Min./max. Review Of Wality 69L Piston Fill

[Nihontochicken]

Just for fun, a Min. (of info presented) obtained over a Max. (of time taken to do so) regarding the Wality 69L piston fill fountain pen.

 

That is, this is a brief review of a Wality 69L piston filler, literally years in the making. First the background story.

 

The long tale began eons ago when I traded something of mine, I forget what, for another FPNer's Wality (the related PMs apparently disappeared long back in a FPN site makeover). He warned me beforehand that the section was leaking, and so I was just mainly interested in what one of these Indian pens looked like and how it was put together, whether or not I could repair it. Upon receipt I noted that the pen was presentable, maybe not a Mont Blanc whose shape it replicates, but a decent enough working pen, sans bling. And, yes, the section leaked, very slowly, but surely.

 

Upon close scrutiny it appeared that the offending separation, just forward of the ink window, was not a stress or fatigue crack, but more likely a molding error in which two fingers of injected plastic met but failed to seal. If correct, this made a successful repair a better possibility, since a stress or fatigue crack would more likely defeat a sealant with time and open up again. Whatever, I applied my secret weapon, Captain Tolley's Creeping Crack Cure, a very thin and highly fluid epoxy resin, to the exterior of the separation. Of course, after filling the crack, the resin leaked into the interior of the pen, and so I was flushing the filler with water, hopefully enough to keep from gunking up the inside of the pen without forcing all the resin out of the crack. Try as I might, it surely did gum up the filler piston. I had to repeat the process a number of times after waiting a couple of days for the resin to set, as the crack continued to leak. Unfortunately, the gummed up piston finally failed to seal correctly and began leaking ink into the the posterior of the barrel, plus the sticking piston began to unscrew the filler unit from the barrel. So I threw in the towel, flushed out the pen as well as I could, and tossed it into a vaseline glass serving dish in a corner of my office, where the poor Wality sat for days, ... months, ... years.

 

A few of weeks ago I spied the neglected pen in the dish, and idly wondered what the years of rest in the radioactive glass spa might have done for it. Just for grins, I first tried the filler, and the sticky piston once again unscrewed the filler unit from the barrel. However, the piston finally moved, and so I screwed everything back together and drew up some water. Hmmmmmm, the piston seemed to seal okay, so next I tried some ink. Again, the piston appeared to seal, and the pen wrote fine. After a day or so, it also appeared that the section crack was successfully sealed. I wrote with the pen off and on, and then chanced carrying it in my pocket, and it continues to be well behaved. And so, years late, my review of a Wality 69L piston filler. Whew!

 

General Appearance: Okay for a no-nonsense working pen. As mentioned, won't be mistaken for a Mont Blanc (thankfully ), and less of a visual wannabee than, say, a Phileas. The cap band is decent, though the clip shape is uninspired and seems a bit cheap on close inspection. Still, overall a decent looker for the price (about $20 as I understand). The piston fill end cap blends well into the barrel, hard to distinguish the demarcation.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/Wality002.jpg

 

It's an oversize pen, about 5 3/4 inches in length capped and 6 1/2 inches posted (5 inches unposted). Here it is compared to (from left to right) a Tasche Ohto, a Kaweco Sport and a Parker 51 (Blue Cedar).

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/Wality001.jpg

 

Operation: The piston has a fair amount of friction in my example, but then consider its sordid past. Less wayward examples may be smoother. The cap requires two full rotations to close on the barrel, I prefer the one and a quarter turn rotation on my plastic Kaweco Sport carry pen. The clip is the biggest drawback, it is very stiff! It takes so much pressure to lift the clip end off the barrel that it is difficult to use and could conceivable tear your shirt pocket upon withdrawal, no kidding.

 

Writing: The medium steel nib is pretty much a nail. On polished paper it is fairly smooth with a bit of tooth if rotated off its sweet spot. On copy paper it's fairly scratchy. About the same as my Kaweco Sport medium nib, except the Wality is a pretty dry writer. I imagine some nib smoothing/tuning could cure these problems, were one so interested and motivated. The pen is of good size, which I prefer, but is reasonably light, about 22 grams when loaded with ink, capacity about 20 drops in my example.

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/Wality003.jpg

 

Overall: I'd recommend this pen to someone who likes an inexpensive yet decent looking pen of large size but light weight. It's better looking and better feeling than my Kaweco Sport, but, of course, likely not as nuclear bomb proof if dropped or otherwise abused (my guess, not tested). Were I to buy a new one, I'd be interested in one of the eye dropper fill demonstrators.

 

Here's the Wality deconstructed (not intended as a customer option! ):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v139/nihontochicken/Wality004.jpg

 

That's it, FWIW, maybe not comprehensive, but certainly a long time in the making!

[Scribblesoften]

Thanks for the nice review of a pen that most of us have never seen in the flesh. Your photos are nice as well.

[hari317]

... a pen that most of us have never seen in the flesh.

 

I have a few of the Wality Piston pens listed on the marketplace: Link

[akrishna59]

that is a great review, so glad to note that everything came perfectly together for you after all those years. goods things happen people who wait for them. that pen was waiting for your touch, it seems.

 

they are usually very decent writers and durable. these pens may not turn heads but give very comfortable writing experience and joy to a person who loves writing with fps. after all, that is what we expect out of an fp.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[watch_art]

I had a pink one a while back. VERY nice, smooooth F nib. Gave it to an old friend as his first fountain pen.

[akrishna59]

I had a pink one a while back. VERY nice, smooooth F nib. Gave it to an old friend as his first fountain pen.

 

that is so nice of you, i am sure that he would have appreciated it.

 

rgds.

 

krishna.

[79spitfire]

I have the Black on Black version (69LB?) It's a perfectly serviceable smooth writing fountain pen, with a huge capacity for a piston filler. It does look good. The clip on mine isn't nearly so tight and can be carried daily. I did have to disassemble mine and put a bit of silicon grease on the piston. Now it fills smoothly.

[J English Smith]

I have two Wality 52s and really enjoy them. One is the original version, the other (Burgandy) is the one with the modified nib and o-rings. Both are enjoyable to use and have good flow, good balance, post very well and hold a fair amount of ink, roughly the same as a Pelikan 200. Retrodesk seems to be on hiatus - I sent him a note a few weeks back and never got a message back. Good pens, well worth the effort to track down.