The Nib and the Click

Review of the Pilot Capless model from 1998.

Although I have written several chronicles on the Pilot Capless model (1964, 1965, 1968, 1971, Sesenta/Décimo), I had never thought of making a review of the current model. I had, however, spoken about the differences among the nib sets (Capless Nibs I, and Capless Nibs II) available for this family of pens, but a pen is not just a nib.

Just recently I inked a regular Capless pen (1998 model) equipped with an 18 K gold nib in F. The ink, Sailor Sei-boku (青墨)—a permanent nanopigmented blue black. The combination is wonderful, and writing this review was a real pleasure. I hope, however, I kept some critical view on this pen.


1. Appearance and design. (8/10)
This is the current Capless model, originally released in 1998. More in detail, this unit is gold plated (push button, rings, clip and nose cone), and the body enamel is green with some black details resembling the pattern of some Scottish kilt.

This pen is now so well known that all its unusual look might have vanished into the custom of seeing it on a regular basis, at least by nuts like us, stylophiles. But this is indeed a strange looking pen—a big push button, an apparently misplaced clip, how the pen opens and how the nib unit is removed… It really looks like a ball pen, save for the fundamental difference that the nib can –and must— be refilled with water-based ink. But it can also be fairly said that the essence of a Capless is an empty box.

However similar in looks to a ball pen, the clip is located close to the nib instead of to the push button. The reason lies on the need to keep the nib in upright position when the pen is clipped to a shirt. Some users complain that this position was intrusive to their way of grabbing the pen. Indeed, nothing that a proper grip could not solve.

At the end, the design works well, and the looks are attractive.


2. Construction and quality. (9/10)
As is the case with most modern Japanese pens, the construction quality is very good. The Capless model is particularly critical on this given its moving parts: the pushing mechanism not only moves the nib unit (nib and feed and ink deposit) back and forth, but also a small hinged door on the nose cone. This door closes the pen when not in use to prevent the nib from drying. The mechanism is precise and reliable. The loud click –for some— is also reassuring.

The pen is screwed together at its center. Both threads are metallic and there seems to be no reliability problem. Opening the pen and removing the nib is a fundamental part of the filling process.


3. Weight and dimensions. (7/10)
The weight of the pen –not so the size— often conceits criticism from its users who, in turn, look at the thinner and lighter Pilot Decimo. Some others might prefer a heavier tool. I think that for a long period of writing this pen might be a tad too heavy.

The regular Capless is well balanced, with its center of mass at 68 mm. from the extended tip. It fits well into the tripod of the orthodox grip.

These are its dimensions:
Diameter: 12 mm.
Length closed: 140 mm.
Length open: 138 mm.
Weight: 31 g.
Center of mass at 68 mm from the extended tip.
Ink deposit: 0.9 ml (cartridge) / 0.8 ml (CON-20 converter) / 0.6-0.7 ml. (CON-50 converter).


4. Nib and writing performance. (9.5/10)
Come for the click, stay for the nib.

Capless nibs are widely praised for their smoothness and reliability, and I have no objection to that conclusion. However, for the Japanese market, there are two nib units made of stainless steel (gold plated) whose performance is slightly less satisfactory. Following I include the list of Capless nibs currently available:

The unit under review uses an 18 K gold F nib, non rhodiated; production date of February 2008. It is smooth, nicely wet, very reliable… Event though these nibs are not new to me, I was gladly surprised when I inked this pen again. Maybe, I reckon, it has something to do with the ink—Sailor Sei-boku.

Having expressed my satisfaction, I should also add that there is nothing fancy on these nibs. They are boring symmetric points –some nibmeisters out there customize them--, and they offer no line variation. But there is something very pleasant on them, and that brings another metaphysical question—what are the elements that make a pen enjoyable? But that should be the topic of another text. Suffice to say now that this F nib is always ready for the action, and that it performs admirably.


5. Cleaning and Maintenance. (7.5/10)
This is a cartridge converter pen, and that makes its cleaning simple. Disassembling nib and feed from the nib unit requires some special tool.

To ink the pen out of an inkwell –that is, with a converter attached— it is necessary to take the nib out of the housing. Otherwise, the nose area, including the hinged door mechanism, would become filled with ink and prone to stain any document or shirt or pen case. Some ink, though, might remain in that area, and soaking the section in water now and then would be useful too keep the pen clean. I suffered of no stains coming from this pen.

