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What Pens Do You Have Which Rarely Go Dry Or Have Hard Starts?


MTHALL720

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Never had trouble with any of these:

 

  • Lamy 2000, M nib
  • Pelikan M800, M nib
  • Pelikan M20x (have several), M nib
  • Pilot M90, M nib
  • Pilot VP; I have 2 M nib and 2 F nib

With some of my other pens I sometimes have trouble, particularly if I leave them standing nib up when filled but don't use them daily. When one of these is in rotation I store in horizontal which seems to take care of the issue. These include a variety of Parkers, a couple of Sheaffers, a Retro 51.

 

Most of the time I'm using either Waterman inks or Pilot inks; I do have a Diamine Syrah bottle which is very well behaved in this regard also.

Moshe ben David

 

"Behold, He who watches over Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!"

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most of my pens have problems with hard starts but hey I store then nib up and end up having no ink in the feeds by the next time I uncapped them :X

Lamy Logo, Pilot Prera, TWSBI Mini, Pilot Custom Heritage 91, Lamy 2000

 

Thus far the Mini hasnt dried out on me so I guess thats a different case

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All my Platinums, All handmade ebonites fitted with Schmidt units (including inner cap), M200, P45...

 

The one that always goes dry in a couple of days is a Jowo F unit...

A lifelong FP user...

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In the sub 50$ range I think the Kaweco Sport Classic is good and wet. Mine, which is a medium, has never had issues of being to dry.

I am the artist formally known as Ambrose Bierce (I recently changed my username from that). If you love me you'll check out my blog http://fpinkgeek.blogspot.com/ or follow me on Instagram and Twitter @Fp_Ink_Geek :D

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Lamy Safari, Parker 51, M200, ASA Revolution
Jinhao 599.. pretty much all my pens..

EDIT: But it's a lot more humid in Bombay.

Edited by Tresconik
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I don't have a lot pens right now, but the cheaper ones I have (less than 50.00) all go "dry" on me fairly often. What I mean is, if I don't use one for several days it won't start unless I dip the nib in water.

Right now the pen I love to use is my TWSBI Classic with Broad nib since it Always starts right up even it has not been used for 4 or 5 days.

 

Do you have any pens in a moderate price range (under 140.00 ish) whether new, or used, that tends to start with ease and is very dependable??

 

Thanks very much in advance.

Platinum Preppy. Leave it for months, starts right up.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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Tons of Sheaffer pens from the classic $1.00 school pen to my Legacy family pens. All will sit unused for weeks yet start immediately and without any effort beyond taking the cap off.

 

Sheaffer school pens. I have several inked, sitting in various coat pockets, drawers at work, etc. Work every time, even if sitting quite a while. Got irritated with one for not starting - Oh, wait, just out of ink.

 

51's start consistently also.

 

Brian

One test is worth a thousand expert opinions.

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For me, the pen I own that can go the longest and still start up without problems is my Pilot Vanishing Point....I own both a broad and a medium nib, with no problems with either.

Another vote for a Pilot VP. I have 2: a fine & and broad. Both work consistenly every time. They're at the top end of your range but worth it.

 

Less expensive "works every time" pens I have:

 

a Kaweco Sport

a Pilot Ecrino

Noodler's Ahab with a .6 Nemosine nib (bought from Amazon) (now working nicely, but it took much time tweaking)

 

Re Chinese pens. These apparently can be a great value; but I think vary widely in quality. I recently bought a Jinhao 750 based on the numerous glowing reviews on this network. I don't know if many of those reviews were by folks who havn't yet experienced the pleasure of a nicely flowing pen or not. I've been disappointed in mine. I like it's look and feel; it's solid and heavy which I like. Sadly however, it is a hard starter and doesn't flow consistently despite several flushings and scrubbing with a toothbrush. I havn't quite given up on it yet. My Ahab took much tweaking also. My next move is to pull the feed and nib and flush and scrub again, but I'd be wary of Chinese pens until you've got one or two other pens you're satisfied with and are ready to branch out.

Edited by Maurizio

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Aurora Optima, Peikan M605 and Lamy 2000. Never had a problem with any of these, regardless the ink or the time sitting between usage.

