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Levenger L-Tech


AltecGreen

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The story of this Levenger L-Tech pen begins with a good friend, colleague, and carpool buddy. He was lamenting the loss of his Rotring 600 during a conversation about fountain pens. Since the Rotring is discontinued, I looked around for a similar pen. I came across the Levenger L-Tech pen which looks like a dead ringer for the Rotring. A few weeks ago, the Levenger outlet had a sale on monogrammed and refurbished pens. At $9.95 a pen, I bought a bunch to fool around with including a few L-Techs. I will give Kudos to Levenger for service. They made a mistake and I did not receive the L-Techs. After a quick e-mail, Levenger sent two brand new L-Techs. So how is the pen?

 

 

First Impression (8/10): The L-Tech is finished in silver and is all metal. At first glance, one could mistake it for a Rotring 600 except for the missing red band. The pen arrived in an aluminum case with a converter and a cartridge. The pen has some heft to it and it feels pretty substantial.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3319/3446753658_882d665164_b.jpg

 

Appearance (9/10): The L-Tech is all metal with a satin silver finish. Let's not quibble, the pen looks like a Rotring 600 sans red band at the top. The one odd difference is that this pen is seven sided and not hexagonal. The section is straight and knurled adding to a very modern styling. The clip is engraved withe the Levenger name and looks very similar to the old Rotring clip. The cap is screw on with a very nice action. Montegrappa take note. The cap comes off very quickly requiring only a quarter of a turn. This feature was very nice. The facets of the cap line up with that of the body. The machining is actually very nice and everything looks very precise. This is on contrast with the resin Truewriters I received which look pretty good on the outside but it is clear that the machining of he resin is not as precise on the inside. The nib is a steel Schmidt nib unit that unscrews and fits the pens in the TrueWriter series.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3621/3445937999_75c63065b1_b.jpg

 

Size/Weight (8/10): The pen a little less than 5.5". (It is a tad shorter than an old style Omas Paragon). There is a bit of heft to this pen. Mine weighed 48.1 g with converter and ink. The pen feels very solid. Only the test of time will see whether the L-Tech is as durable and indestructible as the old Rotring. The section is knurled and is a good width for comfort. Someone used to technical drawing with a mechanical pencil will find this pen very comfortable. It's a bit for heavy for my taste.

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3298/3445937965_fd2a8d58d1_b.jpg

 

Nib (7/10): The nib category is very interesting. How well the pen performs in this category will depend on your luck with the particular nib unit. Since I bought a large number of Levenger pens during the sale, I was able to mix and match nib units. The stock nib is a medium. The few I tried were actually pretty decent. There was generous ink flow and really smooth writing. For the fine nibs, some were like the mediums and extremely wet. These wrote very smoothly albeit with a line wider than I like. One fine nib was very dry. This nib was not as smooth but produced a thinner line. I would say nib performance can vary from exceptional to just passable depending on your luck. However, all of the nibs wrote and started without skipping. These are steel nibs and they are stiff. Not much to say here. (Note: the stock nib on the L-Tech is all monotone steel. The fine nib I put on it is the two-tone version shown in the picture.)

 

Filling System (8/10): Standard cartridge converter. The Levenger converters were for the most part pretty decent. Most had smooth actions and were above average in quality. I did have one bad converter out of 11 pens.

 

Cost/Value (10/10): Ok, for $9.95, this is a really good bargain. Actually, all of the Levengers I bought at $9.95 are pretty good values. The pen is solid and writes very well (depending on nib). The retail price is $78 for this pen on Levenger's site and is still not a bad deal. Although at that price range, there are a lot more options including a used Rotring 600.

 

Overall (8/10): This is a good pen for someone looking for a hefty pen with a solid feel that will not break the bank. At 48.1 g, it is not for everyone. Only time will tell if this is a worthy replacement for a Rotring 600.

 

 

But can I use this as a weapon?

 

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3333/3451904614_605e019031_o.jpg

2020 San Francisco Pen Show
August 28-30th, 2020
Pullman Hotel San Francisco Bay
223 Twin Dolphin Drive
Redwood City Ca, 94065

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Lol, this isn't about the pen but what series is that mecha model from?

 

 

That is the Engage Octaver from Mamoru Nagano's Five Star Stories.

 

Another hobby of mine is building models. These days when I build models it is usually from Japanese Garage kits.

