Frustration At Current Pelikan Nibs

[Carrau]

I just received a replacement nib for my M805 in Double Broad from one of the Dutch retailers (the pen has a lovely Fine nib that the original owner had modified to CI, but I wanted the option of something wider and plan to have this modified to a stub/CI). Out of the box, the BB is beautifully smooth and fairly wet, with no hard starts or skipping. One of my other Pelikans had baby’s bottom issues, and I recognize that this seems to be a commonly encountered issue. I posted this just to add to the canon of experiences with modern Pelikan nibs, as it seems to be hit or miss.

[Bo Bo Olson]

A short term 'cure' for baby bottom would be 100% cotton, perhaps 50% cotton papers would work too.

I don't prefer those papers in I chase shading, and they swallow shading. Some are very pleasant to write on though.

 

In I don't have any baby bottom Pelikan nibs since I got the BB 605 stubbed as originally planned, in the M it came with was a good with no baby bottom. I swapped the nib in for the BB. Thinking with BB I could decide later if I wanted it stubbed or made CI and what width. Ended up a B Stub...1.0.

 

It took me a while, but I have come to like M a lot. I started wide; in fact (once) grumbled in having to buy an F nib, in my 'place' holding vintage pens.

 

Outside the tear drop tipped nibs of the 200's which I have three modern and one W.Germany semi-vintage ones, they are like the the other 5 or so semi-vintage springy regular flex pens I have. I do have some 8 or so vintage sub semi-flex Pelikans. So I have no problems with baby bottom, which as far as I can tell from my reading here is from over polishing the fat and blobby double balled nib to make them 'butter smooth' that many demand at all costs.

Edited November 14, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[nibtip]

Also from a dutch retailer :

Nib Customization

Tune & Smooth (Please be aware that this might delay your order)

The question is why this free service is proposed only for Pelikan nibs.

I got my answer. What is yours?

[ncpenfan]

Consider a cross townsend. My understanding is that the nib is made by pelikan, they write well and Cross will service the pen for life. I have had great experience. I use lots of brands and cross and pelikan are my two favorites.

[DonM]

Also from a dutch retailer :

Nib Customization

Tune & Smooth (Please be aware that this might delay your order)

The question is why this free service is proposed only for Pelikan nibs.

I got my answer. What is yours?

If you are referring to Appelboom, they offer tune and smooth on other nibs as well as Pelikan, so I don't think you go the answer you are implying. If it's another retailer, please let us know which one.

[Glenn-SC]

I think it is fair to say that most of us have experienced the same issues with Pelikan's "modern" nibs.

 

And I would say not.

I have maybe a dozen Pelikans and have never had an issue with a bad nib.

[Tom Kellie]

And I would say not.

I have maybe a dozen Pelikans and have never had an issue with a bad nib.

 

~ Glenn-SC:

 

The primary reason I've acquired a number of Pelikan fountain pens this year is because they've consistently written well.

Thus far, no nib issues whatsoever.

Tom K.

[austinwft]

I think it is fair to say that most of us have experienced the same issues with Pelikan's "modern" nibs.

 

 

 

And I would say not.

I have maybe a dozen Pelikans and have never had an issue with a bad nib.

 

 

~ Glenn-SC:

 

The primary reason I've acquired a number of Pelikan fountain pens this year is because they've consistently written well.

Thus far, no nib issues whatsoever.

Tom K.

 

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Glen-SC and Tom K.

 

And while I only have three modern Pelikans, M800/M805's, that were all purchased within the past two years I can say that they have all been awesome writers with whatever ink and paper I chose to combine them with.

Edited November 18, 2019 by austinwft

[Calabria]

But, Tom K., some of those pens did come with a custom Schimpf grind? Ive also been happy with Pelikans received from Schimpf -

[Tom Kellie]

But, Tom K., some of those pens did come with a custom Schimpf grind? Ive also been happy with Pelikans received from Schimpf -

 

~ Calabria:

 

Yes, there were several which did.

There are several others which did not.

In all cases they write wonderfully.

Thank you for mentioning that you've also received excellent Pelikans from Fritz Schimpf.

They're a highly reliable retailer with superb service.

Tom K.

[Tom Kellie]

I have to agree wholeheartedly with Glen-SC and Tom K.

