Is This A Reasonable Quality Pen German Reform 1745

[snowshine]

Has anybody known this pen and is it reasonable quality pen for daily writing purposes or is this a junk?

What do they mean by New Old Stock?

Has any one with experience using this pen?

 

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Old-German-made-Reform-piston-filled-fountain-pen-Heidelberg-around-1950-/120949762285?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1c292ae8ed

Old German made Reform fountain pen, Heidelberg around 1950.

 

Regards

[stefanv]

New old stock means that it's new in the sense that it's store stock that has never been sold, but it is of course old (from the 1950s).

 

This is a low-end German pen, sort of the Walmart version of a Pelikan 150. However, it is a low-end German pen, so it's actually pretty good. Not the quality of a Pelikan, but not junk either. I bought two a while back, one for myself, and one for a friend, and we both like them. They needed a bit of nib adjustment (alignment of the tines - Pelikans sometimes need this too), but other than that they work great.

[snowshine]

I have placed an order on e-bay. It is for my daily workhorse writing. I need a bit longer pen to hold [The present one of mine was bought for me by my wife from Japan.It is a cheap Pilot I find the lenght is bit short when I hold on to write!!]

Thank you stefanv-Your reply is very much appreciated.

 

Regards

[stefanv]

Note that the Reform 1745 is quite small, about the size of a Pelikan 150.

[snowshine]

DOH it is almost same length as my present Pilot. Let me await and see if I like it. It is not too expensive to worry about.

 

Thank you stefanv. There are some attractive pens you have in your possession, I notice!!

 

Regards

[Shaporama]

I bought one of these on a lark a few months ago. What astounded me was that the pen arrived in one piece, the shipper encased it in a thin layer of bubble wrap then stuck it in a plain white envelope that was pretty nicked up by the time it got to my house from Germany. I found the pen to be every bit as cheap as the price. Too thin for me, very light weight and the nib had way too much "bite." It was quickly consigned to my junk drawer. Curiosity satisfied, lesson learned.

[Scrawler]

They are too light and thin for my personal use. I bought 3 sometime back. Once the nibs are smoothed they are far better than many of the current offerings of school pens. After a little adjustment to the nibs I gave mine to school kids, who are delighted with them. I did like the fact that they had a nice springiness to the nibs. They are certainly reliable and do not flood or write dry. Fortunately nib smoothing is easy and something I have come to expect as routine for many pens.

[JRH]

They are too light and thin for my personal use. I bought 3 sometime back. Once the nibs are smoothed they are far better than many of the current offerings of school pens. After a little adjustment to the nibs I gave mine to school kids, who are delighted with them. I did like the fact that they had a nice springiness to the nibs. They are certainly reliable and do not flood or write dry. Fortunately nib smoothing is easy and something I have come to expect as routine for many pens.

 

 

Scrawler: I am a sucker for inexpensive pens, Chinese, some Japanese and models like the Waterman shcool pens and Preppys. Sometimes they write and feel better than my expensive Pelikans, MBs, Watermans and Parkers. I just picked up a Reform 1745. I always pre-prep a new pen with a JB's flush and lots of distilled water to clear the way for new ink. Question: how do you remove the nib; is it a screw on like a Pelikan or pull out like an American Noodler's? Also, is removing the piston easy like a Noodler's pull-out or a complicated surgery as in a Pelikan piston requiring special tools? Thanks for any insight.

JRH

[Scrawler]

They are too light and thin for my personal use. I bought 3 sometime back. Once the nibs are smoothed they are far better than many of the current offerings of school pens. After a little adjustment to the nibs I gave mine to school kids, who are delighted with them. I did like the fact that they had a nice springiness to the nibs. They are certainly reliable and do not flood or write dry. Fortunately nib smoothing is easy and something I have come to expect as routine for many pens.

 

 

Scrawler: I am a sucker for inexpensive pens, Chinese, some Japanese and models like the Waterman shcool pens and Preppys. Sometimes they write and feel better than my expensive Pelikans, MBs, Watermans and Parkers. I just picked up a Reform 1745. I always pre-prep a new pen with a JB's flush and lots of distilled water to clear the way for new ink. Question: how do you remove the nib; is it a screw on like a Pelikan or pull out like an American Noodler's? Also, is removing the piston easy like a Noodler's pull-out or a complicated surgery as in a Pelikan piston requiring special tools? Thanks for any insight.

