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Guider Mani


LedZepGirl

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After seeing some photos of them on this site I decided I waned to add one to my collection. After finding out more about them I found I could get one from All Write Now (Steve Braun)- no affiliation just a satisfied customer. Already my mum is trying to pull the cap off not realizing it is threaded! :headsmack: (Oh! Is that a new one, how does the cap come off, I think it's stuck) :rolleyes: Anyway what drew me to these pens were the way they looked and the price, the Mani model looks a lot like something Parker would have out circa 1940's/50's with its arrow clip and double cap bands- Kind of like Vacumatic Jr. meets P '51'.

 

Appearance: This pen is made of hand turned acrylic in shades of swirled orange, yellow, grey and black giving it the appearance of a vintage pen. For acrylic it has really nice depth and feels very nice to the touch. As mentioned above is has gold arrow clip and double gold cap bands very similar to those found on Vacumatic Jr. pens. There are a few small flaws in the barrel but that's to be expected when a pen is handmade. The section and feed are made of ebonite, something unusual for modern pens in this price range.

 

Cost: $35.00 a deal I think.

 

Nib: It has a gold plated steel nib, but is a very smooth writer. On All Write Now it says all of the nibs are smoothed before the pens are sold. It reminds me a lot of an Esterbrook nib because it's relatively firm but writes under little pressure. The nib says it's F but it writes more like a medium I think.

 

Filling System: This pen is an eyedropper filler, the section unscrews and the ink is dripped into the barrel with an eye dropper. Earlier this week I had the common sense of going out and buying an eyedropper because I need I would want one when the pen came. It's very easy to fill, but the only thing that frightened me a bit was how much ink it dripped after being filled and screwed back together, about seven or eight drops back into the ink bottle.

 

Size and Weight: It is a very light weight pen and is long enough not to be posted. When it is posted it seems to be very well balanced. When capped it is 5 1/2 in, posted it is 6 1/4 in, not posted it is about 4 1/2 in. Not too big not too small.

 

Thus far I'm very satisfied with the pen although I haven't had a chance to do much writing with it yet. That test will come in the following weeks when I'm back at school. Later I could possibly add an update.

 

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/Moruya/P1000035.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/Moruya/P1000037.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/Moruya/P1000036.jpg

http://i60.photobucket.com/albums/h15/Moruya/scan0002.jpg

 

I'd rather spend my money on pens instead of shoes and handbags.

 

>>> My Blog <<<

 

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Lovely pen! Can you judge the ink level through the body?

"Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination."

Oscar Wilde

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Lovely pen! Can you judge the ink level through the body?

 

 

You can when you hold it to the light.

I'd rather spend my money on pens instead of shoes and handbags.

 

>>> My Blog <<<

 

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Great choice of pen color, but splendid photography!!!

ron

 

 

Thank you.

I'd rather spend my money on pens instead of shoes and handbags.

 

>>> My Blog <<<

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd love to hear how you like the Mani, and whether you find it to be practical.

 

Thanks.

 

Same here. Also, have you had any issues with leaking?

 

Greg

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It's a beautiful pen, thanks for the review. Did you put silicone grease on the threads?

I keep coming back to my Esterbrooks.

 

"Things will be great when you're downtown."---Petula Clark

"I'll never fall in love again."---Dionne Warwick

"Why, oh tell me, why do people break up, oh then turn around and make up?

I just came to see, you'd never do that to me, would you baby?"---Tina Turner

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I'd love to hear how you like the Mani, and whether you find it to be practical.

 

Thanks.

 

Same here. Also, have you had any issues with leaking?

 

Greg

 

 

Well, I've had problems with it leaking around the threads. I stuck some section sealant on them because I don't have any silicone grease and have no way of getting any now that I'm stuck at school without a car. It still leaks so I might have to try a little more. Another thing that happens is sometimes is just stops writing even though the pen it full and I haven't been able to figure that one out yet. I think with a little more work everything should be straightened out eventually. I really like the way the pen writes.

I'd rather spend my money on pens instead of shoes and handbags.

 

>>> My Blog <<<

 

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I once had a Guider Mani--same model, except pearl and blue. I say once, because shortly after I unwrapped it my beautiful wife, who at the time claimed no interest in fountain pens, spotted it. It's been hers ever since. She keeps it stored point-up in a jar on her desk, uses it every few days, and refills it about once every two months. It has never leaked, never spotted onto the paper, and always starts instantly. Yes, we did seal the threads with a little ACE Hardware silicon grease initially. But it's been an unqualified success, and this for a woman who is just starting to get back into fountain pens after being a convenience-only BP or RB user since escaping Catholic school.

ron

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I once had a Guider Mani--same model, except pearl and blue. I say once, because shortly after I unwrapped it my beautiful wife, who at the time claimed no interest in fountain pens, spotted it. It's been hers ever since. She keeps it stored point-up in a jar on her desk, uses it every few days, and refills it about once every two months. It has never leaked, never spotted onto the paper, and always starts instantly. Yes, we did seal the threads with a little ACE Hardware silicon grease initially. But it's been an unqualified success, and this for a woman who is just starting to get back into fountain pens after being a convenience-only BP or RB user since escaping Catholic school.

ron

 

Good story. From the photos, these pens do seem hard to resist. I'm curious, you mentioned your wife's pen has never spotted on the paper. How low does your wife let the ink go before she refills it?

