Has Anyone Been Dissatisfied With A Pelikan? Why?

[corniche]

Thank you for the tip!

You're welcome, Olya.

 

 

 

I just responded to Olya but I think this method would work well too.

Thank you, Marc. I've been using it to tighten loose sections on old Esterbrook Js, (I prefer that to extra globs of orange shellac), but I think it would be great for this, too; especially since its designed to be used on threading.

 

 

- Sean

[pajaro]

Hi Olya,

 

I wouldn't use Scotch tape; it's too firm and unyielding. I would recommend Teflon plumbers tape.

 

 

- Sean

 

This might work for your lifetime, or the extra thickness might cause the cap to expand by stretching. I have used Teflon plumber's tape to fill a void where things got stretched out, and the problem just got worse.

[langere]

For me, it's the cap that can come loose. As I have told before (but a number of years ago on this forum), I lost the main body of my red striated M400 in the DC Metro when the cap came loose while clipped to my shirt. The body fell off and I did not notice until the train had departed the station.

 

I talked to Bert Heiserman about this and he suggested I contact Chartpak to see if they would send me a new body. I mailed them a letter describing the problem and yes, they did send me a new pen, after I returned the cap.

 

I was very impressed and since have held Chartpak in very high esteem. Maybe that is one reason why I now have more Pelikans than any other fountain pen brand...

 

Erick

[basterma]

I have Pelikan student pens and piston fillers and I have to say my P10 is one of the more elegant students pens out there Mine is Navy blue and green and it looks classy way beyond what a student pen has any right to be. Their later school pens just reuse the same nib and feed and I find them a bit boring. The piston fillers I have are an M600 with the entry level late 80's nib, a M800 Souveran that can extinguish a zippo, and smaller pen that was part of a set which may be an M200. My main complaint is the newer students pens like the Twist and the Gran Prix are more about the plastic than the nib, while the plethora of models of piston filler are the main thing that bother me. I can't really say for sure what the models of the pens really are other than the M800 Souveran because I bought that at Kaufhoff in Germany and they could find the right box. The other pens, I lost the boxes ages ago as I was a teenager and not focused on tracking such things.

[Olya]

Fair question. I did not want sticky tape gumming up the threads, so I actually cut a small piece of the sticky end of a post-it note. This has very little adhesive power, but it stays in place long enough to screw the cap on. Once the paper is pressed into the threads, it tends to stay in place. I had that pen around 4 years and I only had to repeat this operation once or twice.

Thank you! I considered a post-it, too, for the same reason as you say: Less glue, I hate glue sticking to anything, it gums up or welds itself to an item... As soon as I buy stationery, books or what-have-you, I immediately get rid of the glued tags. I hate them with a burning passion.

I also wondered whether a sticky note would hold, but reading this it seems perfect.

 

A friend of mine and her sister don't even remove the sticky tags from dishware. "They'll just fall off over time!" Needless to say, years later and the tags are like concrete sticking to chinaware. If I may gossip further, if you hadn't the impression yet, they are incredibly sloppy people. Like cook pasta in a pot and not clean it, because "it's clean! there was just water in there!"

Yeah.. no.

[Olya]

 

This might work for your lifetime, or the extra thickness might cause the cap to expand by stretching. I have used Teflon plumber's tape to fill a void where things got stretched out, and the problem just got worse.

That does not sound good!

I strongly suspect it would not hold in my lifetime, as ideally & hopefully I have quite a few decades still ahead of me!

 

Do you really think that could happen to pen caps, there's the small metal ring, but I guess that's not Sheaffer-style big enough to keep the plastic from being damaged in some way...

 

Though Marc suggests post-its, which sounds like a good tip.

[corniche]

That does not sound good!

I strongly suspect it would not hold in my lifetime, as ideally & hopefully I have quite a few decades still ahead of me!

 

Do you really think that could happen to pen caps, there's the small metal ring, but I guess that's not Sheaffer-style big enough to keep the plastic from being damaged in some way...

 

Though Marc suggests post-its, which sounds like a good tip.

Hi Olya,

 

You do NOT have to worry about one layer of plumbers tape wrapped around the threads of your cap stretching it out of shape.