JRH

The nib is a unit assembly like an Esterbrook. I am not familiar with Pelikan. You simply unscrew the assembly. Removing the nib and feed from the assembly is a bit of a trick. They are like the old style Esterbrooks, in that some of them have a pin driven in right through the collar and into the feed. You cannot just knock the feed and nib out on a knockout block. The pin must be removed first. If the pin is not removed then as soon as you hammer a push rod into the feed, it will shatter the collar. If there is no pin then you can just knock it out. To check for the pin get a magnifying glass and look at the seam 1/4 inch back from where the nib enters the collar. Look for a tiny pin sized round hole.

[JRH]

They are too light and thin for my personal use. I bought 3 sometime back. Once the nibs are smoothed they are far better than many of the current offerings of school pens. After a little adjustment to the nibs I gave mine to school kids, who are delighted with them. I did like the fact that they had a nice springiness to the nibs. They are certainly reliable and do not flood or write dry. Fortunately nib smoothing is easy and something I have come to expect as routine for many pens.

 

 

Scrawler: I am a sucker for inexpensive pens, Chinese, some Japanese and models like the Waterman shcool pens and Preppys. Sometimes they write and feel better than my expensive Pelikans, MBs, Watermans and Parkers. I just picked up a Reform 1745. I always pre-prep a new pen with a JB's flush and lots of distilled water to clear the way for new ink. Question: how do you remove the nib; is it a screw on like a Pelikan or pull out like an American Noodler's? Also, is removing the piston easy like a Noodler's pull-out or a complicated surgery as in a Pelikan piston requiring special tools? Thanks for any insight.

JRH

The nib is a unit assembly like an Esterbrook. I am not familiar with Pelikan. You simply unscrew the assembly. Removing the nib and feed from the assembly is a bit of a trick. They are like the old style Esterbrooks, in that some of them have a pin driven in right through the collar and into the feed. You cannot just knock the feed and nib out on a knockout block. The pin must be removed first. If the pin is not removed then as soon as you hammer a push rod into the feed, it will shatter the collar. If there is no pin then you can just knock it out. To check for the pin get a magnifying glass and look at the seam 1/4 inch back from where the nib enters the collar. Look for a tiny pin sized round hole.

 

Thanks Scrawler: managed to remove the nib assembly and peeked into the seam. No pin (metal?)but rather than trying to separate the nib from the feed, I decided to soak the unit in distilled water overnight with a drop or two of clear ammonia . Checked the tines, flossed'em and although a tiny bit scratchy, the pen writes well. Thanks for the tip!

Best, JRH

[Sasha Royale]

I have bought and given a dozen Reform 1745 fountain pens, keeping three for myself.

You have a very good daily writer, though it IS kinda skinny. NOS Reform 1745's

have been in storage for fifty years. The piston lubricant is likely reduced in

effectiveness.

 

If the piston is at all sluggish, DO NOT FORCE IT. A nearly-invisible bit of

silicon lube will make the piston buttery smooth. I learned how to lube the piston

here at FPN.

 

I use Noodler's Eel inks in my piston fillers.

Edited September 20, 2012 by Sasha Royale

[trent]

These pens are no longer manufactured but there seems to be tons of NOS available, here and in Germany. They are decent school-pens, much better than low-end Heros or other Chinese pens that I have tried. I prefer Pelikan and Geha school-pens, but for a beginner, they are quite good and dependable, and of course very inexpensive.

[Hutson]

I have one these in my collection...I happen to think this is a good pen for the price. It writes well and the nib has a very slight flex to it. Mine writes smoothly and needed no nib adjustment.

[Bo Bo Olson]

NOS 1990's not '50's. In the '50's Reform was still a top quality pen.

I find them ok, I have two. The nib screwed out. In Germany at first the single buy of a 1745 was going for €6-7. A couple of years ago I got two for €5, as the market here was saturated.

To my surprise one was EF and the other was F. That EF one I kept in I don't have many EF's. The rest I sent to my God child.

 

I'd previously bought the P-120 and P-125, neither of them has a screw out nib. The 'big' P-125 posts no bigger than the 1745, which is a pen that posts long.

 

The pen has been sitting for only some 20-25 years and needs a tad of silicon grease. I had no problem at all with the nib(5X), but could see that it might.

 

Before Noodlers it was a good buy...if you can get one for $7 +P it's still a good buy.

 

The original Reform was a very well made pen, I have a solidly made War pen and a solid Cento (not going to go chasing through my fix it drawers for the exact name) one of many many pens, parts and nibs the Reform made for others.

They were big in the making pens for others.

 

I have a later than '50's cheaper 'gold' plated cap and plastic barrel Reform FP & BP, that has a semi-flex spade nib.

The first I'd had, and had not read about semi-flex spade nibs. A real big surprise to me.

