My First (only) Pelikan...

[Clydesdave]

I recently bought a Pelikan M-405, and I don't like it. First the details: It's a Pelikan M-405 with a fine nib. I have filled it with Noodler's Eel Blue ink and written on several different papers from heavy rag to lined note pads from Office Goofy. I've given it a good deal of thought so here we go.

 

I don't like it! I didn't like it from the instant I first took it to paper and it has taken me some time to convince myself of that. It's a Pelikan. It's a fine, quality pen that writes as smooth as satin sheets. How could I not like it? Well, it writes more like a medium nib, but it is a fine. I checked and the little "F" is there on the nib. I write small and this thing doesn't. It's a wet writer which exacerbates the fact that I write poorly with the "Fine" (Medium) nib. Now here's the more cerebral notions I have on it. It's probably the second most flexible nib I've ever written with. I believe this causes the nib to stay on the paper, and at a place it defines (rather than the place I envision it at) longer than I want it to. This is not good when you write small, there is no time between changing stroke directions to argue with a fickle, flexible nib. It's like dancing with another man, both trying to lead. Don't go getting any ideas, my Dad taught me how to dance. Lastly, it is too light. I think I understand balance a little better now. The nib does what it wants to do, just past my fingers and there is nothing to counteract it. The nib is cantilevered out there and there isn't enough pen behind it to matter. Like pushing a chain.

 

Now let me say again; It is a fine, quality pen. It does write very smoothly, which is to say the actual interface with the paper is very, very good. I just don't like the pen. It does have more character than anything else in my collection. It has its own character..... argumentative.

 

I'm going to give it some more time before I relegate it to the shop and if things between us change I will be happy to write about it here. For now though, this pen is for the birds.

[HDoug]

I've found that there is indeed a big variation in Pelikan's M, F, and XF nibs to the point where I think they just randomly stamp the grade on nibs coming off the assembly line. Luckily, the nibs are swappable so I put Binder nibs on the three birds I have, and happy I am now with my little flock. And hey, it's okay by me to dance with another man or to not like Pelikans.

 

Doug

[Deirdre]

Likely, the Polar Blue ink (if it behaves like the Polar Black) is part of the reason for the thick line width.

 

If you like really fine text, there's inks you really shouldn't be using unless you use one width narrower than you'd usually use.

 

This is why I have many fine nibs when I'm a medium nib person, btw.

[FrankB]

This is a good, honest review. Thank you.

 

I will comment that I have and use several Pelikan pens and I tried a couple Noodler's "Eel" inks, but I found them to be sloppy. Very messy, in fact. They might do their job in lubricating the piston mechanism, but I personally did not care for them for general writing. Maybe if you tried a drier ink (like MB Sepia or Burgundy, or a J. Herbin ink) you might get a truer line from your nib. - For example, I have J. Herbin Bouquet d'Antan in a Pel M-1000 with a B nib, and it writes a crisp, true B line.

 

But, the character of the nib will not change. You might try a steel M-200 nib to see if that little bit of extra rigidity helps.

 

The good news is that if you don't like the pen, it should sell fairly quickly in the Classifieds.

[Inkquest]

Likely, the Polar Blue ink (if it behaves like the Polar Black) is part of the reason for the thick line width.

 

If you like really fine text, there's inks you really shouldn't be using unless you use one width narrower than you'd usually use.

 

This is why I have many fine nibs when I'm a medium nib person, btw.

 

Absolutely agreed, Polar blue can turn your fine or even an xfine nib into a Wagner Power Painter. The grade/quality/weight/etc of paper will also make a huge difference. A cheap legal pad will spread a fine nib line much wider than say good quality inkjet paper (which is what I use most).

 

Experiment a little more and your line might shrink down to something you expect. Also, what FP's have you used prior to the Pel? If you've been writing with BP's prior to this, you might have a case of serious hand pressure as well. Relax your hand, let gravity provide the pressure and release your grip a bit.. you could be driving the tines apart and that little change is just enough space for Polar Blue to flow even more than it already does.

 

Anyway, sorry to hear of the bad experience so far... Pel's are great pens but maybe just not for you.

 

Good luck!

Dave

[limesally]

I think the OP said he was using Eel Blue? Although it might well behave like the Polar Blue mentioned by everyone else, and in which case I would agree - Polar Blue sets down a very broad line.

 

And it's certainly true that the nib stamps seem arbitrary - I just sent a 250 F away to have ground to a true fine, as it was writing as wide as my 400 M.

 

I suspect that it won't be hard to unload a 405 here on the marketplace if you're truly unhappy with it after giving it more time. One man's junk, and all that

Edited April 28, 2008 by limesally

[Deirdre]

I think the OP said he was using Eel Blue?

