Pelikan M400. Baby's Bottom?

[Christopher Godfrey]

Friedrich, I don't honestly think that anything said or written above really <helps> you very much? Bo Bo is always wise and full of interest; but they have all forgotten to advise you to go into the website of Richard Binder and have a read through his copious notes on the subject of nibs. (RichardsPens.com) He is one of the great gurus here in The States. He is mostly retired, now, as I understand; but there is a couple who work together as Indy-Pen-Dance and they trained under Richard. If your problem is not easily remedied by yourself with some gentle smoothing (roughing, in this case!), what about sending the pen to them? I am certain they can give you satisfaction.

 

Does this help? I hope so...

[friedrichwild]

Friedrich, I don't honestly think that anything said or written above really <helps> you very much? Bo Bo is always wise and full of interest; but they have all forgotten to advise you to go into the website of Richard Binder and have a read through his copious notes on the subject of nibs. (RichardsPens.com) He is one of the great gurus here in The States. He is mostly retired, now, as I understand; but there is a couple who work together as Indy-Pen-Dance and they trained under Richard. If your problem is not easily remedied by yourself with some gentle smoothing (roughing, in this case!), what about sending the pen to them? I am certain they can give you satisfaction.

 

Does this help? I hope so...

Thank you Christopher. Actually all the answers were helpful with their own way. So was yours of course. So i may combine them together and do the following: I am thinking of exchanging the nib for a medium. if the new nib have the same issue (or should i say the same characteristic) something that i actually expect, i will send it to a nibmeister to turn it to an italic medium. But i am not sure that i will do it because as i said, i really enjoy the nib as it is right now. I just believe that it could be even better. Maybe i am chasing dragons...Maybe i will get a worse nib. But i think i will take the risk!

Edited August 31, 2017 by friedrichwild

[friedrichwild]

I finally sent the nib back for replacement . I asked for a medium . I included a personal letter to Pelikan to let them know that i am writing with an extremely light hand and that even a minor "baby's bottom" issue would drastically affect the performance of the pen for me. I will let you know about the new nib as soon as i get it (in a month or so).

[siamackz]

All the best!

 

And if it does comeback less than perfect, then my suggestion is to keep it. Use it for some time, rotate it with other pens for a few months, come back to it. You will be more experienced by then. Take a call at that time on whether or not you need a nibmeister to grind it. Often, when I come back, I either rediscover the pen in away I didn't before, or I have more experience with polishing nibs.

[friedrichwild]

The pen finally arrived 5 days ago with a medium nib. Way much better than the fine nib the pen used to have in all perspective. The new nib is EVEN smoother and slighly broader than the fine nib and writes like a dream. I would not classify it as perfect because it does not have the precision of any of my Japanese nibs but it is really close thanks to some other qualities that japanese pen do not have (such as buttery smoothness). Plus, the reverse writing with the medium nib was a wonderful surprise since the reverse with the fine was scratchy and not good at all. Now, i can say that this Pelikan M400 is overall one of my best pens in my collection (if not the best). I have quite small hand so the size of the pen is perfect for me! Thanks for the help!!!

Edited October 10, 2017 by friedrichwild

[Bo Bo Olson]

M is a better width than most will admit....in when they returned or got into fountain pens. M was there and no one raved how good M was....it was either off to super skinny or super fat.

M is fatter and smoother than F.

B can be a bit too fat and wet....and is often just a fun nib for a little flair. I prefer semi-vintage and vintage B width to modern which is often B=BB.

 

I do find the regular flex M&F Pelikans very good for shading. They are dryer than semi-flex due to less tine spread.....could be dryer than the newer 400/600 wider nibs in the 200 is drier.

I learned to like the regular flex 200 nibs....and for @$30, you could see if you do too.

 

Shading inks need 90g and or + laser paper. Do try some.