How do you like your Wality?

[holgalee]

I'm thinking of getting a Wality eyedropper or piston filler. What are your experiences with these pens? Is there a model that's close to the size of the Pelikan M600, in terms of section width? How heavy are the pens? Thanks in advance.

Edited June 27, 2009 by holgalee

[Maolo]

Hi Holgalee,

I own 3 walities from 5 days. All of them are eyedroppers, and they're good pens. Maybe just a little stiff, but I like it, it means more feedback.

I don't own the M600, but I read it wights 25g posted and 16.5 unposted.

The wality 71Jumbo weights 30g when posted and inked and 17g unposted. The clear demonstrators (uninked) weight 23g posted and 12 unposted, hope it helps.

Edited June 27, 2009 by Maolo

[holgalee]

Hi Holgalee,

I own 3 walities from 5 days. All of them are eyedroppers, and they're good pens. Maybe just a little stiff, but I like it, it means more feedback.

I don't own the M600, but I read it wights 25g posted and 16.5 unposted.

The wality 71Jumbo weights 30g when posted and inked and 17g unposted. The clear demonstrators (uninked) weight 23g posted and 12 unposted, hope it helps.

 

Thanks, Maolo, for weighing the pens! The pens sure look heavier than they really are. Did you get yours from Retrodesk?

[RevAaron]

I love my Wality pens. All of mine are piston fill, and I've been very happy. Got 'em all at Retrodesk. I had a problem with one, and he replaced it for free, lesving me the old one. I have three 69Ls and one 52. Great nibs, gimme a Waity nib over one from most companied, including Pelikan. Great ebonite feed ad well.

 

Hard to beat at the price- I don't think anything quite touches it in value.

[PatientType]

I just ordered one of the other Indian pens, a Varuna Vishal in Bakul finish. It's a very large pen with an ebonite finish like the expensive Japanese jobs but made in India. They can be had with a dropper feed (which I ordered) or with a converter. I opted for the Varuna because their sold and backed by Steve Braun from allwritenow.com. Mine will come with a hand-ground italic nib. (The nib adjustment is done in England.)

 

Mr. Braun was very responsive and forth coming with information. All the pens he sells are adjusted and tested by him here in the US. The cost more than the Wality's but I've got confidence that the pen will either come just as I want it or it will be adjusted.

Edited June 28, 2009 by PatientType

[rwilsonedn]

I have a 69L eyedropper. It has always been a great writer, it's very attractive, great balance, and I enjoy using it. Unfortunately, it came with an incontinence problem. After considerable help from Steve Braun and Hari B., I replaced the incorrectly-sized feed with one borrowed from a Sheaffer NoNonsese. Now the pen writes beautifully in every respect. I think if I had been better-informed when I bought the pen several years ago, I would simply have exchanged it for a working one. But even with transplant surgery it was well worth it for a favorite writer with a huge ink capacity. I agree with the above comments that the Wality nibs are pretty excellent.

ron

[Maolo]

Hi Holgalee,

I own 3 walities from 5 days. All of them are eyedroppers, and they're good pens. Maybe just a little stiff, but I like it, it means more feedback.

I don't own the M600, but I read it wights 25g posted and 16.5 unposted.

The wality 71Jumbo weights 30g when posted and inked and 17g unposted. The clear demonstrators (uninked) weight 23g posted and 12 unposted, hope it helps.

 

Thanks, Maolo, for weighing the pens! The pens sure look heavier than they really are. Did you get yours from Retrodesk?

 

I bought the pens from our fellow member Ruud, whose nickname here is rhk

 

[Tsujigiri]

I got a 69L from Retrodesk because I wanted something like a Montblanc 149, but now that I have the 149, I hardly use the 69. I'd say it's a good pen for the price, but it's obviously not as high quality as some more expensive piston fillers. The main complaint I have is that the plunger is not rubber, but a semi-hard plastic, which doesn't hold a very good seal. Often, I can see ink seeping back into the ribs of the plunger. I've never had the pen leak on me, though.

[weissa]

I have a 71J. I like it, but I find that I don't use it much for two reasons - it's a little large for my pocket, and it's a little dry for my taste. But it holds a ton of ink, and it's fairly smooth. Also, I prefer to write with the cap posted, and the 71J is a little top heavy when posted. I've actually been thinking about selling it, so if you're interested, let me know.

[LapsangS]

Wality 69L eyedropper pen = the best nib I've ever used, the filling system has some quirks, but once you learn how to properly use it, it's hard to think any better writing pen. Of course this is a cheap plastic pen, but the nib is definitely not cheap. No bling bling, but a reliable everyday writing instrument, oversized, good for big hands, not too heavy, screw-on cap, ebonite feed, huge ink tank, cap closes and posts superbly... What else would one want in a pen that costs less than € 20?

