Pilot Posting Nib

[A Smug Dill]

16 minutes ago, eatandoph said:

I have found that the pen has poor ink flow. I filled it with Iroshizuku Take Sumi (a standard choice for me) and initially it laid down a predictably fine line, slightly wet, before having trouble producing a line at all.

 

How are you filling the pen with ink, and what are you using for its reservoir (i.e. a refilled cartridge, or a specific model of converter)?

 

17 minutes ago, eatandoph said:

So my question is, should I expect to apply pressure?

 

No.

[eatandoph]

Thanks for the reply,

 

I'm dipping the pen in the bottle and drawing up ink using an older squeeze converter (CON-20, I think). 

[awa54]

On 9/21/2021 at 2:56 PM, eatandoph said:

...

 

It sounds like you have a second generation "E" Super 200, or an early production Elite, but pictures would help us diagnose your issue with more certainty.

 

Often older Japanese pens have ink dried up in the feed, which in the mentioned models is an enclosed finned system, similar in concept to a Parker 51. There is also a small block of sponge under the breather hole of the nib in many of these 1960s and early 1970s models. 

 

With these models in mind, there are several things I'd look at:

 

If the sponge piece is missing, this will diminish inkflow greatly (or stop it altogether), it should be visible through the breather hole under magnification. If the sponge is gone or deteriorated, a sponge donor pen of similar type will be needed (if someone has found a suitable replacement, please let me know!), Which means full feed/nib disassembly of two pens and sacrificing functionality of one of the pens.

 

The sponge and/or feed fins can be full of dried ink, while still allowing some inkflow. Usually an extended soak in full strength rapido-eze or the like fixes this, but rarely an ultrasonic cleaning, or even full disassembly is required... I've even seen feeds destroyed by an Asian red ink that literally melted the plastic

 

A pen that has had ink dried in it for decades can also need the nib slit cleaned. This requires careful use of a vey thin shim, which is run between the tines from breather to tip (being very careful not to damage the sponge, if present).

 

I own several Pilot pens from the 1960s with posting nibs and while most have "normal" inkflow, one is just an extremely dry writer. Since the feeds in these pens aren't really adjustable, the available remedies are to choose wet flowing inks, or to attempt a very subtle tine gap adjustment. The nib geometry and feed design in these pens makes nib adjustment an expert level undertaking (or at least advanced, with previous familiarity in these pens).

 

The likely reason it writes well then dries, is that residual ink from dunking the tip in the ink bottle while filling, floods the feed (the section is hollow under the nib and can hold a fair amount of ink), once that excess is used up you're using the supply that's coming through the feed from the cart or converter, which reflects the pens actual *sustainable* inkflow.

 

 

[mke]

On 9/22/2021 at 3:56 AM, eatandoph said:

a fountain pen that could write on cheap paper

It is not only the nib which determines if you can write on cheap paper - it is also the ink.

 

The best blue ink for cheap paper is Waterman Serenity Blue.

Even better is Sailor Blue/Black - but it is not a real nice color.

 

But Serenity Blue and a fine nib would be good with most papers - not all, I have two loose-leaf papers where I can only use Sailor BB in a Platinum 3776 with fine nib - otherwise it shows from the backside.  Need to say, that I haven't tried yet my vintage Pilot Elite. Will do now.

 

[awa54]

8 hours ago, mke said:

It is not only the nib which determines if you can write on cheap paper - it is also the ink.

 

The best blue ink for cheap paper is Waterman Serenity Blue.

Even better is Sailor Blue/Black - but it is not a real nice color.

 

But Serenity Blue and a fine nib would be good with most papers - not all, I have two loose-leaf papers where I can only use Sailor BB in a Platinum 3776 with fine nib - otherwise it shows from the backside.  Need to say, that I haven't tried yet my vintage Pilot Elite. Will do now.

 

 

 

I'm writing with a no-name XF shiro nib today, it's in a 50s(?) Platinum lever filler. The nib is near "wet-noodle" levels of flex when used that way, but can hold an extremely fine line if written with a light hand, similar to what you'd get from a 0.30mm tech pen... I have written on some recycled copy paper, post-it notes and a piece of some terrible paper that's only a half step removed from newsprint 🤮 so far. The ink is Namiki black, which AFAICT is identical to Pilot black, just in a different bottle, while there was a tiny bit of feathering on the worst paper, it was still very clean looking and legible, so add Pilot black to the list of well behaved inks for poor paper.

 

There are others of course, but I usually only take note of the ones that have problems with bleeding and feathering, probably because I use quality paper whenever possible (which is most of the time).

[eatandoph]

On 11/2/2021 at 8:42 AM, awa54 said:

If the sponge piece is missing, this will diminish inkflow greatly (or stop it altogether), it should be visible through the breather hole under magnification. If the sponge is gone or deteriorated, a sponge donor pen of similar type will be needed (if someone has found a suitable replacement, please let me know!), Which means full feed/nib disassembly of two pens and sacrificing functionality of one of the pens.

 

Belated thanks for this reply (I've been away from the forums for a while). I just took a look at the breather hole under a loupe and I see what look like tiny metal teeth sticking up, which might have once kept the sponge you mention in place.

 

I've more or less given up on the pen, I'm afraid. It was fairly cheap for a vintage gold-nib Pilot, so I'm probably not going to invest the time and effort to try and assemble/reassemble it and another pen. But I do appreciate the detailed attempt at diagnosis! I didn't know about the sponge.

[awa54]

AFAIK there shouldn't be any metal involved in the feed of any pilot pen, though the diffusor fins in some of them are translucent gray plastic, I guess that could look metallic?

 

Also the "sponge" is a fairly open cell structure, not at all like a cellulose sponge.