[Review] Pelikan 140 KF
Introduction
The Pelikan 140 is a piston filler fountain pen model produced since 1952.
It was not easy to find information on this model but here I report what retrieved.
Model
Introduced as a replacement for the Ibis, the 140 was initially sold on a large scale under different names from manufacturers like RUF-Buchhaltung (an accounting company) with no Pelikan brand also for third parties.
There is one good variety of colours, the most common of which is the famous green and transparent striped.
During the production period, there were in fact several "adjustments":
• the cap initially smooth without logo later gained the classic logo with the pelican;
• the ring cap, initially without incisions, takes later the incision "Pelikan 140 Germany";
• at the end of the barrel there was in the beginning engraved "Günther Wagner Pelikan" or "Günther Wagner Pelikan", then this incision was removed;
• the clip first with a wider beak tapering;
• it is initially indicated the size of the nib on the bottom, then replaced by an adhesive on the barrel.
Below a series of images from the network that illustrate some changes:
The specimen
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Obtained at the last London Writing Equipment Show arrives in a box covered with a beautiful green fabric with a lines pattern that recalls the very livery of the barrel of the pen.
The nib was sold to me as F and at first I was convinced it was that, especially because it needed a polished and a particularity was not visible. By proof on paper in the presence of the seller no problems were found by me, then… you can read this post.
At this point I can say that everything is in an excellent status except for the nib that has a tip different than the one indicated on the barrel, and the sticker itself that is a little damaged.in an excellent status except for the nib that has a tip different than the one indicated on the barrel, and the sticker itself that is a little damaged.
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Measurements
The pen in 12.5cm long closed and 14.3cm long with the cap posted and nib included; the cap is 6cm long and has a maximum diameter of 1.2cm; the clip is 3.5cm long; the entire pen is 9.5cm lond of wich 1.9cm for the section, 5.7cm for the barrel and the rest is for the bottom.
Everything weights 14.7g and loads a maximum of 1.5ml of ink.
Description
The cap
On the top of the cap we can see the Pelikan logo engraved without enamel representing the famous pelican that is feeding one of its sons encased in a wide circle.
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FYK, most recent versions of the Pelikan logo have 3 little pelicans, this means that mom pelican doesn’t like watching TV…!
The top cap keeps in place the ring clip in golden metal with the classical pelican beak shape.
The cap terminates with a golden metal ring with the engraving I’ve written about upper that recalls the ring of the clip.
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Body
The bottom recalls the shape of the cap with different proportions and a diameter a few millimetres littler than the barrel.
The barrel in plastic is made of longitudinal pearled green and transparent stripes that let you see the ink inside.
Between the barrel and the section there are the trims for the cap that, with a little step, become the section. This one thins ‘till a few millimetres before the writing unit where it terminates with a truncated cone.
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Nib and feed
The rough plastic feed has a semi-tapered shape and is made of 4 longitudinal blades.
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The 14 carats mono-tone gold nib has a round hole in the middle and a middle flexibility.
On the nib, we find an engraved band on each wing that follows the shape of the nib on one side of the hole and, on the other side, a logo made of two concentric circumferences between which we find engraved “Pelikan” on the top and “14C – 585” on the bottom, in the middle our beloved pelican with it’s puppy.
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On the benchmark
So, how does the Pelikan write with the KF nib?
I very like the word “smooth” in English because of that “th” in the end that reminds me the exact sound that this nib makes on the paper. It’s like caress, smooth but not slippery.
I also love the flexibility of this nib and the fact that the feed provides a good amount of ink on the wet side.
On the dry side, you can have a thinner line and a less juicy amount of ink that allows you to write well on cheap paper.
Here is the test made on Clairefontaine 80mg paper from the Rhodia dotpad.
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Now, first of all, I'd like to thank my photography assistants team, especially Patrik the ocelot that helped me with that super-macro of the nib tip.
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Then, thank you all for reading me.
I'm really sorry for my bad english, grammar nazis are more than welcome.
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Originally Posted by migo984
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