For Sale WTB: Old fountain pens

[pmargolis]

Now here's an interesting question: How many of us film users also write with fountain pens? I have several Parker 51s that I use in rotation.
Paul

 

[TheFlyingCamera]

I've got the aforementioned Montblanc, a couple Viscontis (including a demonstrator), several Deltas, a Waterman or two, and my pride and joys, My Omas and Montegrappa pens ( I have a 1993 Vespucci, a 360 and a Paragon all with flex nibs, a Hong Kong commemorative in sterling, a Montegrappa Exta in white, a Montegrappa Gothica in sterling, and a Harmony in faux tortiseshell). Oh, and a Parker Duofold in the Pearl & Black. I want one of the yellow 125th anniversary pens...

 

[Jon Goodman]

How many of us film users also write with fountain pens?

I would not be surprised to find several did. You need patience and dedication in order to do both correctly. They're deliberate things as opposed to convenient things, yes?
Jon

 

[hawkegihm]

If you're looking at fountain pen design, how about Lamy? I own a couple that I use daily.

 

[PhotoJim]

Tons of fountain pens here, everything from Hero 616s to a Mont Blanc 145. I like 'em a lot.

 

[E. von Hoegh]

Now here's an interesting question: How many of us film users also write with fountain pens? I have several Parker 51s that I use in rotation.
Paul

This one. Parker 51, a few Montblancs, a Parker Centennial, a small 1920s leverfill Schaeffer "Lifetime", and a Pelikan that I use almost constantly.

 

[Mustafa Umut Sarac]

I think, Luigi Colani should have a fountain pen design. You can learn lots of things from his designs. What about Gaudi , He designed Casa Calvet Door Handles set with squeezing his hands in to wet clay and than brass casting. There are structural design method , Organic design method or reverse an linear design method like art deco. You can make thin , thick or massive designs from them. Danish design school have lots of papers on deciding on a form for designers. But I liked your laser cut idea , its cheap , fast . All depends on the selling price and market .

 

[JohnC]

A thin line....

Perhaps others have noticed....this little contribution will be about # 32 in the list of replies on this thread - compared to an average of 3 to 5 replies to threads in the past 6 months. What does this tell us about APUGers ? Are we Luddites, or simply way ahead of our time, but in a different way.

It worried me, back in the previous century, when friends would raise eyebrows and comment "... John always was a bit different...". Which must be why I have sometimes thought about reloading the square glass inkwells in what was my grandfather's pen and ink desk set that sits at the back of my desk.

There are two; the right-hand one was for black ink - as the 100-year-old ink stains near it tell. It seems he was more careful with debits - the left-hand ink bottle has but a couple of tiny red dots near it.

Yes ! Why not ! I think I've seen ink in my local stationer.

 

[AgX]

I think, Luigi Colani should have a fountain pen design.

Colani did design several models of a ball-pen. One most characteristic.


He also did at least one model of a fountain pen (very middle-of-the-road though):

http://www.ruettinger-web.de/collani-set.jpg

 

[Jon Goodman]

For an update on this, a few people have sent me some pens to study/use, and for that generosity I am very thankful. In addition to this I've bought some pens (both new and used), some different inks and at this point can tell you this:
1. if you want a very cheap but very nice fountain pen, there are a few I'd suggest: Preppy by Platinum. Nice ink cartridge, easily refillable with a syringe and should last for decades. Pen body is not bad, but is not designed for heavy duty, so don't abuse it. Pilot Varsity (or V-Pen)...these are disposable, but you can refill them with a bit of work. Pilot Petit1 (mini-pen). These can be bought for $4 or less each. They're all very pleasant to use. In fact, you can write with the Preppy and Varsity for hours on end with no fatigue. The Petit1 is a finer point.
2. if you want a nicer but still not expensive pen, you might want to look at the Noodler's Flex series. $14 to $20 will get you one, and it will be very nice to use. Added note: this pen will go dry sooner than the Preppy or the Varsity. It operates wetter and the top does not seem to seal nearly as well as the cheaper pens. It has a fairly aggressive feed.
3. I've learned the feeds are very different between various makers. There's much more variation here than I expected. Some have dual top slots, some have slots on the top and bottom, some use a vented central feed line and some use pretty imaginative feed schemes. Some pens I've received no longer worked due to failure of the feeds...clogged, inserted wrong, slipped out, etc. I'd say this is the weakest link in old pens.
4. Bamboo works ok as a nib, and it can be quite pleasant to use on a variety of papers. It is however fragile, shaping it is a slow process and I've not yet found an ideal feed scheme for it. It has the unique quality of absorption which means changing colors is not easy. Still of all the alternative materials I've tried so far, this is the most encouraging. It is in my opinion going to be best suited to use at a desk rather than carried around. But there are ways it may be improved. It is certainly eco-friendly.
Jon

