Jump to content

The Lamy Dialog 3


mer6

Recommended Posts

As promised, here's my review of my first fountain pen

 

The Flickr Album

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2739/5783728283_5ecfe226bf_b.jpg

 

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2293/5784315072_988994fb15_b.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2310/5784315162_996963c92a_z.jpg

 

The Flickr Album

 

Thanks for reading!

Edited by mer6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 5
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • mer6

    3

  • beluga

    1

  • FlatCactus

    1

  • Nonsensical

    1

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

$225 for a pen that skips? No thank you. I have $2 pens that don't skip...Although, as a fellow student, I find it amazing that you can bring yourself to spend $225 on your very first fountain pen...to date, my most expensive one cost me $50, including shipping. :roflmho:

Good luck with your collection...I have to say that if you like CLEAR demonstrator fountain pens, the TWSBI will not disappoint...I love mine!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

$225 for a pen that skips? No thank you. I have $2 pens that don't skip...Although, as a fellow student, I find it amazing that you can bring yourself to spend $225 on your very first fountain pen...to date, my most expensive one cost me $50, including shipping. :roflmho:

Good luck with your collection...I have to say that if you like CLEAR demonstrator fountain pens, the TWSBI will not disappoint...I love mine!

 

I've been strongly looking into it (both at getting a TWSBI and at potential solutions to the problem). Right now my temporary solution is that every time it happens, I clean the converter/nib and re-fill, but obviously this is not a time-sustainable process. I went out of my way to assure that I got exactly what I wanted (I had been eying this pen forever), and that's probably what made me the most frustrated. Usually, when spend a lot of time reading reviews and calculating for big buys (and small ones), it pays off. I guess, statistically, it is likely that I would run into something that doesn't work like this eventually.

 

Also, didn't mention it in the review, but to anyone who's interested, the ink is J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil. This ink also disappointed me quite a bit as it looked quite good on the box (I was looking for a dark brown that was still brown), but really was not the same as what it suggested. It's less of a brown than it is a light black-grey-purple (some suggested it as a sepia tone). This I don't blame on poor luck, I just forgot to research inks before I bought.

 

EDIT: To hell with it, I just ordered a TWSBI 530. I made ~$40 from selling back a textbook today, so I thought it was time to be adventurous. I ordered EF.

Edited by mer6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

$225 for a pen that skips? No thank you. I have $2 pens that don't skip...Although, as a fellow student, I find it amazing that you can bring yourself to spend $225 on your very first fountain pen...to date, my most expensive one cost me $50, including shipping. :roflmho:

Good luck with your collection...I have to say that if you like CLEAR demonstrator fountain pens, the TWSBI will not disappoint...I love mine!

 

I've been strongly looking into it (both at getting a TWSBI and at potential solutions to the problem). Right now my temporary solution is that every time it happens, I clean the converter/nib and re-fill, but obviously this is not a time-sustainable process. I went out of my way to assure that I got exactly what I wanted (I had been eying this pen forever), and that's probably what made me the most frustrated. Usually, when spend a lot of time reading reviews and calculating for big buys (and small ones), it pays off. I guess, statistically, it is likely that I would run into something that doesn't work like this eventually.

 

Also, didn't mention it in the review, but to anyone who's interested, the ink is J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil. This ink also disappointed me quite a bit as it looked quite good on the box (I was looking for a dark brown that was still brown), but really was not the same as what it suggested. It's less of a brown than it is a light black-grey-purple (some suggested it as a sepia tone). This I don't blame on poor luck, I just forgot to research inks before I bought.

 

EDIT: To hell with it, I just ordered a TWSBI 530. I made ~$40 from selling back a textbook today, so I thought it was time to be adventurous. I ordered EF.

 

 

There are two sides to this:

Some of the Herbin brown inks seem to flow drier than their other colours; so you might want to try another Herbin colour if you don't mind changing.

 

I noticed that sometimes the ubiquitous square Lamy nib and the standard Lamy ink feed, which is also used in the Lamy Dialog 3, tend to skip.

 

I have discussed this with Lamy customer service, who were always happy to help out (by changing nib and/or ink feed), but it seems to be a problem that affects a small percentage of Lamys fitted with this type of ink feed. I even received once a letter from their head of technical design and he mentioned some changes that were under consideration at that time.