 

The tape was designed and is used for this very purpose.

 

I think Pajaro's gripe was my mention of using it to "fill in the gap" on loose Esterbrook sections - but I haven't encountered any problems with that, either.

 

Of course, like anything, it must be done with common sense and moderation.

 

 

- Sean

[Olya]

Hi Olya,

 

You do NOT have to worry about one layer of plumbers tape wrapped around the threads of your cap stretching it out of shape.

 

The tape was designed and is used for this very purpose.

 

I think Pajaro's gripe was my mention of using it to "fill in the gap" on loose Esterbrook sections - but I haven't encountered any problems with that, either.

 

Of course, like anything, it must be done with common sense and moderation.

 

 

- Sean

Ah, ok! Thanks for the clarification!

[sansenri]

surprisingly never, and I own quite a number...

Those odd quirks people sometime moan about seem features to me...

The nibs are broader than usual? Great!

The flow is more generous than usual? Great!

The odd scratchy EF nib?, no big issue, it's so easy to swap them!

The strangely springy steel nibs? I just love that!

The stiff gold nibs? OK, but not on my vintage! Lot's to choose from for different behaviour.

The best claim? reliable, that's what makes me go back to my Pelikans so very often.

[Daosus]

My M600 "extra fine" was super wide. Got a ground needlepoint nib. The grind is excellent (Mottishaw) but the nib is soft enough that it doubles the line width at the slightest hint of pressure. Also, the tines like to come out of alignment. Great pen, but does take some concentration to use.

[Uncial]

I really dislike the way they breed. You get one and in a very short time the thing produces douzens of chicks all crying for attention. I hate the fact that their broad nibs for the m800 range have become a lot better in the last year or two. My principal bad experience with Pelikan is that it highlights my weakness of will when I find a quality product I like.

[praxim]

I really dislike the way they breed. You get one and in a very short time the thing produces douzens of chicks all crying for attention. I hate the fact that their broad nibs for the m800 range have become a lot better in the last year or two. My principal bad experience with Pelikan is that it highlights my weakness of will when I find a quality product I like.

[carola]

I really dislike the way they breed. You get one and in a very short time the thing produces douzens of chicks all crying for attention. I hate the fact that their broad nibs for the m800 range have become a lot better in the last year or two. My principal bad experience with Pelikan is that it highlights my weakness of will when I find a quality product I like.

[N1003U]

I really dislike the way they breed. You get one and in a very short time the thing produces douzens of chicks all crying for attention. I hate the fact that their broad nibs for the m800 range have become a lot better in the last year or two. My principal bad experience with Pelikan is that it highlights my weakness of will when I find a quality product I like.

 

+1. I know what you mean. I chase a few away, and then even more return...the Pelikan pen is an invasive species: once you have them, you can never get rid of the darn things...they are like Kudzu or maybe zebra mussels: they don't look like much at first, then suddenly they are everywhere, crowding out everything else...

[carola]

...and they are probably the only pen species you can tell stories about like that.

[JosephKing]

The cap issue, and I also prefer to write at a lower angle than what my nibs require

[Charles Rice]

I have four. No problems ever

[sansenri]

I really dislike the way they breed. You get one and in a very short time the thing produces douzens of chicks all crying for attention. I hate the fact that their broad nibs for the m800 range have become a lot better in the last year or two. My principal bad experience with Pelikan is that it highlights my weakness of will when I find a quality product I like.

[sansenri]

and even that silly complaint "the M200 is too small!" Come on, it's supposed to be small!

 

if you want larger, get an M600! (or 800... or 1000...)

[yubaprof]

I have one each of M400, M600, M800, and M1000. I very much like the first three (for different reasons), but I have never been satisfied with the M1000. It's a medium nib that writes like a double broad and the ink pours out of it at a rate that would give Niagara Falls a run for its money. I have had it for about fifteen years and keep telling myself to either sell it or get it reground, but I seem to be unable to proceed with either option. If I have it reground, which width do I regrind down to? Would an oblique have the flex of the original grind? Will the regrind - let's say I go down to fine - be like the original grind and actually be a medium or will it be a true fine? Now I know why I haven't moved on this; too many questions and too many decisions.