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Pens That Everyone Else Seems To Hate That You Love


jabberwock11

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This is a little bit of a spin on the thread involving the opposite idea. There are plenty of pens out there that have bad reviews and that have less than favorable images, and yet there are still people out there who love them. Some lucky pens which have poor reputations among most fountain pen users also have small, but dedicated contingents of fans. This thread is for those fans of the much maligned, often dismissed, or frequently snubbed fountain pens out there. Let's show those hated pens some love!

 

For me, there are a couple of pens that always seem to get slammed on that I love. The first is Cross. I love Cross pens! Fountain pens, ballpoints, rollerballs, whatever. If it comes from Cross, I probably have a soft spot for it. Their pens have huge price ranges for no readily apparent reason (is a sterling silver Century II REALLY worth $250 more than its simple chrome brother?), their QC is a little spotty, and they do not offer a factory italic/stub option, but Cross is still the brand that comes to mind when I think of a luxurious pen. The other pen that springs to mind is the Lamy Safari. Yes, I know that the Lamy Safari has a lot of fans, but I don't just love the pen in general, I love every part of the pen. I think the triangular section is perfect (and fits the way that I hold the pen as if it were made specifically for me), I love their 1.1 italic nib, I think the large ink window is an excellent idea, and I think that the clip is cool. The only thing that I don't love about the Safari is the price, but even that can be overcome if your eBay-fu is strong (thanks in part to a slight mistake in the posting I managed to buy my current white safari WITH a converter and free shipping for less than $20, and got a 1.1 nib for $10).

 

So, let's here from the silent minority! What pens do you love that everyone else seems to hate? What fountain pen is your guilty pleasure? Let the love flow!

 

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I have frequently defended the Noodler's Konrad from criticism here at FPN. One of my favorite pens (except for the evaporation).

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Some divisive pens (can't say everyone hates them) that I like: Lamy 2000, Lamy Safari, Montblanc M, Noodler's pens generally, hooded nibs generally.

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I'm with TSherbs -- I love my Konrads (well, except for the Poseidon Pearl, which won't post for some reason and which writes really dry).

Also, I LOVE hooded nibs -- so, Parker 51s, 21s (although my 21 has a crack in the hood), and my 41. And, to some extent, the semi--hoodeded 45s: my first semi-vintage pen was a 45 and it's got an awesome nib on it). And 61s. Love those capillary fillers. They hold a huge amount of ink in them.

I love fine and medium nibs. I'm starting to branch out into stubs and obliques, but for everyday writing you can't beat the control of the ink flow (EFs are another matter, though).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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I would absolutely love my Konrad if it didn't need to be dunked in water to write after being left capped -- CAPPED, mind you -- on my desk for three or four hours.

I love its size. I love its section. I love its weight. I love its length. I love its girth. I love its big #6 halflex nib. I love its colors (even if I love the Ahab's colors more). And I really love its piston filling mechanism.

But I hate that I can't use it, unless I'm at my desk and have some water to dip it into. Otherwise, I'd have a half-dozen of them if I could. Instead, I have to pine for Pelikan M600s, which are more than 10x as costly.

Has anyone ever been able to correct this issue? And if so, how?

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Not sure about what pens, but I do like steel nibs. I prefer using the #6 steel nibs (from Edison, from Goulet Pens) to the 18kt Danitrio nibs in my Danitrios, the steel Pelikan nibs in my Toledos rather than the originals. I'd bet if Nakaya produced steel nibs, I'd like them, too.

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etherX in To Miasto

Fleekair <--French accent.

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I would absolutely love my Konrad if it didn't need to be dunked in water to write after being left capped -- CAPPED, mind you -- on my desk for three or four hours.

 

I love its size. I love its section. I love its weight. I love its length. I love its girth. I love its big #6 halflex nib. I love its colors (even if I love the Ahab's colors more). And I really love its piston filling mechanism.

 

But I hate that I can't use it, unless I'm at my desk and have some water to dip it into. Otherwise, I'd have a half-dozen of them if I could. Instead, I have to pine for Pelikan M600s, which are more than 10x as costly.

 

Has anyone ever been able to correct this issue? And if so, how?

Someone else wrote that the problem is evaporation through the hole/gap where the clip enters the cap and that he/she fixed the problem by cementing on the finial (cap top) to seal out that air exchange. I have not tried this (my Konrads aren't in my present "rotation").

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Not sure about what pens, but I do like steel nibs. I prefer using the #6 steel nibs (from Edison, from Goulet Pens) to the 18kt Danitrio nibs in my Danitrios, the steel Pelikan nibs in my Toledos rather than the originals. I'd bet if Nakaya produced steel nibs, I'd like them, too.

 

This.

 

Gold nibs can feel bouncy and nice, but I find that ink flow in a well-tuned steel nib is unsurpassed.

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I'd definitely go along with that. A good steel nib often seems wetter than a gold one, and I've yet to see a vintage pen that's been wrecked because some tool thought yanking a steel nib out of it for the pittance it'd get as scrap gold made that worthwhile as well.