 

 

What keeps me from having my Dialog 3 constantly inked is the unusual weight distribution, which places more weight in the front part, and the fact that due to its design the nib is more prone to dry out when the pen is not used for a week or more.

 

 

That the pen costs more than TWSBI?

Who cares, as long a your heart was in it?

I used to own a Sterling Silver Parker 75 Chiselé when I was in High School and it was my pride an joy and I had worked hard for it.

Don't let anybody make you feel guilty about it - it's entirely your call.

 

 

 

 

B.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I too am a student and bought this over a pelikan m400 because I got a great price from Pam Braun (no affil). I agree with it being heavy but to me it almost carries itself due to the centre of gravity being inside your hand. I also echo other comments that it's not a pen to be used once in a while I use mine everyday at school and have had no troubles.

 

Though, when I had mine filled with Visconti blue, which is quite saturated, it would put down a very excessively saturated line for a couple of letters then return to normal after being left over night. When it was practically empty it would begin to skip due to presumably the extra air in the converter but it would return to normal after less than half a word. When filled with the highly saturated ink I needed to clean it about every couple of weeks just to keep it in tip top shape. Now it's filled with J'Herbin vert empire and the low saturation seems to negate the drying out problem, go figure.

 

 

Even though this wasn't exactly a cheap purchase for me (entire holiday's pay working at parent's shop) I can't say that I regret it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

$225 for a pen that skips? No thank you. I have $2 pens that don't skip...Although, as a fellow student, I find it amazing that you can bring yourself to spend $225 on your very first fountain pen...to date, my most expensive one cost me $50, including shipping. :roflmho:

Good luck with your collection...I have to say that if you like CLEAR demonstrator fountain pens, the TWSBI will not disappoint...I love mine!

 

I've been strongly looking into it (both at getting a TWSBI and at potential solutions to the problem). Right now my temporary solution is that every time it happens, I clean the converter/nib and re-fill, but obviously this is not a time-sustainable process. I went out of my way to assure that I got exactly what I wanted (I had been eying this pen forever), and that's probably what made me the most frustrated. Usually, when spend a lot of time reading reviews and calculating for big buys (and small ones), it pays off. I guess, statistically, it is likely that I would run into something that doesn't work like this eventually.

 

Also, didn't mention it in the review, but to anyone who's interested, the ink is J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil. This ink also disappointed me quite a bit as it looked quite good on the box (I was looking for a dark brown that was still brown), but really was not the same as what it suggested. It's less of a brown than it is a light black-grey-purple (some suggested it as a sepia tone). This I don't blame on poor luck, I just forgot to research inks before I bought.

 

EDIT: To hell with it, I just ordered a TWSBI 530. I made ~$40 from selling back a textbook today, so I thought it was time to be adventurous. I ordered EF.

 

 

There are two sides to this:

Some of the Herbin brown inks seem to flow drier than their other colours; so you might want to try another Herbin colour if you don't mind changing.

 

I noticed that sometimes the ubiquitous square Lamy nib and the standard Lamy ink feed, which is also used in the Lamy Dialog 3, tend to skip.

 

I have discussed this with Lamy customer service, who were always happy to help out (by changing nib and/or ink feed), but it seems to be a problem that affects a small percentage of Lamys fitted with this type of ink feed. I even received once a letter from their head of technical design and he mentioned some changes that were under consideration at that time.

 

 

What keeps me from having my Dialog 3 constantly inked is the unusual weight distribution, which places more weight in the front part, and the fact that due to its design the nib is more prone to dry out when the pen is not used for a week or more.

 

 

That the pen costs more than TWSBI?

Who cares, as long a your heart was in it?

I used to own a Sterling Silver Parker 75 Chiselé when I was in High School and it was my pride an joy and I had worked hard for it.

Don't let anybody make you feel guilty about it - it's entirely your call.

 

B.

 

I mean it's not guilt, just disappointment. I'll keep that in mind and try out another ink. I've got a bunch of others here, any recommendations? (Iroshizuku Yama-Guri, Pelikan Blue -Black, Private Reserve Black Magic Blue). Also, as for the barrel being sticky while turning, is there any fix for this (should I clean where the ink seems to be congealing at the window that hides at the front- I might take a picture for reference).

 

FlatCactus, yeah, I can't stress the center of gravity thing enough. It's heavy, but the weight distribution just makes it work.

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...