Jump to content

Need advice


Geslina

Recommended Posts

4 hours ago, Tseg said:

 

A bit of an update here... after my post above, I took a head-on look at the nib with a loop to discover my tines were slightly out of alignment.  After making the slight adjustment to align the tines my writing experience has changed... the line is much more Extra Fine and a bit more dry.  All in all, not unpleasant at all and is probably now writing for the first time since I've owned it like it was intended and like I envisioned.   It is still a hard, solid writing experience, but I would probably recommend it be in your consideration set, if only for it's uniqueness if nothing else.

 

50979392952_2266689b9a_k.jpg

My Kaweco is just an EF steel nib.  It was awful with the Kaweco ink, but much better with a

 

23 hours ago, twin63 said:

For me personally, it feels great to write with. But, I like larger pens. My hand size is average (medium), so it’s not due to other pens being too small but rather personal preference. The 31 is my favorite of all my pens (the antique glass is actually my 2nd Model 31). 
 

As for you leaning towards another Pro Gear and a Pelikan 200...The only thing better than getting a new pen is getting two! I have a Pro Gear Slim and like it enough that I would like to try the full size Pro Gear. I think it’s a classy pen that performs well. I don’t own any Pelikans, at least not yet😉.

I want a Pro Gear with a fine nib, so that is what I will order - trying to decide on the LE Blue Dwarf or the Metallic Purple.  The Pelikan I want because of the people here who say such good things about it....and the prices on Cultpens (!!!)....thank you to whoever recommended that site!

 

Good to hear about the FC 31.  I may just wait until another Antique Glass is available....though I like the “Ghost” pen too.  On Instagram, I saw an older option, “Sex and Candy” - looks like their Solid Ice with a lilac tinge to it with red accents.  Wow.  Too bad they don’t make that one anymore....but I’m really impressed with the look of their pens in general...so smooth and glossy.


On a positive note, I heard back from Goulet Pens, where I bought the Decimo, and like you all, they recommended soaking the nib in soapy water, which I did, overnight.  Then I rinsed it good and soaked it for a few hours more, and it’s now writing much better.  I don’t think the Decimo is going to be my favorite pen..but at least it’s not skipping.  I was wrongly expecting it to write like my other gold nib pen, it doesn’t, and I’m learning that they all give you a different writing experience, and I guess that is part of the fun....and also part of the reason why I am going to wind up with so many pens!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 46
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Geslina

    20

  • A Smug Dill

    7

  • ENewton

    3

  • Tseg

    3

23 hours ago, Tseg said:

 

I had to re-ink this pen to remind me about it's characteristics.   I recall out of the box is was dry.  I think it may have hard started?  

 

After some brass shim action it flows better, but the line is not exactly an EF any more.  It is great for a utilitarian pen but there is not much character to the writing experience.  It's not Pelikan smooth, it's not Visconti soft... just utilitarian, like a Diplomat I have that I also upgraded to a gold nib.

 

With a gold nib I want a soft and/or smooth and/or luscious writing experience.  This pen feels more like a less expensive steel nibbed Pilot or TWSBI writing experience.  Good, but not great.

 

50976295433_65443dbc19_k.jpg

I messed up in my reply to you.  My Kaweco is a steel EF nib, but I had the same dryness problem at first.  With a more lubricated ink, I really like it, but still on the hard side, even more so than other steel nib pens I have.  I agree with expecting a different, smoother feel for a gold nib, and that is one of the reasons I’m not really loving the Decimo...Good to hear your thoughts about the Kaweco gold nib, I can cross that one off my wishlist now!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Geslina said:

I want a Pro Gear with a fine nib, so that is what I will order - trying to decide on the LE Blue Dwarf or the Metallic Purple.

 

I didn't know either of those colourways come in the Professional Gear size (as opposed to the Professional Gear Slim size). Or maybe I misunderstood, and you wear never actually after a regular or full-sized Pro Gear

 

Pro Gear Slim Mini < Pro Gear Slim < Pro Gear < Pro Gear KOP (aka King Pro Gear) 

 

3 hours ago, Geslina said:

I didn’t realize it was possible.

 

I didn't either, even with a Naginata Concord nib. Took practice, as well as some nib regrinding.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

I didn't know either of those colourways come in the Professional Gear size (as opposed to the Professional Gear Slim size). Or maybe I misunderstood, and you wear never actually after a regular or full-sized Pro Gear

 

Pro Gear Slim Mini < Pro Gear Slim < Pro Gear < Pro Gear KOP (aka King Pro Gear) 

 

 

I didn't either, even with a Naginata Concord nib. Took practice, as well as some nib regrinding.

