What Are Your Favourite Metal Pens?

[Occipital Lobe]

I have a Sheaffer Legacy Heritage, and wil never part with it.

Fantastic pen.

[A Smug Dill]

... and wil never part with it.

Oh, how did I forget?

 

My Pilot 'Hannya Shingyo' is maki-e on brass finished with urushi. I don't generally like pens in the Pilot Custom range, but this pen's 18K gold #10 Fine nib in the same style as on the Custom pens is great. Holding and writing with this pen is akin to meditation in motion.

 

[tinta]

In general I prefer the tactile feel of resin pens to metal, particularly in the "grip" area.

That said, a couple of pencil-like Kaweco Special FPs, with custom 14c stubs (0.4 & 0.7) have served me well & I always pack a diminutive Kaweco stainless Lilliput with a custom 14c 0.5 mm. stub in my satchel. They are workmanlike writing tools.

[MuddyWaters]

This thread has been awesome and has provided so many good ideas of pens to look up and consider. I will make a list in excel or word with all the pens that have been mentioned. If you have more, please keep them coming!

[thx1138]

Parker 75, 75 premier, new premier, and 180,

Rotring 600,

Retro 51 hexomatic

[modernovervintage]

Waterman exception night and day

[kazoolaw]

Parker 51 Flighter-carried everyday for years: the frosted finish is now hand polished to a shine.

 

Lamy Persona-funky right down to the ribbed metal section and the hinged clip.

[sandy101]

Italix Captain's Commission. Beautiful cap and quite bling.

[BaronWulfraed]

"Metal pens" is such an open-ended description -- Does it mean pens that are all exposed metal, including the section; pens that have plastic/resin sections with exposed metal barrels/caps; pens that have a brass core with lacquer overlays or anodized finishes? Pens I own in those categories...

 

All Metal:

1. Pilot M90
2. Levenger Titan
3. Levenger L-Tech (first generation)
4. Lamy Dialog-3
5. Lamy Studio Palladium (appears to be brushed metal shell over plastic core -- developing bad staining)

Plastic Section, Metal Cap/Barrel:

1. Lady Sheaffer Skripsert IX
2. Sheaffer Crest (580)
3. Sheaffer Legacy Heritage King's Gold (9033)
4. Sheaffer Legacy II Traditions Brushed Gold (860)
5. Sheaffer Stylist (?, Imperial 777 variant)
6. Pilot Sterling Panda
7. Levenger True Writer Guilloche
8. Sailor Chalana

Anodized/Lacquered:

1. Sheaffer Fashion II Orange
2. Sheaffer Prelude Gun Metal
3. Sheaffer Targa Black Anodized
4. Sheaffer Intrigue Bark (614)
5. Sheaffer Intrigue Whale Shark (612)
6. Levenger True Writer Blue Anodized
7. Pilot Minuet Red Lacquer
8. Parker 100 Diamond Blue
9. Parker Sonnet Red Lacquer
10. Waterman Carene Amber/Red
11. Pilot Falcon II Burgundy
12. Cross Apogee Red
13. Lamy Al-Star Plain Aluminum
14. Lamy Al-Star Vibrant Pink SE

Pens I'm not sure of:

1. Waterman Le Man 100 Opera (may just be thick plastic)
2. Pilot Decimo Gold Flaked Red Lacquer
3. Pilot Vanishing Point Blue Carbonesque

 

I've ignored pens that are mostly plastic/resin with metal caps (Aurora Ipsilon Quadra...), or with metal overlays (Conklin Antique Sky Blue, or [a grail pen] Pelikan Toledo).

Edited January 17, 2020 by BaronWulfraed

[Karmachanic]

Every time I see the title of this thread I think "Mental Pens." You know, the one you love that drives you mad.

 

Sorry! Back to our scheduled programme .......

Edited January 17, 2020 by Karmachanic

[tinta]

I would like to add a bit more detail about one of my favourite workhorses, the Kaweco Special FPs. Stealth black anodization on all parts of this metal pen. When I bought them, about three years ago, the information that I received about these pens was that they eres all made of anodized aluminium.

