Pelikan M200 Baby's Bottom

My first and only real Nib investment was a late night purchase of a M200 Cafe Creme medium nib a few months ago. In a momentary lapse in judgement, I purchased it new, from Germany, on eBay. As my only other pen purchases were Pilot Metropolitan's with no flow problems, I was completely unaware of potential nib issues on a new pen.

Low and behold, I'm fairly certain I got one of the bum nibs from Pelikan that I've read are becoming more and more common. Dry start after dry start, but once it gets going, it writes beautifully. Flushed many times, and I've tried 4 different inks (Iroshizuku kon-peki, Diamine Chocolate Brown, MB Irish Green and Waterman Florida Blue) to no avail. Frustrating that this problem appears to be frequent since these aren't particularly cheap pens!

Obviously since I cheaped out to save a few bucks (got it for $130 shipped) and went the eBay route, I have no proof of purchase required to make a warranty claim from Pelikan. Lesson learned, but she's a beautiful pen and I'd really like to have her function as my daily writer.

Does anyone have any recommendations on next steps? I've seen some videos of guys doing their own grinding, but that would worry me a bit. Worth sending to a nib adjuster? Buy a replacement nib from someone other than Pelikan?

Baby bottom symptoms aren't what I'd call dry start. Typical baby-bottom is a skip on the occasional downstroke. What does the alignment look like when viewed straight on with a loupe? I assume you scrubbed the nib unit with soapy water and a toothbrush just in case there was some contamination between the nib and feed.

Of about 50 new Pelikans I've acquired over the years, I have only gotten one out of whack nib on a M800 which was cured by a half a minute thumbnail adjustment.

nemo said:

Baby bottom symptoms aren't what I'd call dry start. Typical baby-bottom is a skip on the occasional downstroke. What does the alignment look like when viewed straight on with a loupe? I assume you scrubbed the nib unit with soapy water and a toothbrush just in case there was some contamination between the nib and feed.

Of about 50 new Pelikans I've acquired over the years, I have only gotten one out of whack nib on a M800 which was cured by a half a minute thumbnail adjustment.

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My inexperience with FP's is clearly showing. It's the initial downstroke on capitals where she skips. You can clearly see it in a picture I took this morning. Both the P in Pelikan and the W in Waterman were dry on the initial downstroke, and I only corrected a bit of the W. I didn't take a toothbrush to the nib/feed unit, so that might be something I'll try tonight when I get home from work.

Unfortunately, I don't own a real loupe. I'll have to search around at home to see if I have any magnifying items but nothing comes to mind right now...

Well, fortunately the M200 nib units are steel and you can get new ones for $25-$30. But if you could look at the tines under a loupe somehow, and they're aligned, then your only solution would be to get some micromesh and start smoothing. Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes really.

My Cafe Creme had issues too. As did my M600 and M805. Sorry to hear that you had a less-than-optimal nib.

Common baby's bottom problem, the manufacturers are trying too hard to create a smooth nib. You were right.

I'd send it out and have it touched up on a grinding wheel by an expert or you could try another nib, they're about $30.

The paper bag trick sometimes works on these. Sometimes.

Baby's bottom is easy to correct, but the easiest method in my experience, requires a fairly coarse micro mesh to fix the problem, then progressively finer ones to reach the smoothness of your preference. A potential problem of buying a new nib, is that it too, may have the same affliction.

My advice would be either buy micro mesh pads of various grits, or by a replacement nib from reputable vendor. If you go the fix-it-yourself method, then of course, you have the micro mesh for future use, and the gratification of successful tinkering.

I had this exact same issue with my m200. I tried the paper bag solution, and micro mesh, and was never really happy it was fixed. I guess nib smoothing wasn't my forte. Sending it to a professional eats into the money you saved but gets you a top quality grind to your specifications. That's the route I've gone with subsequent pens and I've been very happy.

If you decide to go the new nib route, I highly recommend Linda Kennedy over at Indy-Pen-Dance. When you buy a pen or nib from them, she will smooth it and set the flow to your specs (also called Binderizing). I have a Edison Herald from her that is glassy smooth.

