Looking For The Pilot G2 .38 Of Fountain Pen Nibs.

[crbrown]

Hello all, is there an "off the shelf" fountain pen that would closely resemble the writing characteristics of a Pilot G2 in .38mm? Or am I better off going to a nibmeister and having one ground and built to flow like one.

[tamiya]

So you want something that's similarly high quality, been proven reliable over decades & writes decently generous with an accurately controlled width?

 

Gotta give that gong to Pilot too... try their basic steel F nib!

 

As found in everything from MR/Metropolitan to Kakuno to Plumix to 78G etc etc

 

 

 

Unless you also mean "disposable" then there's also the V-Pen/Varsity also by Pilot, which is marketed to be not(really)refillable - but it'll be stubbornly reliable until it's very last drop of factory filled ink.

 

It's line is a bit wider though.

[Honeybadgers]

There's no way to really make a fountain pen feel like a rollerball.

 

But a 0.38 is a japanese EF. Your only cheap options are a pilot kakuno (you can swap the nib into any pilot with a steel nib) or a platinum preppy EF (the nib can be swapped into a plaisir)

 

Your options open up with gold nibs. Pilot e95s, custom 74, 91, platinum 3776, sailor pro gear/1911, platinum president,

 

Pilot EF's will tend to be smoother than the platinum and sailor offerings, closer to a "rollerball" but there's no way to really get that glassy smoothness of a rollerball at that fine with fountain pens.

Edited November 13, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[A Smug Dill]

But a 0.38 is a japanese EF.

Er, not according to Platinum — 0.38mm would be the wider end of a Medium-Fine.

 

Not according to Nibs.com, either.

[awa54]

My PENBBS fine nib is smoother than any gel roller on all but the coarsest papers, where an actual ball begins to feel smoother. "Basic" Pilot fine nibs are also excellent.

[crbrown]

Thanks all, I'm looking for a hard EF fp nib, I think, to get the same lines as the Pilot. Smootheness, cost, disposability are secondary concerns.

[A Smug Dill]

I'm looking for a hard EF fp nib, I think, to get the same lines as the Pilot.

Any number of pens filled with a suitable fountain pen ink will deliver 0.38mm or thinner lines wetly. As someone here has pointed out to me, a tiniest pinhead's worth of Dawn detergent mixed into a converter full of fountain pen ink can change its flow characteristics and make a pen write more wetly with it.

 

So, if what you're really after is controlled line width, check out some writing samples. I have posted a whole bunch of writing samples and linked to some more in another thread here. Or try Goulet Pen's Nib Nook.

 

I don't have a Pilot G2 pen here, so I have no idea whether it's apt to leave lines with crisp edges or fuzzy/"woolly" edges in the width at which it writes.

[tamiya]

I like G2s but they write a whole gamut of difference too. I usually buy their 0.5 or 0.7; the few 0.38 that snuck in don't glide all that smooth imho. I'd rather be writing with a Coleto of 0.4 or 0.5mm rather than the finest G2 - Coleto gives me a brighter cleaner line.

 

Line by G2 also depends on what's under your writing paper. Single sheet on a hard surface gives noticeably narrower line vs thick pad of paper.

 

For a super smooth EF I'm still impressed by the Platinum Desk Pen.

 

There's also various "manga" pens with needle nibs available in varying levels of disposability. Have been playing with a few, none have stood out enough to recommend as the Platinum still eclipses them all in my paws.