The Namiki/Pilot Vanishing Point

[Centurion]

Hi all...

why is the Namiki Vanishing Point well liked by many ?

 

Besides its unique push-button mechanism, is there something else that justifies its popularity ?

 

Curious...

 

or is it just all hype ?

 

IME, the Namiki VP is excellent for when you need one-handed operation (when I used paper shopping lists, it was the only proper pen (FP) that was convenient in the supermarket), and it is an excellent travelling pen.

 

For the rest, it is a good FP for not much money, and its only real drawback is the clip position. Not my favourite pen, probably shouldn't be most people's only pen, but a serious pen with unique convenience aspects.

 

Best

 

Michael

Michael, so nicely put I had to just second what you said.

[pvdiamon]

I learned something new today about my VP. I have been using the fine nib, and it seemed to write extremely fine, and somewhat dry. By accident, I held it at a greater angle (more towards the horizontal) and the flow improved. Fountain pens seem to "like" a smaller angle (relative to the horizontal) than I am used to with ball point. I thought the nib was rather scratchy, but really isn't so at this new angle.

 

I have to agree the biggest annoyance is knowing the ink level.

 

John

[Michael Wright]

Fountain pens seem to "like" a smaller angle (relative to the horizontal) than I am used to with ball point. I thought the nib was rather scratchy, but really isn't so at this new angle.

 

Absolutely. A rough starting point for an FP is 45 degrees. Having been brought up on FPs, I still find that I hold a BP too near the horizontal, when I have to use one, so I sometimes scrape the ferule, rather than writing successfully.

 

You will probably also discover that FPs are happy with much less pressure than a BP -- which is one of their chief advantages, as you can write with less fatigue.

 

Enjoy

 

Michael

[JeffTL]

Fountain pens seem to "like" a smaller angle (relative to the horizontal) than I am used to with ball point. I thought the nib was rather scratchy, but really isn't so at this new angle.

 

Absolutely. A rough starting point for an FP is 45 degrees. Having been brought up on FPs, I still find that I hold a BP too near the horizontal, when I have to use one, so I sometimes scrape the ferule, rather than writing successfully.

 

You will probably also discover that FPs are happy with much less pressure than a BP -- which is one of their chief advantages, as you can write with less fatigue.

 

Enjoy

 

Michael

I was brought up on ballpoints and pencils, but switched almost entirely to fountain pens in recent times; it turns out my writing discomfort was largely caused by ballpoint issues. Bad news is that when I am caught without a pen and need to borrow a ballpoint, I have to remember how to use it, often after some ferrule scraping instead of what should be a well-executed signature.

[Yuri]

Yesterday I got VP (black, GT) as a birthday present, so I can welcome myself

to the VP club.

 

I read about this pen for a while on this forum and now I can check it for myself. I would say that everything said here is true. I found it comfortable to use after day of usage. It is heavy, but it's weight distribution makes it well balanced and pretty convenient. I was worried about all this, but not now. And even the clip--does not bother me at all! I like that sturdy feeling, build like a tank and one can use it with confidence--it will not easyly break mechanically. Even if nib is damanged it's very cheap to replace it. Most gravitational thing toward VP is instant access--just "click and write"

 

I have fine point nib and I like thin line it gives, besides smoothness is great.

I loaded cartride (Namiki ink?) which came with this pen and sure VP is dry writer. Relative dryness is only disadvantage I discovered so far.

 

Anybody tried to increase ink flow in this pen?

Does using better flowing ink like PR Tanzanite help noticebly?

[Apollo]

I haven't tried the Namiki ink cartridge on mine, but I've used PR American Blue on my VP with good results.

[Guest Denis Richard]

Hi Yuri,

 

I would try first to clean the pen by filling and flushing it several times with a slightly saopy solution (a very small drop of disk detergent in a glass of water). It should improve the flow.

 

Denis.

[KCat]

i wasn't very happy with the pilot/namiki ink. it's okay, just not spectacular. have a Levenger ink in one, Noodler's in another and find the feel and flow to be much nicer.

[southpaw]

I've got WM Blue-Black in mine and it works very well (in both F and M nibs).

[Yuri]

Ok, I removed the catridge, cleaned with clear water, flashed with soapy water and put back the cartridge, still not much lack. Did the procedure again and loaded converter with PR American Blue and the same with Waterman Blue Black, still dry. Besides it does not write well on horizontal (left to right mostly), diagonal (from left bottom to right top) and vertical (from bottom to top). It is not even line, like at first it draws normal width line which is going to hair thin almost disappering, then... Similar if you write with the pen when the nib is upside down.

 

I figured that pen writes wetter when I rotate the pen little bit left, but still is not very consistent, besides I can not writer in such position regulary because of the clip.

 

Sounds like misaligned tines, but inspected it with my loupe, did not show evident badness, and it is not toothy. :bonk:

 

--Yuri

[Titivillus]

The Namiki Vanishing Point (VP) is the only fountain pen on the market with a retractable nib and a push-button mechanism.

