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The Horrible Thing Pelikan Did!


Bo Bo Olson

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Mr. Olson couldn’t be more right: The 100, 200 and 400 series are meant to used with the cap posted!

 

I’m able to write with them unposted, as Im used to write with all my pens, but when a long writing session presents itself, I do post the caps on the 200 or 400 series and the balance is just wonderful. The effort required to “drive” the pen is far less, enabling you to write faster and for longer periods of time.

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I started with the 200s but have since found that no matter the configuration, they're just too thin for my hand. I need a 600. An 800 or 1000 would be too much. It's a shame because I can no longer afford the 600. And that lovely brown marble in the 200 really turns my head. Heck, I can't afford the 200 anymore. That's okay. I'll die with too many pens anyway.

KCat
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Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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If it hadn't been for the Galleria Kaufhaus sale, I'd not been able to afford the 605 either.

 

Well, could have had I saved a years worth of money....and not bought a lot of cheap pens.

A number of inks.......................

Normally, new is not something I associate with fountain pens....5 out of 70+. ...3 of them 200's. With one of which (P-75) I was One Man, One Pen for 40 years.......unused, mostly. :unsure:

 

But the Grand Place a 600 is now more expensive than when it was new....and still out of my reach.

The light and nimble 600 does have a very good girth............and I only have one.......well, the 400 sized one don't count. ;)

 

There is a major problem with the 600....................................there are so many pretty ones. :(

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

If it hadn't been for the Galleria Kaufhaus sale, I'd not been able to afford the 605 either.

 

Well, could have had I saved a years worth of money....and not bought a lot of cheap pens.

A number of inks.......................[...]

 

There is a major problem with the 600....................................there are so many pretty ones. :(

 

There's the rub. I was fortunate with the two "places" pens (m620s) I own. Both were purchased as gifts, in essence, and both at a time when the cost of that series was reasonable by comparison to current prices. I believe the Grand Place was just under $200. I'm embarrassed that my most recent M600 was, although a gift, far too expensive and not even a well-behaved pen. :( I've gone around and around with Chartpak about it, so eventually it will have to go to a nibmeister.

KCat
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Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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Living in Germany, if I ever had a problem I'd have to go to Hanover....in I've heard little good about Chartpack.

What problem did you have?

 

Oh, the semi-flex vintage 400's nibs work so well in a 605. :puddle: I had a early '50's semi-flex B in my 605 for a long time....before I had that BB made 1.0 Stub. Francis did a great job on that.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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The bib in the 600 is hard starting and skips in my hand. Chartpak personnel tells me she tested it for several pages and had no trouble. Obviously its a matter of how I hold the pen vs how she holds it but at the same time, Ive never had a finicky Pelikan nib. Ive certainly never had one that skipped on the downstroke. It is a medium and rather a fat one at that so a but baby bottomed. Ill probably send it off eventually because it is a shame not to use an expensive pen at all. And its a gift so I dont want to sell it. But it languishes. I have tried a number of inks including her recommended Pelikan ink and still get the same result. Short of sitting upright at a desk and writing exceptionally slowly (no!), I cant get it to write consistently. :(

KCat
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Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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The tipping of the modern Pelikans is so thick at the tip, double kugal/ball, top and bottom of the nib, one can hold it like a ball point before the big index knuckle and still have it write.

Many ball point user is thought incapable of learning to hold a fountain pen like a fountain pen, in they don't have three minutes to learn....................which is the only explanation I have to the fat and blobby modern tipping............and Butter Smooth is So IN.

The regular flex nibs of the 400/600 were changed to semi-nail, the 800 from regular flex to nail....so there would be less repair of ham fisted ball point users bending nibs.........many a sad tale here of some jerk, grabbing a fountain pen and trying to carve grand canyons into the table top, bending the nib into a pretzel.

(One could always put a springy regular flex 200's nib on the 600 and have a nice semi-vintage/vintage width....not fat and blobby...on your 600 for @ $27 or so.) The amount of people you will meet while using your modified 600, that would know the difference is a lottery chance. If they do know, then they will understand a better gold plated nib....that is not fat, nor blobbly much less baby bottomed.)

 

I'm sure you hold your fountain pen behind the big index knuckle. Some hold it at 45 degrees just after the big index knuckle, some at 40 degrees at the start of the web of the thumb, others if the pen is long or heavy at 35 degrees at the pit of the thumb.

(That does take the weight of a heavy pen (not a 600) and make the nib light on the paper.

 

 

Most folks use the tripod...I use 'forefinger up' an automatic light grip alternative.

Help! How Do You Hold Your Fountain Pen?

If it skips while using 'forefinger up', it is indeed a baby bottom nib. No questions at all.

