Wality 69L Oversize Eyedropper Filler

[ushat]

Introduction

I'm both a cheapskate and horribly impoverished so any pens I review will cost less than a decent bottle of malt whisky otherwise I'll have another use for the money. This Wality pen from India fulfils the cheapness requirement, costing $29.95. That sounds even less when you say it in British money.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/ushat/wality.jpg

 

 

 

Barrel, cap and clip.

It's plastic, just like a Montblanc. It's also black with white metal trim which is adequate. The threads on the barrel and clip are strong and deeply cut and the cap fits very securely and satisfyingly.

 

Filling.

Unscrew the section, use the huge pipette to pour in a veritable ocean of ink, screw it back together again. That's it for this month.

 

Nib

It's two-colour, made by Wality themselves and writes on the medium side of fine. Very slightly flexible.

 

Price

Ridiculously little (see above).

 

In Use

It lays down a superb line and it doesn't leak. Despite being immense at 170mm capped it's very light.

 

Conclusion

They seem to do these things rather well on the Indian sub-continent. There's a piston-filler on offer too. This is an exceptionally good inexpensive pen that goes on for a very long time between fills. And if you like big, it's BIG.

[zxc]

Looks pretty cool. Where'd you pick it up from?

[antoniosz]

Actually you overpaid It has been on ebay for about $13 but recent "talk" on Zoss list raised the price.

 

I have had the transparent eyedropper (a Recife knock-off) for about a year, and I recently bought the piston filler. I have filled them both with ... Penman Sapphire and I have enjoyed a fine-medium wet line and a pen that did not dry/skip/hesitate etc.... the ebonite feed works like a charm (did you hear that signore e signori di Stipula 22)...

 

couple of photos for reference.

 

http://www.streamload.com/azavalia/FPN/wality1.jpg

http://www.streamload.com/azavalia/FPN/wality2.jpg

Edited September 4, 2005 by antoniosz

[southpaw]

ushat,

 

Thanks for the review! WOW! That thing holds a veritable ton of ink - 4.5 ml! I don't get to write much, and no doubt it would sit indefinitely there unless I forsook all my other pens . Perhaps a piston-filler in the future . . .

Edited May 23, 2005 by southpaw

[ushat]

I bought it from Retrodesk, online. I'd seen one on ebay some time previously but I didn't follow it up at that time. Later, I hunted down what little information I could find and decided I'd try one. So yes, I paid a GROSS amount of dinero for it but on the other hand I've paid more and got less on other occasions. I note-take a lot and it's perfect, going on and on forever as it does.

[BruceW]

I bought a couple Wality 69L pens recently, one being an eye dropper and the other a piston filler. I like the size and shape and the overall sense of fit and finish is more in the $50-60 range than the $10. However, I encountered a few things:

 

Neither pen had the nib set properly with the feed and the feed was not pushed in far enough, so ink seepage was a problem. I re-set the nib and feed as mentioned in other reviews on this pen, and the ink no longer was a problem from the feed.

 

Then I had problems with ink seeping slowly through the barrel at the threads. It was not coming from the nib/feed area but from the threads. (I had carefully cleaned the threads and cap after the previous incident.)

 

The chrome finish was missing in spots on the clip and the end cap was cracked on one of the pens. Not big problems for this low a price point.

 

I reported the ink seepage issues to the seller who promptly sent me a replacement. This was one did not have any of the problems noted above, and I'll hang on to it.

 

I do find that the piston works quite nicely -- as good as my Pelikans -- and holds a lot of ink (though probably not as much as the ED).

 

Also the nib writes nicely and is fairly smooth with just a hint of tooth, though quite stiff as you might expect.

 

Certainly, this pen is more than worth the money. It is not nearly as beautiful or as fat the Laban Mento, but it finds a good balance between large size and pocketability. And it should be a good, cheap workhorse that you can carry around without worrying about attracting undue attention.

[Johnny Appleseed]

Then I had problems with ink seeping slowly through the barrel at the threads. It was not coming from the nib/feed area but from the threads. (I had carefully cleaned the threads and cap after the previous incident.)

 

Ink seepage is a notorious problem with EDs of old - in fact a number of mid-barrel joint eyedroppers were designed to prevent ink seepage from staining fingers. I have very little trouble of this sort with my Wality ED.

 

However, the nib on mine was dry and scratchy, and after much tweaking and smoothing I just was not happy with it. The main problem was that it was too dry, even after many attempts to floss the gap, manually spread the tines, flush the feed, floss the feed grooves, manually reset the nib and feed &c. &c. Also the feed was too closely set to the nib, giving too tight a gap, which was easily fixed with a little heat-setting. Eventually I decided to replace the nib.

 

Now it works like a charm. . .

 

John

Edited June 21, 2006 by Johnny Appleseed

[BruceW]

This pen would gain a lot of value for me by replacing the nib. I tried a Waterman #2, but it was just too thin. I tried a steel Danitrio but it was too long to close the cap.

 

**Which nib did you use? and did you keep the Wality feed? If you used the nib pictured, how was it designated? It doesn't say "lifetime" or "feather touch".

 

BTW: my thread seepage problem was not just with the ED but also with the first piston filler. Perhaps it was sealed poorly at that seam.

Edited June 21, 2006 by BruceW

[Ravula]

#5 waterman nibs should go in without much modification. I have a #17 from Hundred Year pen in mine, but I had to shave some material off my feed for it to seat properly. Tony S from PT has a #5 and #17 nibs in his. I asked him about this some time before I made my modification and he said

 

I used a #5 Waterman nib, though I have another one fitted with a

slightly larger #17 Waterman nib at present, and either size works

well. The #5 nib came from a late 1940's Taperite, and the #17 nib

was fitted in an Emblem pen.

 

 

The Wality feed is quite nice and provides nice flow for either nib. I

heated the section a bit before fitting the nib and feed to ensure a

snug fit.

 

 

I'm very pleased with the results, and I use my Wality regularly.

[tyruk]

I can't find one of these anywhere. Retrodesk is out of stock. Anyone selling?

[Renfield]

I can't find one of these anywhere. Retrodesk is out of stock. Anyone selling?

 

try http://www.fountainpenrevolution.com