Vintage Or Modern, As A Practical Daily Driver

[tonybelding]

I’ve been thinking about vintage versus modern pens, and particularly in terms of practical routine carry and use (some would say EDC), as opposed to collecting. I’ve gone through vintage phases, and I’ve gone through modern phases, and I think I’ve got a pretty good basis of experience here.

 

If you want a robust and reliable pen, modern is your safer bet. You can get a new pen that comes with a warranty. Also, we have a parts ecosystem now that hardly existed back in the Good Old Days. You can get pens that use a standard Schmidt K5 converter and a standard Bock or Jowo #5 or #6 nib unit, and you can disassemble and clean and reassemble them easily without tools. Troubleshooting is easy. Personally, I find that converters are often trouble-prone, but they are semi-disposable items anyhow. You can always swap in a new converter in a matter of seconds.

 

If you are going vintage, then generally the further back you go the more finicky and delicate the pens are. Post-war era pens (1950s-1970s) in good condition are usually pretty well sorted designs. Anything with a piston or cartridge/converter will probably hold up well. Rubber sacs, though…

 

I know some people swear that rubber sacs are just fine, they rarely fail, and any time one fails they blame it on: user error, improper storage, bad ink, a bad batch of latex, sheer decades of age, etc. I’ve seen the evidence that rubber sacs can last a long time when all goes well, and I’ve also seen the evidence that they can sometimes quickly turn to goo for reasons that are hard to diagnose. I’ve got to the point where I don’t trust a rubber sac for daily use unless it’s a pen that I can disassemble and service myself without too much fuss. It’s just prudent to assume that at some point I’ll need to do that. So… A Sheaffer Imperial “touchdown” filler, that's something I can deal with. Something from the 1930s that’s fragile and requires heat and special tools to get into, I’ll leave to the pros.

 

The lure of post-war vintage pens is strong. Many of them are slender, stylish and oddly more sophisticated and “modern” in their designs than today’s chunky throwbacks. Typically the vintage nibs write better, and many of them have hooded or inlaid or tubular nibs that I consider cooler and in some ways more functional than a big open nib. I think it’s no coincidence that a couple of the best modern factory nibs I’ve encountered were on a Lamy 2000 and a Pilot Vanishing Point, two pens that originated in the 1960s.

 

I’ve long been concerned with pens that dry out when they’re capped and not in regular, heavy use. In modern pens I’ve gravitated towards something like a TWSBI or an Opus 88 that holds a lot of ink, has either a transparent body or a large ink window, and seals up very tightly (possibly with O-rings) when capped. These pens can sit idle for a very long time and then write without any problems. I can fill it up once, and it’s good for weeks or in some cases even months. However, I realized after a while that this strategy was something that had sort of grown out from my background with disposable pens. If you’ve grown up with disposable pens, you naturally tend to think of using it for a long time until it runs empty.

 

I find that many vintage pens don’t hold a lot of ink, and many of them don’t have ink windows, and they don’t always seal up super-tight when capped. Why is that? Were the designers stupid? No… It’s a different mindset. They evolved from dip pens, where you had to re-ink the pen after every two or three lines. A pen that you could fill and then write all day was great! Then, the next morning you could fill it again. If you refreshed it every day, or even every couple of days, it was unlikely to run empty and it would never dry out. Refilling is easy and only takes a few seconds, so why not? Today we have to remember to charge our phones regularly. If you can manage that, then you can ink your pen. (Maybe at the same time when you wind your watch!)

 

The ultimate example of this would perhaps be a Sheaffer Snorkel, where the ink capacity is quite small but refilling is super quick and easy and doesn’t even require a wipe down.

 

Granted, if you are a typical FPNer who might have a dozen pens inked at any given time, then it’s more complicated to manage. Today, though, I’m thinking more in terms of one pen, a primary pen, a daily driver as some would call it. For that purpose, a daily routine refill makes a lot of sense.

[Addertooth]

For your checkmarks:

Large ink Capacity.

Ink level watching window.

Excellent nib.

Ink is not in a sac.

 

Suggestion if you want Vintage. :

Waterman Ink-Vue pen with a Keyhole nib.

The ink is actually in the translucent body, you can visualize the amount of ink remaining. The rubber sac is only a diaphram to suck the ink up into the body, it does not hold ink.