 

[Red Tractors]

For a "Cheap" pen an old stock Parker "45" from the 60's or 70's is hard to beat.

My favorite fountain is a 1945 Parker "51" I found at a tractor show for $10!

 

[Born2Late]

Jon:

You may want to look at Noodler's web site. He used to have instructions on how to adjust the in flow on his pens.

Also, I believe that the Preppy can be converted to an eye dropper fill with the addition of an O-Ring and a little silicone grease. Noodler's used to supply them this way with some of their larger sizes of ink bottles. The only problem I've had with the Preppy is that the pocket clip tends to break off after a while.

Doug B.

 

[semi-ambivalent]

Jon

Jon,

I believe a clogged pen can be unclogged by putting the nib assembly in an ultrasonic cleaner with non-sudsy ammonia for extended periods of time; several days maybe. Often works.

And this contribution, circa 1972, from an OTR driver from Norcross, GA whose drawl was so thick I could barely understand him. (I'll just cut to the punchline):
2nd woman: 'Better tell your man that drinking all that Coca-Cola will dry the ink in his pen.'
1st woman: 'That's OK, he doesn't do all of my writing anyway.'

Good luck.

 

[lxdude]

Yes, something like a goose quill. But something that wouldn't make me a target for the PETA paint-slingers. That is unless I get to sling paint also. That would be fun.
Jon

If they won't let you sling paint, you can sling ink! Or just give them a goose. That would surprise them.

 

[lxdude]

Yep, it was fun when a pen leaked in your shirt pocket, wasn't it?

That's where the "fountain" part comes from.

 

[Jon Goodman]

Thanks for the comments. Cleaning the nibs and feed systems isn't really the problem. That's generally easy as the ink is water-soluble. The thing is some of the feed systems just don't work that well to begin with and I can't see that they ever could have. It is a design problem, and as I said the design variations are numerous. The most consistently bad feeds I've found have been the ones in the hooded Sheaffer's pens. The interesting thing is that you can not take them apart, so there is no hope of correcting them. They're molded in place. I've yet to see one which worked very well.
Jon

 

[E. von Hoegh]

For a "Cheap" pen an old stock Parker "45" from the 60's or 70's is hard to beat.

My favorite fountain is a 1945 Parker "51" I found at a tractor show for $10!

I found mine at a porch sale about 1997. It cost a quarter, and I don't think it ever had ink in it. One of my favorites!

 

[JensH]

If you're looking at fountain pen design, how about Lamy? I own a couple that I use daily.

The Lamy 2000 is a design classic, I like mine a lot, great OM nib...
Just discovered last year what wunderful pens Mabie Todd made under the "Swan" label in the 1930s in England, like my SM100/60 or the larger L245/60.

Best
Jens

 

[ChrisPlatt]

In the late 1960's 19¢ Bic ballpoints were notorious for the same problem.
In elementary school we were required to wear white shirt and tie on Fridays, Assembly day.
Later on playing in the schoolyard after lunch you'd often see some poor kid with a ruined shirt,
requiring his parents to make another trip to Robert Hall for a replacement.

