Pelikan 200/400 nib advice

Can I pick your brains please- I purchased an m215 via Amazon for what I considered a good price, came with an M nib, lovely smooth and wet, however as I've now found I think I prefer a finer line. Also took a chance on a 400nn that was incomplete on eBay ( missing clip n screw top) gunked up etc but nothing that warm water couldn't fix- I bidded as it came with an OB nib that has a little bit of flex( in no flex expert am actually a noob) and 'looks' sharp edged like it's had work done- writes fantastically, not as smooth as the M but bugger all tipping on it. I don't lean to the left so the oblique bit isn't really for me BUT loving the line variation, too broad for my daily use tho so...
If I'm looking for apx 0.5/0.6mm do I get the M reground? Do I get the vintage OB worked? Or do I buy a new F n get made italic? I think I'd like a vintage F / italic but hens teeth! I don't want to be spending too much it's only a 200 series pen.
I've googled/ searched etc but my mind is melted with so much info I can't see wood from trees
Thanks for your time, help a noob out
Are the 2tone modern 400 nibs flexier or just prettier?

Don't mess with the vintage, the original character of each hand-ground nib is highly sought after by many collector/users. OB is precious, but like you said .... wet and wide.

Why don't you just pick up a replacement stainless steel fine point for around $30 or whatever they are these days? It will be softer than a modern fine 14K (which isn't really all that fine) and will look correct in your silver-tone trimmed pen. Plus a gold nib will cost you as much or more than your M215.

Hope this helps, fire away with more Q's as needed.

Thanks for this, realistically can you get much line variation from a fine if worked to italic? Would just like to make it a little more interesting?

nemo said:

Don't mess with the vintage, the original character of each hand-ground nib is highly sought after by many collector/users. OB is precious, but like you said .... wet and wide.

Why don't you just pick up a replacement stainless steel fine point for around $30 or whatever they are these days? It will be softer than a modern fine 14K (which isn't really all that fine) and will look correct in your silver-tone trimmed pen. Plus a gold nib will cost you as much or more than your M215.

Hope this helps, fire away with more Q's as needed.

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Good advice from B&B's resident Pelikan expert!!

Don't mess up the vintage stuff by having it reworked; as-is it may well be "worth" far more to a collector than to you.

That's fair doc, I actually quite like the OB other than the O bit, I'm still able to hit the spot tho so happy to have it, just didn't know if it was an option that would have been better for me

Bigboned said:

Thanks for this, realistically can you get much line variation from a fine if worked to italic?

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Not really, since it is pretty narrow to begin with unless you write really small and use really good paper. Sending your medium out to turn it into a cursive italic might be a better option for line width variation using the same pressure but you may find yourself catching the corners. A flexible vintage fine could possibly be the ticket.

You can actually push a standard fine point steel nib to do some pretty amazing stuff, just get used to the springiness for a while and develop your own style.

I think Doug's advice in post #2 is all you need to know. I was drooling a bit just looking at your pictures of the vintage OB nib...don't mess with it. If you want to try other nib sizes, Doug's advice about buying a new stainless one is sound....just buy one. It won't cost you much

I'm getting the idea guys, leave the OB alone!!! Lol it was just an idea!!!!!! I played some more with it last night and agree I actually quite like it so am going to bring the pen it came on upto scratch and rejoin them together. I'm gonna get a F steel nib and give it a good go too, then decide along with my M which works for me best and have that one re-ground to give the sharpness I'm chasing if it's necessary....
Thanks guys for your advice, I do also appreciate that paper/ ink choices affect the results also- and I nearly have that down!

I also found that the medium nib on my M200 was a bit wider than I was hoping for. I didn't use it much for about a half of a year. But, then I had a phase where I used it almost daily for a month or so. Good plan on getting a F before grinding anything down.

I bought an M200 (blue marbled, old style cap) last summer with an OB nib. It took a little getting used to but it is an interesting nib. Much better than a boring M I could have had in an identical pen from the same seller. In fact, because he had both listed at the same time, I had a choice.

From a buyers perspective it was a good deal, but from a sellers perspective I think he could have gotten more out of both if he had timed the endings of the auctions better. (they both ended within a few hours of each other. One ended up at $46.01 the other $46.00) I forget which I paid.