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  2. My husband is doing the 'work' so I'll find out how he re-installed the pressure bar & button. The pressure bar isn't rusty or fragile but it was bent so my husband straightened it out and now it looks pretty straight and as if it should work but nothing is happening when the button is depressed. Will revisit the install process to see if that might be the problem. Thanks very much for your input.
  3. Runnin_Ute

    What pen(s) are you using today?

    Let's see.... so far today it has been a little Ranga Monterey, a little M200 Blue Marbled and a few others. I don't just use one pen on any given day. My letters to penpals are often quite colorful.
  4. Lovely pens. I would have had trouble choosing between those two in silver-both have such interesting designs/ patterns.
  5. Gloucesterman

    What pen(s) are you using today?

    that's one beautiful pen. Any more information about it? I am unfamiliar with the name. Thank you.
  6. Lam1

    Pelikan quality

    In my opinion, if you buy from an authorized retailer it shouldn’t matter where you bought the goods. So, I go to Germany for my vacations and can’t buy a Pelikan as a memento? (That was exactly my case). If Pelikan does not guarantee their products, that’s on them not chartpak, since Pelikan has the power to enforce it via contract. Thats why I see more value in MB. Last year I bought a 10 y old 149 (the 90th anniversary) in Brazil, from an authorized dealer that was stopping with the pen business. Arrive in the states and sent it in for a free nib exchange: no problem, no questions asked!
  7. inkstainedruth

    Another Safari for 2024

    Are you sure that they were all from last year? Because the "blue with the red clip" one sounds like the "reboot" French Blue one, and I passed on it when I saw it in the Lamy Soho store in NYC. And didn't go to New York over the holidays in 2023 (my in-laws were sick and -- understandably -- didn't want to deal with company). Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth
  8. Yesterday
  9. inkstainedruth

    Sailor has a new pen: TUZU!

    The "adjustable" section is interesting, but.... Is it just my imagination, or does the section look really big in diameter? Because this is one I'd have to see in person and likely hold to see if it was comfortable to use. OTOH, I didn't think I could get used to the triangular section on a Safari either.... Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth
  10. "One-Piece Thick Arc" urushi grip section has been developed. grip section for Urushi is designed in such way, urushi process is easier & urushi durability is better, compared to a regular grip section design. also, urushi grip section is thinner than a regular one. because, urushi layers will make the part thicker. even thread size is carefully considered for urushi process tolerance. I will be creating about 10+ different designs of grip sections for urushi. thank you. From Left: Short Hourglass Curvy Hourglass Vintage Taper Vintage Arc One-Piece Pipe Vintage Thick Caterpillar Arc Fine Caterpillar Arc One-Piece Thick Arc
  11. inkstainedruth

    The Never-Ending Story In Three Word Segments...

    We're getting hungry
  12. …my last pen, and my next pen…they are all impulsive
  13. DimitriDiak

    100th Anniversary editions

    More photos released today. I like the look of the new clip … “The clip featured in the collection is an homage to the many different clip versions that existed during the 1920s.” I hear that some boutiques in Asia have already received stock but no updates for us. Here in Canada there are warnings of “many clients on the list for the 149 and with very, very limited quantities and hard to get” no guaranties for some.
  14. I too dislike cartridges; for the reasons already cited by Ruth and by Bo Bo, but also because the plastic from which they are made is gas-permeable, so they are not viable as a mechanism for hoarding one’s precious ink for the long-term 😢 That said, I do recognise that they undoubtedly have a place. If one needs the convenience that they offer - e.g. is a school pupil or university student, or on a business trip and so cannot carry/use bottled ink - they are a great invention. And most cartridge pens can also accept converters for use in situations (at home, or at one’s own desk in one’s office) that suit the use of bottled ink. But the claim that Cartridge fillers have simplified feeders, with only one channel, to lead the ink to the tip of the nib. There is no need of air inside a cartridge." is not only utter hogwash, it is ‘lazy journalism’ too. One need only take a brief look at the Parker website. It bruits their pens’ two-channel feed system. All modern Parker pens are cartridge fillers!
  15. Are you inserting the pressure bar correctly? It should go down the barrel from the back end before re-inserting the button. Make sure there's plenty of talc on the pressure bar and the sac. Is the pressure bar in good condition or rusty and fragile? If the #17 sac fits well over the nipple and in the barrel, I'd stick with that.
  16. She's dead wrong. Some feeds have only one channel, others two, and often a deeper air channel depending on the manufacturer. Size of the channels varies too. And no air into the cartridge? A lack of air, or insufficient air ,back into the cartridge is the major cause of pens being balky and quitting in the middle of a line. Many of the modifications that we do to feeds to increase flow are based on the need to get more air back into the cartridge. There are many modern piston fillers that use the same nib units that their lever fill or cartridge fill relatives use. A modern twist converter is essentially a removable piston filling unit. She should read the articles on pen design.....
  17. Mercian

