Nakaya Piccolo In Shu With A 0.7 Mm Ci Nib

[dms525]

My Nakaya Decapod in Heki-tamenuri and my Naka-ai in Aka-tamenuri are beautiful to look at and a delight to write with. They have just one little problem: They don’t work really well as everyday carries. I carry my pens in a shirt breast pocket, and many of my shirt pockets are shallow enough that my Nakayas stick way up out of them. This may be an imaginary problem, but it makes me concerned about their security.

I’d been thinking about getting a Nakaya Piccolo for a while. I was sure it would fit securely in my shirt pockets, but I thought it might be too short to be comfortable writing. I had held one briefly at the San Francisco Pen Show in 2012, and I remembered it seeming borderline too small for my hand. But then … See, I knew I wanted to get another Naka-ai, one in unpolished Shu. So, wandering the CFP web site in the process of ordering the Naka-ai, looking at other finishes and other models, I came across photos of a Piccolo in polished Shu. It’s funny how some combinations of shape and finish seem just perfect. Well, that’s how it was with the Piccolo in Shu. I ordered one with a BB nib and had John grind it to a 0.7 mm crisp cursive italic, my preferred everyday writing nib.

There are many reviews of the Nakaya Piccolo on FPN, although none of one in Shu that I found. I have nothing to add on the objective side. Subjectively, the pen is more handsome in person than in the photos, and the size works for me better than expected, both in the pocket and in the hand. But enough of that. Here are some photos:

I'm lovin' it!

David

[mbankirer]

Congrats! Beautiful pen and nice writing, too!

[GardenWeasel]

Oh my! Gorgeous pen(s)... And the need for a shirt pocket pen is the perfect "need"! The Piccolo is moving up my "need" list after your pics!!

[Pennata Penna]

David, I'm impressed. Congratulations, and thanks for sharing.

 

Tony

[Earthdawn]

Beautiful!

 

Big congrats from the east.

 

I want a piccolo so bad but the fear of it being too small for my gorilla hands has held me back.

 

David when you get a chance can you take a shot of the Piccolo and Naka-ai side bye side with the nib tips even. I'd really like to get a better idea of how much shorter it is from the Naka-ai.

 

Again, big ol' congrats... she is a stunner and that custom nib looks like its ready to last a lifetime.

 

PS.. your right too about how some models just look better in certain finishes.

[dms525]

Oh my! Gorgeous pen(s)... And the need for a shirt pocket pen is the perfect "need"! The Piccolo is moving up my "need" list after your pics!!

 

I am always happy to enable assist other pen fanatics users to rationalize make their purchase decisions.

 

David

[dms525]

Beautiful!

 

Big congrats from the east.

 

I want a piccolo so bad but the fear of it being too small for my gorilla hands has held me back.

 

David when you get a chance can you take a shot of the Piccolo and Naka-ai side bye side with the nib tips even. I'd really like to get a better idea of how much shorter it is from the Naka-ai.

 

Again, big ol' congrats... she is a stunner and that custom nib looks like its ready to last a lifetime.

 

PS.. your right too about how some models just look better in certain finishes.

 

Thanks for the congratulations!

 

I can provide the photo you requested, but it will have to wait a couple weeks. My Naka-ai is put away while we are traveling. However, note that the Naka-ai and the Decapod are pretty close in length. (See the Piccolo/Decapod photo, above.)

 

The Piccolo is by quite a bit (1/4 inch?) the shortest pen un-posted I have, other than a Stipula Passeporto. For writing comfort, a Pelikan M800 is my ideal. Yet, the Piccolo is surprisingly comfortable to write with.

 

David

Edited January 5, 2014 by dms525

[Earthdawn]

Much appreciated ...

 

 

By the way, NICE handwriting !

[dms525]

Thanks, Earthdawn, for your kind words.

 

I hope these photos help ....

 

 

 

David

[Earthdawn]

David that helped tremendously!

 

I was able to open up the pic and enlarge it so the 146 that I have matched the size of yours on my screen and give me a really really close size approximation of what the Piccolo would be like!

 

My fears of it being to small me be true as it was very close to the web of my hand where it may catch when writing.... grrrrr

 

Though the section looks a little wider on the Piccolo then on the 146 ?

 

Thank you for that!

[dms525]

David that helped tremendously!

 

I was able to open up the pic and enlarge it so the 146 that I have matched the size of yours on my screen and give me a really really close size approximation of what the Piccolo would be like!

 

My fears of it being to small me be true as it was very close to the web of my hand where it may catch when writing.... grrrrr

 

Though the section looks a little wider on the Piccolo then on the 146 ?

 

Thank you for that!

 

Out with the calipers .....

 

Yup. You're correct.

 

Geez! It's been a long time since my eyes were good enough to see a 0.003 mm difference in diameter!

