Sailor 1911 M Sweet Spot Query.

[Mrpink]

I've had the Profit standard in fine for a while now, favourite pen, bit small but a quality writer. What's happened is I bought a 1911 standard broad and much to my disappoinment it has a wee little sweet spot and is abit of a dry writer too. I am trying different inks for it.

I would like to buy a medium now so the question is - does the medium nib lean towards the fine which I don't have sweet spot issues with - or is it more comparable to the broad where the line width varies and it needs the right coordination to avoid me and the nib tangling across the line of paper.

[Morphling27]

I only have a couple Sailor pens, one is a 1911S and one is the 1911L. Both have maki-e designs, but otherwise the same as the 'basic' ones.

 

The 1911S I have is Sailor's older style pen (single cap band and the older nib with simpler design). It is a Medium and writes LIKE A DREAM. It is probably my current favorite writing pen and the entire nib is a sweet spot. Honestly, my now lost/stolen Pelikan was the only other nib I've used that was of similar smoothness. I don't have that pen anymore, but the Sailor medium is just as smooth, if not with a bit more feedback (if that somehow makes sense).

 

My 1911L with a fine nib is, well a fine nib. It writes well, has feedback, I may send it to be tuned honestly as I'm not impressed with it (but is it by no means a bad nib).

 

Also to your question, my one and only Sailor in a medium nib is much more akin to a western medium than other Japanese M's I've used/seen. I have a number of PIlot pens with medium nibs in a range of prices and they are all more akin to a western fine, the same with the Platinum Preppy's I've had and my Platinum 3776 which is in a medium as well. Someone else chime in if they have more Sailor nib use.

[Driften]

I have the 1911M/Profit Standard in Medium-Fine and I really like it. I don't notice a sweet spot at all on it so I guess its more like the fine in that case. It's a little bit finer then the FM nib from Pilot. It does not seem dry to me but you might like something different.

[Olya]

The broad & medium in my experience are similar in that regard. Mostly because when you look at the tipping from the side you notice the foot quite clearly. But from MF downwards, the foot is very very small to non-existent and therefore the sweet spot diminishes/ doesn't exist. The MF even doesn't have the foot, the F definitely doesn't.

But that's my experience, I don't know about others.

 

Btw, the medium's sweet spot might be more delicate than the broad's, as it's smaller obviously but still noticeably there (I only tried a broad a while back, but as of now don't have one, so I could be slightly wrong). If you want to avoid the sweet spot/ foot, I suggest you only buy up to MF.

[Driften]

Thanks for pitching in Olya. That sure explains why my MF does not have the sweet spot people keep talking about. I love the MF nib.

[minddance]

Sailor M and B are vastly different from MF and finer. M and B arn't what I would call sweet, even at the sweet spot which can be easy to miss. If I wanted a broad nib, I wouldn't be looking at Sailor (again).

 

Certainly dry pens. Flow is flawless but nib is extremely frugal. Probably some tine-opening would help.

[minddance]

I happen to come into possession of a Sailor Broad recently and will try my best to articulate my experience. It is certainly not smooth out of the box, unless the pen vendor did something to it.

 

BUT, there are sides to 'unlock' to an extremely smooth nib. There is generous writing surface and flow is actually rather generous: the feed is more than capable. The limiting factor, or bottleneck, is the sides and base of the nib. This nib is nothing conventional in that it is not round or oval. There are very clearly defined surfaces - so clear that the angles/edges where they meet can be very sharp, creating a scratchy sensation. But this scratch is not from the inner tines but the outer ridges of the nib tipping.

 

There is no absolute need to draw figure 8s on smoothing film. For me, there are only 4 corners to take care of, and only the slightest touch of the smoothing paper/micromesh will do the job. You may not want to unlock all 4 restricting edges all at once: they can bring about extremely different effects and writing sensation. Looking at the pen as I would write with it on paper, I have smoothed the top and bottom right side and just the slightest bit of top left, leaving the bottom right edge intact to give line variations if I rotate my pen anticlockwise - either habitually or by choice.

 

I am very inclined to believe that the Sailor medium nibs are also ground in similar fashion.

 

Have fun!

[Driften]

I have a Sailor 1911L in B and a 1911 Realo in Zoom and both are wet nibs with pilot inks. I expect you just need to have it adjusted if its too dry or try wetter inks. Both are smooth and have less feedback then my MF 1911S. Maybe I just got lucky with them...

[Angel91]

I had the same experience with my sailor pro gear B nib. It had a different design from other nibs, kind of square, the edges were scratchy, but if you found the sweet spot it was delightful. I eventually sold it. I didnt like that feeling.

[KellyMcJ]

I adore my Sailor B nib- my Sailor pens are my favorite, hands down. Before doing anything to the nib, use it for a couple weeks. It took me a while to get the hang of it. I wouldn't change it now for the world.

[minddance]

Yes, I must say it is an acquired taste.