The Keyhole nibs are rather nice writers. They are available from stiff to artist flexy.

The ink capacity in the body is tremendous.

It does not hurt that they are a sharp looking pen.

[katerchen]

My vote goes to the Pelikan 100N. Still plentiful in the wild, generous ink capacity and the ones I have don't have any issues with the nib ever drying out.

 

-k

[Honeybadgers]

Vintage pelikans are safe daily writers. a vintage 400 or 140 is cheap-ish and reliable and sturdy.

 

Parker 51's are solid too.

 

Old aurora 88's are solid

 

Vintage japanese eyedroppers are usually very sturdy and inexpensive. If you're interested in those, Wancher sells a big bunch of shiro nib (steel semiflex) japanese ED's and celluloid aerometrics that have been fully restored for about $100, and they come with a one year, no questions asked warranty (and they really stand by it, they pay for shipping to and from japan)

Edited December 14, 2019 by Honeybadgers

[silverlifter]

A Parker 51 will continue to truck on long after a TWSBI has fallen to pieces.

 

Many of the top tier vintage Parkers, Sheaffers, et al, are far more durable than their modern counterparts. And, unlike some modern *cough* Italian pens, they wrote out of the box...

[pajaro]

I’ve been thinking about vintage versus modern pens, and particularly in terms of practical routine carry and use (some would say EDC), as opposed to collecting. I’ve gone through vintage phases, and I’ve gone through modern phases, and I think I’ve got a pretty good basis of experience here.

 

If you want a robust and reliable pen, modern is your safer bet. You can get a new pen that comes with a warranty. Also, we have a parts ecosystem now that hardly existed back in the Good Old Days. You can get pens that use a standard Schmidt K5 converter and a standard Bock or Jowo #5 or #6 nib unit, and you can disassemble and clean and reassemble them easily without tools. Troubleshooting is easy. Personally, I find that converters are often trouble-prone, but they are semi-disposable items anyhow. You can always swap in a new converter in a matter of seconds.

 

If you are going vintage, then generally the further back you go the more finicky and delicate the pens are. Post-war era pens (1950s-1970s) in good condition are usually pretty well sorted designs. Anything with a piston or cartridge/converter will probably hold up well. Rubber sacs, though…

 

I know some people swear that rubber sacs are just fine, they rarely fail, and any time one fails they blame it on: user error, improper storage, bad ink, a bad batch of latex, sheer decades of age, etc. I’ve seen the evidence that rubber sacs can last a long time when all goes well, and I’ve also seen the evidence that they can sometimes quickly turn to goo for reasons that are hard to diagnose. I’ve got to the point where I don’t trust a rubber sac for daily use unless it’s a pen that I can disassemble and service myself without too much fuss. It’s just prudent to assume that at some point I’ll need to do that. So… A Sheaffer Imperial “touchdown” filler, that's something I can deal with. Something from the 1930s that’s fragile and requires heat and special tools to get into, I’ll leave to the pros.

 

The lure of post-war vintage pens is strong. Many of them are slender, stylish and oddly more sophisticated and “modern” in their designs than today’s chunky throwbacks. Typically the vintage nibs write better, and many of them have hooded or inlaid or tubular nibs that I consider cooler and in some ways more functional than a big open nib. I think it’s no coincidence that a couple of the best modern factory nibs I’ve encountered were on a Lamy 2000 and a Pilot Vanishing Point, two pens that originated in the 1960s.

 

I’ve long been concerned with pens that dry out when they’re capped and not in regular, heavy use. In modern pens I’ve gravitated towards something like a TWSBI or an Opus 88 that holds a lot of ink, has either a transparent body or a large ink window, and seals up very tightly (possibly with O-rings) when capped. These pens can sit idle for a very long time and then write without any problems. I can fill it up once, and it’s good for weeks or in some cases even months. However, I realized after a while that this strategy was something that had sort of grown out from my background with disposable pens. If you’ve grown up with disposable pens, you naturally tend to think of using it for a long time until it runs empty.

 

I find that many vintage pens don’t hold a lot of ink, and many of them don’t have ink windows, and they don’t always seal up super-tight when capped. Why is that? Were the designers stupid? No… It’s a different mindset. They evolved from dip pens, where you had to re-ink the pen after every two or three lines. A pen that you could fill and then write all day was great! Then, the next morning you could fill it again. If you refreshed it every day, or even every couple of days, it was unlikely to run empty and it would never dry out. Refilling is easy and only takes a few seconds, so why not? Today we have to remember to charge our phones regularly. If you can manage that, then you can ink your pen. (Maybe at the same time when you wind your watch!)

