Pilot Vanishing Point break in

[Slurry]

I posted recently about my new Pilot VP with a 1mm stub. What seemed odd to me is that out of the box, this pen was dreadful. The ink flow was minimal, the nib was very scratchy, and the ink flow had repeated rough starts. But after about 4 or 5 actual hours of writing, the pen seemed to open up and perform much better. The flow had improved drastically, and the scratchiness had just about vanished completely. Has anyone else experienced this phenomenon with the VP? The impression I got was that there was a coating or something on the nib that was interfering with the writing performance. Over the course of a few hours, that coating wore away. Do pens have a break-in? Is that even plausible?

[Deb]

Unfortunately, it's not that uncommon with new pens these days. Often, oils remain from the manufacturing and assembly processes that have not been flushed away. With most new pens it's well worth flushing with water and a little dish soap.

[Lady Onogaro]

I was disappointed with the 1.0 stub. It never pleased me until I had it worked on by Dan Smith. Now, it's a pleasure to write with it.

[Slurry]

I was disappointed with the 1.0 stub. It never pleased me until I had it worked on by Dan Smith. Now, it's a pleasure to write with it.

How long did you have this before getting it adjusted? Do you know what adjustments were made?

[Slurry]

Unfortunately, it's not that uncommon with new pens these days. Often, oils remain from the manufacturing and assembly processes that have not been flushed away. With most new pens it's well worth flushing with water and a little dish soap.

I thought that might be the case. I'll definitely remember that for future purchases.

[Lady Onogaro]

I was disappointed with the 1.0 stub. It never pleased me until I had it worked on by Dan Smith. Now, it's a pleasure to write with it.

How long did you have this before getting it adjusted? Do you know what adjustments were made?


I had it about 8 months. It was a rough writing experience (that is, it was not a smooth writer). I had starting issues, too.

When I brought it to Dan, he asked if I wanted a grind or if I just wanted it to write better. I said I just wanted it to write better. After Dan worked on it, it did. I was happy.

[Slurry]

Very cool

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[lawrence0]

I am not quite sure about it.

[Kaputnik]

I'll have to revisit the VP stub nib. I bought one separately for the Pilot Capless pens I already have. As I recall, I didn't hate it, but was somewhat disappointed. The problem may have been with me, after trying a number of stub nibs, I have yet to find one that I'm really enthusiastic about. But I keep meaning to try one again.

I don't recall having a break in period for this or any of my other VP nibs, but it's been a habit for a while now to flush out any new pen before using it.

[alexander_k]

VPs are tricky. I've used quite a few, yet they still puzzle me. In general, they are on the dry side and this may accentuate the quirkiness of some nibs.

[KrazyIvan]

I have a Capless with an okay nib. It was a bit dry. I noticed that under a loop, the tipping was not shiny, indicating to me that there was corrosion on the nib. A few passes on the micromesh polished it up enough that it was not as dry and it smoothed out a bit. I left it like that for a while until I decided to stub it.

[Memory]

Old forum, but wanted to add my two cents. When I first purchased mine, I was beyond frustrated. How the heck could Pilot get away with creating something so scratchy?!? It wasn't behaving like my other stubbed nibs, and seemed to be drier than my medium nib. I stuffed it in my pen case out of frustration.

About 2 months later, I had a nib custom ground into an architect's point by John Mottishaw. Curious, I took out my other nibs for comparison. Imagine my complete shock when suddenly, the Vanishing Point factory stub was writing well. The last time I used it, I had to pull several consecutive all nighters in a row, so I probably wasn't realizing that my pen was changing over time.

I was wondering if other folks noticed the same difference, or if my pen changed while I was writing with it. Now I think I should break out the loupe and try to tweak it a bit. I've always been too nervous to do it before!

[Driften]

Old forum, but wanted to add my two cents. When I first purchased mine, I was beyond frustrated. How the heck could Pilot get away with creating something so scratchy?!? It wasn't behaving like my other stubbed nibs, and seemed to be drier than my medium nib. I stuffed it in my pen case out of frustration.

About 2 months later, I had a nib custom ground into an architect's point by John Mottishaw. Curious, I took out my other nibs for comparison. Imagine my complete shock when suddenly, the Vanishing Point factory stub was writing well. The last time I used it, I had to pull several consecutive all nighters in a row, so I probably wasn't realizing that my pen was changing over time.

I was wondering if other folks noticed the same difference, or if my pen changed while I was writing with it. Now I think I should break out the loupe and try to tweak it a bit. I've always been too nervous to do it before!

It could also be you are writing with a higher angle this time. Goulet had in a video that the factory stub from Pilot for the VP is ground for a high writing angle. I did not buy one just for that reason. The M nibs are wet and wonderful, but not for everybody.