Pelikan Oblique Broad Point NIbs

[Bo Bo Olson]

My W.Germany 200 is OM, and I may have stated it was nice enough for a springy nib, but don't give the natural line variation of a '50-65 Pelikan. semi&maxi-semi-flex (not counting the 120 school pen of course.)

I have to lean on it to get a whisper of line variation, and I have nibs more designed for that all over the place.

 

 

One of the problems with the '50-54 400's is the nib size is on the barrel and sigh cubed the one marked OB is closer to the one marked OM....so someone could have swapped nibs...leaving me with two OM's. My 140 OB is much wider.

 

Sniff.... I got two semi-flex OM's........ ............I'm sure there are those who could live easily with such a problem.

...actually I have more OM's from before....one a15 degree grind, the other a 30 degree grind.

 

 

Good thing I have 4-5 OB's from this or that company of that era....and one of my BBL's is only B1/2L ....L is Osmia talk for telling the customer which way the oblique sets.....BBR is right foot.

 

By pure luck 15&30 degree grind in OB, OM and OF ....in I've seen no 'factory' evidence for a 30 degree grind...could have been done in the back room of the fabled German corner Pen Shoppe...."Psst, want a little bit more line variation on that oblique??? Double the hangle, double the fun.

Actually sometimes I do prefer the 15 degree grind, depending on mood.

 

Outside my 500 signature pen, which I think has to been done to 30 degrees done at the factory.....in it is unmarked due to the rolled gold piston cap, but to my eye OBBB. So fat a Legal name would take up 2/3rds-3/4ths of a page.That one is a maxi-semi-flex also....so that is one wet flowing, flourishing line............A Pure Signature Pen.................. and me with nothing needing my signature.

Edited November 4, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson

[GranTorino25]

I got the green striated barrel, tortoise would have been perfection but I have a modern tortoise so doesn't bother me as much!

 

As for the broadness, I write daily with B and stubs, I write over two 5mm spacing so size isn't much of an issue!

[biancitwo]

I have a 400nn tortoise, newly acquired from Rick Propas at Ohio Pen Show, with an oblique medium nib. It is smooth as glass. Coincidentally, I have an M400 tortoise with a steel right oblique ground by Richard Bender. The right foot requires some practice to be just as smooth. This new acquisition requires only a couple of strokes before it smooths out and writes wonderfully.

 

I don't believe the obliqueness has anything to do with line variation, other than alter the direction of the varied lines. It is the stub, or italic nature of the nib than gives variation. I personally prefer an non-oblique italic. I got these just for the variety, and for completeness of my collection.

[Bo Bo Olson]

It does with semi-flex, but I'm spoiled and don't think modern, post semi-flex is worth buying, unless one is left handed or has left eye dominance and cant the nib as normal....even then there is next to nothing in line variation.

The semi-flex of that era is also stub so that makes a difference also.

 

I have a mix of some 13 semi&maxi-semi-flex Obliques in @ 15& some few are 30 degree grinds (oddly no 22 degree.. ) ............

I have them both in OBB, OB, OM and OF.....and that was pure luck of the draw.

 

30 degree grinds are rare, out side of my OBBB maxi-semi-flex 500 signature pen, which I'd bet was factory 30 degree, in it is a pure signature nib and bling pen; I often wonder if the 30 degree grinds was the salesman in the fabled Corner Pen Shoppe, asked "Do you want a bit more oblique pattern ....I can go into the back room and grind it to 30 degrees." Stores with their own nibmeisters.

 

I only have one OBBB the 500....outside a Manuscript which is not even semi-flex. That could be even wider OBBBB. I'm not going to dig it out, but all I could think of it's for a one word Heading's only.

 

I don't remember others talking about their 30 degree grind nibs of that era. Do hold your obliques of that era up to the light and take a gander.

 

Nor many about their maxi-semi-flex.

 

I have 26 semi-flex and 16 maxi-semi-flex....1/4th of the maxi's I think are Osmia Supra nib pens.That is the only company that has a distinction labeled. I've not ran book on exactly how many Osmia Supra nibs I have.

Off the top of my head, I have three Pelikans, an Ibis, a 400nn, the 500, a Geha 790, a medium-large 146, a Rupp nib, in maxi.

[DJB2903]

I don't believe the obliqueness has anything to do with line variation, other than alter the direction of the varied lines. It is the stub, or italic nature of the nib than gives variation. I personally prefer an non-oblique italic. I got these just for the variety, and for completeness of my collection.

AFAIK you are correct about obliques generally, however most (all?) of the older Pelikan Obliques are stubby/italic in nature, so it's a relatively safe bet you will get decent variation from them.