The nib-retracting mechanism needs no maintenance. I have never had any problem with a Capless pen.

About cartridges and converters suitable for the modern Capless, three are the options: Pilot proprietary cartridges, new or refilled (0.9 ml); bladder type CON-20 converter (0.8 ml); and piston-type CON-50 converter (0.7 ml). In some markets –not in Japan— the converter CON-50 comes with the pen. This is the least satisfactory solution in terms of ink capacity and of the problems generated by the converter. This last issue seems to have been solved with the implementation of a metallic piece inside the converter. This new version of the converter has an ink capacity of 0.6 ml.

My favorite option is to refill empty cartridges with a syringe—optimum ink capacity and the possibility to check the remaining ink in the pen.


6. Cost and value. (9/10)
In Japan, a Capless pen with a gold nib costs (MSRP) JPY 15000, plus tax. In the US market it can be found for USD 100. Cheap or expensive is at anybody’s appreciation. I think it is a good value given the originality of the design and the quality of the nib.


7. Conclusion. (50/60, 83/100)
It took me some time to get use to the idea of this pen, but once I put my hands on one I quickly learned to love it. As I said before, I got it for the click and kept it for the nib.

Of course, this is not a perfect pen, but it works very well and it provides some advantages over regular, capped pens.

Pilot Capless 1998 model, 18 K gold F nib – Sailor Sei-boku 青墨

Bruno Taut
June 6th, 2012
etiquetas: Pilot, Capless

Innovation (II)

The obvious alternative to the asymmetric configuration of the opposed nibs is bending both nibs in a similar fashion. However simple this might look, the devil –as usual— is in the details. How do both tips interact? But that will be the topic of another chronicle.

Three Pelikan pens with symmetrically opposed nibs. Note the differences in the feeds.

Asymmetric vs. symmetric.

Suffice to say now that this configuration tends to make more rigid nibs. A perfect example if this is this Pelikan M200, albeit equipped with two Chinese-made nibs.

The very rigid creation by Mr. Yamada.

The goal was to create a very rigid and very resistant nib for a user who applied a lot of pressure when writing. The owner was truly happy with the final result of Yamada’s inventive mind.

The tip of the nib, we can see on this picture, is not symmetric. There is an upper nib and a lower nib, marked with the yellow sticker, as could be seen on the previous picture.

My thanks to Mrs. Arai and to Mr. Yamada.

Pilot Capless 1998 – Sailor Sei-boku

Bruno Taut
June 2nd, 2012
etiquetas: Yamada, plumín, evento, soluciones técnicas, Pelikan

Mackintosh

Blogs and fora and other Internet media are now re-broadcasting the news originally released by the BBC on the increasing popularity of fountain pens. Sure enough, we stylophiles should be happy about it: more sales would certainly turn into more attention on the side of the companies and more models in the market. All in all, more excitement for us.

Another of Yamada's creations.

However, what is the business model for most of those companies? BBC quoted the views of Gordon Scott, vice-president for office products at Parker pens in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. He claims that buyers of new fountain pens, for whom they are more an accessory than a tool, look for a traditional element on them: "People want the memory of a fountain pen in a contemporary pen." This might explain, incidentally, why Parker launched the moral fraud of a felt-tip pen by the name of Ingenuity with all the fanfare.

But in this context of the pen as a retro-looking accessory –I spoke in terms of status symbol for the paradigmatic case of Montblanc— the nib is an even more secondary accessory. And few demands would be placed on them other than being made of gold, I am afraid.

Yamada and Nagahara, face to face.

So, innovations like those by the Nagahara family or nibmeister Yamada, give us some more solid hopes for an interesting future in the world of fountain pens. Otherwise, most of the well-established companies would engage in an endless and empty exercise of style, in a mannerist activity, in an inane recreation of archaic tools.

Charles R. Mackintosh said it with elegant words: “There is hope in honest error. None in the icy perfections of the mere stylist”.

Sailor black pocket pen with inlaid nib – Wagner red-black

Bruno Taut
May 29th, 2012
etiquetas: estética, mercado, soluciones técnicas, Yamada, Sailor

Innovation (I)

Sailor’s specialty nibs, I have said on these chronicles, are arguably the most interesting innovation in fountain pens in recent years. The idea of overlapping two and three nibs is both elegant and efficient.

