nib or pen?

[musicman1951]

I'm back and forth between buying a Pelikan M600 with the desired nib or purchasing just the nib for my M800.

Purchasing the pen only adds $82, which I have - so I guess it's more a question of which is prudent than affordability.

My current OB nib is still occasionally driving me crazy and I'm afraid that if I buy the new nib I will never use the OB again.

On the other hand, I suppose I could always sell the OB nib.

So you see my problem. Given the same situation what would you do?

 

[andrew98]

Since money isn't an issue, I'd consider having someone like Greg Minuskin grind the OB in hopes of making it more to your liking and maybe get an M600 with whatever nib you like. Otherwise, I'd just sell the OB and get a new M800 nib.

-Andy

 

[ChefJohnBoy-ardee]

That is ultimately up to you friend. Both of those options leave you with a nice OB nib and hopefully something you enjoy writing with more.
In B&B fashion, do both, just not at the same time.

If you don't use the OB for a long time or don't find yourself wanting to use the OB you shouldn't have any trouble selling it off.

 

[nemo]

Custom grind the OB M800 and meanwhile buy the M600 -- I know nibs.com has a six-month queue.

 

[musicman1951]

In B&B fashion, do both, just not at the same time.

If you don't use the OB for a long time or don't find yourself wanting to use the OB you shouldn't have any trouble selling it off.

That makes the most sense to me. I have yet to decide what to do with the M800, but I just ordered an M600.

Maybe I'll have the nib reground, or trade it, or sell it, or learn to use it. I've got some time to think about it now.

 

[purerockfury]

Get the new pen, I mean lets face it that seems to be how these forums work. Then you can giveaway the old pen in a pif.

 

[syngent]

Actually on B&B specially in the nib.... its get both lol

 

[Doc4]

My current OB nib is still occasionally driving me crazy and I'm afraid that if I buy the new nib I will never use the OB again.

Is this because there is some sort of imperfection with your OB, or do you just not get along with OB nibs?

If it's a nib problem, I'd say get the nib fixed. If it's your writing style not being suited to an OB nib, then move to a different type of nib ... which may mean a whole new pen & sell the old pen or a new nib for the old pen and sell the old nib.

 

[musicman1951]

The nib is fine. I get the angle right about 98% of the time now, but it still drives me crazy to miss the first half of the first letter of a new word. It's difficult to make a seamless repair. More attentive practice and we'll see if I get it.

 

[andrew98]

The nib is fine. I get the angle right about 98% of the time now, but it still drives me crazy to miss the first half of the first letter of a new word. It's difficult to make a seamless repair. More attentive practice and we'll see if I get it.

If that nib were ground to more of a stub or a cursive italic, you wouldn't have as much trouble hitting the right spot. All of the nib would be the right spot. The problem withe the modern oblique Pelikan nibs is that they're still pretty blobby (big ball of tipping material). I have an M400 OM nib that's the same way. I can't just grab that pen and start writing. I have to really pay attention to the pen's rotation.

Vintage Pelikan oblique nibs, which are more like cursive italics, just sort themselves out when I write because their flat edge automatically orients the nib to the page with less input from me, or so it seems at least. I have a modern OB M200 nib that I'm definitely going to have ground by someone, and I will likely get the M400 OM nib ground at some point in the future. I like the latter for now, though.

-Andy

 

[Eeyore]

Andy, correct observation!

Even if I don't have a starting problem with my modern M400 OM nib, the tip is definitely more "blobby" than the vintage OM (and OB) nibs. That results, for me, in less line variation. I highly prefer the vintage nibs.

 

[RichieRich3902]

The 'blobbyness' isn't exclusive to Pelikan's oblique nibs, I have an M200 double-broad nib that is huge on the page. I use it mostly for signatures at work because of how big it is. This is one nib that I really would like to have ground into a stub or even just perfected by a nibmeister.