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I recently spent a few hours working on my good ole' ebonite Noodlers Konrad. I hadn't used this pen for quite a while and wanted to spice things up a bit. The changes I made (and highly recommend) are as follows: 1) the "easy my flex" mod, were you grind a portion off the sides of the nib as seen in the picture. 2) I doubled the depth/width of the feed channel, which managed to eliminate almost all railroading except on very aggressive downstrokes. and 3) I reground the tip to an XXXF needlepoint. I don't know how to measure the actual degree of fineness I achieved with this grind, but ill tell you it is so sharp that I may just use it to sew some new underpants. I don't by any means consider myself an experienced nib-alter-er-er, but it wasn't too difficult to shave the sides and smooth the tip with 8000, 12000 and 16000 grit polishing sandpaper. Anyways, here are some pictures of my work (and first attempt calligraphy); please comment if you have any questions, suggestions or have tried the same thing during your nib-related adventures. Enjoy.

On a lark, I picked up an interesting PILOT pen. It's some kind of micro rollerball, probably equivalent to 0.3mm or 0.5mm. PILOT made these as a series of technical pens, as an alternative to using an <XF> nib fountain pen or a stylograph. PILOT discontinued the Hi-Tecpoint line, but they did "refresh" it with their "Precise" line with V5 and V7 pen refills (0.5mm and 0.7mm respectively). Anyway, while PILOT had made disposable pens that use these refill tips (incorporated into plastic bodies), there were also high quality stainless steel examples. I even saw a sterling silver one as well. What makes these rather exceptional is the tip of the pen. It has it's own "trap door" mechanism. I was able to observe this by rotating the mechanism and observing the opening end closing/opening. VERY cool! It would go a long way to help protect a refill from drying out. Also, when you install the refill, it is secured in place with a finely machined metal screw cap that "seals" it in. That must also provide some resistance to drying out. The only caveat is... PILOT says that they no longer make the refills for this! Thankfully the example I bought came with a refill, tucked underneath the red velvet lined plastic tray in the case, still sealed. It is marked LH-25EF. The model number of this pen is LHT-300S. I contacted PILOT corporation and they do not have an equivalent replacement. I'm very dismayed by this... given how terrific the quality. Now I've come to discover that sometimes there are refills that are discontinued, but because often there are plastic bits involved in the refill cartridge, it is sometimes possible to modify it to fit. I have done this a number of times with other pens. However, I don't have anything that resembles the refill requirement for this pen. And naturally, I'd prefer to use a needlepoint refill... installing a standard ballpoint would be a bit pointless (no pun intended). I'll take some photos of the refill packaging and refill itself with measurements, in case it helps. Does anyone here have any experience with PILOT Hi-Tecpoint pens and know of a possible refill replacement from another brand that might work, even if it requires some modifications?

