Pilot Pens F And Ef Can They Be Smooth, Wet Writers?

October 8, 2014

My Pilot VP (one in EF, one in F) as well as my Preras (F) have been phenomenal writers. I never felt that they were toothy. The wetness depended on the ink used - I never felt that they were dry, but they weren't too wet either... juuuuust right. Pilot nibs are hands down, my favorite because of their consistency in QC, they work right out of the package without tinkering, and they lay down a nice line, every time.

What ink(s) do well for you in the VP with the EF nib? I have been considering saving up and getting one for my husband. He is "Mr. BIC Fine Point" (sigh, the Philistine).

I *have* promised him one of my Esterbrook Js with either a 2556 or 9556 nib put on it, once I get it re-sacced (mind you, I've been meaning to do this for a year and a half at this point ) and also picked up a very nice Parker 51 Aero with an EF nib from Pendleton Brown at last year's Ohio Pen Show (which, if he abuses or thinks is not fine enough I will reclaim for the pen's safety and preservation . But I also know that he is really bad about leaving caps off pens, so a click pen like a VP might be a better choice in the long run.

I don't personally have a lot of experience with EF nibs except on a Sheaffer Snorkel that I ran Waterman Mysterious Blue through for a while (until I decided that the EF nib -- and the line it put down -- made me kinda nuts). I suppose I could let him mess about with it some to see if it's "EF-enough" for him; but again, there's that issue of the cap -- and after paying $40 to get it restored (and it wasn't super cheap to start with) I'm a bit loathe to have him mucking about with something quite that finicky (and that would be a much worse pen to deal with if he leaves the cap off for any great length of time. Which is of course part of the reason I'm starting him out on the Estie and will then wean him onto the 51.... But a VP might just be the ticket.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

October 8, 2014

What ink(s) do well for you in the VP with the EF nib? I have been considering saving up and getting one for my husband. He is "Mr. BIC Fine Point" (sigh, the Philistine).
I *have* promised him one of my Esterbrook Js with either a 2556 or 9556 nib put on it, once I get it re-sacced (mind you, I've been meaning to do this for a year and a half at this point ) and also picked up a very nice Parker 51 Aero with an EF nib from Pendleton Brown at last year's Ohio Pen Show (which, if he abuses or thinks is not fine enough I will reclaim for the pen's safety and preservation . But I also know that he is really bad about leaving caps off pens, so a click pen like a VP might be a better choice in the long run.
I don't personally have a lot of experience with EF nibs except on a Sheaffer Snorkel that I ran Waterman Mysterious Blue through for a while (until I decided that the EF nib -- and the line it put down -- made me kinda nuts). I suppose I could let him mess about with it some to see if it's "EF-enough" for him; but again, there's that issue of the cap -- and after paying $40 to get it restored (and it wasn't super cheap to start with) I'm a bit loathe to have him mucking about with something quite that finicky (and that would be a much worse pen to deal with if he leaves the cap off for any great length of time. Which is of course part of the reason I'm starting him out on the Estie and will then wean him onto the 51.... But a VP might just be the ticket.
Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

I want to say that I was running Private Reserve's Chocolat almost exclusively when I had the EF VP. (Haha! I have a hard time rotating inks.) I can't remember what kind of nib material it had, as I gave it away.

Currently I've got Noodler's 54th running in my F VP with 18k gold nib, and it works fine. A few weeks prior to that, it was also running PR Chocolat with no problems.

My Prera with the Steel F nib definitely puts down a much finer line than the gold.

October 8, 2014

Pilot Blue is not light at all in my fine Prera, although it is a lighter tone of blue by itself. It writes pretty wet with my medium Pilots and the color is very similar between them.