If you're going to try to deal with the baby's bottom yourself, get a good loupe. Seriously; it will make the process a whole lot easier, because you'll be able to clearly see your progress. Get a BelOMO 10X loupe. You can get one from the BelOMO store for about $30 and free shipping.

alaskazimm said:

If you decide to go the new nib route, I highly recommend Linda Kennedy over at Indy-Pen-Dance. When you buy a pen or nib from them, she will smooth it and set the flow to your specs (also called Binderizing). I have a Edison Herald from her that is glassy smooth.

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It might be a touch crass to use the term of a previous competitor: Richard Binder. At least, I'd feel a touch uncomfortable asking a different retailer to "make it like Richard would".

danek said:

It might be a touch crass to use the term of a previous competitor: Richard Binder. At least, I'd feel a touch uncomfortable asking a different retailer to "make it like Richard would".

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I think she took over Richard's retail inventory when he retired though, and he recommends them on his site.

Jut said:

I think she took over Richard's retail inventory when he retired though, and he recommends them on his site.

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This. She was trained by Richard and endorsed by him. They even use the term on their website. I've got a couple of pens to send to her. I want to try the "daily italic" she offers.

strop said:

This. She was trained by Richard and endorsed by him. They even use the term on their website. I've got a couple of pens to send to her. I want to try the "daily italic" she offers.

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Yep, this is what I was alluding to. Thank you for making that clear.

The Daily Italic is a good grind. I have the .8mm on a Pelikan M200 and it is likewise a smooth writing experience, with good line variation.

I was planning to buy a 200 nib from them with that grind to try. Nice to know.

danek said:

It might be a touch crass to use the term of a previous competitor: Richard Binder. At least, I'd feel a touch uncomfortable asking a different retailer to "make it like Richard would".

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As others have said, IndyPenDance is Richard Binder's "annointed successor," as it were, so they can use the terms he used. Rest assured that if they WEREN'T, he'd get touchy. He didn't like it when SBRE Brown used the term "Waverley" to describe a nib style in a how-to Youtube video on nib tuning/inkflow a few years ago...which was the oddest thing ever, since the video was purely instructional/educational and the "Waverly"-style nib has been around for years and years.

Turns out, Binder called it his trademark, since he got the blessing of the original family that marketed the Waverley dip nib (I have a few from 1892...they're awesome) to sell nib modifications under that name. It was all very odd and quite funny, since he didn't seem to be aware that Pilot also had a Waverley nib of their own and has had it for years. And Mr. Brown wasn't trying to sell anything...it was a video on how to increase inkflow.

So I'd imagine that if anyone were using the term "Binderized" without his blessing, Binder would raise heck.

I've sent two M600's to Michael Masuyama and one to Pendleton Brown. They are all wonderful and worth every penny, but my favorite is the Pendleton Brown nib.

My M200 came with a very nice stub nib, but I'd have to think long and hard before spending half the price of the pen on an adjustment. On the other hand, you're going to enjoy it every time you use the pen. In this case I think I'd try to work on it myself if a replacement can be had for $30. If it were going to be your last purchase lifetime pen I'd go for Pendleton Brown, but you're on this forum so we all know that's not going to happen.

Decided to go for it on my own. Got some Micromesh from Amazon and a loupe from Goulet. Worst case I end up having to order a new nib unit, which I would get from Linda since they ensure the nib is tuned before shipping out.

I'll let y'all know how it ends up!

" loupe from Goulet"
I hope you like your loupe from Goulet better than I do mine. The only good thing about it is the LED light. The lens leaves a lot to be desired. To warn others, spend the money for a better one like the BelOMO.

nortac said:

" loupe from Goulet"
I hope you like your loupe from Goulet better than I do mine. The only good thing about it is the LED light. The lens leaves a lot to be desired. To warn others, spend the money for a better one like the BelOMO.

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I agree...go with a BelOMO loupe. You can always find a light source, but poor quality optics are forever.

No issue with the Goulet loupe here, I'm sure there are much higher quality ones out there but for the nib modification attempted, this was perfectly acceptable.

Following an example found on YouTube, I used the Micromesh and some infinity signs / figure eights to attempt to correct the baby's bottom.

Initial impressions are very good. I flushed the pen and refilled and it definitely seems to have fixed the issue. Looking forward to using tomorrow at work to fully evaluate my "handiwork."