I bought a pack of sharpie markers last week and they included a pushbutton version which has all of the pieces of a VP including the little trap door to keep the nib wet.

 

 

Kurt H

[woodwindmaster06]

Markers are not Fountain Pens!!

[Guest Denis Richard]

Markers are not Fountain Pens!!

I think Kurt is simply giving an information about the new sharpies' mechanism being very similar to the VP, not debunking the sentence he quoted...

[Titivillus]

Markers are not Fountain Pens!!

I was just commenting that the Sharpie has a pushbutton mechanism and retractable nib.

 

 

Not like I am an idiot that would confuse a marker with a fountain pen.

 

 

kurt h

[woodwindmaster06]

Okay the part I got confused about was the reference of a marker point as being the same as a nib, the marker tip is just like a cloth type with substance, where as a nib is triangular metal piece not at all alike, and then the feed and so on. Sorry if you took that as an insult. I have seen those and they do resemble vps just a cheaper version maybe even inspired by the VP??

[mikey4444]

I have recently bought a Pilot Capless, or a VP for our colonial friends. I own lots of fountain pens and I must say that I am very impressed with my Capless. I have always used broad nibs, and the Capless is perhaps a tad narrower than say a Parker, but I find it very good. A word of caution however....if you normaly use a Fine, than the Capless may be very fine indeed.

 

The construction of the Capless is very robust and it hasn't leaked yet. All in all a very nice pen, and ingenious with it.

 

May I recommend a very good source of pens if you live in the UK. Please try "CULT PENS" http://cultpens.com/index.html

 

I have used this company for 3 years and I can't praise them high enough. Their mail order is quite the quickest that I have ever used.

 

One last little hint. For sheer useability and good value, please try the Lamy Safari. I know its made of plastic but the nib is superb and it less than £15. Pound for pound I can't see that Lamy has any rivals !

 

Favourite fountain....my Parker 51 of course !

[mfwebb]

I have recently bought a Pilot Capless, or a VP for our colonial friends. I own lots of fountain pens and I must say that I am very impressed with my Capless. I have always used broad nibs, and the Capless is perhaps a tad narrower than say a Parker, but I find it very good. A word of caution however....if you normaly use a Fine, than the Capless may be very fine indeed.

 

The construction of the Capless is very robust and it hasn't leaked yet. All in all a very nice pen, and ingenious with it.

 

May I recommend a very good source of pens if you live in the UK. Please try "CULT PENS" http://cultpens.com/index.html

 

I have used this company for 3 years and I can't praise them high enough. Their mail order is quite the quickest that I have ever used.

 

One last little hint. For sheer useability and good value, please try the Lamy Safari. I know its made of plastic but the nib is superb and it less than £15. Pound for pound I can't see that Lamy has any rivals !

 

Favourite fountain....my Parker 51 of course !

 

Welcome to the Pilot Capless. I have 4 permanently inked and they are my every day writers. The medium nibs for me are much narrower than the Parkers I used for 30 years but the Capless medium suits me better now as my writing has changed.

 

I second your comments about Cult Pens.

 

My signature pen: Pelikan Souveran 800 with Broad Nib

[fpnuser]

Perhaps slightly off-topic, but I too have a Vanishing Point, but the Fermo version with twist-action retraction. I prefer this model as the section is slimmer, which suits me. I bought a LP purple version of the VP for my wife (actually it started off for me but I found the section too fat - though I've kept the cute purple leather box). She loves her VP despite her small hands. As for the nib, I find them smooth, though they are a little too flexible for my hard down-strokes, sometimes breaking the line.

[bonejure]

Fountain pens seem to "like" a smaller angle (relative to the horizontal) than I am used to with ball point. I thought the nib was rather scratchy, but really isn't so at this new angle.

 

Absolutely. A rough starting point for an FP is 45 degrees. Having been brought up on FPs, I still find that I hold a BP too near the horizontal, when I have to use one, so I sometimes scrape the ferule, rather than writing successfully.

 

You will probably also discover that FPs are happy with much less pressure than a BP -- which is one of their chief advantages, as you can write with less fatigue.

 

Enjoy

 

Michael

 

I totally agree with you Michael. Some fountain pens skate over the surface with grace if they're properly held and sliding on good grease (ink). I found that since I've gone back to using fountain pens exclusively, my handwriting is more legible and I'm having a lot of fun writing instead of "churning it out".

I'd liken writing with a ballpoint pen like riding a unicycle - a precarious situation to say the least.......

 

Enjoy your Namiki !

[alexander_k]

Maybe I missed it in previous posts but one minor problem with VPs is the low capacity of the converters (as well as the limited visibility of their contents mentioned above). Otherwise they're excellent pens. Aesthetics and ergonomics are generally matters of preference but most users seems to agree on quality and performance.