Modern M215 Nib Into Vintage 1950 Section Of Pelikan 120

[mx-fan]

Before I buy only the barrel and section of a vintage (apparently 1950) Pelikan 120, I'd like to be sure that my modern F nib from my M215 (bought new in 2015) will screw into the vintage section from the apparently 1950 Pelikan 120. Yes?

[sargetalon]

If you are referring to the 1955-1965 120, then M150 and M2xx nibs have been reported to work in that scenario. I don't have one lying around right now to try myself but a search of old threads shows a few people that have reported this combination with success. The collar has the same thread. The M200 nib needs to be checked carefully for clearance with the cap. It may be the case that you may need to reset the nib a little deeper in the collar. Be aware though that this is not the case for the 1970s 120s made by Merz & Krell.

 

This is just one such thread to support the claim; https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/101287-pelikan-120/

[mx-fan]

If you are referring to the 1955-1965 120, then M150 and M2xx nibs have been reported to work in that scenario. I don't have one lying around right now to try myself but a search of old threads shows a few people that have reported this combination with success. The collar has the same thread. The M200 nib needs to be checked carefully for clearance with the cap. It may be the case that you may need to reset the nib a little deeper in the collar. Be aware though that this is not the case for the 1970s 120s made by Merz & Krell.

 

This is just one such thread to support the claim; https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/101287-pelikan-120/

 

Thanks sargetalon for the information.

 

The eBay seller of the Pelikan 120 barrel-section states it's from 1950 (but it has to be from 1955+ ). Also, that seller is offering the Pelikan 120 nib-feed unit and the Pelikan 120 cap -- also both from 1950 (really 1955+) -- each as a separate eBay listing. The feed of that unit is the older style having the wide "fins" running parallel to the slit between the tines. I suppose that older kind is the hard rubber feed. [When did Pelikan change from the older style, hard rubber feed to the newer, modern style?]

 

I'll probably bid on (or buy if there are no other bidders) all three separately listed components which will make all of them from probably the same Pelikan 120 fountain pen. [Even though I figure I could use my modern Pelikan M215 F nib-feed in the barrel-section of the 1955+ Pelikan 120, that older nib is an EF which I favor.]

[Bo Bo Olson]

You will like the old feed more...it's ebonite, holds ink better, the nib is @ as good as a modern 200, though the bump under is a tad bigger in it was a school kid pen.

 

Changed after '65...but then they were doing spade nibs...mostly so I never chased any.

Plastic feeds are so, so much cheaper to make, not so fragile, for needing to be replaced.

 

I think it's a rip off to sell a pen in three parts....I'd just buy a full pen....look in German Ebay, make sure they take Paypal....many don't, and will ship to the US....some won't ship outside of Germany. They are not nearly as expensive as a 140...which has jumped in price from 50-70 to 70-90 euro lately.

 

If the gold plating is gone....no big deal. It is still a 'true' regular flex like the later 200's...and will be @ the same width.

I lucked out with a gift from my mechanic, and the gold plating is as good as new.

 

I had no problem when I tried putting a '90's M400's nib or 120's nib on each other's body....for the sheer hell of it. The 120 nib is very much @ the same as the 400's.

I didn't have a 200 back then.

 

Buy a full pen on German Ebay....don't let that guy rip you off with three prices for one pen!

Edited July 19, 2016 by Bo Bo Olson

[mx-fan]

You will like the old feed more...it's ebonite, holds ink better, the nib is @ as good as a modern 200, though the bump under is a tad bigger in it was a school kid pen.

 

Changed after '65...but then they were doing spade nibs...mostly so I never chased any.

Plastic feeds are so, so much cheaper to make, not so fragile, for needing to be replaced.

 

I think it's a rip off to sell a pen in three parts....I'd just buy a full pen....look in German Ebay, make sure they take Paypal....many don't, and will ship to the US....some won't ship outside of Germany. They are not nearly as expensive as a 140...which has jumped in price from 50-70 to 70-90 euro lately.

 

If the gold plating is gone....no big deal. It is still a 'true' regular flex like the later 200's...and will be @ the same width.

I lucked out with a gift from my mechanic, and the gold plating is as good as new.

 

I had no problem when I tried putting a '90's M400's nib or 120's nib on each other's body....for the sheer hell of it. The 120 nib is very much @ the same as the 400's.

I didn't have a 200 back then.

 

Buy a full pen on German Ebay....don't let that guy rip you off with three prices for one pen!

 

 

Thanks Bo Bo Olson for your guidance! Yes, I was feeling uneasy about thinking I'd want to buy 3 separate components to make 1 fountain pen and I knew that the seller was really just trying to make more money by selling individually the 3 components. I did look at German eBay and see a complete Pelikan 120 with EF nib, costing $65 for pen plus $12 shipping to the US. [The seller's in

Bosnia and Herzegovina and has been selling at eBay since 2012.]

[Bo Bo Olson]

It will be a true EF nib, in that era, German nibs are @ 1/2 a width narrower than modern....though I don't know about the 200's in I'm not into EF in I use shading inks, where F &M do quite well being a bit dryer than semi-flex.

 

It is my understanding that the 200's nibs are narrower than modern....I only have a single modern Pelikan a 600 BB that is fat, compared to vintage '50-60s OBB's I have. I had no particular thought of my 200's; a W.Germany OM and an Amethyst B or 215 M of being fatter than my vintage 400/140's...

 

My 120's an F. I have an old chart I copied but don't seem to ever be able to take it from word to here, that is more than likely a '90's chart. That shows Pelikan as thinner than Parker and Sheaffer and that Waterman had two nib sets, one exactly the width of Pelikan and the other narrower.

There had been a time 7 or so years ago when Waterman owners were very proud of the latter not knowing of the former.

In both the normal and the narrower 800, the EF was narrower than the Narrow Waterman nib.

 

I find the semi-vintage M400, Celebry and 380/90(?) to be @ the same width as the 200 and the older Vintage nibs.

 

$65 for a 120.....gee I've not looked at the going price of a 120 in ages....use to be able to get a 140 for that.

 

Take a look at Geha School pens, as good, if not better for 12-19 Euros. Geha and Pelikan were competitors. There is some German pirate selling Geha school pens for $85 to America the land of unlimited Barnum possibilities.. .

 

I only have one. The Geha school pen will not take the regular Geha 760/790 semi-flex or + nib. But for 19 Euro you get a standard sized sturdy well made pen.

 

I do have four 790's...one with a gray stripped barrel. Most are just black and gold, as is the school pen. Geha was the first to put serial numbers on them to prevent theft. They like all Geha's have the Geha reserve system. A small button on the feed you press up to get a page or two of more ink before truly empty.

The 790 goes for 19-30 with great luck or 30-40 ..perhaps 50 euro, now....and a 140 will go now 70-90 and a 400- 90-130 or so. If You Hunt....do not Buy Now.

 

Both are best buys....the school pen for a nice 'true' regular flex nib and the 790 for semi-flex.

A couple of well respected posters like the Geha nib more than the Pelikan, and I tested my Geha and Pelikan semi/maxi-semi-flex nibs of that era and IMO the Geha is a tad better.

The 790 can have a gold or a steel nib and both are =!!!! So don't worry about that.

 

When the Malaysian Billionaire saved Pelikan in 1990, the first thing he did was buy the Geha pen division and close it down.

Even though then Geha was not making the equivalent of the 400/790 any more, they were making school and casual pens...as much as Pelikan.

Then in 1993, Lamy brought out the Safari......

[Joe in Seattle]

You will be delighted with the way a 50s vintage steel nib writes. The use it received prior to you will have functioned to polish the nib wonderfully.