 

I swapped in a perfect M nib for a BB nib, in I wanted to have it made eventually into a stub and or CI and didn't know how wide the nib should be then. Eventually I had it made into a 1.0....didn't quite know how wide that was :headsmack: ............should have had it made 0.8. :bunny01:

 

So just have your fat and blobby M made into a stub. One will loose a tad of tipping width, not much, so the Fat M, will be middle of tolerance M.

There is enough tipping on top to have the top made into a F.....or even EF....which might be better, for tiny scribbles, when needed.

Actually I don't think many actually really use their double tipped nibs as much as expected. One mostly does tiny or not.....not and or......is my guess. But what the hell, it's there....so much tipping should be sculpted.

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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Yes, I think my grip is pretty average if a bit of a high angle, but I have a light touch. I cringe if anyone picks up my pen and doesn't know how to use one. I have passed on pen knowledge to my daughter and intend to pass it on to my grandkids so they don't mash my pens when I croak and hand them down. :lol:

 

I don't particularly want to get it stubbed. I do write with a slight rotation so an oblique stub is comfortable for me but I prefer a smooth round nib when I'm writing fast and that's why I got this medium. My intent was to add to my small stable of medium nibs that allow me to splatter my thoughts on the page as quickly as possible without distraction of tooth and nib "corners."* Instead I got a nib that skips and struggles and the cap doesn't post securely. For $350! So annoying. I have multiple other Pels and they are writing dreams. Including good medium nibs of both gold and steel. This one...what a disappointment!

 

Well, when the :gaah: :glare: :huh: :wallbash: furlough is over, I will likely send the nib off.

 

* Like my Pilot Mediums that are all flawlessly smooth and flow beautifully *but* dry out faster than Pelikans. Sigh.

KCat
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Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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Even if tripod, If you move your thumb a bit up the barrel it will let the pen rest at a lower angle....perhaps that will let the nib work better.

 

I don't have any problem scribbling fast with semi-flex which is stubbed in German pens, modern stubs. I can see a difference in speed when using a CI.

To me stubs don't have much to any corner catching capabilities.....or I hold lower so that is not a problem.

I can see a high hold having problems with a stub.

 

I tend to hold at the start of the web of my thumb....depending on how light or heavy the pen is....higher or lower. But it all depends on how low or how high up the barrel my thumb is. Where am I willing to let the pen rest.

 

The whole trick I think is having ones grip light enough that the pen rests where it is comfortable and not forced to be at 45 degrees....which requires excess pressure. I tend to move my thumb up and down so the pen rests at the start of the web of the thumb at 40 degrees. I seldom have a pen that is so long or heavy to need it in the pit of the web of the thumb at 35 degrees.

 

There are also even smoother than classic stubs to be had .... I read it, but finding the 'old classic' stubs to be adequate to my use, never really registered the new levels.

I do know there are more smooth CI's out there than my classic CI, which I like............My Lamy Persona is a heavy pen, so it's not one I'm going to get into a scribbling contest with.

 

So one can pick how much crispness one wants with one's CI....or to look at if from the other angle, how crisp one wants one stub.

I guess some stubs are really not full stubs, just wider flat spots on a round nib.

I don't really understand that.....In I learned here Flat Spots was to be avoided when one smooths one's nib.

I had thought a stub to be fully flat with rounded corners...........not a flat spot.

 

:P ;) We live in the Golden Age of Nib Grinding......so if one wants a Flat Spot, so be it. If one wants a Stub, one can dial how much. I'm still stuck in Yesterday....classic stub.

 

My CI is good enough for writing with a nice pattern. Could also fiddle with calligraphy with it. It is not a quick scribble nib, but one can flow right along, if one don't try to really write as well as the nib can do.

Have a 1.5 Lamy stub which some think is too rounded.....I don't. I have my CI and Italic nibs.

It's easy enough to sharpen, if one wants more a CI than a stub.

 

I do have a 6 nib Osmiroid Italic set. Just in case I finally get around to learning to do one of the many fine Italic scripts. Those are made for drawing a letter so are slow.

 

So Kat, I'd not worry about a stub in M being a slow nib. Gee if I writes slower it looks prettier.....but that goes for regular round nibs too. :happyberet:

 

:eureka: :eureka: One could just get the baby bottom removed without stubbing the nib. :doh: :headsmack:

 

Is it a City 600? I've read they don't post well. My old 605 posts fine.

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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So Kat, I'd not worry about a stub in M being a slow nib. Gee if I writes slower it looks prettier.....but that goes for regular round nibs too. :happyberet:

 

:eureka: :eureka: One could just get the baby bottom removed without stubbing the nib. :doh: :headsmack:

 

Is it a City 600? I've read they don't post well. My old 605 posts fine.

 

I suspect it is entirely psychological. That is, if I have a stub (which I love, btw) then I *want* to slow down and write pretty. It is my nature to do so not because I have to or because the pen forces me to, but because my brain says, "this is a pretty nib that can do pretty things, don't waste it on ugly letters." With a ball, I just spew and don't think. I would use ballpoints, pencils, or rollerballs except for the inevitable death grip and pressing which causes great pain.

