Jump to content

The Perfect Work Pen


junkinduck

Recommended Posts

If you could build the perfect fountain pen to carry to work what would it be. We all have different wants and needs. So here is my current idea of a perfect pen for work:

I am a maintenance tech in a big chemical plant. A ball point would be so practical but I use a rotating line of economical pens.

My perfect pen would be a steel nib, anodized aluminum, vanishing point. Prefer blue and under $50 so a damage or loss wouldnt hurt as bad.

I need one handed fast action. No cap to remove or drop, Steel nib that will do carbon copys. Body that wont break when I lean over equipment and rest my weight on it. And while Im dreaming the clip would be easy to replace if it gets sprung.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 73
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Inky_paws

    11

  • junkinduck

    5

  • TSherbs

    4

  • AL01

    3

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

I think you just described a Pilot Vanishing point. But $50, I rather doubt it, probably more like $90 used. I have a Pilot Vanishing Point and it is a great durable pen and I like the fact I don't have to worry about a lost cap. I have a fine which sips ink so though the ink capacity isn't great a little bit goes a long way. The clip is pretty solid and I don't think likely to be sprung. It might take a bit to get used to how you hold it because of the clip but the clip encourages you to hold the pen with the nib correctly oriented.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Junk,

 

Yes... as Linear said... you've described a VP for the most part.

 

I'm really surprised the Chinese haven't got around to knocking them off with a cheaper alternative. :unsure:

 

Not that I'm in favor of knock-offs... I'm just surprised.

 

Yeah, I think a used VP is probably your best option for now.

 

Be well and stay safe. :)

 

 

- Anthony

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a work pen and is going to be worked. I really don't think the cost is such a big issue (assuming you can find the money) because the pain of paying for it will fade very quickly.

 

I recently ordered a VP - new from Japan for just under $AU100 (so it'd be less for those in the US... probably everywhere considering the state of the aussie dollar). Sure, it's taking nearly a month to get here but should be perfect when it gets here. In my job too, a biro is the rational choice because all we're doing is making very brief notes every five or ten minutes. This is where the click action of the VP is ideal. Like linearM, I've ordered the fine and am now a little concerned seeing how fine my Prera M is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a yellow vanishing point. I love it. Of all my pens it is my favorite. I have crushed a couple of pens though. I hate to take a VP out in the plant. I generally carry a Lamy I just don’t like the cap and two hand operation. We have a lot of open grating for decking and if you drop something it is gone forever. I guess I just want a vanishing point I’m not worried about loosing that is crush proof.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The Chinese pens are cheap enough that you won't mind trashing or losing them, but they don't have the one handed operation. Is gripping the cap in your teeth an option?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

in a chemical plant you try to avoid putting anything in your mouth. We use sharpy markers and buy them in capless. I started this thread more as a what if than a looking for a pen. We all have different professions. I just wondered what the perfect pen would be for different people. My Vanishing Point was purchased about ten years ago from Richard Binder. it writes like a dream. It is my "Sunday go to meeting" pen. I carry more modest stuff for my daily drivers. Lamy, Noodler's, Metropolitan. I have even been known to use Bay State Blue in my work pen.

Edited by junkinduck
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually, in any workshop you'd avoid putting something in your mouth, probably I shouldn't do it in my work place which is an office. Sorry for not thinking that option through. :wub:

 

Keep us posted on any solutions you come up with, I'm interested.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am a maintenance tech in a big chemical plant. A ball point would be so practical but I use a rotating line of economical pens.

Since you're already admitting to being impractical you might as well drop the $50 budget and get a VP.

 

Aaaaand.... you're done.

“We could be heroes/Just for one day” ― David Bowie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the OP noted, we all have different wants and needs; and jobs. I took the OP as an example rather than a request.

X

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw the thread title and instantly thought "Vanishing Point".

 

I want to like the VP but the nib is too soft for me (maybe someday I'll have a floating fountain-pen-appropriate hand, but that day is not here yet), so a steel nail nib sounds good to me. But more importantly, I find the grip too slippery; a different material or coating would help me a lot. Also mine dries out too quickly, which I understand is not common with these pens, so just bad luck on my part.