You're right. Still, ink can be a factor. Some of my inks write wider than others; I haven't tried eel blue.

[Inkquest]

 

 

Eel blue........ Take Blue with EEL, and that makes BEEL.... ah HA! BEELzebub! and with ink becomes Beelzeblob! The INK of the DEVIL! There's the problem! the AntiInk!

 

Eel does have that lubrication formula with increased flow properties. Perhaps not as ridiculous as Polar though.

[ethernautrix]

Try it with Old Manhattan Black. Or exchange the nib for an XF.

 

If you like to write REALLY SMALL, try Pilot Prera or Sailor Sapporo Mini XF.

 

You're not a bad person for not liking the Pelikan.

 

Ha ha ha!

[hulya]

If, after trying more than one ink, you still find that the nib is too broad for you, Chartpak will happily exchange it with a finer one.

[Clydesdave]

Someone asked how long I've been writing with fountain pens. Actually they are looking for my qualifications and that's fine with me. I've been writing with pens for nigh on forty years I reckin', and payin' attention for maybe twenty. Now, I don't claim to know anything, but I've got all kinds of pens, some Mont Blancs, and some Namikis a few Shaeffers, Parkers, Esterbrooks, Bexleys and one Pelikan. I'll try out a few inks in this bird, my next one will be Mont Blanc's black and then a Private Reserve. Then I'll buy a couple of nibs; one to go to Richard and one to plug the hole while it's gone. I'm already thinking an M-600 would be a good try, or maybe an M-800. I've got years left to play around with this thing. By the way; I'm a big Namiki fan, writes finer 'an a frog hair.

 

I've watched Pelikans dive for fish by the hours. They look really bad doing it, but they do come up with dinner..... purtin' near ever time.

 

Oh yeah, and thanks for sayin' I'm not a bad man for not cuddlin' up to this bird. I was really sweatin' that one.

[hulya]

Chartpak, Pelikan's U.S. distributor, will replace the nib for free. You just have to pay to ship it to them; they will pay for the return shipping. You won't have to wait long, either. You'll only have to part with it for 1-2 weeks (i.e., the time it takes for the pen to get to Chartpak and back). You can contact Abi at Chartpak by e-mailing penrepair@chartpak.com. If you ask her to, Abi will personally check that the new nib is finer than the old one.

 

You can buy a nib directly from Richard. If you buy a pen or a nib from him, it doesn't go into his queue; he ships it immediately (I think).

 

Souveran nibs are usually quite rigid, so it sounds like you got a very unusual nib. You probably don't have to order an EF nib to get a nib that's finer than what you have. I have four F nibs that write like EF nibs, and one that writes like an M.

 

If I were you, I'd send the pen to Chartpak. I've spent too much money (and time) getting nibs customized when I could have just asked Chartpak to replace them.

[Juan in Andalucia]

 

Relax, don't panic. I have a M600 green in Germany for a nib swap. It has a F which writes like a B. I have another M600 with a F which writes like a true F, so I agree with the comments about Pelikan stamping the nibs randomly.

 

The ink and paper you use also counts; I like pelikan black ink in my wet writing pens; it makes them more manageable.

 

Juan

[Rapt]

I have an M250 and I don't like the M nib its way too wide, and the pen is too small and too light. But I like light pens so I'm not sure why I feel that way. Anyway it was a good first try, and it told me I like the idea, but I should go bigger.

 

So I did. I have an Grand Place (M600 size) with an OB nib that writes finer than my M nib in the 250 and an M605 with a Binder 0.5 Cursive Italic and I love both of these pens. The Grand Place would be perfect with an XF from Richard Binder.

 

The size and weight difference to the M600 is much better. The M400 is basically the same size as the M200/250.

[succubus]

<snip>

I don't like it! I didn't like it from the instant I first took it to paper and it has taken me some time to convince myself of that. It's a Pelikan. It's a fine, quality pen that writes as smooth as satin sheets. How could I not like it? Well, it writes more like a medium nib, but it is a fine. I checked and the little "F" is there on the nib. I write small and this thing doesn't. It's a wet writer which exacerbates the fact that I write poorly with the "Fine" (Medium) nib.

<snip>

Lastly, it is too light. I think I understand balance a little better now. The nib does what it wants to do, just past my fingers and there is nothing to counteract it. The nib is cantilevered out there and there isn't enough pen behind it to matter. Like pushing a chain.

<snip>

I'm going to give it some more time before I relegate it to the shop and if things between us change I will be happy to write about it here. For now though, this pen is for the birds.

 

Hear hear!

 

I agree with many of your points. I got my first "real" Pelikan (other than various Pelikanos, with which I have separate issues) a M400 White Tortoise. I wrote two or three letters with it, using J. Herbin Vert Olive. After only having it for a week or two, I had no problem lending it to my brother for him to write letters of complaint. I haven't seen it since. (And last I heard, he hasn't bothered using it either.) I think I got a Medium nib, which is still rather wet.

