I purchased a Sailor Standard Profit 1911M in Burgundy from Ujuku stores a few weeks back but when first used found the pen wrote too thickly for my tastes so contacted Sailor Pen Europe for advice. The company graciously exchanged the hard fine for an extra fine 1911M nib, but the replacement was a standard undecorated version with a horrid permanent black ink stain marking the nib, and the new feed was a grey colour*. Although slightly disappointed I would have accepted the exchange except when writing with the fountain pen it left a thicker, wetter line than the previous nib. After contacting Sailor again the pen was returned. A week later the replacement nib arrived with the exact requirements requested, although when writing with the Fountain pen it leaves a line equal to a standard European extra-fine / Japanese fine nib. Although reversing the nib helps reduce the writing thickness, the pen feels extremely scratchy when used even when using different inks and paper. So I've contacted the company again but received today a non-committal e-mail stating that nothing else can be done, so I'm now left with fountain pen that writes too thickly for my tastes.

What i'm wondering is am I being too fussy ? Or should the extra-fine nib be finer than their rivals - Pilot and Platinum equivalent ? To demonstrate my point I have enclosed a comparison between a Pilot EF and Sailor XF nibs. Has anyone else got a similar writing example for reference. *Also could there be a problem with the feed as it hasn't be changed ? Any help would be appreciated.

Click to view attachment

Hmm...Interesting. I had an EF long time ago and it was finer than the Pilot. It was a 70's pen though.

Dillon

Remember that the paper used can also have an effect on the line width. I'd say give it another try with a clairfontaine type paper.

Kurt

I also obtained a Sailor XF recently. It write a beautiful ultrafine line and I could not be happier. However, I do not have another XF pen to compare it to.
Your's looks thicker than mine but it is hard to compare from a scan.

Best regards,

Anton

I know that when I compare a Sailor Sapporo Fine to a Pilot Prera or 78G Fine, then Pilots are significantly thinner. IMO Sailor's Fine is what I think of when I think of Japanese Fine nibs, while Pilots tend to run narrow towards EF.

Whether the same can be said for EF nibs, I don't know, but I'm guessing yes.

my experience is similar to churls - although I don't have any Japanese EF pens, I can say that my Sailor Sapporo F is wider than either my Pilot Prera F or my Namiki Falcon F. I suppose it could be try for the EFs across the board, too.

Generally, Sailor EF nibs do produce a thicker line than Platinum and Pilot nibs. The problem is not usually the nib, but the ink flow - it is more generous than most.

There are always exceptions to every rule, of course, but generally speaking they do run a tad thicker.

Kurt

The HP Bright White 90 gsm weighted paper has minimal bleed and smearing due to the impregnated coating. Dispite not being the best paper many forum contributors use this or similar products due to it's low cost and saturation properties. As Rymans have a sale on Clairefontaine notebooks, I'll pop into the shop and purchase one to see if it improve results*.

*Well you've now got a new convert to Clairefontaine, as it was a real delight to write on the silky, smooth paper. It did marginally improve the line width and results, but the repercussion from using the paper is that the Sailor Profit fountain pen felt much smoother and less scratchy when writing.



Phthalo

I have observed similar experiences with the variety of Pilot and Sailor fountain pens owned. It is just frustrating to have purchased the Sailor Profit 1911M and found it writes comparable to a Japanese Fine nib.


Thank you ladies and gentlemen for the replies.