Following on from tonyv's "nib in a cup or horizontal" poll and jpolaski's post within, does/has anyone here have/had any experiences with desk pens/sets?

I too am curious since inked FPs are generally recommended to be kept upright - how do desk sets address the risk of leaking/clogging? I'm guessing that inked desk pens will remain in the holder for at least a few days...

I'd be grateful to hear anyone's experiences.


raf.

I have a Parker 51 desk set that I use every day. It stays loaded with Noodler's Legal Lapis. Once in a great while I will find a drop of ink on the grip section, but I think it happens when I'm putting the pen back in the holder. As far as I can tell, the Parker 51 desk pen is made exactly the same way as the Parker 51 that goes in your pocket.

For that matter, I carry a Kaweco AL Sport pen in my jeans pocket. Sometimes the point is up, sometimes it's down. When I run, it gets jostled. Never have a problem, never a leak.

Could be that keeping the point up in your shirt pocket is more prudence than necessity.

I currently have six desk sets loaded and scattered around the house (one double Imperial Touchdown, two single Imperial Touchdown, two single Snorkel, and one Parker 61 capillary). They do not exhibit leakage problems. The only ugliness comes from the red ink in one pen of the double; red gets grungy no matter what pen it's in -- but I've broken from my Waterman-only rule and am now using Slovenian Skrip Red in that pen, with less buildup than I was seeing with Waterman.

This is my 61 set -- does it look '50s enough for ya?

quite 50's...I dig it

Rock & Roll, Richard.

It's interesting that inked desk sets present no problems so far.

I have two Estie desk pens - have only had them about 3 weeks or so, but so far no real problems. With Noodler's waterproof inks they have been a bit hard to get writing after a weekend of non-use. Switching to Private Reserve ink seems to have helped that problem.

Jim

Desk sets are no worse than pocket pens. The nature of putting on a cap or putting a pen back in the holder will eventually lead to ink collecting in either. A couple times a year they need to be cleaned out.

Roger W.

I have one Sheaffer Snorkel desk set that has shown no signs of leaking at all and writes perfectly everytime I pick it up...
I'm waiting for a Parker 21 Sperix set to arrive... will let you know about that one soon...

Thanks for all the info so far, everyone. Please feel free to share more if anyone feels like it.


raf.

I have a thing for desk sets and currently have six of them:

A 1949 Parker 51 aerometric double set on a marbled green base with matching clock

A late 40s Sheaffer Touchdown set on a marbled green base

A 50's Snorkel double set with matching pen and pencil on a marbled black base

2 60s Touchdown Imperial double sets(one on a greay marbled base with a perpetual desk calendar and one a Pontiac dealer set with a steering wheel and Pontaic logo)

A like new 1961 Sheaffer triple set with 3 Compact Cartridge 1 desk pens (white dot windowed versions) and a Semco clock on a black base, probably glass? This last one is my favorite set, it was a retirement gift from Sheaffer to one of their employees, M. S. Erdtsiech, who worked at the factory in Ft. Madison from Oct 23, 1929 to Feb 28, 1961. The brass plate has these dates and Mr. Erdtsiech's signature engraved on it.

Until rearranging my home office I kept all of them inked except the Pontiac set(never been inked), and the snorkel set(pen needs restored) and have never had any problems with the ink drying up or leaking.

Tom

Totally off-topic: Tom (aircraft electrician) what pen is that in your avatar? I have been wondering that since you joined and I am finally asking!

Ok, back on topic: I have an Esterbrook desk pen that I bought from penbid 3 years ago before I knew what a desk pen was.. I need a holder for it technically, but don't really have a place to keep it (my desk is not a "deskset" type desk, believe me). It stays horizontally in my drawer and hasn't been inked in a while since it doesn't have a cap! When I first received it in the mail I thought, Well that's funny - there's no cap. That's when I realized what a deskpen was :doh:

M4R1N4,

The pen in my avatar is a Moore Fingertip, the first pen with an inlaid nib. No, I don't own one myself, though I would love to, so I shamelessly stole the picture from Jim Mamoulides' PenHero.com.

The Moore Pen Company was a "second tier" manufacturer from Boston, and the Fingertip was the only really innovative design they ever came up with. It was designed to compete with the then-new sleek pens from Parker (51) and Sheaffer (Triumph nibs), but because they weren't a "first tier" pen maker, the Fingertips didn't sell as well as the competition's pens, and as a result, the pens are rather rare and pricey today. Someday I will own one!

Anyway, I don't want to steal the thread, so back to the topic at hand. I read your post and realized that I left out one of my desk sets, an Esterbrook 444 Dip-Less (hockey puck) with a black and clear Renew-Point Demonstrator pen. This one I don't keep inked just because of the massive amount of ink the Dip-Less reservior holds.

Tom

I will second Griz's comment about the Sheaffer snorkel desk set. Mine has been inked with Waterman's blue-black for several months with no leakage and it starts up perfectly, even when I haven't used it for several days.