Pilot Metropolitan

[tamiya]

That pen case looks good to protect pens while traveling.

No, that case is chunky enough to survive being ejected from a jumbojet at 30,000ft

 

It's totally inefficient, has equivalent volume of ~6-8 pens yet it's max capacity is 3.

 

The clip is very hard to disengage and the slide is stiff... if you're not careful when inexperienced, you can fling out the drawer and your pen (held only by friction of elastic) goes flying away like a tossed dagger.

 

Metros I got from US & Japan previously came in a very nice flip-top black tin pencil case, some even had viewing window on lid. These were beautiful & most useful postSale.

 

Hope that pen-launcher plastic thing is an Asia-only affliction

[TheRealMikeDr]

Pilot's "basic" Ink is plenty good, decent colour strength & flows well.

 

http://thumbnail.image.rakuten.co.jp/@0_mall/menet/cabinet/pilot_pen/ink30.jpg

 

Pilot also makes premium "Iroshizuku" range with lots more unboring colours, they too cannot be faulted except for being 3X the price... but you do get a decently handsome glass bottle!

 

That's it!

[Pensei]

I have a very high regard for the Metropolitan, which I consider a great achievement in industrial design and value. It is reasonably attractive, writes perfectly, and is study and reliable. All that for the price of a pair of Big Macs. Remarkable.

[bone215]

Congrats on the fine selection for a first pen.

You may wish to clean and flush the pen and then re-ink.

 

When in doubt about a Pilot, run some Pilot ink through it.

If that doesn't work it will eliminate the ink as an issue.

 

Is the cap air tight? Take it off the pen and blow on it, does air pass? If you don't wish to put your lips on the pen, fill the cap with water and see if the water drips out. If so, that would be a possible area where the pen's nib would be influenced to not start right away.

 

If the pen is skippy when you write the tines may be too tight, but your journal entries look pretty good with the flow of ink.

 

Good luck, once you get that pen working perfectly it should stay that way for years. The Metropolitan is a pretty tough pen.

[vikalp11]

You might want to try one of those pen flush solutions. Let it dry out and ink it up again. I use one flush with each new pen, rinse, and let dry.

 

Best of luck.

I cleaned the pen on Friday night, as the ink got over. I cleaned the converter and the nib section with cold water and let them dry overnight. Refilled with the same Pelikan Royal Blue 4001 ink, in the morning, as I don't have any other ink.

 

The pen is working fine till now. No hard starts or skipping.

[vikalp11]

Pilot's "basic" Ink is plenty good, decent colour strength & flows well.

 

http://thumbnail.image.rakuten.co.jp/@0_mall/menet/cabinet/pilot_pen/ink30.jpg

 

Pilot also makes premium "Iroshizuku" range with lots more unboring colours, they too cannot be faulted except for being 3X the price... but you do get a decently handsome glass bottle!

Thank you Tamiya, for this information!

[vikalp11]

Congrats on the fine selection for a first pen.

You may wish to clean and flush the pen and then re-ink.

Thanks!

I did clean and flush the pen and then refilled with the same Pelikan royal blue ink 4001. Its working fine till now, no hard starts or skipping...

[vikalp11]

Hi everyone. Thank you so much for your advices on the issue that I was facing with my pen. To keep you all updated I would like share a few more diary entries, continuing from the 6th day, to show the pen's performance in its first week. My experience is in the diary entries. Let me know your opinions..

[eliweisz]

Good choice and serious review!

It's been a while since I last used my Metropolitan Black Crocodile. Time to get it back to the rotation.

[vikalp11]

Good choice and serious review!

Thanks! I am glad you liked the review..

[vikalp11]

An update:

I changed the diary, which has a smoother paper. Ink looks much better on it.

[Bookman]

Thanks!

I did clean and flush the pen and then refilled with the same Pelikan royal blue ink 4001. Its working fine till now, no hard starts or skipping...

 

When a brand-new straight-out-of-the-box pen has insufficient ink-flow , the first thing I assume (i.e. hope) is that the culprit is residual machining oil on the nib or feed or in the section. This is an easy fix: I go straight to a Dawn dish soap and water flush or scrub. (Dawn dish soap is excellent at attacking grease and oil, but any liquid dish soap would do.) Sometimes a clean-water flush has worked; sometimes after that kind of flush I've had to graduate to a soapy-water flush. These days, I just go straight to a Dawn-soapy-water flush or scrub. When the nib and feed are removable, as with the Metropolitan, I take everything apart and use a toothbrush loaded with Dawn-soapy water to carefully but thoroughly scrub the nib and feed. I use a small cylindrical brush, slightly fatter than a pipe-cleaner (which I bought at Buy Buy Baby while I was looking for something else), to scrub inside the openings of the section as well as I can. YMMV, but in every instance of mine, this fix has noticeably improved ink flow. And in nearly every instance that's all I've had to do.