2020 San Francisco Pen Show
August 28-30th, 2020
Pullman Hotel San Francisco Bay
223 Twin Dolphin Drive
Redwood City Ca, 94065

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I bought one for $19.95 and thought I got a good deal. Unfortunately, mine is a leaker. I have been in contact with their customer service. They have been friendly and trying to solve the problem. I used a short international cartridge. Does anyone know if Levenger cartridges are special? Maybe it has been my fault.

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I got one of these for Christmas and love it!

PAKMAN

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Wow, what a deal--$9.95 for a $78 pen! The L-Tech does look very much like the Rotring 600. I had heard that Levenger bought the tooling from Rotring and then made their own modifications. The knurling on the section looks much more pronounced than on the 1st generation 600. These are heavy, but solid pens. Thanks for the review. I wish I'd known about this sale that Levenger had. Did you stumble upon it by accident or see an advertisement somewhere?

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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Wow, what a deal--$9.95 for a $78 pen! The L-Tech does look very much like the Rotring 600. I had heard that Levenger bought the tooling from Rotring and then made their own modifications. The knurling on the section looks much more pronounced than on the 1st generation 600. These are heavy, but solid pens. Thanks for the review. I wish I'd known about this sale that Levenger had. Did you stumble upon it by accident or see an advertisement somewhere?

 

 

The sale was posted on Pentrace and it was a free for all. Most people went and bought multiple pens.

 

 

2020 San Francisco Pen Show
August 28-30th, 2020
Pullman Hotel San Francisco Bay
223 Twin Dolphin Drive
Redwood City Ca, 94065

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  • 2 years later...

I got one of these a couple of years ago and like it a lot. Despite its size and sharp edges, I found it surprisingly comfortable to write with. Unfortunately, the threads on the cap & body loosened up not long after I bought the pen; as a result, the cap won't stay on securely at all. I contacted Levenger but they wouldn't service or replace the pen because I'd purchased it via their ebay discount store. I've put some plumber's tape on the threads--that helps keep the cap on but it looks bad and it's not a long-term fix. I know that Leverger'd received a number of complaints re: this problem, so they might well have corrected what may be a design flaw.

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Still have mine, haven't used it too much. It is actually quite a bit larger in diameter compared to my Rotring 600. I don't use either of these pens much as both of mine are medium nibs and I would use them more if I had Fine nibs for them.

PAKMAN

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I got one of these a couple of years ago and like it a lot. Despite its size and sharp edges, I found it surprisingly comfortable to write with. Unfortunately, the threads on the cap & body loosened up not long after I bought the pen; as a result, the cap won't stay on securely at all. I contacted Levenger but they wouldn't service or replace the pen because I'd purchased it via their ebay discount store. I've put some plumber's tape on the threads--that helps keep the cap on but it looks bad and it's not a long-term fix. I know that Leverger'd received a number of complaints re: this problem, so they might well have corrected what may be a design flaw.

 

Something you could try to fix this is one layer of masking or electrical tape on the threads INSIDE the cap. That way it's more or less permanent and doesn't look bad.

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I bought a Rotring 600 Lava fine nib on the 'Bay a couple years back. The pen is a tank that writes like a Dream. Mt take on it is: if you lust after the original, buy it, you will never regret buying good quality.

"how do I know what I think until I write it down?"

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  • 4 years later...

I just received a Levenger L-Tech it allegedly has a Fine nib. I know that European nibs are generally wider than Asian nibs, but this nib is almost as broad as a Lamy Al-Star with a Broad nib. It feels good in the hand, is very smooth, but dang is it broad.

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thank you for the review... and what a deal.. one can't go wrong with under 10 usd pen

it surely is hefty pen....

have heard some complaints about the same though...

 

do update us with long term review...

vaibhav mehandiratta

architect & fountain pen connoisseur

 

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  • 3 months later...

I'm getting one of these from mass drop. My question: what sort of cartridge does this take? Would this work?

 

Sailor Sailor Cartridges - Black (set of 12) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001GR4BJM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awd_Pynjxb372H7CA

 

And for ink experts, is this the same black that comes in the bottle that everyone raves about? Is the Jentle line different?

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thank you for the review... and what a deal.. one can't go wrong with under 10 usd pen

 

 

Well, it was $10 back when this was posted in 2009.

 

The pen is now $99... but it comes in 6 different colors and it's also a stylus. ;)

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