The Ef Pilot Knight

September 29, 2014

My quest for teeny tiny writing in a comfortable to use pen has finally been reached with the successful assembly of a Pilot Knight with a Japanese EF nib.

Steps:
1. Buy a Pilot Knight (Pen Chalet has them for like $24 right now, but only in M nib)
2. Buy a Pilot Penmanship EF (Got mine from Jetpens for $8)
3. remove the nib/feed from the Penmanship and the Knight (they're both friction fit so its just a twist and pull thing
4(?) swap the nibs to the different feeds (not sure if this step was necessary, the feeds look virtually identical, but I did it to be safe)
5. slide those nib/feeds into their respective pens.

I've heard of people doing this with Pilot Metros before as a way to get different nib sizes that they don't come with by default. Fortunately the same process works with the older Pilot Knights.

About the Pens:
I love my Pilot Knight, which has become one of my top EDC pens, and I didn't want to risk damaging it with this process, so I bought a second Knight to nib swap.

I really liked the EF writing on the Penmanship, but the pen itself sucks. Cheap plastic, too light, weird tiny cap that's inexplicably postable, no clip for my shirt pocket. It's a sub-$10 pen and it feels like it.

Now, I have the best of both worlds, with the comfortable, heavy metal Knight and the tiny EF Japan nib. Here's a writing sample with a few pens for comparison. Writing is on a Kokuyo B80 with 6 mm lines

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September 29, 2014

FWIW: Uniball Signo 0.38 roller ball.
I know they make finer ones but this one passed my point of ouch!

October 6, 2014

I have this swap on a Prera and a Metro, and I love the nib. However, if you want one of the & thinnest stock nibs out there, try the Pilot Custom Heritage 912 with the POSTING(PO) nib. It's finer than a Pilot EF. Pilot's posting nib is pretty fine and draws a clean line, and it's never given me a single problem (though I've only used it for a few weeks so far). I know Sailor makes a sabitogi nib, but I think it's been discontinued. Try a PO !

If you can't justify it's purchase, see it as buying a cheap piece jewelry that'll actually do more than be appealing to the eyes.

Beeeaauuutiful pen and nib, look up reviews!