Pelikan M805 - Which Nib To Choose?

[Doggy Daddy]

Hello Everyone, 

I have a brief window of opportunity to purchase a new Pelikan Souverän M805 Blue-Black fountain pen at a very favorable price. The question is, which nib to choose?

I write in cursive and dabble in calligraphy strictly for pleasure. I am retired, so no writing for business or publication is required. Only letters & notes to friends. 
I have a few gold nib pens, most custom ground from a “B" to a smooth stub, though I also enjoy writing with a fine or extra-fine nib too. I am aware that I can purchase additional nibs later and easily swap them out on the M805. I am also prepared to send a new nib to a nibmeister for customization. And finally, I have read several reviews of this pen that the nibs tend to run to the broad/wet side of the curve.

So, having said all of that, the question is, which nib to start out with since I can only afford one at this time? I realize there are probably many more factors that weigh into this decision, but the purpose of my query is not to wade deeply into the minutiae of choosing this nib, I’m just asking for some general advice and opinions from those more experienced than I with this pen.

Are the Extra-Fine & Fine nibs true to their names or do they lean more to one step larger? Same question for the Medium nib. Is it suitable for grinding to a good, all-around every day stub/italic, or would I be better starting with the Broad?
And finally, what is the general opinion about the all rhodium nib for the M805, or do you think borrowing the two-toned gold/rhodium nib from the M800 looks better on this pen?

Additionally, recommendation for a nibmeister to grind an everyday stub/Italic nib would be appreciated. I have some ideas on this myself, but am always interested in the thoughts of others.

Thanks very much for taking the time to read this. Any thoughts you may have will be appreciated. 
 

[A Smug Dill]

Sounds to me you've already done quite a bit of research and introspection for your question. Bravo!

 

1 hour ago, Doggy Daddy said:

Are the Extra-Fine & Fine nibs true to their names or do they lean more to one step larger?

 

I don't think those ‘names’ or width grades have any ‘true’ meaning, when there is often a lack of consistency even within a single brand (and, Pelikan, I'm looking at you), let alone across all pen manufacturers from one country (try comparing Aurora and Visconti) or region (try comparing Japanese nibs and Chinese nibs of the same width grade), never mind getting Parker and Pelikan to voluntarily adopt and conform to Platinum's published table of nib width grades to line widths.

 

But I can show you how my Pelikan M815's 18K gold F nib wrote out-of-the-box (and I hated it for that):

(You will find many other comparisons on that same page of posts.)

 

1 hour ago, Doggy Daddy said:

I am aware that I can purchase additional nibs later and easily swap them out on the M805.

 

Eventually, I reground that F nib myself (because it is too hard to find a professional nibmeister locally for after-market nib customisation work) to make it closer to palatable to me. I bought a replacement M805 EF nib for it some months ago, but I haven't installed it into my M815 as yet to see how that writes.

 

1 hour ago, Doggy Daddy said:

Is it suitable for grinding to a good, all-around every day stub/italic, or would I be better starting with the Broad?

 

It still comes down to how you like to write and how you want your handwriting to look. One of my favourite nibs is the crisp italic that Dan Smith has reground for me from a Pelikan M600's EF nib, and it's certainly smooth enough for everyday/general writing applications.

 

 

[Carrau]

I bought a used M805 Stresemann with a custom Fine nib ground to cursive italic, which is nice, although I really wanted a broader nib for this pen.  I ordered a BB  from Appelboom, and had it ground to lovely stub by Pendleton Brown. Both nibs are in Rhodium, which suits the Stresemann.  I have a Pelikan M6xx B bicolor nib also ground to a stub, but by Mike Masuyama, and is one of my best writers.  For me, the clip/rings color would lead me to choice of nib color.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I don't like nails...post-97 800 nibs.

I lucked out and got a W.Germany springy regular flex tear drop nib......and those 800's had their very own width, narrower than the 200/400/600, but not as narrow as Waterman.

The W. Germany '87-91 is a slight tad more springy than the Germany '91-97 nibs. But you have to have both to feel the slight difference.

My chart is pre-Japanese.

 

The modern 800 is a double ball nib. Therefore you could send it off to be stubbed on the bottom and made into a upside down narrow nib on top. There is more than enough tipping for that.

Which is why the post '97 gold nibs are so fat and blobby.

 

Personally I think a stubbed EF is not for me, and it appears you want a narrow nib.

Buy a fat and blobby F nib and have it ground to a narrower than standard F (to old width standard)  with an EF top.

[Doggy Daddy]

My sincere thanks to all who read and took the time to respond to my questions. As my purchase window was quite narrow & I still haven't quite decided on the nib I want, I just got a <B> as it will have more than enough tipping material to allow virtually any grind I decide on.

[Bo Bo Olson]

That's good....I did similar with my 605 getting it in BB knowing I'd have the nib re-ground, come the day......took quite a few calendars before I stopped buying pens and had that done.

I had mine ground to a B/1.0.

 

Do think, CI is a very good option.

I had a 1990 Lamy Persona OB ground to CI and it made for a real lively nib. @ a B in one does lose a touch of nib width with grinding CI.

Could be a fat M or skinny B if I wasted my time with a hair splitting measurement. It don't matter, it's wide enough for me.

[sansenri]

I'm picking up this thread again as it does raise a side question, that probably is not worth a new thread, but I was wondering.

 

Does the Pelikan M805 originally come with a rhodium plated nib?

I've seen several on sale, even in official shops, with the two-tone nibs...

Is there a standard?

[Doggy Daddy]

@sansenri As far as I know, the M800 has the two-toned nib while the 805 series is Rhodium. There may be exceptions for special edition pens, but I believe this is the standard. Hope this helps. 

[Strega]

I just did an image search and within the first two hundred or so pictures, every one was monotone, except for 4 which each indicated that the pens were used (three used pens for sale, and one review of a pen bought used.)

[sansenri]

I find them much more frequently than that...

Nonetheless, yes, I checked the Pelikan German site and the M805 is pictured and described as having the rhodium plated nib.

[jungkind]

According to pelikan-collectibles the M805 started with two-tone nibs, same as the M800. Only starting around 2015 all M805 are equipped with the rhodium plated nib.

[TitoThePencilPimp]

Masuyama or Becas would be the perfect people to grind italic/stub. I personally like the cursive italic grind.

As to size of nibs. Pelikans tend to write a nib size up on average. A bit more if you use wet ink. I try to mainly use pelikan/rohrer and klinger in my pelikan pens to tame the wet flow.

[sansenri]

12 hours ago, jungkind said:

According to pelikan-collectibles the M805 started with two-tone nibs, same as the M800. Only starting around 2015 all M805 are equipped with the rhodium plated nib.

 

aha!, so that could explain why there are still a number of M805 sold by shops (not second hand) with the two tone nibs. Thank you.