Chris

 

[tessar]

Me too. We weren't allowed to use ballpoint pens in junior high schools (shows my age), so I used fountain pens from senior high school onwards. I agree with the reputation of the Sheaffer hooded pens; I had one with spotty ink delivery. I now use one of the current imported-from-Paris Watermans, can recommend highly.

 

[pentaxuser]

These days if the pen leaks into your top shirt pocket but you are unaware and it is only noticed by the teacher when you walk into the classroom, let's hope the secretly armed teacher at the school who gets alerted, hasn't shot anybody before it is clear that it is red ink and not blood

pentaxuser

 

[JensH]

Me too. We weren't allowed to use ballpoint pens in junior high schools (shows my age), so I used fountain pens from senior high school onwards. I agree with the reputation of the Sheaffer hooded pens; I had one with spotty ink delivery. I now use one of the current imported-from-Paris Watermans, can recommend highly.

Hi,

no ballpoints allowed in the first six years of school here in Germany, too (in the 80s), the teachers said ballpoints ruin the handwriting.
I enjoy fountain pens nowadays more than ever, especially those english ones made in the 1920s to 1950s.

Best
Jens

 

[eli griggs]

For a "Cheap" pen an old stock Parker "45" from the 60's or 70's is hard to beat.

Yes, the Parker 45 is a nice pen, 14 k nibs and you can almost always find a matching pen/pencil set, in the original box.

I have three or so 45s but my favorite is the England made 'Flighter', which i found from a seller in India.

Another great starter pen for the potential pen collector. starting out, are Esterbrook 'J' and 'Dollar' pens.

The bodies are holding up much better than some of the pricier makers, but these pens work great, there is the fun of hunting down the nib assemblies you want to tryout and you won't break the bank filling your collection!

Waterman's, vintage, U.S.A., Canadian and English are also a lot of fun and affordable, with some very flexible nibs, but 14k nibs were ripped out of untold fine fountain pens back in the peak of the gold valuation, so make sure, whatever 14k pen you want to buy, gets a good going over and that BOTH Tips are intact.

You can get nibs re-tipped, but that will shoot up the cost of your pen, oft times beyond a reasonable value.

Lastly, remember any fountain pen is all about the nib, steel works just fine, and 14k, but don't bother paying more for a higher karat gold, like an 18K, because above 14k, your performance will suffer.

IMO.

 

[AndyH]

What a pleasure to discover this old thread. I collect, use and restore vintage pens and am a member of several fountain pen forums.

I’m interested in the results of the o.p.’s experiments. The technology wars among the major manufacturers in the 20th century were as fascinating as any of the high tech wars of today, and are still, to some extent, being fought. Filling mechanisms, feeds, and ink technologies were all involved.

My personal opinion is that the Parker “51” (The quotation marks are mandatory) and fast drying Quink represented the pinnacle of pen technology. Among the 150 or so pens I own and use, they are still my favorites.

Andy

 

[eli griggs]

A lot of people do no know that Parker had a factory in China, complete with tooling, and that some very popular Hero Pens are based on the '51' etc, including the Arrow pocket clasp.

I have a 616 in a jar at my elbow and I guess I will give it a fresh drink of 'Heart of Darkness', as it is a good writer, with little flex.

I also have a Canadian Waterman's and a striped Sheaffer 350 with a very fine 'Accountaint's nib', which I draw with in that jar, and truth be told, I would like as no, miss the Cheap Hero pen as much as I would miss these, if something were to occur.

Folks wanting to try any Hero pen, should be aware that other Chinese Companies were (do?) counterfeit Hero Pens, including the 329 and 616, so caution should be exercised when buying these online, especially from that big auction site.

I do have one old partial bottle of Quink, and am loathed to open it for use, so it sits in it's old bottle, waiting for a call that may never come!

Perhaps, from the Analog Photography Point of View, We/Phototrio, could open a Gallery thread for, showing Creative, Artistic Ways to photograph Fountain Pens in use or otherwise?

Maybe also adding a Trade a Fountain Pen for a Print Element for photographs that really strike our fancy?

What do others think?

All, IMO.