 

After a lot of use (capping & uncapping, filling & flushing) both male threads on the section were starting to show wear. The black anodizing was starting to wear off the top of these threads. Instead of a silver-like colour of aluminium, the worn high parts of the threads showed a distinct "brass"colour.

 

To satisfy my curiosity, I reached out to Kaweco in Germany & asked what material the grip/section of the Specials were made of. Was there a brassy plating underneath the black anodization? Their answer was that the section is actually made of solid brass, while the rest of the pen (the cap & barrel) are made of aluminium.

 

This is very good news. I was concerned about using an ammonia solution to flush my Kaweco Specials, as aluminium does not react well in the presence of ammonia. A brass section should be safe with this flush. Also, threads of dissimilar metals are less likely to bind.

[loganrah]

If you like the FC e-motion have a look at some Graf von Faver-Castell pens, particularly the Tamitio. It doesn't get much love around here but I really like mine: solid weight, nice nibs (though only in boring choices, might get my bold stubbed at some point), and that nice lacquer for a nonslip surface.

[ENewton]

I have two Waterman Gentleman pens, a Man 100, and a Waterman Elegance, all of which are I find very satisfying to use. The Man 100 is my favorite among them.

[WLSpec]

Lamy Al-Star

[twin63]

Nemosine Fission. I keep one in my desk drawer at work. It’s an inexpensive, weighty, all metal pen that has turned out to be a good, reliable writer. Unfortunately, it appears that it may have been discontinued.

[RGH]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but the TWSBI Precision is a very underrated pen.

 

It's a bit lighter than most brass pens, since it's made of aluminium, yet it feels far more solid than you're average thin bodied metal pen.

 

It also has a cap that screws down easily but solidly enough that it's one of my most reliable writers. Almost everything else I use tends to dry out after a couple of days (I live in dry, high Denver).

[jchch1950]

MB 146 in sterling silver and Parker 51 in Stainless steel.

[sandy101]

S T Dupont Vitruvian Man.

 

nicely balanced and puts down a good line.

[sansenri]

I don't like slippery sections and sometimes bare metal can feel strange on my skin; slightly irritating, and it can make my hands smell funny. The biggest offender I've had was a Muji pen. A recently acquired Aurora with a brushed metal body and brushed plastic grip feels strangely unpleasant to my touch, but I think that's more about the texture. I prefer lacquered metal or anodized aluminium; my Kaweco Lilliput feels fine (except for being too skinny and slippery) for example.

 

Generally I prefer plastic or ebonite grips. I have a Sheaffer 300 that has a lacquered metal body and plastic grip, it has a very pleasing weight and balance. The nib is just OK, and while the cap snaps on very pleasingly it isn't actually very resistant to drying out, so it doesn't get much use. My Sheaffer VFM is smaller and lighter but with a similar construction and a nicer nib; it's also very well balanced and comfortable, but the grip is a bit too skinny for extended use. I had a Diplomat Traveller (also lacquered metal with a plastic grip) that was great, but it was a bit skinnier than I liked and the balance was a bit too far to the rear for my tastes, in the end I stuck with the VFM.

 

Having said that I do however like sharply checkered metal grips (at least if the metal does not irritate my hands); I have several Jinhao 601s (they also have lacquered metal bodies) that are light with good balance and are comfortable in the hand, plus the nibs are pretty good, but they are very vulnerable to drying out and tend to crack standard international case mouths so unfortunately I gave up on them. I have a Levenger L-Tech that is nicely made and has a very nice grip, but it's very uncomfortable for me because it's VERY tail-heavy and the seven-sided body ends up with an edge resting against my hand when I use it. My Rotring 600 was better, but still a bit tail-heavy, and I got annoyed having to line up the cap properly when capping.

If I'm not wrong the Muji is Aluminium. Some people are sensitive to this metal, this might be the reason.

[Mech-for-i]

Pretty much any flighter styled finished brushed steel pen ; they usually are not weighted like a brick , had timeless finish that would not go out of style and no less robust and hard wearing