Pilot #5 Nib In Metropolitan

[parnesh]

Is is possible to put a #5 gold nib into a pilot Metropolitan/MR? Has anyone tried?

[parnesh]

seems like no one has tried this? Are the sections swappable between a custom 74/91 and a MR?

[Bill Wood]

I'm interested too. Even though I have not a Metro in my collection - I hear some great things. It would be a bit of a hack. The question is how to get the nib out of a Metro first - then retro fit your new nib. I can see what you're trying to do. Rather than swapping the section - I would see if your nib would fit on a Metro feed and take it from there. How does the Metro write by the way?

[WirsPlm]

Getting the nib out of the Metro is very easy (it's a simple friction fit). If the section comes out with the nib just put the new nib on the old section and push them back in (if the nib is compatible).

 

I've always gotten the impression that the higher end Pilot nibs and the lower end Pilot nibs aren't compatible, but that may simply be because no one wants to buy an expensive pen and pull the nib out (I don't think Pilot sells replacement nibs).

[parnesh]

I'm interested too. Even though I have not a Metro in my collection - I hear some great things. It would be a bit of a hack. The question is how to get the nib out of a Metro first - then retro fit your new nib. I can see what you're trying to do. Rather than swapping the section - I would see if your nib would fit on a Metro feed and take it from there. How does the Metro write by the way?

 

The metro is great for the money (I paid < 15 for mine) and has become my default starter pen recommendation over the safari. The nibs are the same as the prera so the nib quality is top notch and being metal, they can take a pounding. My only issue is the stiff nib and the fact that you can't fit a Con-70 in one.

 

I don't have a pen with a number #5 nib so I can't try this and I don't want to buy a pen with a #5 nib just for the experiment. Also I wanted to do this so that I can have an nice note taking pen but I have been using a VP and I think I prefer the VP for note taking.

[inotrym]

You want to fit a gold nib as in material or in color?

 

The latter is pretty easy with a Pilot 78G..

(no idea about the first)

[parnesh]

You want to fit a gold nib as in material or in color?

 

The latter is pretty easy with a Pilot 78G..

(no idea about the first)

 

Gold nib as in material.

[shantahan]

I happened to search and find this topic as I was interested myself, and wanted to see if it was possible before I tried it on my own. I wanted to avoid wear on my Custom 91 body, but use the gold nib.

 

As there's no quick answer, I tried it myself:

 

Pilot Custom 91 with #5 EF 14kt nib

Pilot Metropolitan with F steel nib

 

Results:

No, you cannot put a #5 nib into a Metropolitan.

 

Other findings:

Sections:

The sections are themselves compatible. They screw into each others' pen bodies just fine.

Custom 91 section in a Metropolitan body - while the section screws in, the cap doesn't fit as the section is too wide. Unfortunate.

Metropolitan section in a Custom 91 body - this is totally fine.

 

Section+nib lengths are very similar, my guess only 1-2 mm difference, so the nibs should not hit the tops of caps.

 

Feed + Nib

Removing the feed + nibs and treating them as a unit, I tried:

#5 nib and feed into Metropolitan section - while the feed actually fits in the hole, it doesn't have the right length (a bit too long) and doesn't friction stop so it remains loose and not snapped in. No good.

 

Nib only

I tried to put the #5 nib into the Metropolitan feed, but the curvature is off and the #5 nib will not hug the Metropolitan feed well. No good.

 

By now, my fingers got pretty inky and I didn't really have an interest in putting the Metropolitan nibs into the Custom 91, so I didn't try Metropolitan feed+nib in the Custom 91 section (anyway, the whole Metropolitan section fits in a Custom 91, so just do that).

 

Hope this helps anyone else with this question!