Mb 146 Nib On A Pilot 823? Feasible?

[beboy]

This thread is for the fans of Frankenpens like me

 

Story short: I own a Pilot 823 with a broad nib and I like the pen but dislike the nib. So I am looking for a nib replacement and Montblanc 146 nibs are normally nice to use and can be bought individually. I already tried to fit a JoWo nib from Franklin-Christoph, but it's too long.

 

Has anybody ever tried to fit a 146 nib in a 823? I worry more about the length of the nib since Pilot nibs are usually short. The width seems to be pretty much the same (#15 from Pilot and #6 western nib)

 

Maybe a nice Waterman vintage nib from the 1920s to 1940s would do the job?

 

 

[mitto]

Contamination.

[Honeybadgers]

I have extremely strong doubts. The pilot nib is notched for the feed.

[Bo Bo Olson]

An unmodified Falcon nib is a 'Springy' nib, good tine bend but only 2 X tine spread like a modern MB.

[beboy]

  On 12/7/2018 at 12:03 PM, Honeybadgers said:

I have extremely strong doubts. The pilot nib is notched for the feed.

 

I don't worry much about the notches on both side as it mostly prevent the Pilot nib to be swapped on another pen, but not the other way around. Thinking about it afterward, it might be more reasonable to send my Pilot nib to a nibmeister to give it more character before taking the Frankenpen avenue...

[Bo Bo Olson]

Do have a picture of your hold angle and send a copy of your writing style, for a start of what you want.

[Inksomnia]

I had vintage Montblanc 146 nib in my Twsbi Vac 700R. Worked right, without any modifications.

Not sure however this would work on Pilot, Montblanc nibs are quite long too.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Inksomnia

[benbot517]

Someone who does custom work might be able to make it work

[Honeybadgers]

  On 12/7/2018 at 12:24 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

An unmodified Falcon nib is a 'Springy' nib, good tine bend but only 2 X tine spread like a modern MB.

 

You can get a hell of a lot more than 2x from an FA.

[surprise123]

  On 12/8/2018 at 2:33 AM, Honeybadgers said:

 

You can get a hell of a lot more than 2x from an FA.

Don't push it too much. FA nibs are not wet noodles. I remember there was a page on Richard's site that showed the extent of what pressure should be applied to a flex nib. The rule is to be 25% under that maximum threshold to not cause long-term damage to the tines.

 

I think, instead of trying to get a new nib to fit in your Pilot, get the nib to a nibmeister and have them smooth/grind it. Replacement nibs can be scratchy too. Plus, if you want to go the MB 149 nib route, that is more expensive than a nib smoothing, and also more risky.

[Freddy]

  On 12/9/2018 at 9:46 PM, surprise123 said:

Don't push it too much. FA nibs are not wet noodles. I remember there was a page on Richard's site that showed the extent of what pressure should be applied to a flex nib. The rule is to be 25% under that maximum threshold to not cause long-term damage to the tines.

 

I think, instead of trying to get a new nib to fit in your Pilot, get the nib to a nibmeister and have them smooth/grind it. Replacement nibs can be scratchy too. Plus, if you want to go the MB 149 nib route, that is more expensive than a nib smoothing, and also more risky.

FA nibs are not flexible..perhaps soft..but not flexible......

 

This is of course my personal opinion..and yours may/has/will differ............

Fred..

red meat is not bad for you. Now blue-green meat..that's bad for you............

[beboy]

I contacted 2 nibmeisters in the US and 1 in Canada and never got any answer, so I decided to give a go to my original idea.

As expected, Pilot nibs are shorter than Montblanc nibs, so I had to grind the tail of the 146 nib a little to make it fit on the Pilot 823 feed and work the tines a little to adjust it to Pilot's flatter feed. However, at the end it is working fine and I have successfully swapped an unpleasant broad nib for a nice Oblique Medium one

Here is a picture of the final result:

[sirgilbert357]

Congrats on getting the swap done! I bet that was a satisfying project. I love working problems out like that, finding solutions, and then enjoying the end result.

[WLSpec]

Looks great. I am jealous.

Edited January 21, 2019 by WLSpec

[Calabria]

Interesting! I also have the 823 Smoke, but with an F nib ground to an architect's nib by Dan Smith. I'm actually fascinated that you like the 823 body so much that you went to the trouble of fitting an MB nib into it. Wouldn't you have preferred an all-MB pen then?

[beboy]

  On 1/22/2019 at 3:21 AM, Calabria said:

Interesting! I also have the 823 Smoke, but with an F nib ground to an architect's nib by Dan Smith. I'm actually fascinated that you like the 823 body so much that you went to the trouble of fitting an MB nib into it. Wouldn't you have preferred an all-MB pen then?

 

A single nib (when it can be found on the second hand market) is way cheaper than an all-MB pen, even a used one. I could have used a #6 nib from another manufacturer (like JoWo or Bock), but I always enjoyed the Montblanc OM nibs (I have a 221 with that tip and tried a 146 OM at a MB boutique) and that one was available for sale...

 

I still think I can manage to send my original 823 nib to a nibmeister at some point and to fit my 146 OM nib on a cheap pen using a #6 nib (like Insomnia did on his Twsbi - see earlier in this thread)

[Calabria]

Thanks for clarifying. I got my MB 146 semi-vintage (1980s, factory refurbished) for less than the 823 (new, with discount). I agree the MB nib is preferable.

 

I like that you're more interested in performance than purity -

[16m3mx]

  On 12/7/2018 at 9:09 PM, Inksomnia said:

I had vintage Montblanc 146 nib in my Twsbi Vac 700R. Worked right, without any modifications.

Not sure however this would work on Pilot, Montblanc nibs are quite long too.

 

Nice!, I put a 23k Palladium nib from Visconti to my Twsbi Vac 700 also without any issues, using the Twsbi feed and worked flawlessly.

 

Cheers,

 

Luis A.