 

In other words, the thicknesses of the 146 and Piccolo sections are virtually identical. You might also be interested to know that the barrel diameter of the Piccolo is actually the same as the Naka-ai and very slightly greater than that of an M800.

 

David

[ethernautrix]

Beautiful Piccolo, David!

 

While I love the Desk Pen and Naka-ai, the Piccolo remains my favorite Nakaya model. My unpolished shu Piccolo Cigar is my favorite Favorite Pen.

 

I don't have gorilla hands, but I still felt a tad bit of "off" for a while when using my first Piccolo. That feeling went away without my noticing it. I don't know if others will experience the same.

[dms525]

Beautiful Piccolo, David!

 

While I love the Desk Pen and Naka-ai, the Piccolo remains my favorite Nakaya model. My unpolished shu Piccolo Cigar is my favorite Favorite Pen.

 

I don't have gorilla hands, but I still felt a tad bit of "off" for a while when using my first Piccolo. That feeling went away without my noticing it. I don't know if others will experience the same.

 

Thanks, ether!

 

I found the same thing. It took about 10 seconds for the "off" feeling to go away.

 

David

[conib]

David, thank you so much for this thread. It is great to be able to see all this information in one place, and with photos. Especially unusual and informative is the close-up of your hand holding the pen on the Rhodia dotpad, with a view of your writing.

 

Can you tell me which ink you're using?

 

Also, does Mottishaw spec the Nakaya BB width for grinding into a 0.7mm cursive italic (i.e. does he need the BB width to create a 0.7 CI for a Nakaya), or was that done on your special request?

 

-- Constance

 

[da vinci]

Thanks for this informative thread and pictures. Love hearing about a plan coming together

[dms525]

David, thank you so much for this thread. It is great to be able to see all this information in one place, and with photos. Especially unusual and informative is the close-up of your hand holding the pen on the Rhodia dotpad, with a view of your writing.

 

Can you tell me which ink you're using?

 

Also, does Mottishaw spec the Nakaya BB width for grinding into a 0.7mm cursive italic (i.e. does he need the BB width to create a 0.7 CI for a Nakaya), or was that done on your special request?

 

-- Constance

 

 

Hi, Constance.

 

I'm happy you found my "review" useful.

 

The writing in the photos was actually done with several pens and inks. The Piccolo is loaded with Shaeffer's Black. I'm probably going to try a drier ink though, hoping to get a crisper line differentiation.

 

For a cursive italic grind writing a 0.7 mm line, John uses a Nakaya BB nib. Of course, Japanese nibs run narrower than European nibs of the same rating. Also, I have found John to prefer wider nibs to grind to a CI of any given width than some other equally gifted nibmeisters.

 

Happy writing!

 

David

[sarahfar]

Yep, great pen and review. I love the color.....

[KarloT]

Beautiful Piccolo, David!

 

While I love the Desk Pen and Naka-ai, the Piccolo remains my favorite Nakaya model. My unpolished shu Piccolo Cigar is my favorite Favorite Pen.

 

I don't have gorilla hands, but I still felt a tad bit of "off" for a while when using my first Piccolo. That feeling went away without my noticing it. I don't know if others will experience the same.

 

The Piccolo was the hardest Nakaya size for me to adjust to. I don't own one (yet) but after playing with a few regularly at pen meets, it has become comfortable to use.

 

David, thank you so much for this thread. It is great to be able to see all this information in one place, and with photos. Especially unusual and informative is the close-up of your hand holding the pen on the Rhodia dotpad, with a view of your writing.

 

Can you tell me which ink you're using?

 

Also, does Mottishaw spec the Nakaya BB width for grinding into a 0.7mm cursive italic (i.e. does he need the BB width to create a 0.7 CI for a Nakaya), or was that done on your special request?

 

-- Constance

 

 

I once had a 0.6mm Mottishaw stub on my Naka-Ai. John used a B nib for that grind, but for the 0.8mm CI that replaced that stub, he chose to begin from a BB. I think he prefers to have a bit more leeway or material to work with. Hence, his use of the larger nib size.

 

I've tried the work of several American nibmeisters and while all of them were good, I ended up favouring John's expression of a cursive italic.

[conib]

I once had a 0.6mm Mottishaw stub on my Naka-Ai. John used a B nib for that grind, but for the 0.8mm CI that replaced that stub, he chose to begin from a BB. I think he prefers to have a bit more leeway or material to work with. Hence, his use of the larger nib size.

 

I've tried the work of several American nibmeisters and while all of them were good, I ended up favouring John's expression of a cursive italic.

 

It makes sense to me that if you start with a wider nib, you'd have the opportunity to leave behind more of the iridium after the grind is complete. (And I'd prefer as much iridium left on the tip as possible -- the nib would wear better.)

 

Karlo, can you describe the characteristic(s) of the Mottishaw CI that makes you favor it above other nibmeisters' CIs?

 

-- Constance

[Siv]

Forget the pen... your writing is beautiful!