Sailor Spare Nibs

[Inky-Republic]

I've got a visit to Japan scheduled and as thinking of purchasing a Sailor pen and a selection of nibs (broad, zoom & music)

 

I then read somewhere that Sailor and it's retailers will only sell you nibs if they're attached to pens.

 

Accordingly I wrote to Sailor through customer service to verify if this was correct, but to date have received no reply.

 

Can anyone here confirm one way or the other?

 

I thought these Japanese companies we all about quality and customer service - but apparently not!

[mke]

First problem: English.

 

Try these addresses:

http://www.sailorpen.co.uk/contact-us/

Edited May 13, 2019 by mke

[Inky-Republic]

Stellar idea - will give them a try!

 

Many thanks.

[Karmachanic]

It is also my understanding that there are no spare Sailor/Pilot/Platinum nibs separate from pens. Different business model.

[Inky-Republic]

M'mm, - kind of sucks if you happen to break one huh? - No wonder it's the third largest economy in the world!

[mke]

If you break one, you will get easily a replacement. You just need to go through an official seller. That is no problem. You just get no spares.

 

Sailor/Pilot/Platinum know that the nibs are the best thing they have, the rest of their pens is nothing special.

 

I once asked at a big penshop in Tokyo if they could replace me the M nib of a Pilot Custom 745 for an F nib. The answer was yes and they gave me prices for a) with returning the old and without returning the old nib. This seems to be a way to get hold on replacement nibs. But it wasn't cheap, actually, it was the same price as my pen (which I bought used).

[stan]

I've got a visit to Japan scheduled and as thinking of purchasing a Sailor pen and a selection of nibs (broad, zoom & music)

 

I then read somewhere that Sailor and it's retailers will only sell you nibs if they're attached to pens.

 

Accordingly I wrote to Sailor through customer service to verify if this was correct, but to date have received no reply.

 

Can anyone here confirm one way or the other?

 

I thought these Japanese companies we all about quality and customer service - but apparently not!

 

I don't know so am asking.

 

Does Mont Blanc, Pelikan, Waterman, or Parker sell nibs without pens attached?

[Olya]

 

I don't know so am asking.

 

Does Mont Blanc, Pelikan, Waterman, or Parker sell nibs without pens attached?

Not really.

Montblanc doesn't, Pelikan does (though even there not every seller does it), Parker used to I think (eg the 45).

 

Companies offering extra nibs for sale is rather rare and was to my knowledge never a big thing.

 

People now take it for granted, esp those who start out with Jowo and Bock nibs, which are in many pens and retailers offer nibs to buy.

 

Lamy offers replacement nibs, but even in Germany with Lamy and Pelikan at the very front it's not exactly common to hoard nibs and replace them when the fancy strikes you.. Even if you want to buy spare nibs, you can't get them at every corner and not even every online retailer offers them... Even in this case it takes a little bit of effort to find them. And the gold nibs set you also back almost as much as a whole new pen...

[Karmachanic]

This prompted me to look. First link I clicked:

https://www.penbox.co.uk/pen.nibs.htm

[stan]

Then encourage them to carry Japanese nibs.

 

Also note they are a third party, not a manufacturer offering nibs.

[Inky-Republic]

Frustrating business - I think I'd find it hard to get enthusiastic about an instrument I can't tinker with!

 

Might look for a good sushi knife instead.

[mke]

> Might look for a good sushi knife instead.

 

Ask if you can get the blade without the handle.

🤣

Edited May 13, 2019 by mke

[Inky-Republic]

Not a bad idea, I've hands the size of doormats!

[A Smug Dill]

Frustrating business - I think I'd find it hard to get enthusiastic about an instrument I can't tinker with!

 

But of course you could and can tinker with a Sailor fountain pen as a writing instrument, notwithstanding that:

• the pen body is not designed, by both the absence of a nib housing that screws into the pen section and no retail availability of 'spare' nibs, to be nothing more than a nib holder;
• the entire pen is the writing instrument, and if the user wants two different writing instruments that deliver fine lines and broad lines of ink at different times, then two pens are called for; and
• it costs more than the contained costs of replacing just the nib if the user tinkers with a Sailor (or other Japanese Big Three fountain pen brand) pen and screws up the nib.

I've "tinkered with" (Japanese, Italian, and other) fountain pens on the assumption that there's a risk I'd completely screw them up and have to discard/replace the whole package. That didn't constrain my ability to tinker, but just my personal willingness to tinker on the basis of risk assessment. I've tinkered with ruthenium-coated nibs knowing full well the result would ruin the coating and the nib wouldn't look black all over afterwards.

[Bounce792]

Frustrating business - I think I'd find it hard to get enthusiastic about an instrument I can't tinker with!

 

Might look for a good sushi knife instead.

1) As others have pointed out ... few companies offer spare nibs for sale. I'm not sure why you're upset with Japanese companies when this is industry standard. Pilot's Vanishing Point nibs can be purchased without the pen itself. But Sailor, Platinum and all regular Pilot nibs, nope. It's not a surprise given that (a) they don't care much about the international market since they prefer to cater to domestic (and maybe regional) sales and b ) the nibs are the whole point of the pen unless you're buying an exotic material like wood, raden or urushi.

 

2) Nibmeisters and pen repair/restoration shops clearly tinker with a lot of pens. Tinkering is more than possible so long as you accept all responsibility for it. Plenty of videos from SBREBrown and others on disassembly and quick fixes.

Edited May 14, 2019 by Bounce792

[fabri00]

> Might look for a good sushi knife instead.

 

Ask if you can get the blade without the handle.

 

great !

[minddance]

if they sold Sailor 21k nibs separately, just the nib alone without feed and section/nib collar, I am pretty sure it will be misaligned, either in the vendors' hands or the customers' hands or in storage or freight.

 

14k is not so bad.

[XYZZY]

Making nibs available to consumers means supporting those consumers in doing a nib-swap, and the fallout, which includes people who make things worse even though they claim to have followed the directions, and people that think published directions on nib-swap means it's ok to do a full tear-down for every nib cleaning.

 

By "support" I don't mean that the company has to allow it, but even if it's not allowed they have to put up with the additional support calls and the additional ill-will from people that don't get their way.

 

Maybe if they were replaceable screw-in nib/feed/housing units ala Bock, Jowo, Pelikan.

[A Smug Dill]

Making nibs available to consumers means supporting those consumers in doing a nib-swap, ...‹snip›...

Maybe if they were replaceable screw-in nib/feed/housing units ala Bock, Jowo, Pelikan.

Once upon a time, not so long so, a consumer could buy a set of the different Naginata nibs, each supplied in its own pen section, that the owner could swap into the single pen body supplied with the set and fully intended as just an ink reservoir (and filling mechanism) and holder for the nibs. However, I'd hazard a guess that neither the manufacturer, nor the keen Sailor enthusiasts who bought the set, saw those nibs as spares. I'm sure I saw such a set being offered for about US$8,700 on Rakuten Global Market maybe a year ago, and then the next 'best' offer online was on eBay for about US$38,800; I wonder how many self-styled 'tinkerers' are prepared to spend that much on a single curio to support that aspect of their fountain pen hobby.

[mke]

I don't understand why one doesn't choose a Jinhao X450/X750 for playing with different nib options, or if one doesn't like metal pens a Kanwrite Desire with the many Kanwrite nibs.

Edited May 14, 2019 by mke