Problem With An Elite 95S

[CPTdeLos]

I just purchased an Pilot E95s (Elite) from Japan. Overall, I really like the pen. Flow is good and it is super smooth. It always starts right up, however, it will seem to hard start in the middle of a sentence. I'll write a few lines, and then, in mid-sentence, the first part of a letter (e.g. the upstroke to start a "w") will skip, and the rest of the letter will be fine. It almost immediately flows again, but I can see the impression on the page left from the nib where it skipped. The skips are only half a centimeter long and the flow resumes quickly. Is this a sweet spot issue, or a nib problem?

 

Ink is Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-Ro.

[Pickwick]

I have an Elite made in the 1960s. If you are filling the aerometric filler with just on squeeze and release not all the air is expelled from the sac. The pen needs to be held in the ink bottle and the pressure bar pressed and released several time to expel any air bubbles. A simple test, if you squeeze and release once lift the pen out of the ink and squeeze out the ink to see if any bubbles appear. Keep the pressure bar squeezed and immerse the pen in the ink and repeat. Keep doing this until there are no more bubbles apparent. That might solve you problem.

[bizhe]

Japanese nibs sometimes are not optimized for upstrokes. My test is writing a cursive 'g', can it do the bottom loop and final upstroke on the tail of the g (going up and to the right) smoothly? easy fix: find some clean smooth glass, take your inked pen, smooth out the rough spots by feel.

 

Other possibility: use the pen a lot for a couple weeks, it might sort itself out

 

Baby bottom is theoretically possible, but unlikely.

 

Tine alignment (loupe needed)

[Bo Bo Olson]

Japanese nibs are made for a very tiny printed script. So if you are a printer, they might do you best.

It does sound somewhat like 'baby bottom'.

 

The flowing western Cursive seems to like a bit wider nib.

[Bluey]

If you're using the converter, try using the cartridge instead.

 

Is this a sweet spot issue, or a nib problem?

 

It's neither. And it's not babys bottom either. It's more likely to be similar to what Pickwick describes above

 

 

easy fix: find some clean smooth glass, take your inked pen, smooth out the rough spots by feel.

 

No, don't do that.

Edited February 19, 2017 by Bluey

[CPTdeLos]

I am using an aerometric converter. I'll try the fix @Pickwick mentioned. I also just bought a Con-40 and just may use that instead. Thanks for all the notes.

[rwilsonedn]

Another possibility is simpler: some Japanese nibs have very small sweet spots, and so if you unconsciously change the writing angle just slightly the pen will stop writing until the angle comes back within range. The fact that the problem is happening just on up-strokes in the middle of a sentence makes this a plausible cause to investigate. To check it out, you would have to concentrate on writing with arm motion only, not using your wrist of fingers to form the strokes. You hand becomes just a fixed, and relaxed, pen holder.

On that last point, if you are pressing hard enough to leave a visible indentation on the paper, you are using way too much pressure for a fountain pen. You only need to guide the pen across the paper, never to press it down onto the paper. Easing up on the pressure might also make the problem go away.

ron

[Maurizio]

Sorry for going a bit off topic. I have one of these and like it. I did not know that a Con-40 converter works in the pen. Thanks for the tip.

[CPTdeLos]

Sorry for going a bit off topic. I have one of these and like it. I did not know that a Con-40 converter works in the pen. Thanks for the tip.

Happy to help. I'll be sending mine off to adjust the flow.

Edited February 26, 2017 by CPTdeLos

[Maurizio]

I've had excellent experiences with Pilot customer service several times. Hope you get your pen working the way you want it.