 

When the ball point drove the original owner to the point of having to think about lowering quality on pens with his name. He shut down; rather than to make junk.

It was years later he sold his pen factory. The new owners who already had low end pens,made more using the Reform name, chasing the school kid market.

Someone's got to make Wearevers...pre China.

 

 

I highly suggest going to Advanced search "Reform" by Kaweco.

Edited September 27, 2012 by Bo Bo Olson

[klw]

I must thank the OP. After reading this thread I inked up my 1745 again and immediately a smile came to my fingers. A nice pen, a bit smallish, with a smoooooth nib. You might need a dab of lube on the piston, as others have mentioned, but it's been just a very nice inexpensive pen.

[CaptainGroovy]

While small by today's standard I still like the little penthat could I own several and have found them to very dependable. I admitto having to having to a little nib smoothing and adjustments but it's notrocket science to make one of theses things write smoothly. I wish myfirst fountain pen was as good as 1745. When I got my first fountain pen(A no-name lever fill) in the Third grade myself and rest of my class spenthours making circles and scribbling on brown paper bags with water downedBlue\Black ink to smooth out our pen's nib and even then they were stillscratchy but writeable. I think I was inthe part way through the fourth grade before the nib finial really started toget anywhere nears being what we would call smooth in this forum today. Justthink the only ink I used in grade school was mostly a Blue\Black ink of unknownorigin, and the paper was whatever in our “copybook” aka compositionnotebook sewn-in pages only and dime store loose leaf or paper from hand outsfresh from the ditto machine.

 

 

[stefanv]

Captain Groovy, the nib on your third grade pen was probably simply out of alignment, and it took until fourth grade until it wore down enough to compensate (or got bent into alignment by constant use).

[CaptainGroovy]

Captain Groovy, the nib on your third grade pen was probably simply out of alignment, and it took until fourth grade until it wore down enough to compensate (or got bent into alignment by constant use).

 

The nibs in the pens we (The third grade class) received, as a Christmas present from the school whenwe were learning "cursive writing" were notoriously rough as a cob and were the subject of many jokes. I also know that one of the Nuns who stayed in the convent but did not teach anymore did do some work to the pens to ensure they all would write even if the pen was scratchy as a pitchfork. Therefore, I am pretty sure the tines of the nibs were in alignment and if not they were pretty darn close. Part of the scratchiness I am sure is because the nibswere "Fine to Extra Fine" and I don't think they were tipped and if they were tipped they were rolled or folded like a similar to 1000 series Esterbrooknibs only not nearly as good. One thing was for sure the closest that nib ever got to iridium isif somebody wrote that word down in geography \ history class or science class. The simple fact of the matter is that the pens we were given were very cheap and probably donated to the school and more than likely were factory seconds. The pens were given to us students in the third grade upon return from Christmas break because that was when were started being taught cursive writing not because they were great writing instruments. On aside note by Easter, the only classes we Third graders were allowed to use apencil or print in were Art, Math, and Science Lab Class and the only thing worse than not having a spare sharpened pencil in Math class was running out of ink in your pen in any class.

Edited October 1, 2012 by CaptainGroovy

[pajaro]

Some of the posts about Reform piqued my curiousity and I bought a 1745. The pen is wonderful, and the medium nib wrote very nicely but too wet for me. I unscrewed the nib unit, and knocked out the nib and feed and replaced the nib with a finer nib, and it is a nice pen to write with. I then bought a slightly larger Reform than the 1745, a piston filler with a hot pink swirly barrel. This wider Reform pen is more comfortable than the 1745, but again the nib was too wet, so I knocked it out and put in a finer one. It is a really nice pen. I am thinking of trying one or two more, in different models. The Reforms seem to get pricey fast, when you get beyond the 1745s.

[Bigeddie]

I have a few of them http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7043/6818801774_73cb97b84a.jpg

Reform 1745s by Bigeddie100, on Flickr

 

I sell them on ebay, advertised as NOS of production which ended in 1993. I can't say with any certainty when they were produced.

 

The pistons are sometimes stiff, the truth is they vary a lot within the same batch. I check that the piston moves through the full range in each one, and that the nib tines align, the usual. Those that don't make the standard get some parts swapped around and I use them. I must have sold over 100 of them and only had a complaint with one (misaligned tines), which I replaced to the buyers satisfaction.

 

They are lovely little pens I started selling them because I wanted to promote them as much as anything. If people message me about how to use a piston filler I throw in a 2ml ink sample at random in case they don't have any bottled ink, and where appropriate I send out awareness messages about FPN. I hope they have gotten some people started!