Lamy Al-Star. Aluminium This Light?

[Icywolfe]

I know Aluminum is light, but this feels like plastic. I don't understand. I was expecting a heavier pen like the Pilot Elite.

 

Also are Lamy F nibs normally skippy ans scratchy? It's not misaligned. I can't really tell, but it seems like there is more tipping on one side than another.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Icywolfe

[FedericoMedina]

Yes aluminum lamy al-star pens are very light and wonderful. Aluminum is a very light metal.

 

None of my lamy F nibs are scratchy at all. They are very wet, silky smooth, and they never skip.

 

For ink I use private reserve burgendy mist in my al-star Lamy pens. Never had any issues.

 

Perhaps you have a faulty nib?

 

In your shoes I would return the pen, or send it to Lamy I am sure they would be happy to rectify the issue. You can also purchase lamy nibs individually they are pretty cheap and easy to replace.

[Vlad72]

Aluminum is very light. But quite resistant.

My Lamy nibs were very tight when I bought them too. I used a sheet of paper and gently passed it between the tines, repeatedly.

 

(And then there's always this fountain pen feature, that they write better after you've been writing quite a lot with them.)

[KBeezie]

Could also be a matter of how thick the aluminum is and where exactly it's used.

 

In regards to the nibs, not all of them are perfect, they're so-so for me (but still decent), my used fine (that I had to adjust myself to stay on the feed) on the safari is a little smoother, drier and writes a thinner line than a brand new lamy EF I have, especially with the live oak I have (mostly on account of the dryness).

 

I didn't have to smooth the 1.9, but I did have to align and give the EF (brand new) a hint of smoothing. (seems to be becoming an expectation unless I intend to get them pre-tuned).

 

The overall weight of the Al-Star Aluminum is listed at 22 grams, my Pilot Elite Mini weighs roughly 15 grams.

 

May be more of a matter of how it feels in your hands, since the Al-Star is physically larger, and that may be throwing your perspective off.

Edited September 2, 2014 by KBeezie

[Icywolfe]

Yes aluminum lamy al-star pens are very light and wonderful. Aluminum is a very light metal.

 

None of my lamy F nibs are scratchy at all. They are very wet, silky smooth, and they never skip.

 

For ink I use private reserve burgendy mist in my al-star Lamy pens. Never had any issues.

 

Perhaps you have a faulty nib?

 

In your shoes I would return the pen, or send it to Lamy I am sure they would be happy to rectify the issue. You can also purchase lamy nibs individually they are pretty cheap and easy to replace.

I used Aluminum Bow Risers. I know A bow riser is much better, but it felt like I was holding a 10lb dumbbell. And Aluminum bar cnc'ed should be heavyish.

 

I have the Lamy Cart in it. And it very skippy and dry. Maybe a faulty. I was going to buy a chrome nib from GPC anyways.

 

Aluminum is very light. But quite resistant.

My Lamy nibs were very tight when I bought them too. I used a sheet of paper and gently passed it between the tines, repeatedly.

 

(And then there's always this fountain pen feature, that they write better after you've been writing quite a lot with them.)

I might try it. Thanks.

 

Could also be a matter of how thick the aluminum is and where exactly it's used.

 

In regards to the nibs, not all of them are perfect, they're so-so for me (but still decent), my used fine (that I had to adjust myself to stay on the feed) on the safari is a little smoother, drier and writes a thinner line than a brand new lamy EF I have, especially with the live oak I have (mostly on account of the dryness).

 

I didn't have to smooth the 1.9, but I did have to align and give the EF (brand new) a hint of smoothing. (seems to be becoming an expectation unless I intend to get them pre-tuned).

 

The overall weight of the Al-Star Aluminum is listed at 22 grams, my Pilot Elite Mini weighs roughly 15 grams.

 

May be more of a matter of how it feels in your hands, since the Al-Star is physically larger, and that may be throwing your perspective off.

I just refelt it right now and it might be the size.

 

So Lamy is slipping up on their QC? I thought Non-lesser-chinese pen companies was out of the box writing quality. (Sort of, I had issues with Sheaffer and Cross though.)

[Bo Bo Olson]

Visited the factory '13.

Eight steel nibbed pens (Safaris when I was looking)are tested all at once on a big rotating drum with paper on it... I think it was 6-8 seconds for each test....if it don't sound right, there is a little old lady, adjusting the nib with a loupe and doing a test by hand....looked like may be one out of 16 needed adjustment. So there was a way to kick out each pen that didn't sound right out of the stream of pens flowing down the assembly line.

 

She was able to talk to the tour, and essentially keep up with her work. Boring, boring work. 2/3'ds of the time I watched during the two minute stop she only needed one fiddle to adjust, scribble and put the pen back into the stream. Twice I saw her do two tests, one three times.

