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jor412 · Vintage

Pilot 78G out of the box

Frank · Admin

Hey Issy!

Yes, the Pilot is an NOS pen (New Old Stock). It was made in the 70's, so it's possible that dirt may have collected in the feed/etc. As for being scratchy-it could be, since these were more or less "student" aka cheap pens. A little use can help! You may also want to try GENTLY running the nib across that fine grit (2000) paper Mike was telling you about. This can help getting rid of some rough spots! Do this like four/five times, then try it on paper. Do it less times if you need to repeat until you get the result you want!

Hope this helps!
Enjoy those pens!

Frank

Chthulhu · Rawr.

Frank, I believe the 78G is in current, or at least very recent, production. The BB nib is a gold-plated, untipped cursive italic; hitting it with abrasive paper will remove the plating at the very least. The brown paper bag trick may be more suitable, perhaps?

jor412 · Vintage

It's working a bit better this morning. Maybe it needed some sleep?� biggrin �Or maybe some breaking in? I'll keep trying to use it. For a cheap pen, it's not bad looking. And I've read good things about the 78G.

My father's Parker 75 was skipping on me. I disassembled it, cleaned it of ink w/ water, and put it back together. It still skipped. Then I read up on nibs from various sources and sort of adjusted how the nib sat in the section and it stopped skipping. No major operation needed. I could try something like this. �

Frank · Admin

What I meant was running/rubbing the TIP (point) of the nib gently on fine grit paper.
You can also try the bag/jeans/very smooth nail board trick as well!
A couple of strokes is all you need to make it work!

Thanks Mike (I did make it sound like the whole nib!) ! LOL!

Frank

jor412 · Vintage

This is all very helpful. The ink flow is better after a thorough cleaning. But the pen still doesn't write easily. I'll try your suggestions :)

Chthulhu · Rawr.

There may be something caught in the nib or beneath it; you'll need a good 10x or 20x magnifier to really see it, but you'll want one anyway if you're going to be doing any nib work. You'll also want to find some thin (0.002-0.003 inch thick) brass or mylar sheet with which to clean the nib slits. Hobby shops should carry at least the brass sheets with the RC model and railroad stuff. You can probably find an inexpensive 20x loupe there, too.

Also look between the nib and the feed. If you use tissue paper or paper towels to clean your pens, there may be a bit caught up in there that would push one tine higher than the other, and cause the scratchiness you're getting. It doesn't take much at all to do this.

jor412 · Vintage

Thanks. I'm going to ask a friend o get me the brass sheets & mylar or micromesh. Nothing's stuck anywhere. I looked several times w/ a 10x loupe but I'll look again now that I have a better loupe :)