And on these texts, I have also mentioned the amazing creations of nibmeister Yamada. Among them, his version of a two-fold nib, based on a Pelikan M800, caught the attention of many of us.

Then, what’s next? Are there more possibilities in our understanding of nibs and pens? Mr. Yamada is indeed creative and daring. And so his question was more concrete, more advanced: What if instead of overlapping the nibs we opposed them?

A Senator (top) and a Pelikan 800 with opposed nibs.

Senator (left) and Pelikan (right) nibs. Their geometry are different.

Here we have a couple of average looking pens: a Senator and a Pelikan (M800). Their nibs, though, have been heavily modified and now are unique and radical. Mr. Yamada did really oppose two nibs, and to do so he had to make special feeds to provide ink to both of them.

These nib sets have the wonderful property of allowing a big number of different strokes, which in turn depend on the geometry and configuration. Needless to say, now there are many more possibilities. Today, I will only speak about the asymmetric configuration.

On the Senator pen, the lower nib, on the right in the picture, is made of steel. Its bending is quite progressive.

The Senator pen in the hands of its creator, Mr. Yamada. Please, note the variety of lines.

On it, one of the nibs is mostly untouched and the other is bended about 45 degrees in a quite sharp angle. The result is a wet fine point —fed by two slits— when writing with the tip. At more shallow angles, though, the whole lower nib draws a very thick line.

The Pelikan set is formed by two 18 K Pelikan nibs. The lower nib is bended at a much sharper angle than that of the Senator pen.

The nib set, as in any Pelikan pen, can easily be detached from the section. On the paper, some writing samples of the Pelikan nib. Note the possibility of drawing both thin and very broad lines.

Indeed a versatile nib with lines ranging from very fine to inordinately broad.

On another chronicle I will describe other possibilities.

Hats off to Mr. Yamada!

Pilot Capless 1998 – Sailor Sei-boku

Bruno Taut
May 23-26, 2012
etiquetas: Yamada, plumín, evento, soluciones técnicas, Pelikan, Senator.

F-2 Nib

NOTE added on February 6th, 2013. The  actual origin of the Sailor Clear Candy is the Sailor Candy released in 1976. More information on the chronicle "On Candies. Correction".


Pen review: Sailor Clear Candy (2011).

This pen, with its 16 different decorations, was marketed on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the company Sailor. However, these pens are, in actual terms, variations on the former A. S. Manhattaner line of pens, as No Pen Intended blog author pointed out some weeks ago.

The reviewed unit is transparent with white and brown accents.



1. Appearance and design. (7.0/10)
Informal looking pen in any of the decorations. It is made of plastic and has no frills save for the screw to attach cap and barrel—an unusual feature on inexpensive pens.

Basically, this is a cartridge-converter pen with a rigid steel nib. Despite its appearance, it cannot easily be transformed into an eyedropper pen.


2. Construction and quality. (7.5/10)
As is often the case with Japanese pens, the construction quality is very good and all the elements fit well. The only negative aspect might be the cheap looking materials of the body. Despite that, though, there are no abnormal marks or scratches due to the regular use of the pen.

The cap of this model (demonstrator with brown and white accents) is decorated with this retro-looking Sailor logo.

3. Weight and dimensions. (9.0/10)
Nothing in the size and weight or in the shape of this pen is a problem for a good performance. As an all plastic pen, it is very light and the balance —either posted or unposted— is always correct.

These are the dimensions:
Diameter: 12.5 mm.
Length closed: 135 mm.
Length open: 121 mm.
Length posted: 153 mm.
Weight: 11.2 g (dry).
Ink deposit: 1.1 ml (cartridge)/0.7 ml (converter).


4. Nib and writing performance. (8.5/10)
Only one nib is available for the whole line of pens. It is a rigid F point made of steel, tipped, labeled as F-2 by Sailor. It is simple and reliable. Not prone to dry out, and not particularly wet or dry. Just as expected on an inexpensive pen.

The F-2 nib is common to a number of inexpensive Sailor pens.

5. Filling system and maintenance. (8.0/10)
As is the case with most cartridge-converter pens, there is no real problem in cleaning it. Nib and feed are attached to the section by friction, and it is very easy to remove them.

