Lamy All Star, Alumium (Uncolored), Fine Point

[Lyutsin21]

My Lamy All star has a black fine point nib, black slightly translucent front piece and uncolored Aluminum body, and a black clip. When I had it for only a week I accidently bent the nib. I was at a poll worker training class and it wouldn't write because ink hadn't flowed to the tip, so I shook it but accidently banged the nib against the support beam on the underside of a folding table it. Then at home I took the nib off and put a napkin around the tip and clamped a pliers around it, put the nib back on, and now it works fine.

 

2 things I like about the pen, in no order: 1. length. A longer pen seems more elegant or substantial to me, even if it is too lightweight. The pen is a little over 6-5/6 inches posted (cap on back). 2. The grip section is plastic. I suspect that a smooth metal grip section would be harder for me to grip well.

 

3 things I do not like about the pen:

 

1. Compared to the wood pencils and skinny cheap disposable bic ball point pens I learned to write with in grade school, my first impression was that the grip section was too fat, it writes too boldly with the fine nib, and it is too lightweight. I was disturbed by the idea of spending more than $50 and didn't consider a more expensive pen.

 

2. It is too lightweight for me to write with without the cap on the back. With the cap on it is still little too light, although for all I know my hand would get tired taking notes in class with a heavier pen.

 

3. The pen is too bold. Line width varies slightly depending on the paper, with computer paper causing the boldest writing.

 

I'm not too bothered by the characteristic front piece or grip section with the two flat indentations, one for the index finger and another for the thumb. I'm too cheap to try an extra fine nib or another pen at the moment. I would have to somehow sell this pen first, in which case, for all I know, I might not like another pen and I might decide that I should have just been satisfied with the All Star.

 

I'm using the converter and Lamy black bottled ink. I will only bother with a pen if it can be filled with bottled ink. The Lamy nib has just a little bit of scratchiness, but it varies a little bit depending on which paper I'm using. When I bought my Lamy Vista in June 2009, it was $30, and I bought three 50 ml (about 2-2/3 ounce) bottles of Lamy ink just because the Lamy website offered free shipping for orders over $55. I haven't even used up half of one bottle. I made a mistake buying so much ink; I wish I could try another kind but I won't until I use up what I have.

[KrazyIvan]

I have the Safari but the nibs are the same from what I have read. Moving from a fine nib to extra fine really made the difference for me. Like you, I thought the fine nib to be too broad for my liking. EF is perfect. As to the weight, yes, it is a bit light but I am getting used to it. Just get the EF nib and feel the difference. I got mine for $6 on this forum.

Edited February 19, 2011 by KrazyIvan

[beak]

Yes indeed. I'd say get an EF nib unit ( shop around on-line) for your pen; scratchiness would be unusual, I think. All the Lamy Safaris and A-Ss I have ever used, including several EFs, have been very smooth and reliable writers, and ridiculously good value.

Edited February 19, 2011 by beak

[kazoolaw]

When I bought my Lamy Vista in June 2009, it was $30, and I bought three 50 ml (about 2-2/3 ounce) bottles of Lamy ink just because the Lamy website offered free shipping for orders over $55. I haven't even used up half of one bottle. I made a mistake buying so much ink; I wish I could try another kind but I won't until I use up what I have.

 

Why don't you wonder over to the Trade page in the Marketplace and offer to trade inks with someone. I don't see Lamy ink around much; you might find someone curious to try them. Then, for the price of postage, you can try some new inks.

 

gary

[Lyutsin21]

Yeah, you are right. I bought an extra-fine nib for my pen and now it lets me write with words that are not so wide. The scratchiness goes away when I grip the pen so lightly that I am not using any downward pressure. If I think about it and use no pressure, that compensates for the lack of weight in the Lamy All Star, although I wouldn't mind trying a slightly heavier pen, like maybe a Wality, although I'd be afraid it would write too boldly. But after writing pages of notes in class and studying on my own, which I may never read except the action of writing seems to make me remember stuff, my hand has no after-sensation of having actually written anything.

[caligatia]

A Wality fine point puts down a thinner line than a Lamy EF. I just got a Wality and I love it. It's a nice thick pen, not too heavy but not too light.

