My First Fountain Pen - Pink Pilot Vanishing Point

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

The slit is supposed to look more like the nibs of these pens. The tips should be almost touching to allow the ink to wick between them. When your tines are too far apart like that, it prevents any ink from flowing between the tines, and it's called "sprung" if it was caused by excessive pressure. You might want to alter your pen grip slightly since fountain pens are made to generally be able to write under their own weight alone and with very minimal pressure. You might also need to get the nib repaired.

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3826/11210747425_f5f1f74c55_o.jpg

 

Dillon

[lurcho]

I don't currently have a VP, but that nib is definitely sprung.

 

It may well need to be professionally repaired.

 

I feel sorry for you, but it's not the end of the world, and it is a solvable problem.

[Namwan]

I went to the stationary department of a shopping mall today but they don't sell Pilot fountain pens. Pilot doesn't have any individual counters in Thailand, but the sales assistant said they do have an office in Bangkok. I tried calling them today but I guess their office is closed as today is a public holiday.

 

I tried asking some people if they knew any pen repair shops in Thailand, but I was out of luck.

 

Nibs.com still hasn't replied to my e-mail, which is weird because I would receive their replies as soon as I woke up in the morning, before I bought their pen.

Edited December 5, 2013 by Namwan

[Lyander0012]

Could be that nibs.com is swarmed with mails, or they're busy with other matters. The way you stated that sounded as if you were implying that they don't much care for their customers after they sell a pen, which is quite mistaken, but I'm sure that I'm just reading too much into it. I do that sometimes, haha.

 

Sprung nibs aren't that difficult a problem to fix, though that depends on the nib we're talking about. I accidentally dropped my first fountain pen nib-first onto a hard marble floor, and the tines were definitely out of alignment afterwards. I read up a bit of FPN and, since it was just a steel nibbed pen, decided to try fixing it myself. It took ten minutes of careful tweaking with my hands before I managed to get the tines aligned again, but I got there without too much difficulty. The pen (it was a Sheaffer Prelude, by the way) wrote much wetter afterwards, to be sure, but that was actually an improvement over its previous dry ink flow.

 

And yeah, for the most part, hooded nibs and semi-hooded nibs are not meant for flexing. At all. Regardless of karat rating. In point of fact, few open nibs available nowadays (that's what you can regular-looking FP nibs) are capable of true flex, and most of those are vintage stock. Basically, unless a pen is explicitly stated to be flexible, please don't try flexing it.

 

Also, considering that the nib is 18k gold, it should be a lot softer, and more pliable. I don't recommend fixing it yourself if you're not 100% sure you can, though, since the high karat rating also means that it's quite a bit more brittle. I would look for a nibmeister or wait on that email from nibs.com if I were you.

 

 

Best of luck, and best wishes to your pen (and yourself, of course)!

 

Kevin

 

P.S.

If I may suggest you try getting an entry-level, steel-nibbed pen? I mean, I have a few nice gold nibs available to me, as well as the mandatory ballpoint pen for when someone needs to borrow a writing implement, but I always keep at least one steel-nibbed pen on my person, in the event I need to write in a less than optimal situation (e.g. while standing up, in a moving vehicle, in a place where I'm likely to be accidentally elbowed or bumped into, etc.).

[Namwan]

Thanks Kevin. I will wait for a reply from nibs.com. Perhaps they are busy with other matters, like you said.

[Lyander0012]

EDIT: Fixed strange grammar that was probably a result of my lacking sleep

 

But I really do recommend seeking out a nibmeister you can meet in person, and telling him exactly what you want done with the pen. Repairs aside, you could also throw in a customization or two (add a bit of tipping material to the nib, turn it into a wet stub, or even an architect's nib if you're feeling frisky, and suddenly your pen is doubly enviable!) to add a bit of flair to your writing. I personally find ballpoint nibs to be a bit bland, but then again, not all fountain pens were made to suit eccentrics XD

Also, I apologize if my last message may have sounded a bit accusatory. I tend to be rather blunt at times, something that was pointed out to me just earlier today.

 

 

Cheers!

 

Kevin

Edited December 5, 2013 by Lyander0012

[Namwan]

Today I went to Pilot's office in Bangkok. They said they can't guarantee that they will be able to fix it, "but in this case, most of the time it can be fixed". They are going to send it to the factory and I will be able to get it back by next week.

 

The sales assistant was very nice. She told me she will make sure that the person who receives it at the other end will handle it carefully "because this young lady loves her pen so much".

