Pelikan M800 renewed love

[TgeekB]

I’ve read about and collected a few Pelikan pens over the years. Mostly older and small ones that I collected but never used. Too small for my liking anyway. I then decided to get one I could use and settled on the M800. It’s the perfect size for my hand and well made but……I just didn’t like it. I’m not sure why but I couldn’t get a good feel for its nib (F). I would put it down and use my other pens (Lamy 2000, Sailor 1911L, Montblanc 146, etc). I would pick it up at a later date and try again with the same result. This went on for over a year until I just put it away. No sense in forcing things. Move forward several years and I pulled it out, inked it (nothing special I didn’t already have in it) and…..I love it! It’s become my daily. I’m not sure if my writing has changed or something else but it just feels and writes perfect for me. Has anyone else had a pen go from bust to best? 

[langere]

Ha!  Great story! 

 

This gives me a good excuse to hang on to the pens that I have put in storage and am not using anymore.  

 

The love will come back, perhaps?

 

Erick

[Lam1]

Wonderful!

The M800 are wonderful pens! 
They’re one of my favorites.

 

For me the pen that at first I didn’t like and went unused for a long time, but now ranks very high among my favorites is the MB 149. It grew on me slowly.

[wefer]

Can you reflect on the difference between M800 and M1000, especially the nib?

[TgeekB]

13 hours ago, wefer said:

Can you reflect on the difference between M800 and M1000, especially the nib?

If you’re asking me I have never owned an M1000 and, based on the perfection of the M800 in my hands, doubt it would be as positive an experience. I also have a MB 146 and would not want a 149 so that might give you a better idea. 

[Lam1]

13 hours ago, wefer said:

Can you reflect on the difference between M800 and M1000, especially the nib?

 

They are quite different pens, apart the appearance.

 

The M1000 has a longer section and a wider girth, both of which make it quite comfortable for me.

 

The nibs couldn't be more different.

The M800 nib is very stiff and while it is great for taking quick notes, in my opinion it is not distinctive. 

The nib of the M1000 is a soft nib - not flexible, but soft - it gives you a cushion feeling when writing, which for me is very pleasant (but some people may not like it). The M1000 nibs tend to be wetter too.

 

I do not know which pens you have to compare the nibs with.

But the M800 is as stiff as a MB 146 or 149 or a Leonardo, while the M1000 has a soft feeling as the KoP of Pilot Custom Urushi.

 

Of course, take this with a grain of salt: it is all based on my experience and my perception. Others may feel differently.

 

[MidSouthern-Dad]

Perceptions do change.  I haven't written with Pelikan pens for a while now.  When I was using them, I found the M800 to be the best fit for my hands.  M1000 was also nice, but felt a bit big.  I had the same opinion of the Montblanc 146 (just right) and 149 (too big).  I've been using a vintage 146 as a daily user now, and my impression is that it's a bit on the small size for me.  

In the interim, I had gotten used to the giant size Indian rubber eyedroppers like Ranga, Gama, and Ratnamson.  Now that I use Western pens again, my size perception has been "reset".  Also, I am coming back to Pelikans again, since I just picked up a new M800 in green and black stripes with F nib.

[Aether]

One of the M800 is I have. Nib is more extra fine writes a small amount too wide for my taste. I using the ink from Japan and some of the times from Diamin.  Too wet so try Rohrer ink which is more drier. Still wide line.  Question then - anything to be done with finer Pelican nib? Like make even more finer or italic? And where is best place to make changes - personal mobility limited for me at the age.

[Daswareinmaleinbegriff]

I bought an Ocean Swirl M805 as my first Pelikan and while enamored by the build quality, the writing experience was very underwhelming, even after I fixed a misaligned nib. The first couple of inks I had in there were good blues, but just not me particular Pelikan nib.   I tried an ink sample of Robert Oster Blue Sea and later Diamine Port of Call and they made the pen so much more enjoyable now.

