Jeph
April 12th, 2014, 01:47 PM
In another thread about choosing between a Pelikan M200/205/215 and a Pilot Vanishing Point, I mentioned some issues I found with my VP. The thread is here (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/6464-Which-would-you-purchase-Pilot-VP-or-Pelikan-M205?p=75168&posted=1#post75168).
Here is what I said.
I have now had a few days to play with my VP and I have more to add. I absolutely love the looks of the VP. The clip was in the way until I noticed while holding another pen that really it was not and it was all in my head. Now I use the clip as a guide to keep the nib oriented properly and as a rest for the side of my finger. The balance is great. It is heavier than an M200/205/215 but not really by much at all. And I notice that there is even a little door in the nose of the section that closes behind the nib to keep it from drying out. All of that should make the VP a slam dunk. But it is not. I have discovered a design flaw in the VP. The nib unit is capable of being rotated, albeit only slightly, within the housing. The can interfere with your contact angle. The good news is that it does not appear to move easily but it can move. What is more important is that the nib unit is free to translate side to side during writing. My EF was putting down a beautifully wet .36mm line but the feedback was horrible and there was definite tooth. I carefully inspected the nib under 10X magnification and found everything looked perfect. I tried again at 30x and it was still perfect. It was not until I was in the act of smoothing the nib that I discovered the rotation and translation issues. If you write slowly with zero pressure it is not an issue. My memory of college note taking was a furious, frantic storm of spewing ink onto the page desperately trying to keep up. This is exactly the type of writing where the translating nib will start to fight you. I love the size of the line, but I have been too spoiled by superb nibs to be able to cope with way the nib reacts under duress. The wider nibs are probably less susceptible to the translation issue. The EF is now wonderfully smooth, as long as I slow down some and write carefully…
I could not take pictures to show what I see, so I tried a video. The rotation is that which is allowed by the play in the keyway at the back of the section where the nib unit is inserted. I can also see where the door the closes behind the nib opens at an angle and not aligned with the nib opening. I rotate the nib back to straight, retract it, and then when it comes out again it is slightly rotated. That part is in focus.
At the end of the video I show the translation if the nib unit. There is only slight pressure being applied. The nib is not moving relative to the feed.
Jeph's Pilot VP Video (http://youtu.be/fxOmeJ9uzDU)
So, for all of you Pilot VP owners out there, do you experience any of these things or is my pen defective? It is sad to say that I hope that mine is defective because I could really love this pen if it would just behave.
Here is what I said.
I have now had a few days to play with my VP and I have more to add. I absolutely love the looks of the VP. The clip was in the way until I noticed while holding another pen that really it was not and it was all in my head. Now I use the clip as a guide to keep the nib oriented properly and as a rest for the side of my finger. The balance is great. It is heavier than an M200/205/215 but not really by much at all. And I notice that there is even a little door in the nose of the section that closes behind the nib to keep it from drying out. All of that should make the VP a slam dunk. But it is not. I have discovered a design flaw in the VP. The nib unit is capable of being rotated, albeit only slightly, within the housing. The can interfere with your contact angle. The good news is that it does not appear to move easily but it can move. What is more important is that the nib unit is free to translate side to side during writing. My EF was putting down a beautifully wet .36mm line but the feedback was horrible and there was definite tooth. I carefully inspected the nib under 10X magnification and found everything looked perfect. I tried again at 30x and it was still perfect. It was not until I was in the act of smoothing the nib that I discovered the rotation and translation issues. If you write slowly with zero pressure it is not an issue. My memory of college note taking was a furious, frantic storm of spewing ink onto the page desperately trying to keep up. This is exactly the type of writing where the translating nib will start to fight you. I love the size of the line, but I have been too spoiled by superb nibs to be able to cope with way the nib reacts under duress. The wider nibs are probably less susceptible to the translation issue. The EF is now wonderfully smooth, as long as I slow down some and write carefully…
I could not take pictures to show what I see, so I tried a video. The rotation is that which is allowed by the play in the keyway at the back of the section where the nib unit is inserted. I can also see where the door the closes behind the nib opens at an angle and not aligned with the nib opening. I rotate the nib back to straight, retract it, and then when it comes out again it is slightly rotated. That part is in focus.
At the end of the video I show the translation if the nib unit. There is only slight pressure being applied. The nib is not moving relative to the feed.
Jeph's Pilot VP Video (http://youtu.be/fxOmeJ9uzDU)
So, for all of you Pilot VP owners out there, do you experience any of these things or is my pen defective? It is sad to say that I hope that mine is defective because I could really love this pen if it would just behave.