I keep coming back to my Esterbrooks.

 

"Things will be great when you're downtown."---Petula Clark

"I'll never fall in love again."---Dionne Warwick

"Why, oh tell me, why do people break up, oh then turn around and make up?

I just came to see, you'd never do that to me, would you baby?"---Tina Turner

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I have a black and cherry Mani. It has an amazing ink capacity and a nice smooth nib. It has never leaked. I don't use it so much now, but for a while it was my office workhorse.

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I once had a Guider Mani--same model, except pearl and blue. I say once, because shortly after I unwrapped it my beautiful wife, who at the time claimed no interest in fountain pens, spotted it. It's been hers ever since. She keeps it stored point-up in a jar on her desk, uses it every few days, and refills it about once every two months. It has never leaked, never spotted onto the paper, and always starts instantly. Yes, we did seal the threads with a little ACE Hardware silicon grease initially. But it's been an unqualified success, and this for a woman who is just starting to get back into fountain pens after being a convenience-only BP or RB user since escaping Catholic school.

ron

 

Good story. From the photos, these pens do seem hard to resist. I'm curious, you mentioned your wife's pen has never spotted on the paper. How low does your wife let the ink go before she refills it?

She is not particularly careful about that. But since the barrel is translucent you can see the ink level clearly and anticipate any problems.

ron

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When I purchased my Varuna Bakul eyedropper from Steve Braun at allwritenow.com he included a very small supply of silicon sealant. It might be a good idea to make that request when you order the pen. Mr. Braun is very, very responsive. Me might even mail you a small quantity at no charge in that you've had a leak problem. He noted that to avoid leaking you should apply the gel after about every eight fillings. That comes to once a year or less with the capacity of these pens. The 1/4 teaspoon or so of gel he enclosed for me should last at least five years.

Edited by PatientType
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I didn't mention that I had a hard time deciding between the Guider and the Varuna. I really liked the orangish/yellow caramel swirl color of the Guider. What swayed me was the cool, ebonite bakul finish of the Varuna that feels a little like the bark of a tree. That and it's larger size.

Edited by PatientType
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Wow -- What a find!

Such a nice-looking hand-made pen for 35 bucks.

Writes like an Estie & holds mass quantities of ink. I'm going to have to look into these...

Way to go!

Jon

I may not have been much help, but I DID bump your thread up to the top.

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I also bought this pen from Mr Brown. My pen is blue coloured, very nice looking. The nib, however is quite toothy. When I filled it for the first (and last) time, it did not behave like my other eyedropper pens. I normally prime them after filling by screwing the section halfway and then turning the nib point to the bottle and then screw it tight. A small drop of ink drops back in the bottle. But with this pen it didn't happen. The pen refused to write. It took quite some shaking and flushing before it started. After that, the pen did write reasonably well. A little dry and scratchy but generally OK. I had it inked for about 3 weeks or a month and then decided to flush and clean. When cleaning it I noticed that the nib gold plating had started to peel off. The nib looked not so very nice anymore. I then put the cleaned pen in my drawer where it has stayed ever since.

 

Edit: After looking at your pics and examining my pen, I realized that my pen doesn't have double cap band like yours, mine has only single one.

Edited by LapsangS
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  • 4 weeks later...

I am the proud and recent owner of a blue Guider mani, and think it is certainly the best bang for the buck. Excellent storage capacity, comfortable grip, and a usually comfortable nib. It can be toothy on bad paper but is beautiful on my primo and Piccadilly notebooks.

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  • 2 months later...

I have the same color Mani, which I recently purchase and I have few problems with it. First it is leaking and second the nib is little scratchy for my taste. Today I am looking here on FPN to find a solution for the leakiness.

I too bought this for my wife who uses pen daily and her converter pens run out of ink very soon. So, I thought ED pen would work for her, but she complained inky hands at work, which is not good.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Funny to see this thread keeping coming up again. :lol: I need to get the Guider out again after I get some more silicone grease.

I'd rather spend my money on pens instead of shoes and handbags.

 

>>> My Blog <<<

 

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