Reform 1745 and Dollar Pens

[Stacey]

I took these to show someone else here the difference between these two to help them see which they may want. I figured I'd post them here to so that more people may run across them. Both of these piston fillers are readily available on the classified page here on FPN {no affiliation, just satisfied consumer}. Both have F nibs, the 1745 being a little flexible and the Dollar Pen rather firm. Great pens for the price, between $8 and $12, shipped. The Reform does seem to transport better though, my Dollar Pen usually gets a bit messy when uncapped after transport. However, the Dollar Pen comes in a demonstrator model and an oblique nib version {fun, fun, fun!}

 

Here are the comparison pictures I took:

 

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1005fl/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Compare1.JPG

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1005fl/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Compare2.JPG

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1005fl/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Compare3.JPG

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1005fl/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Compare4.JPG

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1005fl/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/Compare5.JPG

 

 

 

Stacey

Edited March 21, 2009 by Stacey

[lovemy51]

hi stacey. thanx for the comparison review!

 

a friend bought the dollar pen and it had the same issue with ink puddling on the section when transported. then i bought one that never gave me any problems like that. it writes a bit scratchy and if i were to compare it to the "preppy", i like the latter much better (except for the logo and permanent sticker on the body of the platinum preppy... so ugly!), the preppy is smoother.

 

about the 1745, it was 'scratchy and a half' when i got it, but after some mylar treatment, it's gotten smoother. i do like the look and feel of the reform a lot more than the dollar pen.

 

they're not too bad for the price, but i think some chinese pens write better than these right out of the box (or the felt pouch )

 

thanx again for the review!

[Possum Hill]

hi stacey. thanx for the comparison review!

 

a friend bought the dollar pen and it had the same issue with ink puddling on the section when transported. then i bought one that never gave me any problems like that. it writes a bit scratchy and if i were to compare it to the "preppy", i like the latter much better (except for the logo and permanent sticker on the body of the platinum preppy... so ugly!), the preppy is smoother.

 

about the 1745, it was 'scratchy and a half' when i got it, but after some mylar treatment, it's gotten smoother. i do like the look and feel of the reform a lot more than the dollar pen.

 

they're not too bad for the price, but i think some chinese pens write better than these right out of the box (or the felt pouch )

 

thanx again for the review!

The labeling on the Preppy should wear off with use.

[lovemy51]

hi stacey. thanx for the comparison review!

 

a friend bought the dollar pen and it had the same issue with ink puddling on the section when transported. then i bought one that never gave me any problems like that. it writes a bit scratchy and if i were to compare it to the "preppy", i like the latter much better (except for the logo and permanent sticker on the body of the platinum preppy... so ugly!), the preppy is smoother.

 

about the 1745, it was 'scratchy and a half' when i got it, but after some mylar treatment, it's gotten smoother. i do like the look and feel of the reform a lot more than the dollar pen.

 

they're not too bad for the price, but i think some chinese pens write better than these right out of the box (or the felt pouch )

 

thanx again for the review!

The labeling on the Preppy should wear off with use.

man! i've tried to take off, even with acetrone, and won't come off!!! thanx for letting me know.

[PatientType]

I purchased two of the Reform 1745 piston fill fountain pens from JJ that were sold in the FPN classifieds. I paid $5 each to have them flushed, prepped and adjusted. They are among my best writing pens. Always smooth, always ready, delivering a just-a-tiny-bit-more-than-fine line. Not wet, not dry.

 

The pens aren't perfect. One already has a slightly loose clip. But you can tell I'm pretty happy with that purchase. When you sometimes choose to write with a pen that cost $10 out-of-pocket and leave a $100 pen in the rack it says a lot.

Edited June 25, 2009 by PatientType

[smk]

We grew up using Dollar pens through school. A lot of them would start out scratchy but would smooth out after a period of use. I guess this was mainly due to the rough paper of our copy books but I remember once broken in they would write well for the remainder of their lives.

 

They sometimes leak ink if not more than 1/3 full - we didn't know it then but its due to the rather large amount of air behind the ink expanding with heat - so we used to keep them topped up almost all the time which is kinda strange given the large amount of ink they hold.

 

They didn't last too long though - a lot of them would develop cracks and leak ink through them dirtying your hands as you wrote.

 

Salman

[ZeissIkon]

They didn't last too long though - a lot of them would develop cracks and leak ink through them dirtying your hands as you wrote.

 

Based on what I've seen with the Dollar and other pens of similar construction, this is a consequence of a glued-together all-acrylic pen, and nothing else. Glue joints that aren't perfect will develop a leak after the pen flexes for a while, a section that's a little tight or has a defect in the plastic may crack through, and the thin material of the barrels may eventually crack just from stress. For the price of the Dollar (and the Reform), I'm tempted to say I'll live with knowing how the pen will eventually fail -- and plan to salvage the nib and feed from mine when it does finally drop, because it writes well enough to want to keep (maybe I'll make a dip-less type pen out of the nib and feed, as I'm halfway thinking of doing with those from another similarly constructed pen with one of the failures listed above).

[smk]

Nice Idea ZeissIkon - I recently experimented with making a pen body from bamboo (with some decorative carving) using components from a donor. The experiment was a success but could use some refinements.

 

This picture shows the components used from the donor and the bamboo body and cap.

 

 

[lovemy51]

hi stacey. thanx for the comparison review!

 

a friend bought the dollar pen and it had the same issue with ink puddling on the section when transported. then i bought one that never gave me any problems like that. it writes a bit scratchy and if i were to compare it to the "preppy", i like the latter much better (except for the logo and permanent sticker on the body of the platinum preppy... so ugly!), the preppy is smoother.

 

about the 1745, it was 'scratchy and a half' when i got it, but after some mylar treatment, it's gotten smoother. i do like the look and feel of the reform a lot more than the dollar pen.

 

they're not too bad for the price, but i think some chinese pens write better than these right out of the box (or the felt pouch )

 

thanx again for the review!

The labeling on the Preppy should wear off with use.

man! i've tried to take off, even with acetrone, and won't come off!!! thanx for letting me know.

got it out... happy to report. it took me 10 min. with acetone and cotton balls!!!!

 

edited to apologize for going off topic here :embarrassed_smile:

Edited June 27, 2009 by lovemy51

[Aysedasi]

Has anyone tried the Dollar with the italic nib?

[ZeissIkon]

Has anyone tried the Dollar with the italic nib?

 

Is that the one with the Arabic writing on the barrel? I understood that one had an Arabic nib (vertical hairline, not horizontal).