 

On the other hand, while I like the Eyedropper, I didn't like the piston filler version so much. It's just an added complication and in cheap pens, the pistons are prone to problems and leaks. The cheapest piston filler I can recommend is Pelikan M150. All below that price level are mostly junk, except maybe Reform.

Edited June 30, 2009 by LapsangS

[Aysedasi]

I've had my red 69L piston filler for precisely half an hour and I'm exceptionally pleased with it. Good size, piston seems to work very well, holds a huge amount of ink. The red is more a light burgundy than the red depicted on the Retrodesk site, but I'm not goijng to lose any sleep over it. Oh, and it writes very nice too, no skipping or other problems. For what I paid, I'm delighted.

[Buzz Jack]

I had my Wality 69L piston filler for about a week now and it works great, a little scratchy on some types of paper but I think it will smooth out with use. In my opinin Wality is a great value for the money.

[adam11]

I have 69L in Burgundy. I was surprised how smooth this nib writes. But, after a few month of use begun problems with piston. After I disassembled the pen, I saw the crack in mechanism. Although the pen is solidly built, the inner part are made from rather cheap plastic.

 

 

[Buzz Jack]

I lost my new Wality red 69L piston filler tonight I think it fell out of my pocket when I got my wallet out at dinner. I went back to the resturant to look for it but had no luck so I am going to have to order another one. Oh well c'est la vie.

[koa]

I have 69L in Burgundy. I was surprised how smooth this nib writes. But, after a few month of use begun problems with piston. After I disassembled the pen, I saw the crack in mechanism. Although the pen is solidly built, the inner part are made from rather cheap plastic.

 

Problems. Mine had a hole through the piston, and would not take up ink until I found this and applied some of my E6000 super-stick-to-anything glue to it. Later, the piston did crack, and it started burping ink. (Maybe it had something to do with my taking the pen apart so often; I now have a much better understanding of piston-fill systems, though it may have cost me). So-o-o, I tried to remove the piston, broke off the end of the shaft before the piston came off, and then was left looking at the parts. (This is what Heidegger calls the "being-there" of the "kaput".) Then I drilled a small pilot hole in the end of the shaft, made a cork piston, mounted it with a screw (I hope it was stainless!), and applied some silicone grease, and voila! Works fine now. Only thing is that since it is inked, I cannot take it apart to do more planning on designing my own piston filler.

 

All in all, definitely worth what I paid for it, though I can understand why the vendor I purchased mine from no longer carries them.

 

Koa

[megapenfreak]

I got a 69L from Retrodesk because I wanted something like a Montblanc 149, but now that I have the 149, I hardly use the 69. I'd say it's a good pen for the price, but it's obviously not as high quality as some more expensive piston fillers. The main complaint I have is that the plunger is not rubber, but a semi-hard plastic, which doesn't hold a very good seal. Often, I can see ink seeping back into the ribs of the plunger. I've never had the pen leak on me, though.

 

Would you say the 69L is about the girth and size of a 149? I got the 69T and it's about the size of a 146.

[ZeissIkon]

As I understand it from the web pages, the 69T and 69L are identical dimension, differing only in the piston vs. eyedropper fill method.

[megapenfreak]

As I understand it from the web pages, the 69T and 69L are identical dimension, differing only in the piston vs. eyedropper fill method.

 

That's what Pete from retrodesk.com told me, but I notice that a few posts mention that they bought/use Wality 69 to emulate the MB149 (size wise.). I would of thought the Laban Mento was more the size of the 149, (that's the impression I get from the forum), but I am still waiting on my Mento from the states.

 

Amazingly, Wality sent on 7 July received 10 July postage cost = USD 5 :clap1: . Laban Mento sent on 6 July received ????? :bonk: postage cost = USD 29. I can see a chargeback coming on soon, tommorrow will be 10 business days.... GGGRRRRRR.

[Aysedasi]

The Mento is a substantially larger pen than the 69L.

[carlc]

I picked up a second hand 52 Piston Filler from an FPNer (thanks monsoonmalabar).

 

I have no idea of the size in comparison with real life Mont Blancs or Pelikans (out of my league at the moment) but using a ruler and comparing it to the length/girth data on the web suggests it is of a similar size to a Pelikan m600.

 

I must say that the pen is actually very reliable and has no issues (so far). The nib is stiff, but I like that, and it's fairly smooth as well (understandably nothing like Parker smooth but definitely not scratchy).

 

As others have said - Walitys are good for the price - but it looks like there may be QC issues and there may be an element of luck in the pen you get.

 

Carl