Wing Sung Nib On Pilot Metropolitan

[Ardakilic]

 

Recently, I've messed my Pilot Metropolitan's nib.

I love this pen, which is black and from animal collection.

I'm using J. Herbin Perle Noire ink with this pen, however, while shaking the pen, it dropped ink sometimes, and I wanted to fix that by manually adjusting the nib. However, this newbie attempt resulted me having a bended nib, which leaked even more. This was a bad idea. I couldn't fix this behavior.

I didn't want to throw the pen away, so I tried to find replacement nibs. I couldn't find a spare nib for Metropolitan, and I didn't want to salvage other pens just for that, so I checked other sources.

While checking Aliexpress, I saw Wing Sung 659 and 698's nib is compatible with Pilot nibs, so I gave it a shot. It's $3 on Aliexpress (I bought with $2 feed which should be compatible with pilot also just in case). The feed looked almost identical, but didn't fit into pen (slightly larger), but the nib fit into Pilot's feed just nicely, and here it is.

The replacement nib's tines are a little bit longer, but writes beautifully, and F is almost identical with Pilot's M. This "frankenpenish" attempt resurrected my pen.

In the photo: Left: Pilot MR-3 (nib is identical with metro) with Pilot nib, Right: Pilot Metropolitan with Wing Sung nib.

[A Smug Dill]

Um, I'm a bit confused now. Is the pen on the right the black model in the Pilot MR Animal Collection, with a band that has a black-on-black crocodile's scales pattern, or is it a classic black Pilot (MR) Metropolitan?

Edited November 2, 2018 by A Smug Dill

[Ardakilic]

Um, I'm a bit confused now. Is the pen on the right the black model in the Pilot MR Animal Collection, with a band that has a black-on-black crocodile's scales pattern, or is it a classic black Pilot (MR) Metropolitan?

Indeed, the right one is the Pilot metropolitan black animal collection, which I've messed the nib.

 

The left one is Pilot MR-3 I bought from a local shop. I didn't have a second metropolitan to show side by side, but as far as I know the nibs are identical on Metropolitan and MR. My MR EU version has a standart international cartridge and converter as ink source, where Metropolitan has its proprietary version. I live in Turkey, and bought metropolitan from massdrop.com, that's why I have two different types of pens.

 

This should clarify a bit more:

 

[bass1193]

This is interesting! I assumed they were using old Pilot tooling to manufacture their nibs and feeds, but since the feed doesn't fit apparently they aren't.

[Ardakilic]

This is interesting! I assumed they were using old Pilot tooling to manufacture their nibs and feeds, but since the feed doesn't fit apparently they aren't.

 

The seller's description told me that they should be identical. My naked eyes couldn't discriminate the difference between feeds. However, the Chinese feed hardly fit into the pen, and with the nib it didn't fit at all. I had to use pliers to remove them both. Maybe it could fit with other Pilot models, but can't say much.

[bass1193]

Very interesting indeed! Maybe they are using old Pilot tooling, but it has worn enough to throw off the tolerances that Pilot is known for. If you have calipers, you should check the diameters of the two feeds. For science

[Ardakilic]

Very interesting indeed! Maybe they are using old Pilot tooling, but it has worn enough to throw off the tolerances that Pilot is known for. If you have calipers, you should check the diameters of the two feeds. For science

Sadly i don't have calipers, but I'll try to find one from my friends. If I get one I'll check diameters and post here along with photos.

Edited November 3, 2018 by Ardakilic

[Ardakilic]

Update after a couple of weeks of usage both Pilot stock nib and this.

 

In the first days, I didn't really like this nib, because it's longer and felt weirder. I even thought of getting another Pilot pen just to salvage the nib.

 

However, the more I use this, the more I like it. Because the tines are tinier, it gives me more room to rotate while writing, and to be honest, the nib is butter smooth (although not every Chinese nib has been smooth for me).

 

So, I can almost consider this switch as an upgrade.