Want to try a sailor pen, any advice regarding their budget offerings?

[nmp]

I note I have not replied to the question OP asked.

I bought this  sailor pen

It's a steel fine nib -different from Lecoule and other budget offerings.

It is my favourite pen, when paired with Sailor Black Cartridges or Sailor Kiwa-Guro cartridges. Writes so well, I can't but smile when I use it with those two cartridges - I have NOT tried any other ink.

 

My Pro Gear Slim (MF 14k) currently contains a cart refilled with Diamine Oxblood. It does write pleasantly, but that Sailor Steel F nib is my favourite.

 

OOTB, I have had great experience with Faber Castell steel nibs as well. They too provide with some feedback, just not the Sailor kind.

 

@Spatil where do you live? you can DM me - if possible you can try the ones I have.

[Spatil]

On 3/8/2023 at 1:09 AM, nmp said:

I bought this  sailor pen

I just decided to go with sailor profit casual which has same type of nib as in the pen above, but this one has all standard nib options available, and I chose MF to be on safer side since I didn't knew what to expect from sailor nib.

 

With the limited experience I had so far, I have to say that I like this pen and it is the most reliable writer among my pens. Regarding feedback, it was much less than what I was expecting earlier, maybe because it has MF nib, but anyways the writing experience is good for me.

 

So far I have inked it with the complimentary sailor black cartridge at first use and just recently emptied the converter filled with Waterman serenity blue.

 

There is a significant difference in line width with sailor black laying wider line because it spreads on my notebook papers (borderline to feathering but not exactly feathering). The difference is similar to pilot M and F nib in metro and kakuno respectively. Writing feel is not much different but sailor black has an edge over waterman. Will see if could get some suitable sailor ink to use with the pen which does not spread as much as black ink.

[mke]

6 hours ago, Spatil said:

feedback

 

6 hours ago, Spatil said:

black laying wider line because it spreads on my notebook papers

 

These properties for a nib always have to do with the paper and the ink in addition to the nib.

I have papers where writing with a Sailor F/EF or Jowo EF feels like I am walking in water while on other papers, it just glides. Then comes the ink and (sometimes) everything is different.

Actually, this is also valid for my Montblanc 149 EF.

So, you cannot give anything on comments which say Sailor have feedback or not if paper and ink are not mentioned.

 

But generally, fine nibs have feedback if they are used on rough paper. If the paper surface is heavily coated, you probably will not experience too much feedback. If you don't like feedback stay away from Japanese F or EF, you are probably safe then.

[Spatil]

16 hours ago, mke said:

If you don't like feedback stay away from Japanese F or EF, you are probably safe then.

I am definitely not against using Japanese F/EF based on what I have used so far, infact I find it good to use preppy 02 in math lecture and I doubt any of the Japanese steel EF would be worse than it.

 

Anyway, since last month I have come to appreciate certain, let's say 'quirks' (aesthetics, functionality and design aspects) of fps I own (not all, I still have pet peeves which may never go) and after using some stored away fps again I found that the issues I had with a particular fp (Or so I thought) is no longer an issue.

Maybe I have become used to or adapted towards it, and the end result is that I no longer feel compelled to buy another fp because I don't like such and such things about my pens. I will still buy new fps which may 'add' to what I already have but now looking towards others aspects of fountain pen hobby.

 

17 hours ago, mke said:

These properties for a nib always have to do with the paper and the ink in addition to the nib.

Regarding paper, most of the time I don't use 'fp friendly paper' but my notebook papers are decent for fp use (basically still not giving a damn about paper 😝).

17 hours ago, mke said:

Then comes the ink and (sometimes) everything is different.

Right now I am focusing on inks. Will see how it goes.

 

Ofcourse I would like to know which inks you prefer with sailor pens (along with type of nib and paper?).

[Lithium466]

3 hours ago, Spatil said:

Ofcourse I would like to know which inks you prefer with sailor pens (along with type of nib and paper?).

I would say (and you noted it too) the regular Sailor black works wonderfully with my 1911L EF...actually it's becoming my favorite black ink for my Japanese pens. 

 

Then a dryer ink, Pelikan 4001 royal blue works very well in my 1911S MF, but that's also to try to reduce the thickness of the lines. For that reason I feel like trying some iron gall ink like Diamine Registrar in that pen 🤔

 

Like I said, my Sailor(s) spend more time empty in storage than inked, so I don't have much experience. Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai wasn't a success in the 1911S MF, feeling watery and unlubricated (this isn't logical and may be due to its colour), Sailor blue is good enough, Sailor Sei boku was nice and pleasant but I don't like that teal leaning blue, and that's pretty much all I remember trying.

 

As for paper used, I have been some French made (looks Clairefontaine made) 70g notebooks lately, and a Fabriano ecoqua 90g, which is nothing to write home about, but practical with detachable pages.