[Mercian]

On 11/13/2025 at 4:38 AM, Aether said:

One of the M800 is I have. Nib is more extra fine writes a small amount too wide for my taste. I using the ink from Japan and some of the times from Diamin.  Too wet so try Rohrer ink which is more drier. Still wide line. 

 

A modern Pelikan nib is always going to be wider than e.g. a Japanese nib of the same grade. A Pelikan 'EF' will be far wider than a Japanese 'EF'. 

The nibs on modern M800s (with one chick in the logo on the nib) are wider than the nibs on the early versions of the M800 - e.g. the 'F' nib on my 2020 M805 is the same width as the 'M' nib on my 1991 M800.
Also, Pelikan started out as a company that made inks, long before the invention of fountain pens, when everyone was still using dip pens.
Pelikan formulated its inks to write 'dry', because that suited dip pens, and also suited the early fountain pens (which had ebonite feeds that were very 'wet').
When Pelikan started to make fountain pens as well as inks, it designed its pens so that they would work well with the company's own inks - i.e. have feeds (& nibs) that write 'wet'.

 

Japanese pen manufacturers make their nibs so that they are useful when writing Asian scripts - i.e. so that they are narrower/finer than are western nibs of the same marked grade.
To compensate for how narrow the nibs are, Japanese inks are often 'wetter' than western inks - especially inks made by Pelikan - are.

So, if one puts a Japanese ink into a Pelikan pen, it is quite likely to write very 'wet', and the ink may well spread on the page - so that the pen appears to write 'wider' than its nib grade.

My own experience of the Diamine inks that I own is that they, too, are often rather 'wet'-writing inks.
For that reason, I don't use them in my own M800 & M805.
I have used them in my M205 - but then the nib on that pen is built to an older design/specification than are modern Pelikan nibs (the ones with only one chick on the logo), and is very narrow.

 

If you have a Pelikan M800, and you want it to write as narrow a line as possible, I would recommend that the first thing you do is to try using the following inks in it:

Pelikan 4001 'Brilliant Black';

Pelikan 4001 Königsblau/'Royal Blue';

Pelikan 4001 Blue-Black. ← especially this one.

Also:

Rohrer & Klingner 'Salix' (a 'light iron-gall' blue-black ink), or;
Rohrer & Klingner 'Scabiosa' (another 'light iron-gall' ink, one whose colour is a sui generis dusky purple).

 

 

On 11/13/2025 at 4:38 AM, Aether said:

Question then - anything to be done with finer Pelican nib? Like make even more finer or italic? And where is best place to make changes - personal mobility limited for me at the age.

 

If you are thinking of getting a 'nib-meister' to re-grind the nib of your M800 to make it narrower, it would be a very good idea for you to tell us where you are located - i.e. what country you live in (or, if you live in the USA, which State).

E.g. I live in the UK, so would only know about 'nib-meisters' here.
People in the USA may well be able to recommend different people in different States, e.g. on/near the east coast or on/near the west coast.
People in mainland European countries may be able to recommend people in northern/eastern/southern/western Europe.
Etc.

 

I hope that using Pelikan inks 'does the trick' for you and, if it doesn't, that you can find someone near you who can regrind your M800's nib to your satisfaction 

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Aether]

A lot of thank you for this information. The rohrer ink tried up and to this time of saying has been verdigris. Live in central europe - mobility not wonderful but i am to be able to reach the postal services. sending pen anywhere is not to be a problem.  Easy to buy Pelican inks here and will give the blue and black and try. Thank you

[MHBru]

M800s are, in my opinion, one of the finest production pens available.  I own 4 and love them all.

[PAKMAN]

M800's are my downfall. I have more of them than any other pen.

[wefer]

I used Salixia in Sailor Pro Gear, it was inked but not used for writing for some months. Iron gall inks should really be flushed after every writing because they bite into the metal. Luckily my Sailor has a 21k nib so the damage was somewhat superficial. It still took me good 10 minutes with an electric toothbrush and toothpaste to polish the stains away. I read an article a while ago how a guy used one of the iron galls you mention and it completely destroyed his stainless steel nib. So, just be aware of this.