 

As far as the price goes, the cheapest I've seen a Pilot Capless from Japan is just within my budget; not something I'd want to damage or lose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As the OP noted, we all have different wants and needs; and jobs. I took the OP as an example rather than a request.

You got it. Although I appreciate the recommendations I was looking more for the conversation. If you could design a pen for work what would it be.

Edited by junkinduck
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also thought VP, but do some of them have steel nibs? In the UK I think they mostly have gold nibs and tend to be called Capless. :)

 

There is also the Lamy Dialogue 3 that also has a "click-action" If I could find one for $50 I would have one. :puddle:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I also thought VP, but do some of them have steel nibs? In the UK I think they mostly have gold nibs and tend to be called Capless. :)

 

There is also the Lamy Dialogue 3 that also has a "click-action" If I could find one for $50 I would have one. :puddle:

 

You can buy VPs from eBay sellers in Japan with what they call the 'special alloy' nib ie, steel. Rather cheaper than in the shops too but the shipping times are about 3 weeks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

You can buy VPs from eBay sellers in Japan with what they call the 'special alloy' nib ie, steel. Rather cheaper than in the shops too but the shipping times are about 3 weeks.

 

I can't buy from Japan. I live in the UK - Far too Customs hungry! :(

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe Brexit will fix that for you :D

 

So far, we don't have such issues so I've never faced them. We don't even have to pay GST (our equivalent of your VAT I think) on items under a grand, though the politicians want to change that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

You can buy VPs from eBay sellers in Japan with what they call the 'special alloy' nib ie, steel. Rather cheaper than in the shops too but the shipping times are about 3 weeks.

That's the one I have. The nib is too soft for me; I don't know if it's actually stiffer than a gold VP nib or not as I don't have one to compare it to. Edited by SoulSamurai
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A Sailor Pro-Gear with a Lamy 2000 style clutch cap and a piston fill. Or a Lamy 2000 with a Sailor nib and feed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I set behind a desk working on a computer in my home office, so my perfect work pen could be most anything and I have 13 inked up ready to use. Back when I had an office job I normally carried a Pelikan M200 to meetings. It fit well in a shirt pocket and held a lot of ink. Also used a VP at times. Currently my VP and Fermo are not inked up. Nice pens, but work best as a daily use pen not one in a rotation waiting to be used. Also in my situation piston pens seem to stay wet better then my converter pens. Some C/C pens (Platinum 3776) don't dry out so bad. It's funny my Franklin-Christoph pens never dry out when eyedropper filled but when I move then to a converter they do.

 

FYI a nib being steel does not mean it's harder then one made from gold. There are many factors in making a hard or soft nib and the alloy of steel or gold is just one of them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm more or less in the same situation than @Driften: home office and office job, both computer at a desk and meetings, so "my solutions" end up being quite similar... with a twist: I can, and have done it, "survive" with just a pen, and it also happened to be an M200, but now I usually have settled to two pens at a time:

  • Desktop: I prefer larger -while not gigantic, pens, with semi-flex nibs, M or even B, piston fillers, so they last me at least a week on a charge, with "dark" inks (usually blue, sometimes black). I also use a mechanical pencil for draws/drafts (or a wood pencil at home -hey! my El Casco sharpener has to earn a life too, hasn't it?). Some examples (not all tick all the points): Montblanc 146, Matador 976, Waterman's Hundred Year (its biggest model)...
  • Meetings / stand-up notes: I prefer pens a bit shorter, F or XF "nails", with press or click caps, which I load with more colored inks, say Diamine Oxblood, or J. Herbin Lie de Thé. Probably the one I like the most for these "missions" is a Parker 21 Special, nearly followed by a Parker 51 or the all-terrains Pelikan M200/400. Oh, I also use these when reviewing my desktop notes and I want to highlight or make a point over something.

Up to now, if I had to go with just one pen, it almost surely would be my Pelikan 400 with a semiflex M nib but, fortunately, I don't have to :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33494
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26624
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...