Things To Consider Before Purchasing A Nakaya

[TDL]

I placed my order for a Blue Dragon two months ago; It was to be my first Nakaya. But last night I succumbed and bought a Long Piccolo in Black with a two tone nib from the stock at nibs.com. John will customise teh nib for me to a fineish cursive italic. I should now be able to get a good feel for all the passion about these pens very quickly.

[Bambuko]

Are Nakaya nibs smooth or toothy?

 

My experience so far with Nakaya has been with just their fine nibs and I've found that they are not smooth for me. At least their fine nibs. I have tried several different fine nib examples (not just one) and have had John Mottishaw work on my Urushi cigar many times to try to smoothen its fine nib out. The results have always been the same, which is that the nib has felt toothy/scratchy. I've given up on the fine nib and have upsized to a medium, which I hope will work for me (I'm waiting to get it).

 

Despite the fact that I was very disappointed, I don't want to say Nakaya fine nibs are bad. I don't consider them to be superb or better than nibs from Sailor or Pilot at all, but they are decent. I think they just didn't work for me maybe because I press too hard when I write, although I've had great results with fine nibs from Pilot and Montblanc. I just bought a Namiki Vanishing Point in fine and it writes better than any Nakaya fine nib I've had so I don't know.

 

Where Nakaya really comes into its own, as many have said above, is the incredible craftsmanship of everything else in the pen other than the nib. Their Urushi pens are simply amazing, I love the workmanship so much that I've spent hundreds of dollars having John Mottishaw modify my Nakaya because I want to love everything about it, including the nib! There Urushi pens have a very "Zen" feel. I can sit for quite a while turning the pen in my hand, marveling at the brilliant shine the pen has and it makes me feel calm and tranquil inside....until I write with it.

 

Just thought I'd provide an update. I got my Medium nib from John on Friday. I am happy to report that the pen writes perfectly now. Smooth and wet, no scratch at all. I guess when it comes to Nakaya, all I needed was a Medium nib! Already preparing for my next one!

[Mikale]

The Nakaya fp pens has become my 'grail pen'

[humblescribbler]

- to add "weight" to the Pen?

 

YES--I am used to heavier pens and could not "feel" the pen in my hand to draw with it--no I can and am quite happy with it. This only works for a cartridge--the brass sleeve will NOY fit over the convertor. I have been using Platinum Carbon Black ink Carts --PCB is my favorite drawing ink so I am happy to use them and it is the reason I wanted a Nakaya.

 

Ok - ! Thanks for your clarification. I had a hunch that's what you had in mind...

 

Agreed: The barrels of my Nakaya Heki and Yakou Hagi do not have the clearance inside to accept anything much wider than a CC or (Platinum) cartridge.

 

The "extended cartridge" that I created for the Heki just barely fits inside the barrel...!

 

Thanks for your DIY "tip" for adding weight to a Nakaya!

 

My Nakaya Portable came with a paper describing small rings that could be put inside the barrel in different spots to adjust the balance. I must say that although I like the writing experience, the lighter weight tires my hand after a short time. One poster mentioned "dragging" the pen along with the hand. Does anyone have experience using those advertised rings, and do they in fact add substantial weight equaling what I imagine that brass tube did, or do they just change the balance a wee bit?

 

BTW thanks for starting this thread! I'm still learning about the Nakaya and not ready to give up yet. Beautiful finish, incredible nib, but very light indeed.

[TDL]

I will get to use my first Nakaya tomorrow night when I get back over to London. A Long Piccolo Black Urushi from Nibs.com with a cursive italic nib. Mounting tension after such a long wait. :blink:

[Jezza]

I think it would also depend on which Nakaya one were to purchase. The celluloid and briarwood Nakayas are exactly like their Platinum cousins. In fact, I can tell absolutely no difference between my jade celluloid Nayaka and my old blue celluloid Platinum, aside from the nibs and the cap band ring. While I very much enjoy my Nakaya, I can certainly see how another might be disappointed if he or she owned or has handled a Platinum celluloid or briarwood, and then purchases the Nakaya. Aside from the custom nib work, there doesn't seem to be a lot of difference--perhaps not even enough to justify the premium. I think, perhaps, the Urishi lacquered Nakaya pen is a different story.

 

For my part, I purchased the jade celluloid from Nakaya in order to have a custom nib, but also for the experience: Waiting on the pen, dealing with polite communication in slightly broken but very formal english, the packaging, etc. I realize this might not be enough to justify the added cost for many people, but I enjoyed it. My Nakaya was also perfect right out of the box (medium stub).

[stevlight]

My Nakaya Portable came with a paper describing small rings that could be put inside the barrel in different spots to adjust the balance.

 

I think this is only on specially made "Equilibrium" models. Did your pen come with the rings? Or was the sheet just advertising this "Equilibrium" pen? I would love to get one of these and put ALL the metal rings it would hold into the barrel making it nice and heavy...........BUT it costs too much more I am trying to just be happy with my one Neo-standard.

[TDL]

Getting to grips now with my new long piccolo black urushi, with cursive italic nib by John Mottishaw.