The only problem in some markets —certainly not in Japan— might be the difficulty to find Sailor proprietary cartridges and converters. The later is not provided with the pen (JPY 525).

The transformation into an eyedropper is not straight forward. The bottom jewel is a half-spherical piece that is not really sealed into the barrel. As a result, any liquid inside would leak out through it.

The Sailor Clear Candy equipped with a Sailor converter.

6. Cost and value. (6.0/10)
In Japan, this pens costs JPY 1050, which seems a bit expensive for what it actually offers. This is just a correct pen, reliable; whose only selling points are the not-so-exciting decoration and a screw-on cap.

Two alternatives to this Sailor pen are the Platinum Plaisir –a Platinum Preppy with aluminum body and two nib point options (JPY 1050)--, and the Pilot Vortex—screw-on cap and two nib points (JPY 1575).


7. Conclusion. (46/60=77/100)
Good performing pen, but there are similarly priced pens in the Japanese market with more attractive looks and more nib options.

Sailor Clear Candy – Sailor Jentle 土用, Doyô

Bruno Taut
May 16th, 2012
Etiquetas: Sailor

CON-50

In my personal experience, out of the three ink converters Pilot produces for the current line of pens, the piston CON-50 was the least satisfactory. Too often, the ink’s surface tension prevented it from reaching the feed, thus causing a lack of ink supply on the nib. Shaking the pen was the obvious solution, but there is always some risk of releasing an uncontrolled drop of ink. Needless to say, Murphy’s Law does apply here.

New, on top, and old, on bottom, CON-50 converters by Pilot.

Detail of the ink deposit with the metallic piece inside. The double lip of the piston is also visible.

More modern (that is, included on the 2012 catalog) CON-50 come now with a variation with respect to the older model: there is now a metallic piece inside the converter. The idea behind it is similar to that of the ball inside some ink cartridges—to break any possible ink drop on the converter or cartridge walls. The cost of this solution is a small reduction in the ink capacity: from 0.7 ml to 0.6 ml, according to my own measurements. The price of the new CON-50, however, has not changed: JPY 525 (5% tax included).

Sailor Clear Candy – Sailor Jentle 土用 - Doyô

Bruno Taut
May 16th, 2012
etiquetas: conversor, Pilot

10 Years

War restrictions in Japan in the 1930s and 1940s severely reduced the availability of some metals for the pen industry. As a result, most (if not all) nibs at the time were made of steel. These are the “shiro” nibs that have already shown up on these chronicles.

After the war, the availability of gold was slowly increasing and some luxury pens were equipped with nibs made of this noble metal. However, many a company played the trick of confusion between gold plated and actual solid gold nibs. The official response came from the almighty Ministry of Industry (actually, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, MITI): The Industrial Standardization Law was enacted in 1949 and by 1954 the Japan Industrial Standards, JIS, logo imprinted on nibs guaranteed the material out of which they were made.

Platinum (Platinum Sangyo Co. Ltd. at the time), on its side, created the 10 year guaranteed nib in 1953 after perfecting the manufacturing process. Let us remember now that the main argument for the use of gold over steel is the much higher resistance to corrosion of the noble metal.

Platinum Honest 60, on the left, and Presidente pens, on the right, disassembled.

On the left, the Platinum Honest 60 nib. On the right, that of the Presidente. Both are identical "10 Years" nibs save for the obvious gold plating of the later.

On these chronicles, paradoxically, the first encounter with a 10 year nib by the hand of the nominally Spanish pen Presidente. Of course, we now know that it was a variation of the Platinum Honest, whose nib, we could also see, was also engraved with the "10 years" sign. But these are not the only examples. 10-year nibs were made in a number of shapes and sizes, and these are some examples.

These nibs belong to an aerometric Honest (left), to a copy of the Parker 51 (center) and to an oversized luxury lever filler (right).

From left to right on the previous picture:
--Nail shaped nib for an aerometric Honest pen.
--Hooded nib. The pen is basically a copy of the Parker 51.
--Big size 20 open nib. It belongs to a luxury lever-filler pen.

These are the pens of the previous nibs. From top to bottom, the oversizez lever filler with the size 20 nib, the copy of the Parker 51, and the aerometric Honest pen.

Platinum 10 Years, copy of Parker 51 – Sailor Sei-boku

Bruno Taut
May 13th, 2012
etiquetas: Platinum, Presidente, Japón, plumín