Nib Interchangeability? Pelikan M1000 & Bock #8

[stephanos]

I have a question for the nib-tinkerers amongst us: can one fit a Bock Type 380 (i.e. a Bock #8 size) nib onto a Pelikan M1000, and/or vice-versa? If so, does one exchange just the nib, or both the nib and feed?

 

Why am I asking? I found a Pelikan M1000 quite very cheaply some time ago. Alas, although the beautiful 3OB nib looks perfectly OK, it is very temperamental in practice (much more so than other obliques I’ve used). So I want to find an alternative.

I know I could buy a whole new M1000 nib, but that would cost several times more than I paid for the pen. So I was wondering whether I could simply get a Bock Number 8 nib instead and fit that.

 

Any ideas? OR are there any other nibs I could use?

 

 

(For interest, the tines on the 3OB nib may be damaged in some way, as if the metal had been stressed. Yes, I know that the nib on the M1000 is quite springy; that’s not what I mean. The result is that although the pen will write, it does not do so reliably, though some inks are less bad than others. There is nothing wrong with the feed itself; I’ve checked. Over time I'll want to have someone look at the nib, but in the meantime I want to use the pen...)

[zaddick]

How much do you think a new nib unit costs? They are not that expensive. I would rather have the O3B nib.

 

The shape of the Bock and Pel nib as are quite different.

[Bo Bo Olson]

OK, it's not a post pen...but to get the angle down to lay the nib on the paper always right....post it so the clip is aligned midway between the slit and the right edge of the nib. Grasp the pen.....remove cap and write.

You are always on the sweet spot then.

 

You could have the nib made straight by a nibmeister.....

The 1000 was the last nib taken by Pelikan out of Bock...which made Pelikan nibs for quite a while.

Oddly the complaints from before when it was made at Bock remained when made by Pelikan.

Edited April 22, 2017 by Bo Bo Olson

[stephanos]

Thanks for the responses.

 

So it seems like the Bock #8 and the Pelikan 1000 nibs are not interchangeble. Pity.

Bo Bo, you said that Bock used to make Pelikan's M1000 nibs. Does that mean that the niib on an early M1000 model might work with a Bock nib?

 

 

To respond to the other matters raised:

 

Bo Bo, thanks for the very specific guidance on the angle for writing with an oblique nib. This will be useful to others.

In my case, though, I have used obliques before and the problem is not one of writing angle, but rather something else. Having exhausted my limited (very careful) nib-fiddling knowledge and found nothing exceptional under a loupe, it's now time to go to a professional. I very much like the line the nib puts down when it does write, and would feel like a vandal if I were to ask a nibmeister to make it straight.

 

 

Zaddick, I live in Europe. Prices here are highly variable. For example, pelikanpens.co.uk sells a new M1000 nib for £300; fritz-schimpf.de has it for €262.23 (~£220). Even half that lower price would be more than I paid for the pen, and it's simply too much to spend. That's why I'm looking for alternatives. I'm very open to suggestions of a cheap source of M1000 nibs, but the headline price can be very misleading: I need to take all sales taxes, postage charges and import duties into account so that I know the total price to pay. Sales tax in Europe varies by country, but is typically about 20%, and above a certain value of goods brought into Europe you're also paying import duty, plus of course postage (and often a hefty extortion processing fee to the delivery service). As I said in my original post, I'm keen on keeping the O3B nib. But I want to be able to use the pen while I wait to have a professional have a look at the nib.

 

(edited for spelling)

Edited April 22, 2017 by stephanos

[jar]

Have you contacted Pelikan to see what a nib swap would cost?

[stephanos]

Have you contacted Pelikan to see what a nib swap would cost?

 

 

I hadn't considered that, as I want to keep the O3B nib and (longer term) use it. I'm simply looking for a compatible cheaper alternative nib for now (and to keep later to give myself a more 'sober' option with the pen).

 

Or are you suggesting a like-for-like swap? Actually, that's not a bad idea...

[Bo Bo Olson]

Peter Twydle...son of Arthur Twydle...has a pen musium and does pen repairs, John Swobada a nib grinder, member here under Oxnard, for a while ground nibs for Conway Stewart, Jim Marshal or Lawrence Oldfield authors of 'Pen Repair' the best repair book. Arthur Twydle was their teacher and was to help with the book but died first....the book is dedicated to Arthur.

 

That exhausts my GB knowledge.

Fountainbel does good work in Belgium.

 

I can understand that as vandalism with a nib with some flex...I've give rant's on that....and some """"folks"""" more than closely related to Ball Point Barbarians smugly say...'his pen'.............

I had my Lamy Persona OB 18K nail made CI. Otherwise in the nib had absolutely no line variation, it would be still sitting under the bed instead of always out.

[stephanos]

John Sorowka (aka oxonian) also did all the nib-work for OMAS, if my memory of a chat at a recent London pen show is accurate. I think I'll try a like-for-like swap via Pelikan, failing which I'll hang on to the nib - I hope to be able to be at the London pen show again this year, and would take it to Mr Sorowka's table, assuming he's there.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Normal nib swap is 5 weeks for a new Pelikan.....but you could send it to them in Hanover and tell them the nib don't work...and explain in detail.....you should get a free fix.

[Phil_Dart]

Here's a photo of a Bock 380 out of its housing. Does that help you at all

[SteveE]

I may be answering a question not asked, but in my limited experience, none of the nibmeisters will remove a #8 Pelikan or Delta nib from its assembled section and collar without major shop equipment. This is not a simple "pull it out and stuff the new nib in" like many of the JoWo and similar nibs are. Pelikan, especially, has long used nib/feed assemblies that are not user-serviceable and usually not user-repairable.

 

Just recently I saw that Richard Binder still has some Pelikan 1000 nib assemblies for sale on his web site, IIRC they were priced at USD $300 each.

[Blorgy]

I may be answering a question not asked, but in my limited experience, none of the nibmeisters will remove a #8 Pelikan or Delta nib from its assembled section and collar without major shop equipment.

I used some heat and a knockout block on my Pelikan M1000 units. That does not sound like major shop equipment. The Pelikan M1000 collars were only slightly wider than the Pelikan M1000 nibs. Later some heat was necessary for pushing the nibs and feeds into the metal collars.

[stephanos]

I used some heat and a knockout block on my Pelikan M1000 units. That does not sound like major shop equipment. The Pelikan M1000 collars were only slightly wider than the Pelikan M1000 nibs. Later some heat was necessary for pushing the nibs and feeds into the metal collars.

 

Pelikan nib units consist of a nib, feed and collar. It is possible to disassemble the unit by hand, and I have done so on the M1000, M800, M400 and 200 models. You take the unit, place it on a hard surface (nib pointing upwards) and push the collar down, towards the back of the nib/feed (thus: towards the surface). It's friction-fit and can be a little stubborn the first time, but no heat is needed. I got this tip from a post on FPN some years ago. Of course, as with all tinkering you do this at your own risk.

 

 

As an update to my original post: in the end, John Sorowka fixed the O3B nib for me. If memory serves, he couldn't fix it on the spot at the March 2019 London pen show, and had to work on it later. I have no idea what he did, but it now works very well.

[Karmachanic]

Bock 8 might fit. I believe it's longer than the M1000 nib, so the length would need to be reduced accordingly.

 

I had thought of doing this with a Ti #6 and a M805, but I purchased a M1005 instead. Inspired by:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/216388-list-of-possible-nib-substitutions/?p=3591522

Edited June 7, 2020 by Karmachanic