My Vintage Pilot Elite

[azkid]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180807/ad02e688119cad58b20b989ad02df0a1.jpg
I bought this pen in NOS condition recently but my initial hour with it last night involved leaks from the converter and extreme hard-starting; the pen was totally unusable.

Fortunately, after some sleep, I took to it with loupe and micro-mesh -- gently and minimally -- and aligned the tines and now it writes ok.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180807/85a2f42d2eec5e52e117a4d527ed2561.jpg
The pen is compact yet long enough to write with unposted, which I prefer to posting the long and somewhat heavy aluminum cap.

I look forward to putting this little pen through it's paces. Currently it is inked with a Pilot Black cartridge.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180807/180a3ed10075c34f91b1092144a99a2a.jpg

[penwash]

I have cleaned up many vintage Pilot Elite like this. Almost all of them has a hard-start problem because old ink got stuck between that impossibly tight space between the nib and the feed because of the way Pilot design those.

Immerse in water for a few days. Or quicker if you have ultrasonic cleaner. That should dissolve old inks and make ink flow much better.

[migo984]

I love my vintage Pilot Elite. It has the most amazing 18k SF (soft fine) nib that writes beautifully, with a good amount of springiness. I’ve never had problems with it starting or leaking. And best of all I got it for a steal (£12), about 3 years ago. It is one of my “Forever” pens.

I hope you resolve any issues with yours and you get as much pleasure out of using it as I get from mine.

[azkid]

Thanks!

I agree that the nib feels great-- very springy and offering a teensy bit of line variation. It is rather nice to write with.

Ultrasonic cleaning the nib helped. But I don't think there was any old ink in it since it was NOS in the original packaging. :)

I think it is a cool and unusual pen design. I guess that's what drew me in.

[penwash]

I hope you don't mind if I post these trio that I had before:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4309/35476622614_0ef2ceaa49_c.jpg

It shows that there are subtle different variations of their long production lives.

[azkid]

Very cool set you have there!

I used mine the last couple days and it's been working nicely and except for an occasional hard start has been a pleasure to use.

[andrew.weiss88]

I have cleaned up many vintage Pilot Elite like this. Almost all of them has a hard-start problem because old ink got stuck between that impossibly tight space between the nib and the feed because of the way Pilot design those.

Immerse in water for a few days. Or quicker if you have ultrasonic cleaner. That should dissolve old inks and make ink flow much better.Thank you. I have one I gave up on when it started leaking like crazy. I'll give the soaking a try (no ultrasonic cleaner yet).

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

[azkid]

Mine hasn't leaked with the cartridge. I think the converter was just loose in my case.

[penwash]

I have cleaned up many vintage Pilot Elite like this. Almost all of them has a hard-start problem because old ink got stuck between that impossibly tight space between the nib and the feed because of the way Pilot design those.

Immerse in water for a few days. Or quicker if you have ultrasonic cleaner. That should dissolve old inks and make ink flow much better.Thank you. I have one I gave up on when it started leaking like crazy. I'll give the soaking a try (no ultrasonic cleaner yet).

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Soaking the nib won't probably solve leaking. For leaking, I'd try a few different cartridges to see if the cartridge is the culprit. Otherwise you can disassemble the front part of the pen to inspect the inside to see if there's any hairline cracks. But it depends on the version of the Pilot Elite whether you can successfully disassemble it or not, some are not as easy as the others.

[wingwiper]

I have cleaned up many vintage Pilot Elite like this. Almost all of them has a hard-start problem because old ink got stuck between that impossibly tight space between the nib and the feed because of the way Pilot design those.

Immerse in water for a few days. Or quicker if you have ultrasonic cleaner. That should dissolve old inks and make ink flow much better.Thank you. I have one I gave up on when it started leaking like crazy. I'll give the soaking a try (no ultrasonic cleaner yet).

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

Soaking the nib won't probably solve leaking. For leaking, I'd try a few different cartridges to see if the cartridge is the culprit. Otherwise you can disassemble the front part of the pen to inspect the inside to see if there's any hairline cracks. But it depends on the version of the Pilot Elite whether you can successfully disassemble it or not, some are not as easy as the others.

I use either the con20 I think it is in mine- AF.

No leaks and it seats nice and tight[emoji106]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Sathish_rao]

I hope you don't mind if I post these trio that I had before:

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4309/35476622614_0ef2ceaa49_c.jpg

It shows that there are subtle different variations of their long production lives.

Hi, Could you let me know which of these have Gold nib and which ones have Steel nib and whether there's an easy way to identify ? I've seen both Inlaid nib versions and Semi-hooded versions. I'm told that both Inlaid and Sem-hooded versions are available in both Gold and Steel nibs.

[PithyProlix]

I believe the semi-hooded versions are Korean. I have read that Pilot in South Korea was separate company that licensed from Pilot in Japan.

I have a few vintage Japanese versions and all the nibs are gold. Never seen one with a steel nib.

Someone please correct me if I am wrong on any of the above!

[Cyril]

I have one of the Elite pens and it is having a Ef nib . Fantastic pen I love for my kind of writing. It is looks a Tiny little pen but when you post it seems like a normal pen!!!

[Ted A]

If you’re really interested in a steel nib, SpeerBob on eBay sells new old stock elites. My understanding is that they are Korean and steel nibs. At the price he charges that must be correct. I have one in an EF. Writes nicely. I like to use it for sketching.

[KBeezie]

If you’re really interested in a steel nib, SpeerBob on eBay sells new old stock elites. My understanding is that they are Korean and steel nibs. At the price he charges that must be correct. I have one in an EF. Writes nicely. I like to use it for sketching.

That would be the case, he's sold those for years, when I got mine it was about $20 from him. And like you said, steel nib, a bit springy, and Korean made (they didn't do the gold nibs outside of their Japanese factories).

But at the time I was finding quite a few of the 14K and 18K ones for around $25-35 pretty easily, including one with an 18K Soft Fine.

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/pilotelitemini/compare_uncapped.jpg