Greetings, It has been a while since I have posted. While I have many pens the focus of my collection is vintage Waterman pens. In particular, I focus on pens with flexible nibs. A few years ago I picked up a Waterman Artist Pen (Model 751) from the Fountain Pen Hospital. I can't remember if it was advertised as "New Old Stock" but it appeared to be brand new. Recently I was looking for more information about it. Having not found much at all, I decide to post my observations from the limited information that seems to be available. If anyone else has any experience with these pens, please feel free to share, as I am curious to find out whether or not my observations are accurate. As you probably know, much like the Pink nib, and the Black nib, the Artist nib has reached mythical status. Over the years there have been posts describing the writing qualities of the Artist nib. They are alleged to be the ultimate "wet noodle" with amazingly soft flexibility and the most delicate hairlines. Furthermore, one of the trends I have noticed is that many of the Waterman nibs that are called "artist" nibs, have unusually long tines. Generally, the long-tined flexible pens do indeed have incredible writing capabilities. While long-tined, ultra-flexible nibs exist, I am not so certain that these had anything to do with being examples of Waterman "artist" nibs. When it comes to the actual pen marketed by Waterman as having an Artist nib, I can only find a few photographs and mentions on the Internet. However, based on the little information I have found, the three examples of legitimate "Artist Pens" seem to have very similarly shaped nibs, and none of them have long tines. If you check the links to two other posts, the nibs seem to have an almost identical shape to mine. However, whereas my pen is not very flexible at all, other examples of "official" artist pens with nearly identical nib shapes are in fact very flexible. https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/98222-watermans-late-hard-rubber-safety-with-artist-nib-box-and-eyedropper/ https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/220347-watermans-artist-pen-882/ As you can see in the photos above and in the examples I have linked ,the nibs seem to have a moderate length, but as it gets close to the tip the taper gets much sharper to form a needlepoint. This aligns well with the pen's documentation that claims it can write lines from "filament width to 1/32nd of an inch" or from hairlines to about .8mm. I initially purchased the pen hoping that it would live up to the legendary status of the "artist" nib. My example is semi-flexible. It feels moderately soft, but the tines only open up very slightly, from XXXF (maybe thinner) to approximately an F. However, the nib is about as smooth as one could hope for such a fine point and it has become one of my favorite pens. I do have a couple of other nibs that are not on Waterman Artist pens that have unusually long tines and have all of the wonderful properties that are typically associated with what is popularly known as an "artist " nib. However, I think perhaps due to a lack of information the times have caused two separate, distinct things to be conflated. Another observation I have from pens from Waterman's Safety / 52 lever filler era is that, generally speaking, nibs that are fine or smaller with round breather holes seem more likely to have excellent flexible writing properties. I doubt its from the breather hole alone. Perhaps the round breather hole on a fine nib indicates that it was manufactured as an artist nib. Finally, if a vintage Waterman nib has unusually long tines, there is a really good chance that it is going to be an amazingly flexible pen. I don't see pens with what I consider abnormally long tines often, but from my experience its the most reliable indicator of flexibility other than the pens that are labelled as such. So in parting I leave some pictures, a writing sample, and a question. It has been a while since I have used any of my fountain pens, so my handwriting with the Artist pen is very shaky. The lines would probably be even thinner if I was able to use it confidently, but right now I'm a bit rusty. Notice that my writing with both EF nibs is much smoother. Does anyone know what era the Waterman 751 was manufactured in? I believe they were from the 1930s but I'm not certain. As you can see from the picture, the clip is rather modern looking compared to a Waterman 52. The paperwork that came with the pen doesn't have a date:

Hi, last week a stunning Swan #2 tuned up nib arrived on a Swan L212/60 (late 1930s). It has a double pointed tipping: downside a F with good flex and on the top a real needlepoint! The L212 isn't restored yet, so I took a 6260 for a writing sample on A5 paper with 5mm squares: Some details of the nib and tipping: I haven't seen such a nib before, it seems to be a lucky find... Best Jens

As I'm new to the world of fountain pens, I probably have different expectations than more experienced fountain pen users. I want a fountain pen that writes as thin as a Pilot Hi-tecpoint V5 RT. What shall I aim for? I guess a Lamy EF nib will be too broad (I have an AL-star with a F-nib as my first fountain pen). Any Asian pen that will fit my expectations? Budget: ~US$50

I write very small, so I've concluded that needlepoint nibs best fit my writing style. I am always looking for a needlepoint stainless steel EF nib, as Gold Nibs have too much time spread which gives line variation. The penmanship, Pilot's Steel EF nib, is very good for my tastes; the problem, though, is the stock nibs are always scratchy and need tuning (even after the break-in period). I was really hoping that a Sailor EF nib would be as fine if not finer than Pilot's EF. Alas, was I disappointed...! Are Sailor EF nibs like Pilot F nibs? I've always heard, even from nibmeisters, that sailor runs FINER than Pilot, so why is this sailor EF so broad? The ink is the Sailor Cartridge Black, and the Pilot has a mixture of AsaGao and KonPeki. And yes I have verified on the side of the Sailor Nib that it says "E F." I ordered it from Japan, so it would cost half the price of the pen to return it, so that's not an option. Does anyone know someone who won't charge the price of the pen($40) to tune it? On an honest note, this Sailor Nib is supremely smooth and nice to write with, I must give it that . TL;DR: QUESTION: is this normal for a Sailor EF nib? My only guess is this isn't a genuine sailor product?

So, I just bought this cool little pen with a cool little needlepoint for sketching and tiny twee notes. It's a dry writer and Michael Masuyama is no joke--it really is a foine nib--so I'm a little perplexed as to ink. The included cartridge is a pretty blue but the ink sometimes looks well-nigh invisible since the line is so very thin! I don't want to abuse this precious nib, so any ideas for a dark, possibly black ink that will show up and flow well, yet maintain the delicacy of the line? Thanks!