Conklin Crescent Filler

[essayfaire]

Has anyone tried the Conklin crescent filler? I'm intrigued by the look of the pen and the mechanism, and am curious about how it writes and if this mechanism is easier and/or neater than all my converters. In general, I am partial to Asian pens, especially Japanese, but there are always exceptions! Thanks.

[Mr.Rene]

In few words ..Conklin C.F. is like a lever filler fountain pen but the lever has crescent shape...there is a rubber sac inside the barrel like a lever filler fountain pens... Regards.

[Honeybadgers]

It's a riff on a lever filler, designed back when everyone just needed some variant of "press down on rubber sac" there were lever fillers, coin fillers, match fillers (named based on what you shoved in the hole to squeeze the sac)

 

Honestly it's only mildly easier to clean than a lever filler. I wouldn't get one that wasn't vintage. The new one seems pointless, with the same old garbage conklin steel nib. My vintage crescent with a #2 flex nib is amazing.

[sirgilbert357]

It's a riff on a lever filler, designed back when everyone just needed some variant of "press down on rubber sac" there were lever fillers, coin fillers, match fillers (named based on what you shoved in the hole to squeeze the sac)

 

Honestly it's only mildly easier to clean than a lever filler. I wouldn't get one that wasn't vintage. The new one seems pointless, with the same old garbage conklin steel nib. My vintage crescent with a #2 flex nib is amazing.

 

Meh, nibs can be swapped. I'd almost buy that tortoise Conklin crescent filler just for that material. Its gorgeous.

[osallent]

I've not owned the crescent filler, but I did own a Conklin Word Gauge. In my limited experience, modern Conklin nibs are nails. Mine wrote well, but it was definitely one of the most stiff modern nibs I've ever tried. The feel and quality of the material was OK for a pen in the sub-$150 range. I definitely would not pay more than that for a modern Conklin of any sort. If you can pay less than $125 for a Conklin Crescent Filler, I'd say that would be a decent buy. Overall, not a great pen when compared to the offerings of the likes of Pilot, Pelikan, Sailor, etc., but it isn't a terrible pen company by any means. I just wish they would try to mimic some of their vintage pens a little better in terms of the materials used, and I wish they offered gold nibs at the prices they are asking for some of their pens...especially once you get above $150.

Edited March 16, 2019 by osallent

[WLSpec]

Haven’t tried one, but it’s much like a normal Conklin pen, just with a different filling system. As others have said, I believe you press down on the crescent while the nib is submerged, which squeezes the sac inside, drawing the ink into the pen. A good visual aid with this concept is the converter that comes with the pilot metro. This is a squeeze converter (if you have one) and you have to squeeze it to draw ink into the pen. With the Conklin, the same thing is happening, only you don’t have to open the pen up, you just press the crescent which presses the sac inside.

I have heard good things about the Mark Twain. Good luck with a purchase!

[jchch1950]

A very simple filling system: press and the rubber sac will draw ink in. Nothing special but a historical reference.

[sirgilbert357]

I've not owned the crescent filler, but I did own a Conklin Word Gauge. In my limited experience, modern Conklin nibs are nails. Mine wrote well, but it was definitely one of the most stiff modern nibs I've ever tried.

Hmm. My All American with regular medium nib goes from medium to a BB no problem. It's not even the Omniflex nib...I'll have to do a write up with pics at some point.

[BaronWulfraed]

I haven't tried "flexing" mine -- even most of the so-called flex nibs that have cropped up in the last few years take too much pressure for me to be comfortable (Pilot FA is exception: OmniFlex, unmodified Noodlers, Pineider (?) HyperFlex).

 

However, I don't have the current production steel-nib Crescent Filler -- All four of my Conklins are 14K nibs, and I believe three were pre-YAFA (an unknown model with silver bands [pain to polish], Fahrney's LE crescent from 2003, and a 2003 Nozac [which I need to straighten a bent nib]), the fourth is a YAFA period 2016 crescent, but was an LE with gold nib. (The security ring on the last is much better fit than the Fahrney's, which tends to roll around on its own)

 

Correction: I have five Conklins with 14K nibs, forgot a 2007 All American... and while I do have a silver trimmed something, the tarnish problem is actually a Levenger/Stipula collab pen.

Edited March 16, 2019 by BaronWulfraed

[sidthecat]

I have a ringtop that’s one of my favorite pens; a wonderfully-flexy #2 fine nib that gives my writing a lot of character. The crescent is a very effective roll-stop if that’s important to you. The black pigmentation is somewhat eroded so I’ll probably try blackening it again.

[sirgilbert357]

I haven't tried "flexing" mine -- even most of the so-called flex nibs that have cropped up in the last few years take too much pressure for me to be comfortable (Pilot FA is exception: OmniFlex, unmodified Noodlers, Pineider (?) HyperFlex).

 

However, I don't have the current production steel-nib Crescent Filler -- All four of my Conklins are 14K nibs, and I believe three were pre-YAFA (an unknown model with silver bands [pain to polish], Fahrney's LE crescent from 2003, and a 2003 Nozac [which I need to straighten a bent nib]), the fourth is a YAFA period 2016 crescent, but was an LE with gold nib. (The security ring on the last is much better fit than the Fahrney's, which tends to roll around on its own)

 

Correction: I have five Conklins with 14K nibs, forgot a 2007 All American... and while I do have a silver trimmed something, the tarnish problem is actually a Levenger/Stipula collab pen.

Maybe that's the difference. My Conklin was just bought very recently, so I assume it's a post Yafa model.

[DanceOfLight]

Got one in Sterling Silver LE, it's heavy , Stub and writes quite well. The crescent is just a fancy mech to de/inflate the rubber/Si sack inside, meh. If you are not from that era, it is unlikely that it will scratch that itch.

[sidthecat]

Someone is selling an old one in Classifieds. #7 nib, which sounds like my idea of a good time.

[DilettanteG]

I have an older Mark Twain LE Crescent Filler in a lovely, multicolored brown with silver fittings. It’s a beautiful pen, an average writer with a vanilla nib, and has been sitting in the repair box forever unable to draw ink. My usual go to nib meister (Mottishaw) recommended sending it into the manufacturer for repairs, I assume because of the unusual filling mechanism. I won’t buy another one and should probably sell this one to some one who enjoys working on pens more than I do.