Pilot Stella 90S

[ajaysoranam]

Hi there FPN community,

My love for fountain pens got rekindled recently, and in the past month I've bought 5 budget pens, 2 metropolitans one TWSBI ECO and 2 Preppys, of these, i truly love pilot metropolitan medium nib and preppy fine nib(both these are very similar as far as thickness of lines is concerned). TWSBI FINE is just not up my alley! And preppy extra fine and metro fine are just too fine.....

Now, i was planning on buying a new stella 90s, but read somewhere that the medium on it is broader than the nib on metro. Will someone be kind enough to confirm this. I don't want anything broader a metro medium......

Any input is much appreciated.

Edited November 27, 2018 by ajaysoranam

[Bo Bo Olson]

 

Really can't help you, Japanese pens run @ a width narrower than European; outside Aurora that is perhaps 1/2 a width.

Sailor is the tad fatter nib, Pilot the tad narrower one....from company standards.

Remember tolerance can slop all over standard.........you could end up with a fatter Pilot and a skinner Sailor.

 

So Japanese M will be @ an European F. Your Tswbi F(European JoWo Nib) = Japanese M. ( I think for my self a Euro F is skinny enough....so would never order anything narrower than Japanese M....for me.)

 

EF Japanese = XXF European.....spiderweb nibs....needs a extra vibrant ink to be seen.

 

 

First every company has their very own standard........one's M could be another's M-F or even F.

(Once back in the day of One Man, One Pen Parker made fatter nib than Sheaffer and wanted it that way. They didn't want their customers making a major mistake thinking if the nibs were the same width....why not buy a Sheaffer . (Back then one bought a new pen every 7-10 years after it wore out or it became too old fashioned....so one did not want to lose a customer; who had been trained to want a slightly wider nib.....by making a skinny Sheaffer nib.)

 

 

There is also slop/tolerance.....two pens coming off the conveyor belt back to back, could be skinny F=EF or fat F=M.

To worry about who's got the skinniest nib, or if your nib is too skinny or too fat....especially the latter, is a waste of time.

You can get all your nibs ground exactly the same width, but if you change inks or papers, your nibs will write skinnier or fatter.

Then there is how hard are you pressing your nib.

 

 

Ron Zorn went to the Sheaffer factory just as it closed and got this info.

Look at the one width ='s another............and that width is so small if it was off two hairs of minimum, you would not be able to tell it.

Ron Zorn tolerance

Sheaffer used a dial indicator nib gauge for measuring nib sizes. The nib was inserted into the gauge, and the size read off of the dial. A given size being nibs that fell within a given range. What is listed below were the ranges given on a gauge that I saw in the Sheaffer service center prior to being closed in March 2008.

Measurements are in thousandths of an inch.

XXF = 0.010 - 0.013
XF = 0.013 - 0.018
F = 0.018 - 0.025
M = 0.025 - 0.031
Broad* = 0.031 - 0.050
Stub = 0.038 - 0.050

*there was some overlap on the gauge. May be 0.035 - 0.050

 

Get use to 1/2 widths......if it's with in horseshoe width of where you wanted it...you are good to go.

If hand grenade width.....then rate it at what ever rate you think it; if you keep it....don't worry much about the size mark....they vary and with in the same company...and or either return or sell the pen.

 

A dryer ink.....a slicker paper, will make the nib write narrower. A wetter ink, a less slick paper, like a 50-100% cotton or a 80g copy paper will make the nib write wider.

 

 

It appears right now you like a Japanese F or a Euro EF..........that could change.

Edited November 27, 2018 by Bo Bo Olson

[jekostas]

The nib on a Stella will write broader than your Metro because it's 14k gold and has a bit of give. It won't be a big difference, though. If you're worried, get a fine instead of a medium.

[ajaysoranam]

The nib on a Stella will write broader than your Metro because it's 14k gold and has a bit of give. It won't be a big difference, though. If you're worried, get a fine instead of a medium.

Will the fine nib on Stella 90s be as broad as a metropolitan medium nib?

Edited November 28, 2018 by ajaysoranam

[jekostas]

Will the fine nib on Stella 90s be as broad as a metropolitan medium nib?

 

It will be slightly finer.

[Honeybadgers]

I wouldn't call the nib on the stella wider than the steel pilot nib. i'd call it wetter. it may appear a hair wider, but the line width will be nearly identical.

 

If you like a medium pilot steel nib, you'll like a medium pilot gold nib. Pilot's nib grinding has ludicrous consistency.