[Lyutsin21]

50 ml is actually abotu 1-2/3 ounces. Another thing: just when this pen starts to look empty, from glancing at the ink window, it actually has up to 3 large drops of ink left, at least thats how much usually comes out when I refill it, so I guess I'll flip it upside down next time to see if ink spills around in the converter, and then I'll probably refill it anyway. This pen does have little metal strips inside the cap, which are absent in the Lamn Vista I had, and which bend to make the cap fit onto the barrel without falling off and without bending the outer cap material. There might be a tiny bit of ink leaking around the base of the nib but it was never near enough to drip onto the paper. I would like to try a slightly heavier pen, since the force of my grip often makes the nib be above the paper unless I press the pen downward; it helps for me to remind myself to relax and loosen my grip especially if I'm in class trying to write too fast or writing too many notes on my own. But I think no matter which pen I have I'll wish I could try another one.

[beak]

I was using the All Star yesterday quite a bit and noticed that this is the only pen I have that feels, to me, a little back-heavy when posted. I nearly always post caps because I have large-ish hands and the balance seems better that way, but not with this pen. Must be the metal cap.

[Lyutsin21]

I never personally felt like this pen was top-heavy with the cap posted. I actually find the pen a little too lightweight with the cap on, and without the cap the pen has so little weight that I can't write with it. I think that the force of my grip tends to make the nib be a litle above the paper, and then I have to exert effort (just a little bit) to press the nib against the paper, but maybe if it was heavier, the pen would just seem to "fall" against the paper without any effort. But thats just my guess given that I have little experience with fountain pens and the Lamy Vista and Pilot varsity disposable fps I had were all even lighter. Another thing is with the extra fine nib, the ink doesn't flow out as well as with the fine nib, unless the nib is always pointed downward and teh pen is vertical when I'm not touching it, and if I pick up the pen and move it around too much before writing, it doesn't work unless I put it in the pen holder with the nib pointed down and waite a few seconds. The pen holder is something I made by putting a cotton ball at the bottom of a 4-inch tall glass souviner shot-glass, and then I cut off part of the envelop from a piece of junk mail and curled it and put it in the shot-glass.

Edited April 5, 2011 by Lyutsin21

[SnowLeopard]

I'm more an all plastic Lamy person. I like the colors. The Al-Star & Safari write = well. Buy a 1.1 italic for your pen...$4.00 USD..experiment...have fun..learn new hands..Noodler's black is really great on cheap paper.Sell your Lamy ink if it's not to your liking...although Lamy Turquoise is cool, blue black...similar to MB, and another color...hope u didn't just get one color? For a better experience goto Claire paper to see what these pens can really do.Glad your pen writes after torturing the nib. Don't use cotton balls..especially with bulletproof ink. Better to store pens nib up..with and wo ink. Flush new Lamy pens before use..they have Lamy blue as a test ink in them. Do the same with the converter. There is always some sort of production residue in them.

Edited April 8, 2011 by SnowLeopard

[Lyutsin21]

What is an italic nib?

 

I bought three 1-2/3 ounce botles of Lamy Black ink in June 2009 and so far I've used about half of one bottle. I should have bought different colors but I made a snap decision without realizing how long ink lasts me. I bought this much just to go over $55 U.S. dollars to get free shipping from the Lamy website, when I ordered at lamy Vista and converter at the same time. I was also considering some kind of Levringer pen that was $30 USD but I don't remember what kind it was now, and I didn't buy it because I bought the Lamy Vista instead. The cotton ball at the bottom of the shot glass just protects the glass shotglass and and pen cap or pen barrel from getting scratched or chipped. I thought the characteristic molded frontpiece of the Lamy Sefari, Vista and All Star was to prevent the pen from rolling around in your hand, because I learned to write with a wood pencil and I kept rolling the pencil in my hand to keep writing with the most pointy part of the exposed graphite. After I bought the Vista, I had the impression that fountain pens were obsolescent and that Lamy pens were made with features meant to preserve fountain pen technology in the face of "clear" knowledge that ball points pens are "better."

Edited April 8, 2011 by Lyutsin21

[JOBPM]

Lyutsin21,

 

An italic nib has a point that writes wider in one direction, and thinner in another depending on how you hold the pen. They can add a bit of flare and interest to your handwriting, and are one of the many reasons many of us FP nuts prefer fountain pens over ball pens. I will say this, since you seem to prefer finer nibs the italic may not be the most practical. They are fun to noodle around with though, and I have to agree with SnowLeopard; fountain pens are all about finding what works for you and enjoying it, so experiment!

 

Lots of online retailers allow a grace period in which you can try out a pen by dipping it, and then return it if you don't like it. If you're interested in trying out some pens it would be advantageous to find out if there is a brick & mortar pen store near you. Any store that carries a sizable selection of fountain pens will probably let you dip them and try them out.

 

You might check out the TWSBI Diamond 530 as well. It is big, hefty, and relatively cheap for the amount of pen you get.