[mke]

5 hours ago, Spatil said:

which inks you prefer with sailor pens

That is easy. I have two bottles of Sailor BlueBlack and one of Sailor Blue. Once these are used up, I will experiment.

 

Regarding the paper, I only use Maruman loose leaf paper, copy paper and I am a "fan" of Rhodiarama Goalbooks. Without the goalbooks, I would buy Midori paper notebooks. I tested of course other paper too where the inks look nice but which have extremely show-through, the you-know-who paper. No thank you.

If I would buy inks - not that I would need more ink in this lifetime - I would buy only the basic Waterman series (Serenity Blue, Audacious Red, ...). They are usable on most papers I tried (no bleeding, no feathering, nearly no show-through), a good number of Pilot Iroshizuku and Sailor inks cannot claim such a usability. However, Sailor BB and B are usuable, not the most attractive colors (this is why I like Serenity Blue), however. The Goalbook paper is accepting more inks than the paper I use most - loose leaf paper, copy paper.

 

My descriptions/conclusions are made for EF nibs, a few F nibs and even fewer M nibs, it might be totally different for most M and B nibs, I don't know.

 

Anyway, I found what I need and want. 

-

Michael

instagram, blog, sales

[Mark from Yorkshire]

My current inks in rotation are:

 

• Diamine: Onyx Black & Presidential Blue both work wonderfully 
• Pilot Iroshizuku: shin-Kai & murasaki-shikibu once again both work wonderfully 
• Pelikan Edelstein jade. Does exactly what it says on the bottle a fabulous green ink in my humble opinion 

Japenese pens in use and ink:

 

• Sailor Shikiori Hisakata black stardust - Diamine Onyx Black writes a treat
• Platinum Plaisir PGB 3000 night blue - Platinum Black Cartridges (not my best buy writes nice, but only take’s proprietary cartridges so ink colours limited)

best regards

 

Mark 😃🖋

[awa54]

On 11/26/2022 at 12:59 PM, Spatil said:

I recently got to know about a few of sailor's bugdet pens. Since sailor pens are considered consistent and reliable writers with good Q/C out of box and for their characteristic feedback...

 

 

 

 

The modern, steel nibbed Sailor pens I own DO NOT have the slightly scuffy "lead pencil" feel of their current production gold nibs. Instead they are dead smooth and glide on the page, more like a Pilot nib.

 

I'm not certain when the current gold nib feel came into production, but vintage Sailor nibs (even EF), are all smooth writers (if they're in good, unaltered condition).

 

I do however agree that aside from the cheapest models only coming in what amounts to a medium-fine nib width, and a less dignified color spectrum, they're some of the best performing budget oriented pens ever made.

The price of admission is low, so you should definitely go for it! If on the other hand, you really want a taste of the "feedback" page feel, the cheapest way try that will be a slim 14k nibbed pen, like the PGS or 1911.

[AceNinja]

3 hours ago, awa54 said:

The modern, steel nibbed Sailor pens I own DO NOT have the slightly scuffy "lead pencil" feel of their current production gold nibs. Instead they are dead smooth and glide on the page, more like a Pilot nib.

 

I understand there's at least 2 types of steel nib from sailor.  One is from Sailor procolor / profit Jr., which typically comes with transparent feed.  The other one from pens like Sailor Shikiori Hisakata, where the steel nib has engravings / flourishing that looks more like their gold nib, they're typically more expensive than the Profit jr.

 

I also wonder if the Shikiori type steel nib is closer to their gold nib's 'pencil feedback' type writing experience or is it smooth and glide?  are they same / interchangeable with Profit jr.?

(asking from someone who have yet to own/try any sailor pen!)

 

[A Smug Dill]

3 hours ago, AceNinja said:

I understand there's at least 2 types of steel nib from sailor.

 

Then there's the type of steel nib that is found on the HiAce Neo (and cheap desk pens).

 

3 hours ago, AceNinja said:

are they same / interchangeable with Profit jr.?

 

No.

[awa54]

17 hours ago, AceNinja said:

 

I understand there's at least 2 types of steel nib from sailor.  One is from Sailor procolor / profit Jr., which typically comes with transparent feed.  The other one from pens like Sailor Shikiori Hisakata, where the steel nib has engravings / flourishing that looks more like their gold nib, they're typically more expensive than the Profit jr.

 

I also wonder if the Shikiori type steel nib is closer to their gold nib's 'pencil feedback' type writing experience or is it smooth and glide?  are they same / interchangeable with Profit jr.?

(asking from someone who have yet to own/try any sailor pen!)

 

 

 

I own several Young Profit type Sailors, the oldest is probably from the 90s, the newest is two years old, these have gold plated steel nibs that are the same as the top pen in your attached image (although, they're the previous imprint style). There are a fine (with the TIGP imprint), a medium, a music/stub and a zoom, all are very smooth writers.

[Mark from Yorkshire]

@A Smug Dill answered quite well the Hisakata nibs are really smooth nibs that write brilliantly.