[Mercian]

On 12/31/2025 at 6:01 PM, wefer said:

I read an article a while ago how a guy used one of the iron galls you mention and it completely destroyed his stainless steel nib. So, just be aware of this.

 

Indeed yes, iron-gall inks can cause problems for steel nibs, and even for the steel 'front end' of the Lamy 2000 (especially if one lets the ink sit unused in the pen for a long time), but I was replying to a request for advice to help narrow the line from a Pelikan M800.
The M800 (like all Souverän pens) has a nib that is made out of gold.

The M40x & M60x pens have nibs of 14k gold, the M80x and 100x pens have nibs made of 18k gold.

 

Gold nibs will not be corroded by the iron-gall inks that I cited, or even by 'heavy iron-gall' inks such as ESS Registrars' Ink, or Diamine Registrars' Ink.

 

When Montblanc used to make an iron-gall ink (its 'Blue-black', and then 'Midnight Blue' until ~2013), it used to advise users to flush their pens with plain water once every three months. But that was to prevent the build-up of iron-salt precipitates that might impede ink-flow through the pen's feed.

Pelikan even sells its 4001 Blue-black in cartridges, for use in its steel-nibbed c/c pens.
The most important thing is to not let the ink dry-out in one's pen, or to let sit in the pen unused for a long time.

 

I will though add that, if one has used an iron-gall ink in one's pen, and is intending to then put a different ink in to the pen, one should definitely wash the pen out thoroughly.
Alkaline dye-based inks might have unpleasant chemical reactions with any acidic residues of iron-gall inks that are left in one's pen - and I have also seen specific warnings to not mix iron-gall inks with Sailor's 'nano'-particle pigment-based inks (Kiwa Guro, Sei Boku, and Sou Boku).

 

When 'deep-cleaning' a pen in which I have used iron-gall ink, I will flush the pen with plain water, then fill it with a 1:5 solution of white vinegar:water, and then allow that to 'wick' through the nib on to a piece of kitchen paper.
I repeat the 'wicking' process with fills of vinegar solution until I don't see any more ink residues coming out of the nib on to the paper. Then I flush the pen with plain water again, to make sure that I have got all of the (acidic) vinegar out of the pen.

 

Slàinte,
M.

[Lithium466]

Late to the party, but remember that IG inks can damage/remove plating on nibs, like rhodium plating on 18k gold nibs for example. 

[iampencollector]

On 11/25/2025 at 12:14 AM, Daswareinmaleinbegriff said:

I bought an Ocean Swirl M805 as my first Pelikan and while enamored by the build quality, the writing experience was very underwhelming, even after I fixed a misaligned nib. The first couple of inks I had in there were good blues, but just not me particular Pelikan nib.   I tried an ink sample of Robert Oster Blue Sea and later Diamine Port of Call and they made the pen so much more enjoyable now.

The Pelikan M805 Ocean Swirl has long been on my wish list. I sincerely hope Pelikan considers a re-release in the future—much like how the M800 Renaissance eventually made a comeback as the M1000.

[iampencollector]

On 11/26/2025 at 1:24 PM, MHBru said:

M800s are, in my opinion, one of the finest production pens available.  I own 4 and love them all.

The M800 feels just right in my hand—perfectly balanced, neither oversized nor too small. The nib is also very consistent. After writing with pens from other brands, I almost always return to my M800.

[Beechwood]

50 minutes ago, iampencollector said:

The M800 feels just right in my hand—perfectly balanced, neither oversized nor too small. The nib is also very consistent. After writing with pens from other brands, I almost always return to my M800.

 

You are not alone, there are a number of collectors/users/repairers who consider that the 800 series is the best pen for them as a daily user.

 

I have a plain black 800 with a broad nib (that came to me in peculiar circumstances) that is perfect for me.

[Jeffrey Newman]

I love the size of M800 and how balanced they are in my hand. So much that several years ago when the opportunity arose to buy a Toledo M910 at a good price, I seized it. The Toledo is much heavier of course but very well balanced and a smooth writer with Pelikan 4001 Blue Black ink.