Pilot Seirei-Nuri

[Mintbug]

Hello all,

 

I recently received my Pilot Seirei-Nuri also called the dragonfly. I love this pen so much I want to share it with yall

 

The Pen Comes in a neat plush box together with papers, a cartridge, an inkwell and a push-converter.

http://i.imgur.com/MH7Ax3G.jpg

 

 

And here it is! If you wonder how this dragonfly effect is made there is a video on youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9d3cnKM0zc&t=55s

http://i.imgur.com/YhFz9xr.jpg

 

The Urushi Lacquer gives it a beautiful, glossy look. The pen is heavier than you would think but it´s perfectly balanced.

http://i.imgur.com/yRBgH1a.jpg

 

The nib is 14k and very smooth. I chose M and its precisely the same size as an MB146 F nib.

http://i.imgur.com/hUTBpHO.jpg

 

The pattern never fails to amaze me

http://i.imgur.com/LHHWT1z.jpg

 

It was also signed by the guild which made it. This one says "kokkoukai"

http://i.imgur.com/GvJDopw.jpg

 

In size it compares will to the 146 while being significantly heavier

http://i.imgur.com/cbAcSIw.jpg

 

So far I used up 2 converter fillings and on 2 occassions the nib ran dry so that I had to push the converter. There are also skips but rarely. I suspect the problem has to do with the push-converter and I am trying to fix it. If you have advice Ill be greatful.

http://i.imgur.com/dcEPzjd.jpg

 

Overall the finish has won me over. I love this pen! The weight also feels unexpectedly good, true the hand hurts a bit after long writing sessions but the pen also feels more valuable than lets say a 146. In smoothness it compares well to the Montblanc F but it has slightly stiffer feel. I can already tell this pen is a keeper and I do not keep many pens permanently. One last shot of when the sun hits the gold powder.

http://i.imgur.com/PbqR98Z.jpg

 

[Connly33]

One of my fountain pen goals is to own a Urushi Lacquered Pilot pen in the future.

I just love the way that they look, and the amount of work that goes into them.

[zaddick]

Enjoy your new treasure.

[Erik Dalton]

Wow, what an impressive pen. Good luck with it and happy writing.

[visvamitra]

Very nice finish.

[Mainecoon]

That is a beauty!! Thank you for sharing and enjoy writing with it!!

[Hejhox]

Looks lovely. Nice one.

[Drone]

Hello Mintbug,

First off, welcome to the Fountain Pen Network

What a beautiful pen. Congratulations.

As for the flow problem...

Check your paper. I have Pilot Fine tipped nibs and find they don't like to flow when used with smooth non-absorbent clay-filled and polished papers, like Clairfontaine for example. This is especially the case for my Pilot 743 with the Pilot #15 FA nib. When it flexes on Clairfontaine, it easily railroads, and hard starts are common. There just isn't enough ink being pulled from the paper.

On 80g/sqm virgin office bond however, the same pen always writes reliably, even with broad flexing. There's no railroading and never a hard start. The paper is porous enough to maintain flow.

Check your ink. As for ink, in my Pilot pens I almost always use Pilot/Namiki Blue or Blue-Black ink (from 300ml bottles). I consider Pilot/Namiki inks to be amongst the best (if not the best) work-horse inks on the market today.

Anyway, there are lots of things you can try...

For flow problems in a new pen, the first recommendation is always to give the pen and converter a thorough cleaning. Use dish washing soap, warm (never hot) water, a bulb syringe, and cotton-tipped swabs (Q-Tips). The objective is to remove any residual oils or other contaminants left over from the manufacturing process which can impede ink flow.

Next, try using original Pilot/Namiki ink, especially Pilot/Namiki Blue. I find Pilot Blue to flow best. Pilot ink is excellent and will lay down a baseline eliminating the ink as a cause. Plus, Pilot can not blame the ink for the problem if it becomes necessary to contact them.

Use generic but high quality paper. Set a performance baseline using name-brand virgin (zero recycled content) medium or heavy-weight office or copier paper. Never complain about flow issues to a pen manufacture if you are using exotic papers and/or inks.

If after a good cleaning and ink change the flow is still inadequate, insert a new Pilot ink cartridge and run it through the pen. Pilot cartridges have a little agitator ball in them to ensure good ink flow. If the pen is still troublesome even with the cartridge, at this point you may just want to call Pilot and get a return authorization. A pen in this price range should not be giving you problems like this.

