Lindauer Piston Fillers

[truthpil]

 

The pen (the S5, a plain black model) resembles the Montblanc 344 and many other mid-low-end piston fillers from the 1950s. The fit and finish are only just acceptable: there was an injection molding burr on the bottom of the piston knob that I polished off with micro mesh, and some flaws in the plating on the clip that I could do nothing to fix. However, The piston mechanism works well and the nib, out of the box, was smooth, relatively wet and slightly springy (I wouldn't say "flexible" as that is a loaded term around here.) Mine was an OB, and I was disappointed to find it was a modern round oblique, as nibl posted above. I sent it to Mark Bacas (nibgrinder.com) and he converted it into more of a vintage grind with lots of line variation.

 

Anyone interested in a vintage oblique or stublike B or BB nib would probably be better off just fishing for a vintage Pelikan, lower-end MB or other German pen on eBay or elsewhere. Those who want a pen in that style and are prepared to use the Lindauer as-is may find it worth the price, if they can obtain it easily. I do think the company deserves some credit for making a line of decent homage pens. I hope they will try to make some larger and more ambitious pens in vintage style, provided they can bring the quality up a bit and capture more of the expressive writing qualities of the originals.

Thanks so much for answering all my questions before I even asked them!

 

It's commendable that a company would make a piston filler with a Bock nib in many sizes that costs less than a Pelikan. However, with the ever-improving quality of Chinese and Indian piston fillers (Penbbs and FPR come to mind), it might be more cost effective to get one of those pens and put a JoWo or Knox nib in it. The total cost even with a custom-ground nib (an oblique stub, for example) might be similar to that of the Lindauer.

[TheDutchGuy]

 

Almost 80 years separate these pens. The smaller one is a 1940s Boston, made-in-Holland, celluloid, button-filler with 14k semi-flex EF-to-M nib. The larger one is a Lindauer that I bought today. Made in Germany, plastic, piston filler, steel Bock F nib. The faux-celluloid look is actually created by a sticker.. (yikes)... Price: 27 euros.

 

The old Boston is an endearing little pen that just suits me so well. It also means a lot to me emotionally but that’s a different story. The gravity feed makes it splatter in the cap and ink volume is negligible, so taking it on the road is not really an option. I use it at home and I love it dearly. The nib is magical (it can be seen in my avatar, however that was before the repair).

 

The Lindauer is actually a nice pen. It sits in the hand very well. The steel Bock F nib writes smoothly, doesn’t feel like a nail and the pen has proper flow. For a western F nib, the line width is quite narrow, which I like, but it pushes the pen into EF territory. The piston works smoothly and securely and the pen swallows a full 1 mL of ink. It doesn’t leak, burp or splatter. With a little bit of care, it should provide many years of service. It’s also fun to use.

 

The same amount of money buys a Kaweco Sport or a TWSBI Eco. With the Kaweco, the nib and flow are hit or miss, it’s not a piston filler and it doesn’t have a clip. The material of the Sport feels much nicer, though and I would recommend the Sport over the Lindauer - it just seems to be a more serious pen. The TWSBI Eco is clearly a much better pen than the Lindauer. It’s made of better materials, holds more ink, can be taken apart for cleaning and lubrication and has very good nibs. But I do think the Lindauer is more fun to use.