 

The ultimate example of this would perhaps be a Sheaffer Snorkel, where the ink capacity is quite small but refilling is super quick and easy and doesn’t even require a wipe down.

 

Granted, if you are a typical FPNer who might have a dozen pens inked at any given time, then it’s more complicated to manage. Today, though, I’m thinking more in terms of one pen, a primary pen, a daily driver as some would call it. For that purpose, a daily routine refill makes a lot of sense.

 

+1. I agree.

Edited December 14, 2019 by pajaro

[welch]

I use a Parker 51 every day, one chosen from about a half-dozen or dozen in a coffee cup on my desk. Two are 51 vacs, and one of those is a sentimental favorite: I gave it to my dad a decade ago. The rest are 51 aerometrics. The pli-glas sacs seem to last forever, and there are enough 51 parts among my out-of-circulation 51's that my favorites should last and last.

 

Back when I was a kid -- early '60s -- and wrote with a Parker 45, I filled every morning. No need for an ink window.

[chromantic]

Just to touch on the aspect of robustness, those vintage pens were EDCs, tools meant to provide years of reliable service. That so many are still in daily use today is a testament to that.

 

They weren't inexpensive, either. Check out Sheaffer Crest prices from the 40's.

http://www.penhero.com/PenGallery/Sheaffer/SheafferCrestVintage.htm

 

"The Triumph style Crest model designation 1500 was also the price, US $15.00. A handsome sum for a pen from the mid 1940s. The matching pencil was $6.00." Yowsa! Granted, Crest were higher-end but Sheaffer's lower-end pens ranged from $3.50 - 10.50, a not inconsiderable investment.

[penwash]

In my case, the most toll that my "EDC" pens (99% of the time it would be vintage pens) took is being in a pen case all day long as I drive around to meetings with my clients, being used in meetings, and once a week, writing sermon notes at church, and some nights, doing sketches. Truthfully most of these old pens got more "stress" during restoration than anytime after.

 

Within that context, all of my vintage pens can be used without any problems, so I find little reason to consider modern pens, especially when I don't even consider modern pens have any significant advantage in terms of reliability and durability compared to my high-end / well made vintage pens.

 

For instance, I have in my project boxes, modern pens (part of bulk acquisitions) that fell apart and there is no clear way how to revive it.

As opposed to hundreds of vintage pens that I have restored, where most of them found a new home where they are appreciated and used.

 

NOTE: I am not saying that vintage pens are always restorable, some of them are not worth my time to even look at them. But the ones that are worth the time and effort, almost always can be used daily without any problems.

[Karmachanic]

234 1/2 and 400 in the mail from a reputable dealer; to replace two modern pens. I think they'll be fine for everyday use.

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a number of German '50-60's piston pens; in it's what do you want the nib to do.

Factory stubbed semi-flex*** was normal, in German piston pens.

2.0 was what the '50's 400-400nn held...enough ink.

The German pens of that era have great balance.

Sturdy enough if one don't play linebacker wearing your pen.

 

PS if you are in a job where it is possible to break a nice sturdy plastic fountain pen....one should really think of using free ball points. No reason to waste money buying a ball point, when there are so many good free ones.

 

 

***Only nib abusers are slow with a semi-flex, which is a flair nib.....not a calligraphy lettering nib...not a 'flex nib'. I scribble just as fast with a semi-flex as with a nail.

If you insist in a nail.....the D nib of the vintage 400 is the nail's nail. Good for climbing the north wall of the Eiger and destroying main battle tanks.

Edited December 14, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson

[Ted A]

There’s vintage and then there is vintage. Parkers and Sheaffers from the 1950s on I would carry. But older pens that are more fragile, celluloid, older black rubber, and harder to find are a different matter. My Wahl-Eversharp Doric is treated very carefully

[Madeline]

 

".... Today we have to remember to charge our phones regularly. If you can manage that, then you can ink your pen."

Words to live by. Thank you, Tony!

[sansenri]

your description sounds Pelikan to me...