To continue - if the cartridge fixes the problem, the problem might be the converter. You mention the pen has a "push" converter. I presume this means it has a CON-70 push-button type converter. In my experience, the CON-70 converters are mostly trouble-free. Try swapping-out the converter with a known good one. Or try a new converter. Unlike the CON-70, Pilot's CON-50 and the new CON-40 converters both have built-in agitators to aid in ink flow. If the CON-70 converter fits in your pen, any of the other Pilot converters will fit. However, I have experienced flow problems with the CON-20 converter, so I recommend you steer clear of that one. Here's a link to a picture of all four Pilot converters side-by-side for comparison:

https://ae01.alicdn.com/kf/HTB1SMu3KpXXXXamXpXXq6xXFXXX4/Pilot-Fountain-Pen-CON-50-Con-20-con-50-con-20-40-70-ink-Converter-Press.jpg

Try cleaning the converter again, but this time disassemble it and use a generous amount of dish soap and Q-Tips to remove any oils or contamination inside the converter. Again, I'm assuming you have a CON-70 converter. Here is a YouTube video showing how to disassemble the CON-70 converter (start watching from 1:30):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEN7kXT2_IQ

Then there's the feed. But messing with the feed will require you to remove it, which voids your warranty (if Pilot finds out).

Note, if removing the nib and feed is not a smooth process and/or requires significant force, stop right there. Reassemble the pen and contact Pilot for a return authorization. There's a good chance the section was not milled properly at the factory; something only Pilot can remedy. A badly milled section can warp the nib and/or mis-position the feed. This often causes ink flow problems.

After the nib and feed are removed, clean them thoroughly with dish soap using a soft toothbrush, especially where the nib contacts the feed. Now would be a good time to clean the section as well. Use a bulb syringe with soapy water and a Q-Tip.

If cleaning the nib and feed doesn't work, there's another more desperate thing to try. Change the nib and/or feed with known good parts. I know this sounds crazy, but you would be surprised.

For example, I had a Bexeley pen with a nib unit made by Bock in Germany that had bad flow problems. Nothing I tried solved the problem. Finally I gave up and got a brand new nib unit from Bexely. Voila, the new nib unit solved the problem.

But I wanted to know what was causing the problem in the first place. So I individually swapped the feed, nib and housing. It was the feed that caused the problem. To this day I still don't know what was wrong with the bad feed. It seemed identical to the good feed in all ways, both under an inspection microscope and by comparing dimensions with a micrometer. The bad feed was simply possessed by Demons. To protect my other pens, I tied the evil feed to a stake and burned it in the back yard.

In the end...

If you can live with the unsolvable flow problem, and you don't want to send the pen back to Pilot, there's one more thing you can try. Add a couple/few drops of dish washing detergent to your full bottle of ink to act as a lubricant. It may improve the ink flow enough to solve the problem.

Have Fun, David

Edited April 7, 2017 by Drone

[FrozenLand]

Appreciating the craftsmanship, I find the finish slightly too oriental to me

[PAKMAN]

Oh my, very nice, congrats!

[Mintbug]

Thank you David! And also thank you for your extensive response I'll work through some of those solutions and the problem will hopefully be solved.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Mintbug

[Mintbug]

 

 

 

Thank you David! And also thank you for your extensive response I'll work through some of those solutions and the problem will hopefully be solved.

Edited April 8, 2017 by Mintbug

[Arctic_Wolf]

Thanks for this review! I was looking to get it on Amazon, but wasn't sure if I'd really care for it since it seems more "plain" compared to others at the price point, at least from stock photos. This has me convinced now, and I think if I like the pen enough it'll inspire me to save up for a really nice Maki-e pen, perhaps an Emperor.

[rwilsonedn]

Congratulations--that is one breathtaking pen.

To add a bit to David's excellent suggestions about cleaning ... after you've flushed the pen if the problem persists, check the way you hold and write with the pen. Japanese nibs can have very narrow sweet spots, and if you form the letters with your fingers rather than your arm, you might tend to rotate the nib just enough to turn the sweet spot away from the paper. That breaks the capillary flow from the nib slit to the paper surface, and you get skipping.

Another possibility is that this pen might be unusually sensitive to oils from your hand getting onto the paper. Some pens simply won't write reliably if the surface of the paper has oil on it. To test this, all you have to do is put another piece of paper under your hand while you write, so your skin never touches the sheet you are writing on. It attention to nib orientation and protecting the paper make the skipping go away, you have solved the problem with a simple change of habit.

If not, I would suggest against changing nibs and feeds on this pen yourself unless you are quite experienced at this kind of service. This is not a pen you want to damage, and bad things can happen when you start messing around with pulling nibs. Better to send the pen back to the dealer for service.

Enjoy!

ron

[jmccarty3]

Congratulations on a beautiful Pilot and welcome to FPN!

 

I have the same model with the Sakura (cherry blossom) finish. I don't believe this line is sold in the US--I got mine from Atsu in Japan several years ago. These Pilots are similar in size to the Namiki Yukaris--both lines have the excellent #10 nib.

[overwriter]

Beautiful. Thank you for the review.

[SpecTP]

wow.. I was so enamored by the pictures that I had to get one for myself.

 

 

[Mintbug]

wow.. I was so enamored by the pictures that I had to get one for myself.

 

 

Nice! Congrats I wish you a lot of joy with it.