 

The gold nibs area was closed to the tour...breakfast time too. Kept folks away from the gold. Much slower, much more traditional, less machine stamping out 27 cuts on a steel band for each nib.

 

Two women were in the corner with grinding machines...but they were at that time grinding/polishing 2000 roller ball/ball point pens. Was 15 yards away. Gold nibs are still a lot of hand work.

Edited September 2, 2014 by Bo Bo Olson

[Icywolfe]

I guess it's expected to have it not QC'ed that much. It's steel.... but my Preppys always worked fine though....

 

I sort of found the the problem with my Lamy Alstar.... the tines seemed to be glued(not literally) together. I couldn't see the light from the other side. But the Tipping is uneven. I'm glad to do sell replacement nibs though for problems like this. Now I just need to find something else to buy from GPC as I really hate buying stuff when the shipping is more or equal to the product's cost.

 

 

But I did remember somebody posting a image of a Lamy nib without a nib slit. How did that get through?

Edited September 2, 2014 by Icywolfe

[owend]

I also had a disappointing experience with a steel Lamy nib (in a Logo, but it's the same nib as in the Al-Star). Tines aligned, no visible problems but it felt harsh, on cheaper paper it caught and gathered fibres, and even on good paper it was very scratchy and caught. It's taken several weeks of off-and-on smoothing to get it reasonably smooth. It's also wide - it's meant to be F but it's really a M.

 

I've got an Accent with the gold nib on order. Either I'm an optimist or I don't learn, I'll see when it comes!

[OakIris]

Thanks for the info about the Lamy factory/assembly line, BoBo. Pretty cool! And the "nib" checkers on the line must have extremely accurate hearing in order to tell in 6-8 seconds which of the eight pens being tested needs to have a bit of a tweak. (Or, maybe, this is the reason sometimes a pen is received that definitely needs nib work, like Iceywolfe's; it just didn't get heard!)

 

I only have 3 Lamy's, one is an Al Star, the other a Safari and the 3rd is a Lamy 2000. All of them wrote well without needing a nib tweak, though only the 2000 has an EF nib (and I bought the 2000 used so the original owner may have done some nib work - I am the 3rd owner.) The Al Star doesn't seem overly light to me - it weighs 22 grams, while the plastic Safari weighs 17 grams. Perhaps you were expecting the weight provided by brass, such as that of the Pilot Metropolitan which has a brass body and cap and weighs 26 grams. As has been pointed out, a hollowed out tube of aluminum the size of a pen isn't going to weigh a whole lot. Also, the processing of aluminum has become more efficient so that the aluminum cans, for instance, are much lighter than they used to be, but equally strong, so I imagine the same holds true for other things made of aluminum. This from the Australian Aluminum Council's web page:

 

Today, aluminium cans are about 30% lighter than they were 25 years ago. Thinner, stronger sections are now being used with less metal, less energy and more savings in weight.

 

As for the skipping and scratchiness..... Did you flush your pen with water and or a water/dish detergent mix (followed by a plain water rinse) to get any manufacturing debris/oils out of the feed? That often helps with a just purchased pen that is skipping. There are various tricks that can be used to increase the flow, too, and you don't mention what ink you tried or if you changed the ink to one that you know is a wet ink but still have the skipping problem.

 

If you do determine that the tipping material was applied unevenly and there is noticeably more tipping on one of the tines, however, in my opinion it is defective from the factory and needs to be replaced. Contact the folks that sold the pen to you to see if they will do a nib exchange; if no joy there, contact Lamy for a replacement.

 

I enjoy using my Lamy Al Star, it has a nice smooth nib, O think the pen is nice looking and it is very comfortable to write with, so I hope you are able to get this sorted so that you enjoy writing with yours, too.

 

Holly

Edited September 2, 2014 by OakIris

[Icywolfe]

I squirted a syringe right through it. Like a pressure water wash.

 

It's from amazon. And I already have it inked up. Not sure if that voided the return policy.

 

For the Weight I noticed the Aluminum on this is very thin. And it's reenforced by plastic.

 

Well I might order a 1.9 stub if Lamy sells those. Because I noticed the nib changing is a mess free experience. And try to grind down the tipping with abrasives, But what tool to use to separate the tines a bit?

Edited September 3, 2014 by Icywolfe

[KBeezie]

So Lamy is slipping up on their QC? I thought Non-lesser-chinese pen companies was out of the box writing quality. (Sort of, I had issues with Sheaffer and Cross though.)

Non-lesser-chinese? There's a *Big* Difference between Japanese and Mainland China products in my opinion. If you're talking bout Pilot that is.

