My Pilots 78G arrived and

[Hex]

thank you JustinP for recommending it.

I got 2 of them, a "M" and a "B". I haven't tried the "B" yet since I am having so much fun with the "M". Along with the pens I got a bottle of Noodlers blue and promptly got it all over myself in my 1st attempt at filling. Live and learn.

The only thing I have to compare it to is a Penn State Indus., handmade with a Dayacom nib. The Pilot is superior. It writes smoother, and doesn't fail to write no matter what the angle it is held at. The lines seem to be equal in size, no skinny ones, nor fat ones. I have already gone through one tube full of ink and it is very comfortable to hold.

I am looking forward to trying the Broad.

Question: If I want to change this ink from blue to green will I have to wash out the pen ?

Thanks again Justin.

 

[Greyfox]

Yep. Everything you change inks you should flush the pen thoroughly. In fact even if you don't change ink colors you should flush at least every 2 or 3 refills.

 

[Hex]

Yep. Everything you change inks you should flush the pen thoroughly. In fact even if you don't change ink colors you should flush at least every 2 or 3 refills.

I looked for a wiki, but alas. Do I use a mild dish washing detergent, fill the tank, write with it, repeat with clear water ?

 

[justinp]

thank you JasonP for recommending it.

I got 2 of them, a "M" and a "B". I haven't tried the "B" yet since I am having so much fun with the "M". Along with the pens I got a bottle of Noodlers blue and promptly got it all over myself in my 1st attempt at filling. Live and learn.

The only thing I have to compare it to is a Penn State Indus., handmade with a Dayacom nib. The Pilot is superior. It writes smoother, and doesn't fail to write no matter what the angle it is held at. The lines seem to be equal in size, no skinny ones, nor fat ones. I have already gone through one tube full of ink and it is very comfortable to hold.

I am looking forward to trying the Broad.

Question: If I want to change this ink from blue to green will I have to wash out the pen ?

Thanks again Jason.

Who's Jason?

 

[Altair]

I just use orange degreaser. seems to work fine. I also keep some Silicone grease around and put in on the threads and Orings. The silicone grease I have is not the plumber type. this is specially made for o rings for flashlights.

 

[nemo]

Please do not use orange degreaser on fountain pens. Mild dish soap solution for the first time to get any residual manufacturing oils off and from then on luke warm water unless you have a clogging problem in which case the 10:1 water:ammonia mixture.

No harsh chemicals unless you just like buying pens.

Pilot 78G has no need for silicone grease anywhere.

EDIT: Congratulations on getting a pair of great little fountain pens! What colors did you get? I wish I had a red one.

 

[Hex]

Who's Jason?

Oops, color me embarrassed. I get you mixed up with Jason


All the credit goes to you kind sir, I am forever in your debt.

 

[Hex]

Please do not use orange degreaser on fountain pens. Mild dish soap solution for the first time to get any residual manufacturing oils off and from then on luke warm water unless you have a clogging problem in which case the 10:1 water:ammonia mixture.

No harsh chemicals unless you just like buying pens.

Pilot 78G has no need for silicone grease anywhere.

EDIT: Congratulations on getting a pair of great little fountain pens! What colors did you get? I wish I had a red one.

I got a teal "B" and a green "F".

I really should have put the blue ink in the "B". I am trying to coordinate the pen color with the ink color,,,sorta.
Now I need to search for a teal ink. :=)
The colors of the pens are beautiful.
And the folks at IsellPens are like Bullgoose for shaving items. Great service, fast response, and easy to work with.

As an aside from a newbie, how much better can these get as to writing quality ? Knowing a bit about brushes, I understand that scarcity, craftmanship, materials, etc., can contribute to pricing, so I can't imagine how much better a FP could write.

 

[rearviewmirror]

Mine should be in soon as well.

 

[galopede]

I used to have a red one! A friend borrowed it to try and liked it so much she still hasn't given it back. Still, I have my trusty Pelikans. Must order more of the Pilots though. Great pens.

Gareth

 

[justinp]

Oops, color me embarrassed. I get you mixed up with Jason


All the credit goes to you kind sir, I am forever in your debt.

Not a problem. I actually get it on a surprisingly frequent basis. Anyhow, glad you like 'em!

 

[ouch]

I got the fine point, and it's like writing with a needle.

 

[justinp]

As an aside from a newbie, how much better can these get as to writing quality ? Knowing a bit about brushes, I understand that scarcity, craftmanship, materials, etc., can contribute to pricing, so I can't imagine how much better a FP could write.

Once again, advice from one relative newb to another, so grains of salt ready.

Anyhow, my sense is that the writing quality can get a good deal better but not INSANELY better. My TWSBI 530 w/ a Medium nib writes better, IMO, than the Pilot w/ the stub/bold. But it was only around $45. Word is that the TWSBI is a whole lot of pen for the money, so my takeaway is that it can get somewhat better and after a certain point pure performance isn't what the pricing reflects.

 

[Yaniel]

Wait until you try the B if you haven't yet. It has a really nice stub nib that gives some nice line variation. It won't be as smooth as the other one, but it will make your writing look great! The 78g was my first stub nib and I've had every pen I've bought since, sent out to a nibmeister to be ground down into a stub or cursive italic. They're great.

 

[Blix]

The B is my favorite for sure, I have all three nibs. I need to refill mine with a wetter ink though, Pelikan Blue-Black wasn't the best choice for it.

 

[coyotewhisper]

When change from one ink to another flush the pen with cold water, let it dry throughly before refilling.

 

[njpaddy]

I've been very happy with my Pilot 78G "M". I normally use Noodlers Blue-Black in mine.

Here's a video on filling if you're interested.

 

[watch_art]

I wouldn't flush it out every 2 or 3 refills. I usually go for a couple of months with a pen that gets used regularly. I only wash em out if I'm putting them up, changing colors, or selling them. The thing about the 78G broad nib is that it has no tipping. I've had a couple different ones and took them apart and hacked the feeds to make them write wetter. Even with Pel blue black they'd be juicy writers. I hate a dry writing nib. No fun. I've adjusted some to write so wet that they left little rivers of ink on the page. Sometimes not a good thing depending on the paper. Oh well.

 

[Blix]

I wouldn't flush it out every 2 or 3 refills. I usually go for a couple of months with a pen that gets used regularly. I only wash em out if I'm putting them up, changing colors, or selling them. The thing about the 78G broad nib is that it has no tipping. I've had a couple different ones and took them apart and hacked the feeds to make them write wetter. Even with Pel blue black they'd be juicy writers. I hate a dry writing nib. No fun. I've adjusted some to write so wet that they left little rivers of ink on the page. Sometimes not a good thing depending on the paper. Oh well.

Ah cool. I replaced the Pelikan BB in my B 78g with PR American Blue and that did the trick. Sure needs a wet ink when stock.

 

[watch_art]

that definitely helps.