    Pelikan quality

    Ah, my mistake, I misunderstood your previous post; I had thought you’d meant that they had refused to honour the warranty but were willing to repair your pen(s) if you would agree to pay for the service. It seems to me that the multi-national Corporation that had owned Pelikan until December 2023 had been practising stupid short-term ‘cost-cutting’ ‘slash-&-burn’ tactics for several years, and that this has caused a ‘decline’ in the brand’s fortunes. I think that the decision to no longer include the transparent barrels with the chatoyant stripes, and the US distributor/repairer’s recent refusal to repair pens (except those bought from a few named vendors) are likely to both have been a result of these kind of business ‘tactics’ being employed by the multinational previous owner. Sack your own staff; reduce the wages of those who are still employed; force-down the prices that you pay your suppliers. All of these might increase profits/share price in the short-term, but they annoy and alienate everyone who ‘performs the value-add’ - i.e. does all the actual work - and alienates your suppliers too. And, stupidest of all, it alienates your customers. These tactics absolutely will destroy the company in the long-term. It seems to me that the ‘only source’ of the chatoyant barrel material (a third-party for-Profit company) and the official US distribution/repair contract holder (another third-party for-Profit company) both got sick of Pelikan’s owners ‘business genius’ executives attempting to ‘low-ball’ them, and so told them basta! I am currently screwing my tiny fists up really tight, and hoping really hard that Hamelin Group recognises the potential of its newly-acquired Pelikan brand, takes the manufacture of the striped barrels back in-house, and gives its fine-writing division the necessary support to reap the benefits of the ‘halo effect’ that its products provide for the office products that are, overwhelmingly, the main source of income for the brand. But of course Hamelin is another multinational... It, too, may have become infested by the Charmed Circle of Talentless Parasitic Drones who whizz gaily around the merry-go-round of very-well-remunerated Executive positions in businesses, hopping between sectors of which they have zero understanding, slashing-&-burning one company after another, cashing in their own share options and jumping ship to the next host before their current one crashes with no survivors. Not, you understand, that I have ever been through such an experience myself as a mere employee, one employed in the obviously-idiotic endeavour of performing the actual ‘value-add’, and as a result am in any way bitter…. 😉
  18. Of course cartridges are despised by those not born rich....they are horribly $$$expensive compared to a normal bottle of ink...like 4001, Herbin, DA, R&K. I think it takes 5-6 cartridge boxes to fill a 30ml bottle of ink....that would cost at least 4-5 times that price in a cartridge. I do admit, cartridges saved any and all fountain pen companies form going under. Low cost, very high profit. From when cartridges first came in, as a working man's kid...(my first pens were lever, and like all my pens stolen)...I was always in debt for those who could afford cartridges....and BP's were not like today cheap....even stick refills were expensive...an ink cartel. Jotter refills cost as much as a common ballpoint. Once I ended up with 10 refil stick package for 10 cents and had a years worth of ink. Never saw that deal again. I could afford a big nickle candy bar, and or dither between an 8 oz Coke or a 10oz Pepsi. And I was lucky to get a dime a week allowance. Eventually I was saved from the ink cartel's tyranny, by the Bic. With MB, GvFC, Cd'A and better Japanese inks....that may fact be obsolete...but I have no idea what those inks cost as cartridges. 95% of my ink buys are bottles. Not MB, GvFC, Cd'A and better Japanese inks, who are out of my price range.
  19. dbs

    Pelikan quality

    They used to repair any pelikan. In 2019 they started to refuse the Pelikan not from A or B dealers in US. When I said I can pay cash for the repair, I just got ignored, no response any more. Sent email to Germany, it was bounced back to the states, and then nothing... I believe there was a lot of discussion on this topic back in 2018-2019. People then stop buying Pelikans, and then the Covid, and then the bankruptcy. All for a reason. I know there're a lot of volunteer bird guard here, but that won't be able to change the wheel of history.
  20. Fluegelfeder

    Kaweco Sport Piston

    Thanks for all your kind words of appreciation! @AceNinja: It's the non-differential type: The turning knob doesn't lift up by turning it.
  21. Hi, as a first step, I would flush the pen and clean it thoroughly, then try it again with a different ink. I have occasionally found that a particular ink just won’t work in a particular pen, even though the ink works perfectly in other pens, and the pen works perfectly with other inks. The first time I noticed this phenomenon was with a cartridge of Parker Quink ‘Black’ and both my Parker 45s. The pens work perfectly with most other inks, and my cartridges of that ink work perfectly in my other Parker pens, including the 75 (which is internally very similar to the 45). But my Parker 45s just won’t ‘play nice’ with my cartridges of Parker Quink ‘Black’ 🤷‍♂️ If, after you have flushed out the delicious Diamine Chocolate from your 642 and cleaned it thoroughly, you then find that the pen won’t work with e.g. Waterman Serenity Blue, that would be the time at which I began to suspect that something might be amiss with your pen. Good luck
  22. lukeap69

    What pen(s) are you using today?

    JunLai 631 Ebonite in a beautiful black with reddish pattern. Beautiful and writes very nicely.
  23. Bo Bo Olson

    Pelikan quality

    My German B&M gets delivery by truck in small boxes, wheeled in on a dolly. I saw that one day when I was in town. He says he never has any problems. I say a display case is not Goullet packed, so is not safe from hooligan robots or mail-people...seeing if they can toss a package with three caroms or not. Some folks insist a display box or even a light cardboard pen holder is strong enough to withstand the ravages of a post office. ..........I disagree As far as I can tell everyone complaining about misaligned nibs ordered by mail. QED. Way back in digital days of the mid '60's some university did an experiment of how banged up a package gets....the gauge got broken. And that was back in the day when the post office actually cared about keeping packages up, or not breaking the glass labeled packages. Now that was way back when, when there was enough workers and not so much stress as today. I think I've read of modern day transport attempts that also broke the modern gauge. A display case is not a transport case. Goulet or how ever his name is spelt, delivers B-52 bomb packages that bounce, so his goods are properly packed and come on...I would bet, with out miss-aligned nibs.
  24. I have been waiting for the price to go down but it hasn't so far so I ordered a Uni Dive MP.
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    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
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