 

I've had (assuming I can remember everything since March or so):

- 10 Jinhao X750

- 2 Jinhao X450

- 1 Jinhao 250

- 9 Jinhao 599 v.2 + 1 v.3 hooded nib + 1 Metallic 599 with crimped nib

- Hero 616

- Wingsung 233 x2

- Wingsung 3203

- Yiren 2330

- Duke Uranus 1000

- Baoer 507 "8 Horse" x 3

- Jinhao 159 x2

 

And a couple of others, and of those I mainly kept around three of the Jinhao as reliable or semi-reliable with some work (Jinhao 159 + Goulet Medium Nib, Jinhao X750 + Goulet EF, Jinhao 599 with the Hooded nib). Work meaning cleaning, and sometimes adjusting the nib if needed (or just outright replacing the nib), and maybe even replacing or re-sealing the converter. They tended to dry up for most inks, were a little uncomfortable after a while, and I often wondered if the thing was going to just leak out in my hand.

 

Of the above the only ones I still own myself is the Duke Uranus 1000 (haven't used it, still in box, just haven't bothered to list it for sale, I just don't like permanent squeeze sacs), Jinhao 159 w/ Goulet Medium (currently de-inked pending decision), and two Jinhao 599s currently de-inked (the metallic one with crimped nib, and the orange one with hooded nib).

 

Then with the Pilots for a little more (or less)

- Pilot Metropolitan x2 (Fine and Medium Nib)

- Pilot Petit1 w/ Fine Nib

- Pilot 78G x2 (Medium and Broad/Stub)

 

Both the pilots were great out of the box, the fine nib had a tiny bit of a tooth to it but was to be expected and easily eased up with a little bit of micro-mesh. The medium was straight smooth and aligned right out of the box. The Petit1 has been great and reliable since I got it (and only $3). The Metros felt comfortable in the hand, even dropped the medium one once or twice without any issues. The 78Gs were also very reliable, the only issue I had with the 78G was that the broad stub didn't like some of my lubricated inks but ran just fine with iroshizuku or pilot inks. None of them has dried out like crazy on me or decided the converter was going to have an enema (Jinhao 599 converter did that to me once). Also the Petit1 with the fine is smoooooooth (same nib they use on the Varsity and I think the plumix... not sure).

 

Course the only one on the list above that I have left is the Pilot Petit1, I traded up the rest to a single pen. The Petit1 is pretty much my in-the-pocket-regardless-of-where-I-go Pen, it's also the one I hand off to anyone asking to use a pen and the blue-black ink it came with (plus the 3-pack of refills I got for it) is a wonderfully well behaved ink. A bit juicy wet, but not too wet and dries relatively quickly for most papers (<5 sec) with just a hint of blues in the lighter tones, it's also tad more comfortable to write with than my Kaweco AL Sport. Having done it all over again, if I just wanted to a 'cheapo' that was fine nibbed, very reliable, and quick to pocket and unpocket I would have just skipped the metros and 78G and went straight for the Petit1 If I knew then what I know now. Granted it's not my *Favorite* pen, it's the one I feel very comfortable with for both writing and just taking with me everywhere and gives me no problems what-so-ever. It's not flashy, it just works which is more than I could say of 99% of the sub-12$ chinese pens I've purchased, and I can usually get something to work right if I work at it long enough.

[LamyOne]

I squirted a syringe right through it. Like a pressure water wash.

 

It's from amazon. And I already have it inked up. Not sure if that voided the return policy.

 

For the Weight I noticed the Aluminum on this is very thin. And it's reenforced by plastic.

 

Well I might order a 1.9 stub if Lamy sells those. Because I noticed the nib changing is a mess free experience. And try to grind down the tipping with abrasives, But what tool to use to separate the tines a bit?

 

Hello IcyWolfe,

 

Don't be thrown off the tracks, Lamy's are excellent pens - I own eight of them. Two of them had a so-so nibs that I exchanged with extra nibs I had purchased and the pens writes like a dream now. The other six were fine out of the box; albeit one of them was a little dry, (a little flossing with a brass shim helps with flow- I like a wet pen). I have also noticed the ink makes a big difference, some inks will make even a perfect nib feel scratchy and other well lubricated inks can even make a scratchy nib feel smooth.

 

Also, remember that Lamy's are guaranteed for life - if you have encountered a problem nib, contact Lamy:

 

Lamy Customer Service

372 Danbury Road; Suite 171

Wilton, CT. 06897

1-800-345-6798

 

One more thing, never buy another pen from Amazon again; I read a lot of posts here from people who get bum pens from Amazon - stick with dedicated pen dealers who know and care about pens. (It is well worth the extra couple of bucks you have to pay).

 

Finally, to augment what Bo-Bo said- the Lamy 2000's and Studio's are all made by hand; the lower echelon models are machine made, but ALL Lamy's are tested before leaving the factory, (it is just the upper echelon pens are tested completely by hand).

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

Edited September 3, 2014 by LamyOne

[KBeezie]

Also, remember that Lamy's are guaranteed for life - if you have encountered a problem nib, contact Lamy:

 

Only in the United States. (which is luckily where he's from), elsewhere it seems to vary between 1 to 2 years.