 

Pelikan can be vintage but not vintage enough to become unreliable

and then especially the part about not drying out and holding a fair amount of ink sounds Pelikan

Pelikans are among the easiest piston fillers to refill (even on the go) and as a workhorse you just need to choose an m200/m400/m600 (mind you I know people who use an M800 as a workhorse too).

As far as the vintage nibs are concerned get the ones you want and screw them into your Pelikan (I have more than one M200 in which I have fitted vintage 14k nibs)

 

(and as other have mentioned, 140, 100N, 400NN are real workhorses too)

Edited December 14, 2019 by sansenri

[inkstainedruth]

My "every day driver" pen depends on my mood, and what's inked up, and what I have to do. So it could be a modern pen or a vintage one. Or both....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[como]

I am not that familiar with German and Italian vintage pens, but many British and American pens from 1930s to 1960s made of cellulose acetate or hard rubber, with lever fillers or button fillers, are quite robust and perfectly fine for daily carry. I have used Parker, Mabie Todd, Conway Stewart pens of that era for daily carry without any issues. As with any pens, I always carry pens in pen cases and never leave them in cars in hot weather or baking in the sun.

[sombrueil]

Thanks for a thoughtful OP. Have to agree with most of your points.

 

Some of my vintage pens are fragile, but I treasure them for other reasons -- my wet noodle RHR Waterman for example. They stay home though.

 

I agree too that there is a sweet spot in general hardiness and usability, for vintage pens, from about WW2 to 1965 or so, particularly for a few top tier brands. If I had to only own one brand -- thank God I don't -- it would be Pelikan. My 400NN and my other vintage 400's have that big capacity, piston fill, good seal, plus luscious nibs. I wish I liked Parkers but I just don't care for their stiff nibs and their looks, after the Vacumatic, but they are obviously another vintage winner.

[praxim]

There are many good and reliable piston fill pens from the late 1940s through the 1950s, not only brands already mentioned. I am happy to take any of them out. Earlier pens are chancier, it being at best an even money bet whether a given pen I have from the 30s or earlier will be one I consider reliable (they are usually wonderful with which to write at home). That is mostly down to the change in feed between those eras, I think.

[mana]

You simply can't go wrong with a Parker 51 Aerometric or a post war Pelikan 100N, 140 (a bit smaller), 400, 400N or 400NN. Great... nay, awesome daily writers, that lot. Of course there are loads of other pens that are great from that era but those are my favorites and the gold standard by which I judge other pens. So another vote for those.

[sandy101]

I agree with much of what tonybelding said.

 

I have a couple of sac fillers (that are not MBs) and they are more suited to desk use rather that everyday carry. Ink can easily leak into the cap causing messy hands. They are great writers - just not great travellers. I suspect in many of these pens were left in the location where they were used - rather than carried around.

 

The P51 in my experience is good choice. After all, it was designed to travel and probably represents an evolution in pen design, or at least it was an attempt to resolve the issues that arose from carrying fountain pens on new fangled aeroplanes. It has the disadvantage that you don't know how much ink is in there, and carrying a bottle of ink is inconvenient. The problem can be solved by carrying two (yeah... ). A P51 in good condition is an excellent choice.

 

Since October, my EDC has been one of the 2018 Parker Sonnet SE pens, with the matching biro. The advantage is that is posts and does not become unbalanced, sits nicely in my hand - and the 18K nib on these pens is rather delightful to use. I have been using it with cartidges, and have a spare secreted in my wallet. It is a nice, "on the go writer". The new cap design means the pen does not seem to dry up as quickly as the older design. The Century #3776 can also make a (lighter) EDC cartridge/convertor and the slip & seal works well.

 

For heavy duty stuff - like novel writing - pistons are the bees knees. If I 'm going to where I know there's a desk or table (write club) - then I break the pistons out. Days of uninterrupting writing is great, without having to worry about ink running out (and the ink window tells you when to fill). A MB will give me up to two weeks worth of ink with a single fill - but the ones I have don't post, so do not qualify as "on the go" pens as juggling pen, notebook and cap when on the bus makes everything harder than it needs to be.

 

For a modern piston that posts, the Lamy 2K does post, and could be suitable for an EDC. You get the hooded nib design, a piston and a 14K nib. Since its design goes back to '66 it is one of the "classic vintage designs" that you can still buy new - with a guarantee.