 

And while I only have three modern Pelikans, M800/M805's, that were all purchased within the past two years I can say that they have all been awesome writers with whatever ink and paper I chose to combine them with.

 

~ austinwft:

 

It's welcome news that you've also had positive experiences with contemporary Pelikan nibs.

Thank you for mentioning how well they write with various inks or paper grades.

Tom K.

[Twister292]

I recently got an M1005 Stresemann with an M nib. It's the 3rd Pelikan M nib I've come across with baby bottom. It wrote with an absolute torrent of ink (like a 3B wetness) and skipped and hard started with everything except Noodlers Heart of Darkness writing on Tomoe River paper. Under a 10x loupe, I could see that the slit went right through the tipping. Classic baby bottom.

 

This is the third I've sent to the authorised distro for Australia to swap the nib to an F. I've put a note to carefully check it before despatching it to me.

 

My M815 and M805 ocean swirl both had M nibs BBs and I had them changed to much more reliable F units. My 2nd M815 has an M but that's reliable because I ticked the box for Appelboom to check and tune the nib before shipping.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Twister292

[DonM]

I recently got an M1005 Stresemann with an M nib. It's the 3rd Pelikan M nib I've come across with baby bottom. It wrote with an absolute torrent of ink (like a 3B wetness) and skipped and hard started with everything except Noodlers Heart of Darkness writing on Tomoe River paper. Under a 10x loupe, I could see that the slit went right through the tipping. Classic baby bottom.

What exactly do you mean by "the slit went right through the tipping"? The nib wouldn't write if the slit didn't go through the tipping.

[Twister292]

What exactly do you mean by "the slit went right through the tipping"? The nib wouldn't write if the slit didn't go through the tipping.

The tines were so far apart at the tipping, it didn't write from the first stroke. Somewhat like this example from PenHabit:

 

http://penhabit.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/P1010277.jpg

 

It had the classic symptons of an overpolished tip, which half an alphabet skipped at the first stoke unless the nib was really pushed into the paper.

[Twister292]

I'm so done with Pelikan's $#!7 QC on nibs. My 1005 Stresemann with an M nib wrote like a BB...when it wrote. It had a massive baby-bottom overpolish and skipped like crazy. Got the nob swapped for an F. Looked at it under a loupe. Again overpolished, and the tines aren't the same size

 

I'm returning the pen and I'm done with M100x series. Third M1000/1005 I've had to return because of dud nibs.

[kestrel]

I have two modern Pelikans in the collection. The M200 came with misaligned tines that were made right by me using judicious application of thumbnail pressure. The M800 was purchased from Richard Binder and was adjusted before it left the shop. Given the QC control issues with Pelikan nibs it may be worth the extra money to buy from a vendor like Indy Pen Dance or John Mottishaw who check and, if necessary, adjust the nib prior to shipping.

 

I know that won't help the OP with his problem pen. I feel his pain. My Visconti Art Nouveau has more frequent flier miles than I have from repeated visits to Italy to repair recurring leaks. I keep waiting for someone from Pelikan to jump in here to at least acknowledge that they know they have a problem.

[nibtip]

I own 2 Nakayas from Nibs.com that write like a dream. That said, my favorite pens would still remain My 2 Pelikan M805 (one of which is a raden royal platinum) if they did not have those lousy nib issues. I am on a waiting list for 3 M805 F nibs to be smoothed tuned by a nibmeister.

[Twister292]

My track record:

 

M1000 green stripe M nib...massive overpolished baby bottom, tines clicked on writing, skipped every first one or two alphabets when put to paper...pen returned

M805 Ocean Swirl M nib.....overpolished, baby bottom, skipped and hard-started...swapped for F which is OK

M815 Metal Stripe F nib...perfect out of the box

M815 Metal Stripe M nib...perfect because I availed of the retailers' option to tune, check and smooth it before delivery

M1005 Stresemann M nib...massive overpolished baby bottom, tines clicked on writing, skipped every first one or two alphabets when put to paper...exchanged for F nib which had tines of different sizes, which were also misaligned and over-polished. Pen is in the process of being returned.

M205 Demo M nib...perfect out of the box.

 

That makes 4 dud nibs out of 6 out of the box that have needed either swapping or outright returning.

[Glenn-SC]

That makes 4 dud nibs out of 6 out of the box that have needed either swapping or outright returning.

 

3 out of 6

[Scylax]

4 of 7 surely?