Being a good 'Merkin, I've got my share of Sheaffers, Parkers, Esterbrooks, Wahls, etc. But I've never owned a British pen, and have been admiring the old & new Conway Stewarts for some time. I've been very strict about pen purchases for the past several months after an early splurge last winter, but recently got a bonus at work so decided to give myself a treat. Out on the dreaded, I found a pretty blue CS 36 from the '50s and am awaiting its arrival in the coming weeks. It looks about the size of an Estie "J". Is that about right?

Anybody have comments on CS 36 pens in general? What can I expect?

Most of my Conways Stewarts date from the 1950s and although I haven't got a 36, the number 5 nibs on CS pens are always very nice. Can't comment on the Estie comparison, don't have any of those.

Very pretty indeed, Robert. You can tell by the 3 cap bands that the 36 was one of the more expensive of the range and the CS5 nib second only to the legendary Duros.

Its a nice pen, underestimated (in my opinion, due to not having the Duro nib) and should be satisfying to use.

Let us know what its like and how you get on with it.


Greg

I've received the pen and am happily writing away. It came appropriately packaged in padded envelope plus internal padding. First thing I did was pull the section to check for the presence of a sac, which is good and apparently a recent replacement. When I first rinsed the feed I found a blue-green ink coming out, so pulled the nib from the feed and gave everything a good scrubbing to get out the old ink. After reassembling and a tiny bit of nib tweaking I filled it with Quink Blue. It seemed to skip, so I emptied that out and tried something else, PR"Daphne" blue. It also skipped.

Hmm ... perhaps the HR feed had been dry so long it needed to soak up some liquid overnight and swell back to its proper dimension? I put the pen down and went to bed. This morning I rose before dawn and tried it again. At first, it didn't flow, but after about two letters it came alive! No skipping now, it writes with a beautiful full, wet line.

One of the impressions I get of writing with this pen is its feeling of unity; it feels as if it were conceived, designed, machined and delivered as a complete instrument. Some other pens (such as the Esterbrook J's) remind me of a happy assemblage of parts working together in harmony, but this pen is a clear interpretation of the designers' intent as a writing implement. And it looks good, too.

Its lovely that, after so many years, a pen can still look so bright and colourful and be so satsfying to use. All those wasted years! I often find that with use pens that have been sitting around for years begin to come back to life, the gold glistens more, the colours deepen and become more vivid and the nib seems to try its best to get used to your hand over a few months.

It seems to me like this pen could become a good friend.


Greg

I'm here following your post in my 'toe' thread (strange how I should use that terminology for my title in this particular sub-forum, having not seen your thread before.... spooky...... ).

A handy tip then and an observation which I agree with about the Estie. I probably feel that particularly as I've bought 5-6 different nibs to try over the last couple of months and have only just found one which suits me. It's all partof the quest for a pen which I really want to use every day - the perfect daily writing pen. Which again is why I've no interest at all in acquiring pens from the pure collection point of view.

I must admit to really liking the 3 vintage CS pens I now own. And they can be found in excellent restored condition for good prices. I always feel that I am a custodian of a piece of English history when using one of these pens, and wonder who may have used them 50 or more years before. I hope they will still be in use in 50 years time, and that there will still be a planet in existence with human beings still wanting to write with such wonderful pens.

If your pen is set up correctly it should be a pleasure to use, as they are perfectly balanced and not heavy, and so for the average sized hand should be really nice. I must admit that although I started out only buying new pens, I am now convinced that vintage pens have so much more to offer. I can't ever see myself buying a new modern CS, but maybe I am biased.