Pilot Custom Heritage 91 Extra Fine

[menganito]

Hello everyone,

I got a few months ago a Pilot CH 91 with an extra fine nib. I have been using the pilot blue ink in cartridge and I want to know if some of you with this nib EF have the same issues as I have. I understand that extra fine nib will be on a scratchy/ toothy side, I dont know exactly how one would define it. But I think may be something wrong. I guess it has a small sweet spot and outside of it it doesn't write very well. And aside when I write the ascending strokes, loops of the l, f, etc (I write in cursive) the line is barely not visible, not consistent, like skipping. Sorry, I dont have the pen with me right now and I can't provide writing samples.

 

Would it improve with a different ink? Which ink have you used with extra fine nibs, getting good results?

Would it improve with a nib work? Something not harmful that I could try?

How would you describe your pilot extra fine?

 

Thank you very much for taking the time to read it.

[Notgatherox]

Did you check the tines of your nib with a loupe? It might be misalignment of your tines. Check to see if you have a tine higher/lower than the other one.

 

For an extra fine nib, you'll want something wet so more ink will flow onto the paper. Consider Private Reserve and Diamine inks.

 

 

~Epic

[menganito]

  On 9/23/2015 at 12:19 PM, Lord Epic said:

Did you check the tines of your nib with a loupe? It might be misalignment of your tines. Check to see if you have a tine higher/lower than the other one.

 

For an extra fine nib, you'll want something wet so more ink will flow onto the paper. Consider Private Reserve and Diamine inks.

 

 

~Epic

I checked a little after I got it. And I think they were ok. But I will check it again. And I will try with Diamine twilight.

Thanks

 

EDIT: I have checked again with the loupe and I can't see anything wrong. But I am not expert.

The nib and feeder can be extracted easily?

Edited September 23, 2015 by menganito

[Bounce792]

Very easily. Japanese pens are friction fit and generally have a guiding border (best way I know to describe it) which makes it impossible to seat the nib incorrectly.

 

I was told by my B&M shop (before they closed down) that a lot of the Pilot nibs need to be used for 2 weeks to be "broken in" to work properly. If there are problems persisting beyond the two weeks, then I should see them. So I would suggest that you consider sending it to a professional nibmeister if you're uncomfortable working on the ink flow yourself.

 

My CH 91 and 912 were great out of the box but my CH 92 required a lot of patience to get working properly.

[menganito]

  On 9/23/2015 at 2:25 PM, Bounce792 said:

Very easily. Japanese pens are friction fit and generally have a guiding border (best way I know to describe it) which makes it impossible to seat the nib incorrectly.

 

I was told by my B&M shop (before they closed down) that a lot of the Pilot nibs need to be used for 2 weeks to be "broken in" to work properly. If there are problems persisting beyond the two weeks, then I should see them. So I would suggest that you consider sending it to a professional nibmeister if you're uncomfortable working on the ink flow yourself.

 

My CH 91 and 912 were great out of the box but my CH 92 required a lot of patience to get working properly.

Thank you very much for your feedback. The fact is that I haven't used that much because of this issue. So I will try to give more use and see if it improves. If it is not the case I will take it to a local shop.

[Jean_Chonot]

I hope that since then the problem has disappeared. However, I encountered this same problem with several Pilot. There are therefore failures, in particular cursive writing, with letters like b, d, f, k, l, y, z ... For some the phenomenon disappears after a while. For others it becomes a point of fixation and frustration because it occurs even using really wet inks.

 

This usually comes (and it's common with Pilot) from factory grease residues. A good cleaning of the pen and especially a good bath for the feeder and the converter in a solution of 9 volumes of water for a volume of ammonia solves the problem immediately.

On the ten Pilot's in my possession, I have never encountered a single nib alignment problem. Except when I once mistreated the pen of my falcon by pressing really hard on it. This could happen even more with an EF pen because we would tend to press harder. (this is the case with my PO). In the latter, it is not necessarily a problem of alignment of the tines in the vertical direction even a problem of spacing between the tines. Combined with a bad flow, too much pressure on one of the edges related to the rotation of the pen (the right being more flexible in Pilot) could well accentuate the phenomenon.

Hopefully this will help someone with the same problem.

[Inkling13]

I would grasp the nib and feed and pull it out gently but firmly. You may need to wash in warm soapy water or send it through an ultrasonic cleaner with some soap for a good cleaning. Sometimes a bit of manufacturing residue and cutting oil will be left from nib processing that can cause your pen not to write so well right out of the box.

[Pensei]

I would suggest trying different inks until one works. If that does not do it, you may have a problem. Also, and I'm sure you know this, I find that the #5 XF nib works best when applied to the paper with a very light touch. And the smoother the paper, the better.

[senzen]

My one japanese extra fine, a Pilot Penmanship, does have a small sweet spot, I need to rotate the nib a little in the section to find it after disassembling it for cleaning, which wouldn't be necessary with a round grip; I also bent it slightly upwards, but I would expect the 91 to have a better nib, although I haven't tried it.

 

I liked how Ajisai looked but it was barely legible, Perle Noire flows well and looks better. At its sweet spot it requires no pressure, with a tiny bit the line comes off darker. It's still a needlepoint, you might be happier with a japanese fine nib.