 

It is also the first time she has ever seen a pink vanishing point.

 

"Look at this pen!" she said to another sales assistant, holding up my pen and the pink box. "It's so cute! No wonder the Japanese won't send it to us."

 

She told me that Pilot doesn't have any more sales points/counters in department stores, because Japan has stopped supplying products. They used to sell VPs here, but they didn't have pink ones.

 

Anyway, I'm so relieved that my pen can probably be fixed, for free, and I'm looking forward to getting it back next week.

[WirsPlm]

Hurray, excellent news that your pen could be repairable! The point about Pilot's distribution changing is a very interesting one, I wonder if we're going to see a more unified distribution structure (or if Pilot is lowering their investment in FPs)? I hope it's just a case of distribution changes and not the start of a general dialing down of Pilot's fountain pen production, we'll have to see.

[85AKbN]

In the mean time - get a Lamy Al-Star.

[amberleadavis]

It's beautiful pen Congrats!!! I bought the ice green years ago and still love it. I had broken it (most probably my fault) and the factory repair team was amazing. I posted about the wonderful experience from customer support. The contact I had was (I think) M. Heil. If you have any difficulties, I'll dig up the contact info for you. The customer support was amazing and I'd highly recommend any pilot product.

[Lyander0012]

 

Kevin, that's the first time in my life I've ever seen that word : proboscis. I had to google it, and it's supposed to mean an animal's snout?

 

By the way, I don't even know how to open the cartridge. I watched a video on youtube on how to fill up a pilot vanishing point, and I understand that when we put the cartridge inside the pen and press it down, it's supposed to open up automatically? I pressed hard but nothing happened.

 

Haha, I realize that I may have misused the word, but I use it to refer to the bit in some (or all?) fountain pens that resembles said insect appendage, haha. I used that word in a review I did on the Taranis a long while back when describing how the cartridges and converters fit into the section piece

 

Hmm, strange. You might want to use a bit more force in pushing the cart in. There's a thin layer of material that keeps the ink from spilling out all over the place; the proboscis/needle is meant to puncture that when you load a cartridge, haha.

 

 

EDIT:

 

... Wow, I just realized that I replied to an older post by mistake. My, my, quite a bad case of forgetfulness we have here

 

Anyway, hope all goes well with the repairs, and that you get the pen back soon! Enjoy your awesome hard-to-come-by pen, and by all means, get as many years of use out of it as you can!

 

 

Kevin

Edited December 11, 2013 by Lyander0012

[Namwan]

I just received a call from Pilot this afternoon. My pen has arrived at their office, all fixed, and I am going to pick it up tomorrow

[flatline]

I just received a call from Pilot this afternoon. My pen has arrived at their office, all fixed, and I am going to pick it up tomorrow

 

That's good to hear. Hope it gets to you safely and writes like a dream.

 

--flatline

[amberleadavis]

Congrats and I hope you love your pen.

[shudaizi]

Hope it is as good (or better) than new!

 

I just received a call from Pilot this afternoon. My pen has arrived at their office, all fixed, and I am going to pick it up tomorrow

[Namwan]

 

That's good to hear. Hope it gets to you safely and writes like a dream.

 

--flatline

 

That's such a beautiful phrase..."writes like a dream"

 

My pen works well now, no skipping at all. The nib is not spread apart anymore.

 

 

And I bought two boxes of ink cartridges (six to a box), which cost less than $1 each.

 

[85AKbN]

Great news.

[kiavonne]

So wonderful your pen is working again!

 

The very nice thing about these pens is, if you do end up with an unrepairable nib unit, a replacement unit can be purchased without replacing the whole pen.

 

I use the Pilot cartridges in my vp and other Pilot pens, and I refill them with bottled ink. The Pilot proprietary cartridges are by far the easiest of all cartridges to refill, and they hold more ink than "international" cartridges - and more ink than most converters, too. A bottle of your favorite pink ink and a blunt tip syringe will work wonders.

[Lyander0012]

Great to know all's well now! Enjoy the pen, and best wishes for the holidays!

 

 

Kevin

[rjcm]

 

 

 

The pen comes with a convertor, and I'm currently using it for the Sailor ink I bought. Do you think I can use a syringe to get the ink out of the Pelikan catridge and put it in the converter?

I filled up a cartridge in my new black and chrome VP with kon peki blue ink. Not too messy but much better capacity than converters. Fill lasts a lot longer.