M800 Italic Nib

[nm4]

Hi Folks

 

Just got a Pelikan IB (1.5mm italic broad) nib for my m805. Wow, I love it. Smooth, wet, good line variation.

 

I know the Pelikan italic nibs have a more rounded tip (baby-bottom-esque) than most custom ground CIs/stubs. I find this nib to be far smoother than any of my CIs/stubs. Could be the tipping shape or the nib size.

 

I do have a problem with occasional hard starting. The nib must be held between 5 and 10 degrees L oblique or else it will skip the first few mm of a downstroke. Is this behavior normal for this nib? If it's not I can exchange it for another from the seller (not interested in a regrind since it's an expensive, brand new nib).

 

I've never owned a nib this broad so I value your input. I should mention that in 2 days I've already gotten pretty used to it and rarely have to re-trace my downstrokes (maybe once or twice per page of writing).

 

Here's a sample of its output:

Cheers,

NM

[Ghost Plane]

Yes, this nib is sensitive to position as opposed to my 1.3 stub in Visconti or Delta. It should not skip once you've become accustomed to it and stop hitting the corners.

 

I love the effect, but find it my slowest nib since I have to take my time with it as opposed to dashing off notes with the stubs.

 

Mine is just a bit dry compared to the stubs as well. But doesn't skip.

[Koyote]

That would bug me, especially after spending so much $$$. I would exchange it.

[JefferyS]

My first Pelikan M800 took me about 15 minutes to get it started for the first time. Freaked me out a bit, but it has been smooth sailing ever since.

[nm4]

Yeah it's a lovely nib...and if I write in cursive I have no issues whatsoever...but when printing (at full speed) it will occasionally fail to lay the full width of ink on a downstroke. It sure could be my fault...but I haven't had the issue with any of my other italics (most of which are 0.9mm or less).

 

Cheers,

NM

[smcneely]

Hi. I don't have any IBs or stub nibs, but I have 3 Pelis: m205 BB, m250 B, and Eternal Ice M. All three have hard starts and will skip on upstroke if I don't hold them exactly right & maintain just the right angle. I even had two of the pens at Chartpak for nib exchanges, and the new nibs do the same thing. I've decided it's me, not the pens. I still favor the Pelis for many reasons, and I'm working on holding the pen right and learning each nib to avoid skipping.

 

NM, what kind of notebook paper did you use for the m805 italic nib writing sample? It looks really clean and FP friendly. Thanks!

Sandy

[MarkTrain]

You might want to check out this

put up by John Mottishaw. While some might say that running in a new nib is not necessary (i.e. Mottishawed or Binderized), unfortunately, it does look like Pelikan QC could stand some improvement.

 

Mark

[nm4]

Sandy, the notebook was purchased from Walmart. It's made by the Carolina Pad and Paper company. The paper quality is excellent and the notebook is dirt cheap. The ruled lines do behave strangely when covered with ink - hard to explain but it's not a huge issue.

 

Mark, I have indeed seen that video. I'm just not sure if the issue I'm having is due to the nib or me. It's gotten substantially better as I've been using the pen the last few days. Perhaps these extra-broad nibs just need more concentration to keep them flat on the page (though I'm not sure that is always the issue).

 

Cheers,

NM

[RMehta248]

I use the Peli 1.5 a loat....I always get flow adjusted to avoid the dry spots you might get on Capitals' Downstrokes.....that the flow is not adequate for the width of this nib is often the case...Cheers

[kaan]

This is a far from professional advice

 

I experience cold start problems with pens too, I thought it was just pelikans, but I recently started experiencing it with lamy's too and realized that my new moleskine plain notebook has a different quality paper than regular moleskine plain's, so it's not always the pen, or the ink, or the writer.

 

Apart from this, my pelikans required 2-3 flushing/inking sessions to start writing right away, so I would advise doing that, after enough flushing they become 100% starters.

 

Sometimes some inks don't agree with some pens, I've only had one ink that cold started with lamy's too, but I found 2-3 inks that don't like pelikans much, so pelikans are harder. I would also advise flushing the pen, leaving it to completely dry and filling it -- between ink changes. sometimes water messes with ink's properties.

 

I'm sure your Pelikan too will start writing right away after some use, cold starting at that width is really absurd, again in my opinion.

 

I was also interested in the IB M800 you bought, but I found it not italic but rather BB like, I really enjoy 1.1,1.5,1.9 nibs with lamy, It would be great if pelikan would manufacture a simple italic nib too.

[smcneely]

Thank you for this helpful reply. You mentioned you've found 2-3 inks that don't agree with Pelikans.

I'm wondering if you would kindly share what inks you've found that perform very well with Pelikans?

[Joker4Eva]

I'm now wondering if I should try getting a IB for the M805 or a customized Binder ItaliFine.

I want an italic nib, but I'm not sure if I should install it on a M200 or a M805. The reason why I got a M200 was for that ItaliFine nib, but the M805 that my parents got me for my birthday has a girth which makes me write a little small, hence making me think it's a good idea to have an IB nib on it.

Can't really decide. :bonk: