My Fountain Pen Education: Pelikan M405 0.2 mm Masuyama Nib

The Atlanta Pen Show is coming up this weekend and I am pretty excited about it. Last year was my first pen show experience, and honestly, I was unprepared to take full advantage of everything the show had to offer. This time around, things will be different.

In the past year my fountain pen knowledge has grown immensely, but I'm still just a babe. Having someone like Thomas allow me to test out a wide range of pens and teach me about them while we are at it has proven invaluable. I am admittedly very, very lucky.

So how do I repay that luck? Let me start by telling you a little about the Pelikan M405 that Thomas loaned out to me.

Thomas sends his pens in batches and there is always a very detailed note about the contents. Specifics like any extra nib work done or some personal history behind the pen. The Pelikan M405 was part of the third batch of pens he sent, and for the first time, Thomas let me know how important a particular pen was to him. The M405 is his baby.

In fact, knowing that I don't turn pens around quickly, Thomas asked if I could review this one soon and get it headed back his way. Absolutely, I said, so I reviewed it plus three other pens over a few days and shipped them back.

And how did I repay Thomas for loaning me out his favorite pen? I forgot to clean it before sending it back.

I am super meticulous about cleaning my own pens. Someone else's pens? Even more so. I talked to Thomas about it and I think what happened was I cleaned the pens I sent back to him as a group, and somehow I missed that one among the others. I was so embarrassed! Thomas was a saint though, as he has been through this whole process. Needless to say, I don't think this mistake will happen again.

So, about the Pelikan M405 itself. This was the first Pelikan fountain pen I have used, and I can see why Thomas loves it so much. There is not a lot of pomp or flash with this pen, but everything it does have it gets exactly right. The weight is right, the balance is right, the feel is right, the look is right. I could tell all of these things the second I picked it up. And the nib, well, it is just exquisite.

The German extra fine 14K gold nib has been ground down to a Japanese extra fine 0.2 mm by respected nibmeister Mike Masuyama. This is what I am looking forward to most at the pen show that I wasn't prepared to handle last year. Mr. Masuyama will be at the show, and I plan on having him work on a couple of my nibs. I felt too green to even approach him last year, but working with Thomas these past few months has changed all of that.

And who knows, I may even come home with a Pelikan.

Review: Pelikano Fountain Pen - 2010 Edition

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

The Pelikano Fountain Pen has been around for 50 years as a sturdy, easy-to-use fountain pen aimed at school kids. Pelikan has redesigned the pen several times over the years; this version is new for 2010.

The Pelikano writes smooth and wet, gliding easily across the paper with ink flow that doesn't let up at any speed. Probably due to this abundant ink flow, the line width seems to depend largely on the surface.

On absorbent papers the width of the "fine" nib is similar to a Lamy Safari EF, but on non-absorbent papers (or sketching over watercolors, as shown above) the line gets quite broad.

As with previous designs, the Pelikano 2010 is available in a few nib sizes, colors, and customized for left-handed and right-handed writers. It currently retails for $18.40 at JetPens.

Like our friend the Pen Addict, I favor a fine line or else a variable line that is quite fine at its minimum width so this one is a bit broad for me. That said, the ease with which it lays down a whole lot of ink is quite alluring. I have no other fountain pen that will effortlessly fill an area with ink like this one will. The sketch to the right was made on a relatively absorbent paper, but it was still easy to get a thick, rich ink fill.

The grip on the pen feels very comfortable. Fingers naturally end up where they are intended to be. The body is lightweight and unobtrusive. The cap is not as unobtrusive; it doesn't feel like it is intended to be posted, and wobbles around on the end of the pen. I notice it a little, but it's not so bad that it stays on my mind while drawing.

The bright side of the cap is that it snaps closed very snugly over the nib. Between the cap and the design of the nib housing, this pen feels... safe. My fingers don't come into contact with the ink at all. There has been no ink leakage at all. Any time you have a large amount of ink in any pen in your bag, there is at least some small chance of disaster - but this pen feels quite secure.

The Pelikano takes international standard ink cartridges as well as a special long cartridge that appears to hold twice as much ink. I don't really like the way these cartridges connect to the pen - it takes a little pushing to get the cartridge to connect, and it's hard to be certain when it is all the way on. However, it is nice to know I could travel with this pen and have no problem finding extra cartridges. Between the easy-to-find cartridges, clean nib, and affordable price point as far as fountain pens go ($18.40), this would be a good choice for on-the-road sketching.

I do wish there weren't two holes in the bottom of the body because otherwise this would be a great choice for an eyedropper conversion. You can use a silicone sealant to close up those holes but personally I would never be able to trust the pen enough to travel with it after that. If you want to use your own inks, the other option is the cartridge converter ($5.50).

This pen was a pleasant surprise, despite the broad line. I'll probably fill it with black ink and use it in combination with a finer-tipped fountain pen to achieve two different line weights.