 

It is far too light for me, and too small. (My brother uses it unposted, which I can't even imagine.)

 

I really wanted to like it. My best friend and I have a running joke about pelicans, and we bought our first Pelikanos together because of it. It's just not my cup of tea so far, and I'm not sure I can justify moving up to the larger, heavier (more expensive versions,) which I might actually like, when I can find other pens which suit me. At what point is one just buying the name/image?

[Rapt]

Hear hear!

 

I agree with many of your points. I got my first "real" Pelikan (other than various Pelikanos, with which I have separate issues) a M400 White Tortoise. I wrote two or three letters with it, using J. Herbin Vert Olive. After only having it for a week or two, I had no problem lending it to my brother for him to write letters of complaint. I haven't seen it since. (And last I heard, he hasn't bothered using it either.) I think I got a Medium nib, which is still rather wet.

 

It is far too light for me, and too small. (My brother uses it unposted, which I can't even imagine.)

 

I really wanted to like it. My best friend and I have a running joke about pelicans, and we bought our first Pelikanos together because of it. It's just not my cup of tea so far, and I'm not sure I can justify moving up to the larger, heavier (more expensive versions,) which I might actually like, when I can find other pens which suit me. At what point is one just buying the name/image?

 

Like I said I really like the 600's after being pretty UNimpressed with the 200's. The quality of the piston mechanism is great and better than on the Stipulas I have in my opinion. For me its worth it, especially since Richard Binder offers so many cool nibs for them.

[rufius]

In my experience Eel Blue writes rather wet, I'm assuming because of its lubricating properties.

 

I agree though that the two fine points I have for my M200 are not the same, one seems to be more of a Medium-Fine and the other a Western XF.

 

Sorry to hear you don't like it . I quite enjoy mine

 

-Zac

[CraigR]

Clydesdave, I thank you for a good and open opinion of a pretty nice pen. It points to the fact that even if the pen is a really good pen, it may not be the right pen for you. My fine nib Pelikans also seem to write closer to a medium. Maybe it is a function of my big hand and more pressure on the nib that I think I exert. Unlike you, I am still okay with them and my handwriting doesn't suffer for the thicker line. (unreadable is still unreadable). That is why there is a marketplace. Someone will take the pen off your hands with thanks allowing you to find one more suitable to your hand. /Craig

[Sailor Kenshin]

I recently bought a Pelikan M-405, and I don't like it. First the details: It's a Pelikan M-405 with a fine nib. I have filled it with Noodler's Eel Blue ink and written on several different papers from heavy rag to lined note pads from Office Goofy. I've given it a good deal of thought so here we go.

 

I don't like it! I didn't like it from the instant I first took it to paper and it has taken me some time to convince myself of that. It's a Pelikan. It's a fine, quality pen that writes as smooth as satin sheets. How could I not like it? Well, it writes more like a medium nib, but it is a fine. I checked and the little "F" is there on the nib. I write small and this thing doesn't. It's a wet writer which exacerbates the fact that I write poorly with the "Fine" (Medium) nib. Now here's the more cerebral notions I have on it. It's probably the second most flexible nib I've ever written with. I believe this causes the nib to stay on the paper, and at a place it defines (rather than the place I envision it at) longer than I want it to. This is not good when you write small, there is no time between changing stroke directions to argue with a fickle, flexible nib. It's like dancing with another man, both trying to lead. Don't go getting any ideas, my Dad taught me how to dance. Lastly, it is too light. I think I understand balance a little better now. The nib does what it wants to do, just past my fingers and there is nothing to counteract it. The nib is cantilevered out there and there isn't enough pen behind it to matter. Like pushing a chain.

 

Now let me say again; It is a fine, quality pen. It does write very smoothly, which is to say the actual interface with the paper is very, very good. I just don't like the pen. It does have more character than anything else in my collection. It has its own character..... argumentative.

 

I'm going to give it some more time before I relegate it to the shop and if things between us change I will be happy to write about it here. For now though, this pen is for the birds.

 

Awww.....

 

Sounds like the kind of pen I would enjoy, though.

 

[Clydesdave]

Well, I just bought that Pelikan M-600 that I'm hoping will be better for me. At the very least, it will be an experiment to see if even a little more pen behind the nib will help with this balance thing. It will be educational. I'll keep you all posted on that.

 

This has been an interesting thread for me. I appreciate the opinions and discussions we have had as well as the support. This is a very good chat board with kind and generous people aboard. I should mention that my girlfriend likes the Pelikan M-400, so I won't be selling it or even counting it as a loss. She has first choice from all my pens and excerises that right quite often.