 

I don't think this is necessarily the case for 'regular' nibs as there were Kugel (Ball) nibs that don't have any italic to them. Older pens tend to say if they are Kugel (I.e. KF, KM, etc), but at some stage (I don't know when exactly - refer below) Pelikan dropped the K and just started calling them F, M, etc. From my observations (not sure how accurate this is) it seems this started occurring when they moved the nib imprint from the piston knob to the nib itself

 

It would be great if someone with more knowledge could elaborate on this with rough dates/models, as it might open some doors for me on some other options in the italic field.

[Bo Bo Olson]

""""AFAIK you are correct about obliques generally, however most (all?) of

the older Pelikan Obliques are stubby/italic in nature, so it's a relatively safe bet you will get decent variation from them."""

Bet my brewery.

""I don't think this is necessarily the case for 'regular' nibs as there were Kugel (Ball) nibs that don't have any italic to them. Older pens tend to say if they are Kugel (I.e. KF, KM, etc), but at some stage (I don't know when exactly - refer below) Pelikan dropped the K and just started calling them F, M, etc.""" 1998.

 

Two different nibs....Kugal and flatter topped normal semi-flex (both flat stubbed bottomed)....or '82-97 regular flex;...with the 'American Bump Under'' both those different flexed nibs @ the same width....... It is the post '97 modern nibs that have the fat and blobby thicker tip and double kugal....ball under and over, with the thicker tip of a K nib.

 

Of course I have no Kugal nib in any of my '85-97 pens; a W.Germany 200, a 150 and two Celebrys with a clear American Bump Under. Nor have I seen any that would qualify, but I am limited to how many semi-vintage Pelikan pens I've seen.

 

The 400 is sort of stubbish but not quite as much as a '50's but more than the 200s&150.

381(an OB that I'd tend towards W.Germany springy..(for a '92-95 production)....but that it was oblique snuck up one me, something that don't happen with semi-flex....is stubbish but still has more bump under than the '50's but is flatter than I remembered....even though I've been using it for days this last week, and now.) The '50's nibs are stubs, the semi-vintage 400&381 are stubbish. The Celebries are more like the 200/150's with an American Bump Under.

 

I don't remember the 1000's nib tipping in I wasn't looking for itipping but to see if it was semi-flex or not. It is. For me the modern 400/600/800 are to me K pens with an American Bump Under.

 

The springy 200's nibs are like the semi-vintage nibs...not double Kugal like modern.

....I have an Amethyst, 215 and use to mail 200s nibs to a pal in England when a German refused to mail out of Germany. Had I not been impressed with those nibs, I'd never bought those two Pelikans.

 

 

***I have semi-flex non-oblique KM nibs and M nibs from the same makers...Geha and Osmia....the difference is the K nibs have a thicker point and a ball on the top of the nib....& were made for those who liked to hold a fountain pen like a pencil......AND are flat stubbed on the bottom of the nib, so they could be used as a normal semi-flex nib.

 

"""From my observations (not sure how accurate this is) it seems this started occurring when they moved the nib imprint from the piston knob to the nib itself.."""".......?????

 

I don't know, but I'm not an expert on Pelikan kugal nibs only having 100n K...no marking on barrel,

The rest are not Kugal, an Ibis, three 400's with barrel marking and a transition tortoise '54 with out barrel marking and with nib marking. The 500 don't count in one mark up the rolled gold piston cap. Later in '54 Pelikan stopped marking the barrel....I don't have a 400n but do have an early 400nn....which was not barrel marked. My 140's are not kugaled either. IMO they had to have marked that 'special' nib.....My 140's nor my 400nn are Kuguals and are regular marked.

 

 

***I have one post war (green ink window) 14 Karat Pelikan K nib.....a 100n's K nib that only has a mini-Kugal, (How mini? I'd not noticed it really but then again it's EF) in a right foot oblique....in first stage of superflex(easy Full Flex), with a K on the nib and no marking on the pen, (Having just compared a marked OF 400NN...judge the 100n=OEF.)

""""It would be great if someone with more knowledge could elaborate on this with rough dates/models, as it might open some doors for me on some other options in the italic field.""

 

The '50-65 era is flat enough and flat tipped enough to be thought of as italic, but semi-flex or maxi-semi-flex would not let that fit into what I think of as italic....a sharp stiff nib for push & pull letter drawing. :eureka: A D nib could be made that, but is not chisel enough with out grinding.

I do know Pelikan made calligraphy sets.

Edited November 6, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson