My First Fountain Pen: Pilot Metropolitan... Fine or Medium?

[Bad Badger]

Hi all,

So I already went down the razor/brush/soap rabbit hole, so I'm ready for a new venture.

I want to order my first Fountain Pen and from what I can tell a good place to start is the Pilot Metropolitan at around $20. However, I don't know if I should start with a Fine or Medium Nib.

At work I currently enjoy extra fine ball point pens and for mechanical pencils I like .5 lead.

Can anyone please recommend which nib I should start with (Fine or Medium)? As I understand it, the Japanese Nibs like on the Pilot Metropolitan are 1 step finer than Nibs made in other parts of the world.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MilkCrate]

I have a medium Nib on my Pilot Metro and really enjoy it.

 

[Pmaynard19]

Hi all,

So I already went down the razor/brush/soap rabbit hole, so I'm ready for a new venture.

I want to order my first Fountain Pen and from what I can tell a good place to start is the Pilot Metropolitan at around $20. However, I don't know if I should start with a Fine or Medium Nib.

At work I currently enjoy extra fine ball point pens and for mechanical pencils I like .5 lead.

Can anyone please recommend which nib I should start with (Fine or Medium)? As I understand it, the Japanese Nibs like on the Pilot Metropolitan are 1 step finer than Nibs made in other parts of the world.

Thanks in advance!

I have really enjoyed my Metropolitan! I’ve been using it solely for over a year now. I am a lefty and I went with the fine Nib in hopes that it would smear less. I use a relatively cheap ink, Parker Quink (blue black) the combo seems to work well so far for me. Good luck on your new venture.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigFoot]

A medium gives a little more forgiveness if you write heavy handed. If you are used to a extra fine point on a rollerball. you may be just fine.

Buy each?

 

[tankerjohn]

I have the Metro in fine. It writes quite a bit narrower than a “normal” ballpoint. I mostly use it for writing notes in book margins.

For your first pen, I would recommend the medium, unless you have really small handwriting, plan to write mostly on non-fountain pen friendly paper (Moleskine, copy paper, etc), or need a really fine line for drawing/drafting/etc.

 

[Whilliam]

Japanese nibs tend to run a bit finer than western nibs; a lot of people find Japanese Fs too fine. It's probably best to start out with a Pilot M nib.

 

[r0ckrat]

A couple of questions before you buy that Pilot.
When writing do you have a tendency to rotate your writing instrument? You mentioned mechanical pencils in .5mm thickness - do you let the tip remain a chisel for the full thickness line weight while in use, or do you rotate the pencil to maintain a consistent point of the lead? If the latter, I would suggest a first fountain pen that has "registration" built into the grip, like a Lamy Safari in fine. This will help reset your grip and prevent you from rolling the nib, keeping it square with the surface while in use. Yes, they are simple, not especially attractive pens, but bulletproof, smooth writers, and about the same cost as a Met.

 

[dojpros]

Concur re Japanese nibs being a bit narrower relative to western nibs of the same name fine/fine, medium/medium etc.

All things being equal, I have found finer nibs to be more forgiving on marginal paper re bleeding/feathering.

 

[Bad Badger]

Thanks guys. I went ahead and ordered the Medium from Amazon

It also came with a 12-pack of ink refill cartridges all for $20 (free 1-day shipping).

Hope i like it!

 

[Hecklor Koch]

Great starter pen for sure.

Not knocking your purchase, as I have one of these and like it alright. To me its allot like safety razors. I prefer vintage as opposed to new. Well with fountain pens I love the gold and other metals previous used it just seems to glide and flow better.

you will enjoy your purchase and be careful it is addicting.

 

[Falmike]

Welcome aboard. The Pilots are wonderful pens. Started with a Metro, played with others, and have now settled on Falcons with SEF nibs as they best fit my writing style.

 

[gwsmallwood]

Thanks guys. I went ahead and ordered the Medium from Amazon

It also came with a 12-pack of ink refill cartridges all for $20 (free 1-day shipping).

Hope i like it!

I just got a second Metro for Christmas. They're great pens. I've played around with some Jinhaos, Baoers, Heros, and Wing Sungs. They're all decent considering what they cost, but to get them to work as well as my Metros I'm going to have to tune them.

Medium is a great place to start. Take a few months getting used to it and then try the stub. My Metro stub nib is my new favorite pen.

Get some syringes and some ink and you can refill those cartridges. Works great and gives you better ink capacity. I never liked the Pilot converters.

 

[Bad Badger]

I just got a second Metro for Christmas. They're great pens. I've played around with some Jinhaos, Baoers, Heros, and Wing Sungs. They're all decent considering what they cost, but to get them to work as well as my Metros I'm going to have to tune them.

Medium is a great place to start. Take a few months getting used to it and then try the stub. My Metro stub nib is my new favorite pen.

Get some syringes and some ink and you can refill those cartridges. Works great and gives you better ink capacity. I never liked the Pilot converters.

How/where can I get the Stub nib for my metro?

thanks

 

[gwsmallwood]

How/where can I get the Stub nib for my metro?

thanks

Not sure if you can get just the nib. For $20, I just got a second pen. It was worth it.

 

[Ryanshh]

How/where can I get the Stub nib for my metro?

thanks

You also could find a pilot plumix with a stub nib for $9-ish dollars and swap nibs. I see no problem having two metropolitans though if you choose to just buy a second.

 

[Doc4]

At work I currently enjoy extra fine ball point pens and for mechanical pencils I like .5 lead.

Can anyone please recommend which nib I should start with (Fine or Medium)?

I think you would enjoy a “F” nib.

At this price, just get a second pen ... or a Pilot 78g off ebay for about the. same cost.

“Back in the day” a “B” nib on a 78g was actually a stub ... dunno if that is still the case though.

 

[2Vu5_T]

Search for Pilot Metropolitan fine or medium nib?

Pilot Metropolitan fine or medium nib? - Bing video - https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Pilot+Metropolitan+fine+or+medium+nib%3f&qpvt=Pilot+Metropolitan+fine+or+medium+nib%3f&FORM=VDRE

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[Tomo]

This is a rabbit hole that I have been down myself. I still use my first fountain pen daily for work. This is a Lamy 2000 that is three years old now.

I started with a medium nib in the Lamy but changed but a replacement nib and changed to a fine.

For work I prefer a fine for the following reasons:
1. Quicker dry time
2. Easier to write small when required if you are filling out forms etc.
3. Less bleed and feather when you are forced to use sub standard printer paper although the right ink helps with this too.

At home I use my grail pen Montblanc 146. I bought this second hand for a good price and believe it is a medium. I like the medium for the following reasons.
1. Smoother flow
2. Better glide
3. More pronounced line variation
4. Bolder lines

For a first pen I would go with a fine nib as I find it more versatile in more situations. At the end of the day it’s a personal thing. Lamys and Pelikans all have changeable nibs so that my be an idea.

Just wait until you get to the ink and nib tuning rabbit hole. The the fun really starts!

 

[tankerjohn]

This is a rabbit hole that I have been down myself. I still use my first fountain pen daily for work. This is a Lamy 2000 that is three years old now.

I started with a medium nib in the Lamy but changed but a replacement nib and changed to a fine.

For work I prefer a fine for the following reasons:
1. Quicker dry time
2. Easier to write small when required if you are filling out forms etc.
3. Less bleed and feather when you are forced to use sub standard printer paper although the right ink helps with this too.

At home I use my grail pen Montblanc 146. I bought this second hand for a good price and believe it is a medium. I like the medium for the following reasons.
1. Smoother flow
2. Better glide
3. More pronounced line variation
4. Bolder lines

For a first pen I would go with a fine nib as I find it more versatile in more situations. At the end of the day it’s a personal thing. Lamys and Pelikans all have changeable nibs so that my be an idea.

Just wait until you get to the ink and nib tuning rabbit hole. The the fun really starts!

Excellent write up. However, Lamy fine = Pilot medium.

 

[tankerjohn]

The Pilot Metro is an excellent pen, but its not the screaming deal it was a couple years ago when you could get it for $10. I would recommend sticking with the first one for a while, at least a couple weeks, then deciding what you do and don't like about it. If its perfect, than congratulations. But you might find the grip is too narrow, or body to short to use unposted, or you would rather have a screwdown instead of click-on cap, or on and on. Then, you might want to look for a second pen with the features and nib size you think you'll like. I would also point out that other pens, such as the afore-mentioned Safari, are much easier to swap nibs. Though Pilot does make a great steel nib. Anyway, just a few thoughts. But if you want to spend your money acquiring Metros with every conceivable nib and color, please knock yourself out. We all enjoy the hobby our own way.

BTW, the Metro's aerometric converter is probably my favorite feature of the pen. Holds a good amount of ink and is SUPER easy to clean. It is perfect for projects where you want to change inks a lot and/or don't need to worry too much about monitoring the ink level, like calligraphy or writing greeting cards. I wish it wasn't proprietary and could fit on my other C/C pens. Guess I need another Pilot.