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Thread: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

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    Default Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Hi - I am considering getting my wife a Pelican fountain pen with flex nib so she can do calligraphy. She already has two Pelicans but none with a flex nib. I am hoping someone can please give me some advice on which model(s) would be appropriate and where I might find one. (Amazon, Ebay, factory web site etc.) And it would be great if she could also use it for normal writing.

    Thanks very much.

    Steve

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    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Since many decades there are no flex nibs on the market anymore (at least out of the box).

    As a rule of thumb you can say that pens after WW2 do not have full flex nibs anymore.

    Many pens of the late 40s and 50s had great semi flex nibs often combined with a stubby grind.
    Which I love and imho outperform almost any modern nail nib with boring spherical blob tippings (which on the other hand are easy to use from any ballpoint barbarian without any requirements regarding pressure and writing angle, with other words a product for the masses).

    So if you want a awesome nib with character without loosing any comfort compared to a modern pen go vintage and take a Pelikan from the 50s.
    They are convenient piston fillers, have high quality and are often good for some additional lifetime usages (if given a proper treatment and service).

    Choose colors and sizes you like, you can’t go wrong with such a pen (in a good working condition), no matter if you choose a 100, 100N, 140, 400, 400N, 400NN.

    But you will not find a Pelikan full flex nib (no matter what some sellers claim and which writing samples they might present (by torturing the poor nibs smashing them down with great force until it begs for mercy)).

    I can also recommend Montblanc of the 50s, also very pleasant pens with semi-flex nibs.
    Last edited by Pterodactylus; November 21st, 2019 at 03:39 PM.

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    Senior Member Pterodactylus's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Just for the records, I don‘t claim that it is impossible to add some flex also to modern Pelikan nibs.
    But this are individual customizations (that some Nib Meister offer).

    This is an example of one of my own tinkering projects adding some flex to a modern M200 steel nib combined with a stubby grind.


    Quote 021 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr



    Quote 022 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

    (Pelikan M205 Blue-Marbled - B EMF ..... Mystery ink #16 provided by Scooby 921)


    But this is not something you can get off the shelf.

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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Almost forgot some samples of awesome 50s semi flex nibs.


    Quote 025 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

    (Pelikan Ibis 130 - EF ..... Mystery Ink #17 provided by Scooby921)


    Show_response_775 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

    (Pelikan 140 - OF ..... Diamine China Blue)


    Show_response_787 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

    (Pelikan 400NN Brown Tortoise - OB ..... Iroshizuku Asa Goa)


    Show_response_910 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

    (Pelikan 140 - OF ..... Diamine China Blue)


    Quote Nelson Mandela by https://www.deviantart.com/ptero-pterodactylus on @DeviantArt by Ptero Pterodactylus on DeviantArt

    (Pelikan 400NN - F ..... Diamine Oxblood)


    Quote 002 by Ptero Pterodactylus, auf Flickr

    (Montblanc 264 - OBB ..... Seitz-Kreuznach Limonengrün)
    (Montblanc 144 - BB ..... Montblanc Miles Davis)
    (Montblanc 344 - OB ..... Seitz-Kreuznach Känguru Gelb)

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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Nice nib work and equally nice handwriting, PD.

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    Pterodactylus (November 22nd, 2019)

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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Just throwing this out there in case it helps...

    For all out calligraphy, maybe the answer is a nice dip pen holder and a selection of flex pen nibs.

    Nowhere near as fancy as a nice Pelikan, I know.

    You might start with browsing through John Neal Booksellers. They have an extensive calligraphy and ink selection. No affiliation just a customer.

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    AzJon (December 3rd, 2019)

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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    I think your *first* stop is going to be talking to Nibmeisters to see if any (1) can do the customisation you want on a Pelikan, and (2) can do it in time for Christmas.

    Buying the Pelikan is the easy bit.

    For calligraphy, it's worth tracking down the discontinued M200 calligraphy nibs. They are really fun - but only in italic, not flex.

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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    I would rate the steel EF nib that's in my M205 as a solid semi-flex and it was under £10 from Cult pens.

    Maybe not true vintage flex, but very expressive and no Nibmeister required!

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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Quote Originally Posted by awa54 View Post
    I would rate the steel EF nib that's in my M205 as a solid semi-flex and it was under £10 from Cult pens.

    Maybe not true vintage flex, but very expressive and no Nibmeister required!
    I would call it springy but not semi flex.

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    Senior Member KBeezie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    Quote Originally Posted by azkid View Post
    Just throwing this out there in case it helps...

    For all out calligraphy, maybe the answer is a nice dip pen holder and a selection of flex pen nibs.

    Nowhere near as fancy as a nice Pelikan, I know.

    You might start with browsing through John Neal Booksellers. They have an extensive calligraphy and ink selection. No affiliation just a customer.
    I also feel like if flex is the goal with a fountain pen, then it helps to get the nib as fine as possible XXF etc. That way whatever small line variation exists, will be more significant looking than trying to get a variations out of a Fine~Medium starting point.

    Quote Originally Posted by Pterodactylus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by awa54 View Post
    I would rate the steel EF nib that's in my M205 as a solid semi-flex and it was under £10 from Cult pens.

    Maybe not true vintage flex, but very expressive and no Nibmeister required!
    I would call it springy but not semi flex.
    I concur with this having had one, they got a slight bounce but it's definitely not semi-flex , much in the same way as a modern Falcon gives more spring it's still not necessarily crossing the threshold. And I wouldn't be giving pressure on the modern steel pelikan nibs. Just because you 'can' doesn't mean it'll be good for it in the long run.

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    Default Re: Possible Pelican Christmas Presenty

    There is a vintage Pelikan 400 with a flexy EF nib in the classifieds right now.

    No. I am not the seller.

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