Long Life fountain pens as seen in "The Pennant"

[speerbob]

Hi Everyone, if you received the latest PCA "The Pennant" magazine you saw the article Richard wrote on the Chinese Longevity button filler fountain pens I found in Thailand. I think they are a neat pen and everyone should have one in their collection. I know I risk the perception that I'm commercializing the article for myself...but I do have them for sale. But I do want to make them available to those who are interested. So here is the ad. Thanks, BOB

 

I have several dozen of these very neat new-old-stock button filler ebonite (hard rubber) fountain pens to sell. These are a heck of a deal. They are NOS from the 1950's or 1960's. Made in China by the "China Government Pen Company" according to the label. The brand is "Long Life" or "Longevity". They are made of black hard rubber (ebonite) with chrome trim. They have a steel fine nib and are a button filler. I inked one up and it reminds me of an Esterbrook with a fine nib (stiff nib). Fills and writes well. Where could you ever find a hard rubber button filler for only $15.00 including shipping in the USA and Canada!! Yes, that's the price! These are in as found condition. This means they will need to be polished up a bit and there could be minor age marks on the chrome. The sac will very likely need to be replaced due to age. So expect to put in a new sac, it's an easy repair. Price is $15.00 shipped in the USA or Canada. $18.00 everywhere else. I have plenty so just Paypal me at speerbob@starpower.net. If you need to email me it's also speerbob@starpower.net. Cheers, BOB

 

 

 

 

[speerbob]

Had a few people ask about these again. So here's a bump.

[markiv]

It is my daily writer right now! Took a while to break in but now its smooth with a bit of feedback too.

Can't beat a $15 ebonite button filler.

 

Had a few people ask about these again. So here's a bump.

[Sunil]

PM sent!

[FrankB]

E-mail sent, Bob.

[Sunil]

Paypal sent!

'BUMP'

[Lennart Wennberg]

PayPal sent!

 

Lennart

 

[emeryaj]

PM & Paypal sent.

Thanks,

Andrew

[dizi]

Are these better than Reform 1745?

[burmeseboyz]

Are these better than Reform 1745?

 

Yes.

[dizi]

Is the sac easy to get?

[Sunil]

measure any sac for any pen & go here :

http://www.pendemonium.com/penrepair.htm#sacs

http://www.woodbin.ca/PenSacsAndPressureBars.html

 

you will get other stuff for refitting a new pen sac...useful if you many old pens!

 

also you can always cut to fit...as far as length is conserned...its the diameter thats most important for the fit!

theres also good lessons on how to on some parts of FPN

[speerbob]

Is the sac easy to get?

 

Use a #17 sac. Wish I has spares to sell you with the pen but I'm low. I guess people have been getting the "Pennant" since I had 8 orders for these yesterday. I have plenty more. Cheers, BOB

[burmeseboyz]

Is the sac easy to get?

 

sacs are easy to obtain as others have pointed out. But also you'll want to get a pair of spark plug pliers to pull the section out. you can find them at an auto store or get them online for about $7. Also you'll need some shellac. You can order that along with your sacs.

[jdclarkson]

PayPal sent.

 

The repair instructions are in a post of 19 July (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...p;hl=Long++Life). Unfortunately, the pictures seem not to be available. As I recall, they were photos of the disassembled pen and were useful. Any way to retrieve them?

[speerbob]

PayPal sent.

 

The repair instructions are in a post of 19 July (https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...p;hl=Long++Life). Unfortunately, the pictures seem not to be available. As I recall, they were photos of the disassembled pen and were useful. Any way to retrieve them?

Easy repair. Here is the photo. Cheers, BOB

 

 

[jdclarkson]

Great! Thank you.

[emeryaj]

Just arrived today...exactly as pictured and described. Really nice, understated design that I was looking for. Speerbob was a pleasure to deal with!

 

I have the new sac installed (thanks again speerbob), but I've never used a button filler before so I have a couple questions after flushing with water a few times:

 

Here's the process as I understand it -- push down the button, insert nib into ink, release button, wait about 10 seconds for sac to fill, wipe nib and go. So I did just that with water several times.

 

Here's the questions for those who have this pen:

1) is it normal to hear a "sucking" sound after releasing the button in the ink/water? It's coming from the nib end. If I dunk above the nib (partially covering the section/grip), then I don't hear the sound. Before filling with ink I just want to make sure I'm not missing something.

 

2) how much ink should it suck up during filling? I've just done it with water (as described above), and I get about 10-11 good drops back out when I push the button again after filling. Is that enough to say that I'm doing it right?

 

Thanks for help, and I look forward to using the pen tomorrow after it dries out!

 

Regards,

Andrew

__________

 

EDIT: Thanks for the advice on filling. I did dip the nib deeper and the pen stopped sucking ( ), and I read elsewhere on FPN to press the button, let it fill for 10 secs and then repeat a couple times, and that seemed to work great. I've written ~15 pages so far in a Staple bagasse composition book and it's doing fine.

 

SUMMARY: I really, really like this pen so far. I have to admit it's only the 3rd fountain pen I've actually used (after a Pilot Varsity and a cheapo one from Ebay before I found FPN), but I think it's great. I compared it to all the other pens I have on my desk and it just *feels* nicer, both in the hand and between the pen and paper (Mont Blanc rollerball in non-MB pen, Pilot G2 0.5mm, Uniball Vision Elite, Uniball Micro, Zebra F-301, Parker Jotter, Fisher Space Pen, Uniball Micro converted to use Noodlers ink...I think that's it). I really prefer Fine or XF lines, but this one is woo-ing me even though it's more of M in the vertical and an M-F in the horizontal (that's Medium-Fine ).

 

It also taught me the difference between "tooth" and "feedback" from the nib. The cheapo FP from eBay definitely has tooth, while this pen has some pleasant feedback on the page that I didn't know I like. Subtle difference, but now I think I "get it."

 

No affiliation with speerbob, but I highly recommend both him and this pen.

Edited September 4, 2009 by emeryaj

[Xing]

....

1) is it normal to hear a "sucking" sound after releasing the button in the ink/water? It's coming from the nib end. If I dunk above the nib (partially covering the section/grip), then I don't hear the sound. Before filling with ink I just want to make sure I'm not missing something.

 

2) how much ink should it suck up during filling? I've just done it with water (as described above), and I get about 10-11 good drops back out when I push the button again after filling. Is that enough to say that I'm doing it right?

....

 

The nib have to be fully submerged for a good fill (ie with a base and a little of the section in the ink), the sucking sound is the pen sucking in air along with ink. I just got mine and haven't installed a sac on it, so I can't comment on how much one would expect it to fill.

[jdclarkson]

Mine arrived in quick order. The repair was, in fact, easy, just as SpeerBob said. I had to scrape out the dried sac (no big deal if you have the right tools), and put in a new sac. The pen polished up nicely. You know, it was worth the $15.00 just to learn how a button filler works! When I was finished, I had two reactions: (1) I was kind of proud of myself; (2) about the button filler, I thought, "Is that all there is?"(with apologies to Peggy Lee). I'm glad I got one.

Edited September 4, 2009 by jdclarkson