Sailor 1911 S with 21k H-F nib

[Chris1]

Although I've posted this in the reviews forum, it is more a personal reflection on the pen rather than an objective review of it in great detail; others have been there before me and done a better job from that perspective. My thanks go to ruby.monkey for the generous opportunity to try this pen. It was the H-F (hard, fine) nib that drew me to it as I'd recently visited Bateman's, one-time home of Rudyard Kipling, and noted his small handwriting on various notes, letters and books. As my pens almost all have medium nibs, I thought it would be interesting to try a fine one one day, and jumped at this opportunity. 

 

When the pen arrived, I was immediately taken with its appearance: a lovely maroon in colour with gold trim and of a proper pen shape (I did say this was a subjective review). In size, it is similar to a Montblanc Chopin 145, and Esterbrook or a Sheaffer Statesman, and feels very comfortable in my hand. It does not feel quite as robust as the MB 145, but then the Chopin is more expensive by quite a margin.

 

There are two other things I love about the 1911 apart from the colour: the way the cap tightens a little as it is screwed in place but before it is tight; this means you don't have to over-tighten the cap yet can be sure it will remain securely in place; also, there is a small o-ring between the barrel and the section so that the two will not work loose in use, a nice touch. 

 

 

 

I gave the pen a rinse with clean water and dried it thoroughly before fitting the cartridge. I was mindful that this pen, although with a 'hard' nib, had a fine one and in 21k gold; it would not appreciate rough handling or excessive writing force. However, when I put pen to paper my initial delight turned to frustration. It would not write! It hopped, skipped and jumped appallingly. I wasn't going to press hard, but I felt sure the pen ought to behave better than that.

 

 

To cut a long story short, with the help of advice from this community and careful study in bright light with a Belomo loupe, I realised the tines came together too tightly at the tip with no gap, leading to ink starvation. Judicious use of some 35mm film negative and careful re-alignment of the tines plus filling with Lamy black ink transformed things. The end result was a nib that delivered a fine, black line without trouble. A quick pass over 12000 micromesh to polish and I now have a delightful writing tool that writes first time, even after being left for over a week. Of course, as I feared, the fine nib does tend to accentuate flaws in my writing, but I'm getting used to the nib and very grateful for the opportunity to try it.

 

 

My next task is to purchase the appropriate converter for it as refilling the one cartridge using a syringe and needle is a pain!

 

Chris

[rochester21]

Mine had exactly the same issue, I did not bother tweaking the nib because it would bounce back to it's original position and didn't want to use any tools on it. It's an expensive pen and it should be perfect from the factory.

 

Second point, why is refilling a cartridge with a syringe painful? I takes the same amount of time as with any other system and there are no ink stains resulting from the process! No need to clean the pen after refilling ! 

[jmccarty3]

Wouldn't this be a 1911L? 1911Ss have 14k nibs. Your approach to the problem was a good one, and I'm glad it worked out well for you.

[Cjtamu]

One of my favorite nibs. I have a F on a Pro Gear and MF on a 1911L. Kirk Speer did a smooth and tune on both before I received them and they were a joy the first time I touched them to paper. Glad you got yours corrected. 

[Chris1]

I tweeked the nib as this was a gift from a kind person on this site and I wanted to get it to work well; returning it to a retailer or the manufacturer really wasn't an option and nor was troubling the original owner. I agree that it should have been perfect from the factory and I don't know whether it was or not, or whether it has endured some sort of a trauma during its life, though in every other respect the pen is flawless. Again, it wouldn't have been appropriate to trouble the person who kindly sent it to me.

 

I'm glad to say it has ended well and the nib is now beautifully smooth and always writes first time, even after being left unused for up to a fortnight (Lamy black ink). Certainly, the first few times I used the 35mm film, my heart was in my mouth, especially when I realised that the tines became misaligned as the gap between them was opened. Slowly, slowly, bit at a time, get the gap, realign the tines, gently smooth the nib, check with the loupe often. It is now a delight to write with, and I can produce some very tiny script!

 

To me, using a converter and a quick wipe of the nib and section (if I've made a bit of a mess) with tissue or blotting paper is second nature with all of my pens. Getting the (all-glass) syringe out of its box, finding and fitting the needle, sucking up the ink, removing the cartridge and filling it, replacing the cartridge and then cleaning the syringe and needle aftwerwards is a faff. For all those who are happy to do so, all well and good, but it's just not for me. I'd rather pay for a converter even if it has quite a small capacity. Also, I only have the one cartridge.

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find the nib was 21K as 14K seems to be more common, though a 21K nib is an option from several retailers. But the pen is certainly an S not an L model as you can see from the photos of it alongside other smallish pens.

 

I am both very pleased with it and very lucky to have been given it.