Edited August 28, 2016 by Bookman

[vikalp11]

Hello Bookman, I do not suspect it's the machine oil left over the nib, because when the ink flows good the pen writes good. I think there's some problem with ink not being picked up by the feed all the time; as if the feed gets tired. Once a drop of ink is squeezed it writes good.

Here's an update to the pen's performance so far, in pictorial form:

[Sasha Royale]

Excellent choice, Vikalp !

 

I have a Pilot Metropolitan. It serves as well as any of my many "daily use" fountain pens. I consider it good value. Mostly, I use vintage fountain pens. Pelikan 4001 Blue Black is my choice for vintage pens. It is safe. It functions perfectly. It is a nice color. It is water resistant, after drying.

 

******************

My criteria for "water resistant" is a drop of water on thoroughly dried ink (ten minutes), on white paper. After ten seconds, the water is blotted, then wiped. The image must be entirely readable (including punctuation).

[jjrez0216]

I myself have a metropolitan in a fine nib and I am not a fan. I live everything about the pen, the quality, the feel, and so on. The only thing I don't like is the nib, too thin for me and it feels scratchy. I am new so maybe I need to get used to it, but my father has a set of old waterman fountain pens from the 70's I believe. They write very smoothly, it's thicker but still nice. I will order the metro in a medium nib to see what I like best. Maybe my fine nib is defective or maybe I need more practice with fountain pens.

[vikalp11]

I would like to know that how many pages would this pen write, with the capacity of its converter the pen came with.

At present the ink gets over after 6 to 7 pages of writing. Is this normal?

I believe the converter capacity is 1ml.

[Bookman]

I would like to know that how many pages would this pen write, with the capacity of its converter the pen came with.

At present the ink gets over after 6 to 7 pages of writing. Is this normal?

I believe the converter capacity is 1ml.

 

I am informed and believe and thereon allege the converter that comes with the Metro has the same capacity as the Con-20 (Goulet Pens). I am further informed, etc., etc., that the capacity of the Con-20 is 0.5 ml (Amazon). And how many pages you can cover depends on a few things, including, but not limited to, nib size (M will lay down more ink per inch than F), the relative wetness or dryness of your particular Metro nib, the wetness or dryness of the ink, and the absorbency of the paper (32 lb HP Premium Choice uses more ink than, say, Clairefontaine).

Edited September 5, 2016 by Bookman

[davidpro]

I enjoy my Metropolitain.I use it daily in Clinic. I tend to leave the cap off and use a pen holder stand. From the experience from my last one, the cap grip loosens quickly with frequent on-and-off use.

A great writer, and excellent value/

I am using Mt. Blanc ink, which works well for this pen, but dries quickly enough to avoid smudging.

Enjoy your writing!

[vikalp11]

 

I am informed and believe and thereon allege the converter that comes with the Metro has the same capacity as the Con-20 (Goulet Pens). I am further informed, etc., etc., that the capacity of the Con-20 is 0.5 ml (Amazon). And how many pages you can cover depends on a few things, including, but not limited to, nib size (M will lay down more ink per inch than F), the relative wetness or dryness of your particular Metro nib, the wetness or dryness of the ink, and the absorbency of the paper (32 lb HP Premium Choice uses more ink than, say, Clairefontaine).

Thank you for this information!

[etaylor33]

Late response to the Pilot Metropolitan post, but just now noticed it. I've owned four Metropolitans, 3 were Medium nibs and 1 was a Fine nib. Most vendors suggest flushing and cleaning your pen when you first get it to remove oils and any debris that might be left behind from the manufacturing process. I never did this with any of my Pilot pens and have never had an issue. It may be a good idea to flush your pen with water and a drop or two of dishwasher detergent. Rinse very well. I don't see any reason that you shouldn't have years of good service from your Metropolitan. It is a good writer and reliable. I have used a variety of inks in this pen, Pilot cartridges, Diamine, Noodlers, Camel, Quink, De Atramentis, MontBlanc, Robt. Oster inks, etc. Never had any issues with any of these inks. I doubt that your skipping issue will continue, maybe the ink is drying between uses, make sure you keep your cap on between uses. I gave one Metropolitan away on my last trip to India, and my other three Metropolitans all went to each of my grandchildren. Seems that not alot of people in India still use fountain pens, but more than here in the States. I love Pilot pens, I also have a Pilot Elite from Japan and a Pilot Prera I bought here at home. I just recently bought a TWSBI Eco. Also a very nice pen that holds plenty of ink. Enjoy your pen, you have one of the best intro fountain pens you can buy. Hope the clean and flush resolves your skipping issue if it is still happening.