I meant the Pro Gear Slim.  I don’t think the regular size comes in all the bright colors...and from what I’ve seen, the regular size has a 24k nib and is a lot more money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Geslina said:

the regular size has a 24k nib and is a lot more money.

 

21K gold nib, actually, and the street price is a little less than double.

 

I just checked, that should be about right, when the MSRP for the Sailor Professional Gear is ¥25,000+tax while the MSRP for the Sailor Professional Gear Slim is ¥13,000+tax … for the basic colourways anyway.

I endeavour to be frank and truthful in what I write, show or otherwise present, when I relate my first-hand experiences that are not independently verifiable; and link to third-party content where I can, when I make a claim or refute a statement of fact in a thread. If there is something you can verify for yourself, I entreat you to do so, and judge for yourself what is right, correct, and valid. I may be wrong, and my position or say-so is no more authoritative and carries no more weight than anyone else's here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/22/2021 at 10:35 AM, Geslina said:

Ok, I can’t believe it, I’m I’m already ready to buy a third gold nib pen.  I’m feeling a little less confident, I just got a Pilot Decimo and i was expecting it to be great - but it doesn’t have the same feel at all as the Sailor Pro Gear Slim I got last week. Not to mention, it skips, no matter what I’ve done....but even if it didn’t skip, I’m just not thrilled with it. I want a pen that has a more similar writing experience as the Pro Gear.  Smooth, light, nib just glides across the page with so little effort.  I was thinking a Pelikan M200, love the Pastel Green, but read that they have a steel nib, I’m not going to spend over $200 for a steel nib. I was also considering a Platinum 3776. I can go up to around $200.  You can get a plain black 3776 on Amazon for around $120 - but I’m worried about counterfeit - plus, I love the 3776 “Nice” line, there is a pink and a lavender, faceted barrels, both really pretty.  I’ve also seen a few of the more pricey Pilot pens on YT - the 74G, I think?  


I prefer smaller sized pens, but not necessarily pocket size.  Franklin Christoph pens are also on my very long wishlist - though getting one with a gold nib puts me at around $250, and they are always sold out of the pens I like (such as Antique Glass)....

 

An M200 should NOT be $200. I can find them everywhere for $95-110. Amazon, ebay, Goulet has the gold white one for $125 right now.

 

That said, an M200 is a fantastic choice. The nib is made from steel but is genuinely more soft and flexible than your pro gear by orders of magnitude. If someone stamped "14k" on that nib, you would NEVER know it wasn't. I have an M205 demonstrator and an M215 rings and their steel nibs are maybe the best ones in my collection.

 

AND TO TOP IT OFF, the m2xx is compatible with vintage and modern m400 gold nibs. the modern M400 gold nibs are rock hard, firmer than even the steel, haven't interested me at all, but you can find the vintage 14k nibs for $40-70 and they literally just screw right in like the original one.  Vintage m400 nibs are usually flexible and amazing. I have an XXF and a BB italic, both are unbelievably good.  And if you want to experiment with different steel nibs, the M200's steel nib units are relatively cheap. So an M2xx with an EF, M, and B would set you up with several pens for the price of one.

 

You can also get a cartridge/converter version of it. I prefer the m215 rings to the 200/205, since it has a brass barrel but keeps the resin cap, it adds a tiny bit of heft but keeps the light balance. And the M2xx pens post better than any pen on earth.

 

The 3776 is nice, but in the $120 range, I kinda don't love them. A couple years ago we were able to find grey market imported ones for like $65. They were a SCREAMING deal. I love the UEF, EF, SF, B, BB, and music nib ones I have, but I got them for substantially less than they cost now.

 

If you want a bouncy nib, the pilot custom 74 or 91/92 with a soft fine will satisfy bigtime. They post better than the 3776 with less of a "lump" at the back. And the CON-70 converter beats platinum's, IMO. 

 

the 3776 UEF's nib is unbelievably good BUT the rate of dud nibs from the factory is really, really high. Mine is one of my two pens that is ALWAYS inked (I use it for layout lines on my bullet journal) It's a true needlepoint, and they're just a nightmare to grind. It's rock hard and a touch scratchy, but any nib that fine will be toothy. it's impossible not to be. 

 

If you don't NEED a pen to have a flexible 14k nib, consider the lamy 2000. Endlesspens routinely has them with all nib sizes (I have EF and BB) for $100. Fit/finish on those is easily on par with montblanc. They have a "sweet spot" that a very small number of very vocal critics HATE, but the majority of people with typical writing positions have no issue. The sprung clip, satisfying clip cap, smooth post, and super smooth piston along with the feel of the makrolon and brused stainless section are hard to beat too.

 

Selling a boatload of restored, fairly rare, vintage Japanese gold nib pens, click here to see (more added as I finish restoring them)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...