The Worst Pen Ever

[The Royal Pen]

What is the absolute WORST, stupidest pen you've ever had in your possession?

 

I mean the crappiest, most non-usable FP. The hardest to start, the scratchiest nib. Whatever.

 

Now is thy chance to rant.

[JefferyS]

A closeout red Omas Jerusalem 3000. It may also be the ugliest pen I have ever owned. I'm pretty sure that it was a returned item that was unloaded as a closeout item. All of the metal parts were oxidized when I received it.

 

If I ever decide to fiddle with pen smoothing, I will use it as my first patient.

 

A close second place is every Waterman FP I have ever owned. I'm going to have Binder fiddle with my Expert II and Opera.

[FlyFast]

I'm a big Pilot fan but I got a lemon Pilot 78G once. It was the only fountain pen I ever put in the trash.

[JimB]

Platinum Silverline badly made, cracked collar that could not be fixed. RIP

[jar]

I try to not buy bad pens.

[ticoun]

i don't own such a pen. i do have a hero 616 that is too wet to be used on many papers, but it was a freebie, and i can't say it's a very bad pen either as it's extremely smooth.

[StyloBug33]

I had two Taccias with gold nibs that I hated. I finally ordered replacement steel nibs for them and now they are wonderful. This was a long time ago, and I don't think they have the same problems these days.

 

I also had an inexpensive Conklin that I hated until I sent it into the company, and now that one is also wonderful.

 

I had a nightmare experience with a Visconti Homo Sapiens, but after Visconti stepped it all went well and now that is one of my favorite pens.

 

So, I guess I have had frustrations, but in the end all has worked out.

Edited November 2, 2011 by StyloBug33

[Flounder]

A lemon Platinum Preppy. I thnik there was something wrong with the feed/regulator setup, ink had gotten past most of the rings. It stopped writing with half a tank left during, sod's law, an absolutely critical note taking sesh at uni. I threw every effort into sorting it, but it couldn't be relied upon.

 

Like FlyFast, the only pen I just threw in the bin. I regret it now, I would like to have cannibalised its excellent inner cap arrangement for use in a Hero 616.

 

 

Edited November 2, 2011 by Flounder

[Scribblesoften]

A Parker 45 believe it or not. The cap doesn't fit right. Whey you push it on all the way the nib embeds/spears into the inside of the cap and gets pulled out when you open it. I have had it apart several times and tried many inks with it but it never works right. Piece of junk that made it past the QC process.

[Ozark]

A closeout red Omas Jerusalem 3000. It may also be the ugliest pen I have ever owned. I'm pretty sure that it was a returned item that was unloaded as a closeout item. All of the metal parts were oxidized when I received it.

 

If I ever decide to fiddle with pen smoothing, I will use it as my first patient.

 

A close second place is every Waterman FP I have ever owned. I'm going to have Binder fiddle with my Expert II and Opera.

 

Tell ya what. I'll give

ya 50 bucks for the Omas. Dont want ya to fret over it too long. Just sayin, I'm here for ya.

Edited November 2, 2011 by Ozark

[JefferyS]

I bought a handful of Platinum Preppies that have no o-rings. Filled one with Bay State Concord Grape, and a week later my hands are Concord Grape. Is silicone grease a must with preppies lacking o-rings?

[Doug C]

Any Italian pen from about 10-12 years ago.

 

I actually moved back to rollerballs since one out of two fountain pens I purchased (I only bought Italian since they were the only exciting pens then) had problems.

 

In today's world, most of the Italian pens work well, the exception being a Montegrappa Miya that I bought recently.

I will need to send it off but, much like Fix It Again Tony (FIAT) from yesteryear, most pens from Italy are good writers nowadays.

[Essensia]

Tie between a Noodler's flex nib and Noodler's rollerball that I got as a newbie. Both barely wrote. Eventually tossed them because they simply did not deserve to be tinkered with. Would rather spend the time enjoying real pens that actually work. (Apologies for being negative, but you asked...:roflmho: )

[OcalaFlGuy]

I bought a handful of Platinum Preppies that have no o-rings. Filled one with Bay State Concord Grape, and a week later my hands are Concord Grape. Is silicone grease a must with preppies lacking o-rings?

 

I think you know the answer to that now don't you Jeffery?

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl

[OcalaFlGuy]

I try to not buy bad pens.

 

Bingeux!

 

I only have one pen that's not a good writer, my Sonnet from Hell. That one is as much my own fault as anything. I knew enough at the time that I should not have bought that particular Sonnet but I did anyway.

 

I did own for about 30 minutes one horrid Sheaffer Prelude. It had a B nib and was given to me because the nib was a firehouse. The only "10" on the wetness scale I've ever seen. I was gifted this pen at the Miami pen show and it took about 30 minutes for Mike Masuyama's customer chair to get empty. About 15 min later and that Prelude had a wonderful .6mm CI nib in it.

 

Bruce in Ocala, Fl-learn first, then buy

[alkman]

I have two pens that fall into this category...

 

The first is a Rotring 900 I believe, but it looked cool and it was cheap and it is ribbed down to the nib, which is not a pleasure.

 

The second is a little urushi Golden pen (prob'ly second tier or so from the 1950s) which taught me I don't like super flexy nibs.

Edited November 2, 2011 by alkman

[bernardo]

Parker Vector and Parker Arrow. They just don't write.

[79spitfire]

I bought this pen off E-bay.....

 

It's an Auden (Whatever the h*!! that is!) The pics looked great, it had this great 'ladybug' emblem on the top of the cap, free shipping, great seller feedback...

 

What I received was a NOS steel nibbed pen with one tine pre-broken for my convenience. It has a cr@ppy cork sealed syringe filler (that leaks) and is made from the lowest grade of grainy Bakelite looking (not actual) plastic I have ever seen! I snipped the broken nib down to a stub and tried to smooth it. I got it to write, then after tiring of getting ink on my hands I cleaned it up and threw it in the 'should of known better' pile...

[Fabienne]

This mean little cheap Sheaffer I bought about 15-20 years ago. Nasty little snip! I have taken her apart and cleaned her out and she skips and sneers at Noodler's Eel ink and Aurora Black and won't start. I do not love her and I use her to experiment on. If anything can tame her, I will let you know. I bet she didn't cost $5.

Edited November 2, 2011 by Fabienne

[torstar]

I guess I could write a Sonnet about it using a decent pen.