Edited by FountainPages

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Esterbrooks, Sheaffer Imperials, P-51's and 45's. Interestingly, the 51's give a few more lines notice that you're out of ink than the 45's. My 45's will write OK then BOOM dry.

 

One Spring I put a Varsity purposely under the visor in my car. It probably got from 40 to 110 deg inside the car. The pen was there upcapped for about 4 months.

 

It started at first touch to paper.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

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Esterbrooks, Sheaffer Imperials, P-51's and 45's. Interestingly, the 51's give a few more lines notice that you're out of ink than the 45's. My 45's will write OK then BOOM dry.

 

One Spring I put a Varsity purposely under the visor in my car. It probably got from 40 to 110 deg inside the car. The pen was there upcapped for about 4 months.

 

It started at first touch to paper.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

Gotta love a Varsity!

Franklin-Christoph, Italix, and Pilot pens are the best!
Iroshizuku, Diamine, and Waterman inks are my favorites!

Apica, Rhodia, and Clairefontaine make great paper!

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Pens that regularly don't start for me end up being put away or given away.

 

Hand on heart, I'd like to say all my pens apart form my Carene and Noodler's start first time, more or less, but the top scorers gaining their ranking by being ignored for ages and ages and starting up EVERY time FIRST time are:

 

Tachikawa Linemarker AT 0.3 - this has been ignored for months on end (no idea why it's an incredible pen)

Parker Urban

TWSBI (both Vac 700 and 540)

Waterman Expert

All Preppy's 0.3 and 0.2

Every Sheaffer

Every Pilot

Waterman Expert

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This is fascinating. I've read postings by people who say they need to wet the nib of a pen that has ink in it before it will start, but I've never had that experience. Skipping, yes. Too thin a line, yes. Not starting to write, no.

 

My basic pen is the Parker 51. Also a user of Parker Super 21, 45, English Aero Duofolds. Cross Century, Century II, Townsend. If they've got ink in them, they start. Montblanc Noblesse, 342, Monterosa 042. Aurora Hastil. All of these bought for under $100, admittedly used. Waterman Laureat. Italix Parson's Essential (much praised on FPN). I must be living a charmed life. I tell myself I wouldn't put up with using a pen whose nib I had to wet, but it's a hollow threat. Never happened to me. Maybe I'd love the pen and forgive it for drying up.

 

So, yes, as Disraeli said in the 19th century that there were two Englands, it comes to me that there may also be two pen worlds w/r/t drying up. One half doesn't know how the other half lives.

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Parker 51, 45- they dry out after left uncapped more than half an hour- maybe. And with the caps on, after one month they`re good to go, although the 45 does have a hard start. Pelikan should be the same, most Pilot pens and even some Waterman pens, although i haven`t done too much testing with those.

Edited by rochester21
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My Pelikans always start right up no matter how long they seem to be stowed. One of the nice things about them. Rather than dipping your nib in water, try just touching the tip to your tongue. I find that works well to get things flowing in a hard start situation and is a very portable solution.

PELIKAN - Too many birds in the flock to count. My pen chest has proven to be a most fertile breeding ground.

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Vintage Herlitz, it was sitting with cartridge for about two weeks or so, forgot about it as I use it as highlighter, and it started just like it was capped few mins ago.

And of course, mighty Pilot Varsity.

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Pens that regularly don't start for me end up being put away or given away.

 

Hand on heart, I'd like to say all my pens apart form my Carene and Noodler's start first time, more or less, but the top scorers gaining their ranking by being ignored for ages and ages and starting up EVERY time FIRST time are:

 

Tachikawa Linemarker AT 0.3 - this has been ignored for months on end (no idea why it's an incredible pen)

Parker Urban

TWSBI (both Vac 700 and 540)

Waterman Expert

All Preppy's 0.3 and 0.2

Every Sheaffer

Every Pilot

Waterman Expert

 

Interesting...the only other person I've 'met' who also has a Tachikawa pen.

My latest ebook.   And not just for Halloween!
 

My other pen is a Montblanc.

 

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