Edited by dogpoet
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Some people love TWSBI, some people hate them. I love them. They are my everyday carry. I also have an Ahab from Noodler's which I dearly love to pieces. I modded it to increase the flex and it's a real beauty now.


 It's for Yew!bastardchildlil.jpg

 

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Nice turnaround to bring balance. I like my Ahab and my TWSBI's and I own two Stipula's and love them both. The MB F Scott Fitzgerald is considered to be the ugly duckling of the writers editions but it makes me smile every time I use it and I consider it one of my grails.

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I'm always surprised when I hear someone say they don't like Pelikans. If I had to own only one brand of pen from now on, I could be content with having my pick of Pelikans. They are gorgeous, come in many color and size variations and between the vintage and modern nibs, there is plenty to choose from. Add to all this that nibs are easy to swap and you can even get custom bindes made for them...well, it's a no-brainer for me.

 

Another one I love is the Parker 45. Stupidly easy to take completely apart and deep clean, reliable consistent writers, and since mine are both flighters, they are durable from a "wear and tear" standpoint. Nibs are easy and cheap to come by, gold options are even cheap and with the fat broad nibs available, stub or cursive italic options are just a regrind away. The looks are subjective of course, but I like that part too. And they're cheap.

Edited by sirgilbert357
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  • 1 month later...

I love my Pelikans and Montblancs, but They are not an every day carry for me.

Like cross, I think Waterman pens are often overlooked. I was going through my pen cases the other day and was shocked to see how many Waterman pens actually I have. They are rugged, well used, and for me, have been very dependable writers.

Right behind them and moving up fast for me, are the Jinhao X450 and 159. I'm really impressed with the fit and finish of these pens. Quality has improved steadily while the price points are perfect. Even the nibs, which use to be kind of hit or miss, seem to be of better quality in the last year or so. The best part for me is that the Goulet #6 nibs fit in here perfectly. With a nib switch and a Schmidt converter, you get a well made rugged pen body and a great dependable writer, for a very modest investment.

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Let's hear it for the poor, maligned, underappreciated Zebra fountain pen. I figured out how to make it write, oh, three years ago, filled it up and it's not stopped writing since, even though I only use it occasionally (having too many other great pens!). Never a hard start, never a skip. Just pick it up and write. Of course it's a bit of a Frankenpen because I swapped the cartridge it came with for a Parker slide converter - and live with the extra length that brought. The barrel no longer reaches the screw threads on the section, but it friction fits securely enough. Other than that, it's the original Zebra. A good pen for very little money. Most people who've reported using it say they hated it. I do Not.

a fountain pen is physics in action... Proud member of the SuperPinks

fpn_1425200643__fpn_1425160066__super_pi

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I got a Zebra fountain pen at Walgreens recently. I had tried it earlier when visiting my brother. That Zebra stayed with him. I keep mine in my purse so I always have a fountain pen on the go. It's good for trips to the store to mark off the list.

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Well, I find the Jean-Pierre Lepine pens are a bit under-loved but my Signum is a true orphan ... at least here in Australia. Nobody seems to have heard of them. No distributor and practically impossible to buy ... yet my Carina (IMO) is one of the most attractive and well-made I've encountered.

Andy sang as he watched and waited 'til his billy boiled ...

(With apologies to Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson)

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Someone else wrote that the problem is evaporation through the hole/gap where the clip enters the cap and that he/she fixed the problem by cementing on the finial (cap top) to seal out that air exchange. I have not tried this (my Konrads aren't in my present "rotation").

I have not been able to disassemble the cap finial, even using a Goulet Grip and hand strength developed through years of living car-free (bicycling) and years of pulling 10,000 socks a day onto metal feet, by hand. I may coat the entire top of the cap in five-minute expoxy, just to be absolutely sure.

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For me, there are a couple of pens that always seem to get slammed on that I love. The first is Cross. I love Cross pens! Fountain pens, ballpoints, rollerballs, whatever. If it comes from Cross, I probably have a soft spot for it. Their pens have huge price ranges for no readily apparent reason (is a sterling silver Century II REALLY worth $250 more than its simple chrome brother?), their QC is a little spotty, and they do not offer a factory italic/stub option, but Cross is still the brand that comes to mind when I think of a luxurious pen.

 

 

You know, when I read the title of this topic, Cross is what first came to mind. I love my Pelikan M80x pens, but I love my Century II (both of them) just as much! I will say that I notice better qualify finish on the USA-made pen, versus the more recent Chinese version, but it's still a good workhorse.

bayesianprior.png

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I have not been able to disassemble the cap finial, even using a Goulet Grip and hand strength developed through years of living car-free (bicycling) and years of pulling 10,000 socks a day onto metal feet, by hand. I may coat the entire top of the cap in five-minute expoxy, just to be absolutely sure.

yeah, I haven't been able to remove it, either

 

oh well, for now I am just tolerating a bit of dryout--I love my Konrads!

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