Pilot Vanishing Point Extra Fine Nib

[whitelily]

When I ordered my two decimos, they came with F nibs from Japan (made for the Asian market, and not the Western market), and that nib was more like a XF by Western standards (putting down a fine line that looks like the one you made with your XF nib). The F nib I ordered in my Vanishing Point (nib for Western market), however, was a lot closer to most F nibs I´ve seen (however, on the fine side).

 

Thank you for sharing with us! :-)

[drwright]

When I ordered my two decimos, they came with F nibs from Japan (made for the Asian market, and not the Western market), and that nib was more like a XF by Western standards (putting down a fine line that looks like the one you made with your XF nib). The F nib I ordered in my Vanishing Point (nib for Western market), however, was a lot closer to most F nibs I´ve seen (however, on the fine side).

 

Thank you for sharing with us! :-)

 

My experience is similar. My Decimo F nib is much more like an XF, especially when compared to my VP F, which is broader than the Decimo(though close to a Lamy or TWSBI XF nib). Interestingly, the Decimo nib is smoother than the VP nib.

 

I wonder if this is a common occurrence- Decimo nibs being generally finer than their VP counterparts? Anyone else with both care to weigh in? I would imagine this is just simple nib variation, since the Decimo and VP nibs are the same, but perhaps it's intentional on Pilot's part?

 

Best,

Dan

[hashish81]

Does any one know how the VP EF compare to a Lamy EF? I have a VP Medium and it's too wide for me. I love my Lamy Safari EF, but pen is too light in my hand. I like the feel of the VP. I am considering buying an EF nib, just looking for some advice. Regards.

 

The Pilot VP extra-fine are going to me finer than the Lamy extra -fine cause Japanese nibs in general are finer than most German nibs although Pilots medium is closer to a Lamy medium but there fine and extra fine are much finer than Lamy's. If you like your Lamy extra-fine than get a VP fine but if you want it a little finer then go for the extra-fine. You can get a visual look here http://www.gouletpens.com/Nib_Nook_s/1114.htm.

 

Thanks for the advice. When I first bought my Lamy EF, I thought that was too thick and wanted to go thinner. Then I got my medium VP (in an effort to learn to write larger) and the Lamy EF became a relief. Since I do mark up a lot docs and write small (as Audit points out) I think I am going to go for the the EF.

 

(I wish I had enough posts to put my medium VP in the classifieds section to fund the EF, in time I guess)

[tomkeb]

Does anybody here have VP <EF> and/or <F> and Prera/Metropolitan <F>? I would like to know how these compare…

[oknrabata]

There you go: Pilot VP ef and Prera f

[inotrym]

Thanks for the pic. I' ve been wondering myself.

 

Interesting results.

Did you use the same ink? VP must be a lot wetter, but the line width seems to be of no big difference.

 

 

Now how about a comparison with the Penmanship EF nib?

(i know i am asking for too much... )

[oknrabata]

It's the same ink - Pelikan blue-black (My standard testing ink, as is it so cheap in Germany. I never write with it though).

 

There is a little difference in width but not that much. I personally would stick with the prera because the nib is much smoother (though drier) on mine. Although my VP was bought from Richard Binder I find it a litte too scratchy for fast writing.

 

Sorry but I don't have that other pen

[inotrym]

Oh, never mind. Thank you so much for your answer!

[tomkeb]

Thanks for the comparison! Just one more question: how would you measure the two nibs in terms of writing?

Edited June 10, 2013 by tomkeb

[meilinpo]

I tragically broke, and replaced, my VP Decimo nib. I'd heard that VP nibs weren't well standardized; both the original and the replacement were, presumably, size F, but the new nib writes broader than the broken one had, and I miss the former fineness of the fine line. But I'm afraid to try an EF, since my hand may not be all that light.

Edited June 19, 2015 by meilinpo

[mr.derek]

Hi meilinpo, I'm new to these forums, but I've recently purchased the VP F and VP EF. While the VP Fine writes smooth as silk and without skipping or scratching, the VP EF I've had some teething problems. It seemed to write a little scratchy. I have the Pilot Custom Heritage Posting Nib and the Pilot Falcon SEF and the line width of the VPEF is somewhere in between those. Both of those pens write much more smoothly than the VP EF though - it makes an audible sound at irregular parts of the stroke.

 

I took it to my local nib-smith and after inspection she reassured me the tines were completely aligned.

 

So I was a bit stumped and almost ready to give up on the nib, but I went home and had a look myself under a magnifying loupe, and to my eye it seemed that the tines were pressed together quite tight - so when I dragged the nib right to left, one of the tines was vibrating against the other making the sound. It wouldn't happen when going left to right or up/down. I think this may be due to the fact the left tine in the my VP nibs seems to be ever so slightly thinner than the right tine. That could be a fluke in my nibs though.

 

So to fix this I incrementally added pressure when drawing some lines until the scratchiness subsided to my preference. It's still slightly there mind you, but if I pushed the nib any further I fear the line width would be too wide for what this nib is: EF. The flow of the pen has improved greatly and I have tested with a lighter ink, Kon Peki - the tone is relatively dark compared to before, and it is consistent. Looking through the loupe once more and the feed is now completely parallel with no tightening at the nib point.

 

TL;DR I have had problems with VP EF nib, but was able to mostly resolve by widening the tines with increased flex pressure. Just a warning about this nib, since all my other Pilot nibs have been faultless.

[dcaesq]

I'm still trying to figure out what I think of this nib. It is, to be sure, amazingly fine. I don't think I've seen a line this fine outside of my Uniball .38 gel pen. It is a bit scratchy, which I wasn't expecting, and that seems to be a function of it being at EF. It isn't HORRIBLY scratchy, just a bit, and writes far scratchier than my Hero 100, which has almost as fine a line. It is very different than any of my Pelikan EFs. Have to play with it a bit more to decide whether I like it.

[Donald2]

I own 4 VP. Two fine and two extra fine. I haven't used mine yet. I need to ink them up.