 

And yes, I can remove the baby bottom. I can probably even do it myself as I have done in cheaper pens with good results. I'm just leery of doing so because of the initial cost of the pen. Of course, I'm also leery of sending it out.

 

Basically, I'm one of those ridiculously indecisive people that makes life a roller coaster for everyone around them. As my dad told my husband as he handed him a gift of two gorgeous geode bookends on our first Christmas: "Here is where you will find yourself from now on--between a rock and a hard place."

 

Thanks for the info. I will get *something* done eventually. I want to enjoy my nice pen. :(

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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KCat;

 

May I recommend a fairly inexpensive and reliable solution to your problem? I have used the services of many different nib specialists, most of them excellent but also, many very expensive and some with extremely long turnaround times.

 

in recent years I have come to rely on the work of Mr. Danny Fudge, of The Write Pen . Very high quality work, very short turnaround times and also surprisingly affordable. I believe he's not too far from you (Nebraska) if that is a Texas State Flag. This might help you come through your in decisiveness, What is it that they say? Leap and the net will appear.

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Over the years, I've heard good things about Mr. Fudge here on the com. (I live in Europe so don't even think about Stateside repair..........the cost of US mail is way, way too high. From Germany to the States is cheap.)

Contact him, let him professionally get rid fo the baby bottom.

 

The 640 I heard is hard to post....not your 620.....if you have problems perhaps others do also. The Grand Place was one I wanted; but never did something stupid; like save money.

 

That 'forefinger up' gets rid of the Death Grip and the Deadly Kung Fu Thumb Pinch in three minutes.

Not usable by ball point, or gel pens.

 

I had a pinched nerve in the dent at the middle finger nail junction.

If you move the pen position 1/3 of an inch away from the nail junction pain will go away ..... for a while .... how long if one continues to use the tripod, I don't know. But using 'forefinger up', I've had no problem for the 6-7 years I've been using it. No pressure, no pain.

Very, very, very glad that guy from the writing section came over and showed it to us. :notworthy1: :thumbup:

Did as he said, take three minutes to learn, about a 5 days to a week of switching back and forth before abandoning the Tripod.

 

To write with out pain is a joy, to write for as long as I wish with out hand fatigue is a wonder.....no more stopping to shake the hand out :bunny01:

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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KCat;

 

May I recommend a fairly inexpensive and reliable solution to your problem? I have used the services of many different nib specialists, most of them excellent but also, many very expensive and some with extremely long turnaround times.

 

in recent years I have come to rely on the work of Mr. Danny Fudge, of The Write Pen . Very high quality work, very short turnaround times and also surprisingly affordable. I believe he's not too far from you (Nebraska) if that is a Texas State Flag. This might help you come through your in decisiveness, What is it that they say? Leap and the net will appear.

Thank you. I'll keep him in mind. Won't be doing anything for a while but I appreciate the lead.

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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I'll +1 the recommendation for Danny Fudge. Great work, reasonable price, quick turnaround (when I have used him in the past; don't know his turnaround time now).

"Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working." -Pablo Picasso


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I'll +1 the recommendation for Danny Fudge. Great work, reasonable price, quick turnaround (when I have used him in the past; don't know his turnaround time now).

 

Thank you, Bill.

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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furlough..... :unsure: :gaah: :crybaby:

I have nothing good to say about the Reality Show now running, nor the Art of the Deal ghost written by someone.

Read horrible things, going back to flipping burgers, or remembering how to run a cash register to eat.....waiting for unemployment payments.

 

A generation ago, I got caught in a real short couple...but for days only, because of the normal budget problems. Because of credit cards, we are on a much shorter rein than once.

When the Wall fell......and the US started shutting down it's European operations, I got a German job....same 30 days/6 weeks of vacation as by the Government.

I never liked Reagan, having arrived in California the day he took power as Governor, .....before him, there were no bag Ladies, or Calcutta squatting rights on a heating grid. America became a much colder place after him. Never as cold as now. One can see the forest at a distance, in up close the trees get in the way.

Edited by Bo Bo Olson

In reference to P. T. Barnum; to advise for free is foolish, ........busybodies are ill liked by both factions.

 

 

The cheapest lessons are from those who learned expensive lessons. Ignorance is best for learning expensive lessons.

 

 

 

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furlough..... :unsure: :gaah: :crybaby:

 

 

Because this isn't "Chatter" and we're supposed to steer clear of these topics anyway, I'll just say... "yup"!

KCat
Save animal lives - support your local animal shelter

My personal blog https://kcdockalscribbling.com

My nature blog https://kcbeachscribbles.com
Venerable are letters, infinitely brave, forlorn, and lost. V. Woolf, Jacob's Room

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