to be ground down to fit properly.

Dillon

Wow, what a great resource the FPN is! Thanks a lot to all who have replied!

I find this perplexing... here we have a pen with a wonderful design of an easily interchanged nib assembly, and yet Pilot won't make those parts available in the Japanese market? How odd.

I'm very glad to learn that Dillo can electroplate rhodium onto a standard VP nib. I'm going to have to chat with him about the details.