[LamyOne]

 

Only in the United States. (which is luckily where he's from), elsewhere it seems to vary between 1 to 2 years.

 

See, it pays to live in America!

 

- Chris

[CaptainBA]

Consider this, many airplane parts are made from aluminum. Why? It's lightweight!

 

And I've found that the Lamy nibs I've used are solid but could use a bit of adjustment. I've smoothed all of my Lamy nibs.

 

Edit: Wait, Lamy nibs are guaranteed for life in America? Today I learned! Who do I contact for help?

Edited September 3, 2014 by CaptainBA

[LamyOne]

Edit: Wait, Lamy nibs are guaranteed for life in America? Today I learned! Who do I contact for help?

 

Hello Cpt.BA,

 

Read Post #12.

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

[CaptainBA]

Ugh reading comprehension fail. Thanks LamyOne!

[Icywolfe]

Non-lesser-chinese? There's a *Big* Difference between Japanese and Mainland China products in my opinion. If you're talking bout Pilot that is.

 

I add lesser because of Jinhao and Hero makes some dam nice pens.

 

Lesser = pen companies who do garbage knockoffs.

 

 

 

Hello IcyWolfe,

 

Don't be thrown off the tracks, Lamy's are excellent pens - I own eight of them. Two of them had a so-so nibs that I exchanged with extra nibs I had purchased and the pens writes like a dream now. The other six were fine out of the box; albeit one of them was a little dry, (a little flossing with a brass shim helps with flow- I like a wet pen). I have also noticed the ink makes a big difference, some inks will make even a perfect nib feel scratchy and other well lubricated inks can even make a scratchy nib feel smooth.

 

Also, remember that Lamy's are guaranteed for life - if you have encountered a problem nib, contact Lamy:

 

Lamy Customer Service

372 Danbury Road; Suite 171

Wilton, CT. 06897

1-800-345-6798

 

One more thing, never buy another pen from Amazon again; I read a lot of posts here from people who get bum pens from Amazon - stick with dedicated pen dealers who know and care about pens. (It is well worth the extra couple of bucks you have to pay).

 

Finally, to augment what Bo-Bo said- the Lamy 2000's and Studio's are all made by hand; the lower echelon models are machine made, but ALL Lamy's are tested before leaving the factory, (it is just the upper echelon pens are tested completely by hand).

 

Best regards,

 

Chris

I saw a s**y looking pen I must have to tomorrow. Apparently prime shipping made it get it on Monday and 1 day shipping made it on Monday. I was also about 15 USD cheaper >.> + free shipping.

 

The thing that worries me is that I seen on older posts that other users had problems with their steel Lamy nibs.

 

I used the Lamy Cart and that was dry.... then I threw out the ink and exchanged it for N-Black. (Tried to force myself to use the 3/4 bottle left of that ink) Then I noticed something I need to turn to the right side a bit to make it smooth and not dry. I know I sometimes turn my pens but I turn it to the left not like +1-5 degrees to the right.

 

I seriously need to invest in loupe. As I'm using a 99cent magnifying glass, but with some light and the shine I can determine the some of nib's issues.

Edited September 3, 2014 by Icywolfe

[Icywolfe]

Well I bought a Lamy Steel Nib M. I hope that is good, if not.... I guess I'll just stick to Japan.(I just don't want a issue that I had with Noodler's pens where I spent more money than the pen trying to fix it.) Still iffy on getting a Pelikan though.(Lamy and Pelikan are both German brands. Also Western nibs are fat.)

[KBeezie]

Well I bought a Lamy Steel Nib M. I hope that is good, if not.... I guess I'll just stick to Japan.(I just don't want a issue that I had with Noodler's pens where I spent more money than the pen trying to fix it.) Still iffy on getting a Pelikan though.(Lamy and Pelikan are both German brands. Also Western nibs are fat.)

 

*Some* Western nibs are fat, there are some days there's one in the mix that seems to go a little thin.

 

For example my Kaweco AL Sport with a Medium seems more like a western fine.

 

And then when I decided to look up a comparison between EF, F, M + on the Nib Nook I couldn't see any real discernible difference between the EF to M range (likewise with the B looking broader than BB).

 

http://i.imgur.com/tsPokOy.jpg

 

And my 14K Medium on my Pelikan M250 doesn't seem that close (ie: smaller) compared to the Goulet Medium that I have on the Jinhao 159.

 

While I've never used a Broad or larger on Japanese pens, from writing samples it seems like they jump to about the same if not close to the same as the western nibs of the same marking, as if the differences are greater on the fine side but closer on the fat side.

 

I can't say about the Lamy Medium, I only have EF, F, and 1.9 for my Lamy Safari, and my Fine writes thinner than my EF (the EF and 1.9 are brand new).