Parker Frontier EF Nib

[lightweaver]

The Frontier was never on my wish list, but while shopping for another pen, I saw this and thought I’d try it out. (Actually I saw two pens that I thought I could combine to make what I wanted!!)

 

First Impressions 7/10

Let’s be honest – it’s a cheap pen, so I wasn’t expecting greatness. The case is a no-frills plastic case with pen, papers and cartridge, all held within a cardboard slip case. Nothing special, but what I was expecting, so no disappointment

Since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, my impression of each pen at first glance can be taken with a pinch of salt, but neither pen really stood out. Swapping the parts around until I got a Flighter-like pen looked far nicer. There is something classy, yet understated about stainless steel with gold trim.

In the hand, the Frontier felt much nicer than anticipated. It has enough heft that it doesn’t feel cheap. It looks and feels a league above the likes of the Vectors and Jotters I’ve tried in the past.

 

--How the pens arrived--

 

Appearance and Design 7/10

The Flighter look, as mentioned earlier, does look the business, but the shape of the pen is a nice, simple Parker design. I like the rounded barrel end and the cap is a simple design that suits the pen. The jewel is a flat, gold plated jewel and the clip extends from this. Not gaudy. Not fancy. Not cheap and nasty either. To me, the look of the pen is about right.

The nib is a fairly plain gold plated (I assume) stainless steel nib which is nothing special to look at.

 

Weight and Dimension 8/10

I’m a big fan of the 51. It is the perfect size and shape and weight for me, and the Frontier is very similar, making it just right.

Un-posted the pen feels well balanced, and posted the pen doesn’t feel too top heavy. The grip section has a rubberised feel to it, which I was dubious about, but actually isn’t too bad.

 

--The customised Frontier next to my pride and joy--

 

Nib and Performance 4/10

First the good bits – the nib is a good starter and doesn’t dry out if left uncapped for a bit. It’s a nice wet writer too. The extra fine width is a hair wider than my Rotring Art Pen extra fine, (against which all extra fine nibs are judged.)

Now the bad bits – the nib is scratchy. Even after some brown paper tlc, the nib still has a fair bit of tooth. Ordinarily I wouldn’t expect less of an EF nib on a cheap pen, but since sampling a few Chinese pens with smooth extra fine nibs, I have come to expect a bit more from cheap nibs. (The Rotring Art Pen is a lovely smooth writer by the way.)

 

--oooh that nib--

 

Filling System 5/10

I used to be a Quink user, so Parker’s proprietary cartridges were fine. Since discovering FPN, and the fact that there is a wondrous array of inks to choose from, I stopped using Quink all together. It’s still a pain that if I want the flexibility of Parker pen with cartridges, I’m stuck with Quink. I managed to get hold of a standard Parker plunge converter which holds about as much ink as a standard international cartridge and needs re-filling about once a week, it’s not brilliant, but it does the job. Shame the pen didn’t come with the converter though.

 

 

Cost and Value 6/10

All told, the pen cost me about £5.00 from eBay seller Pilot Fish Trading, (Reliable and good all round service from them I have to say) plus £3.50 for the converter, so not too bad. However…

When I compare it to my cheapest pen – a Wing Sung 612 that cost less than £2.00 – it seems rather expensive. Yes the build quality is excellent for a pen of that price, but the nib just doesn’t stand up to the Hero’s and Wing Sungs I’ve tried. There are better, cheaper pens out there.

 

--writing samples--

 

Conclusion 6/10

I grew up with Parkers, so I have a soft spot for them, but Parker has to up their game with their budget range. Companies like Hero and Jinhao for example make some lovely nibs and some of the packaging is outstanding for the price, making Parker’s budget range seem very ordinary and expensive by comparison.

 

I’ve said it before but the nib just doesn’t cut it when compared to my other extra fine nibs. I replaced my Wing Sung 612 with the Frontier and after a couple of weeks it has returned to use. Sadly, I can see the Frontier being resigned to the collection once I find a replacement. It’s a shame, because apart from the nib, the rest of the pen is excellent, but that nib…it does spoil a good pen.

 

[J English Smith]

Good review. I too am disappointed by the Frontier's nibs. The F and M nibs are as you describe...somewhat scratchy and undistinguished overall. The best that can be said is that the pen has good flow (feed system is ok). I find the pen much more comfortable to hold than a Vector but it's just not the "good, inexpensive workhorse pen" that this should be. I find myself using Hero 616s for everyday pen use when I don't want to carry something better. Or, one of my Esties, which is a completely different writing experience than a Frontier.

[richardandtracy]

Thanks for the review. It's nice to see how these low end pens from the major manufacturers perform. It's also interesting to see how they compare with the established Far Eastern manufacturers - and that it's not always favourably.

 

Regards

 

Richard.

 

[lovemy51]

thanx for the review, lightweaver. and i'm sorry to hear about your issues with the frontier's nibs, guys. i've had a frontier for about a year now and i don't have that problem at all. actually i tend to compare good writers to my buttery smooth frontier med nib. now, i understand the EF might be scratchy, but i'm surprised at J English Smith "M" nib being scratchy too!!!???

 

and as far as the other issues with the cap getting loose when posting after a while of using the pen and such (i read other complaints about that)... never had any of that either.

Edited January 20, 2009 by lovemy51

[Beechwood]

Nice review and well presented

[lightweaver]

Thanks all for the comments.

 

lovemy51 - glad you've had a positive Frontier experience. I've heard others mention the cap problem, but thanfully that's one problem I've not had (touch wood!)

[diplomat]

Hello,

I found it strange that you had to purchase two pens to combine them to get a flighter! I remember in UK any WHSmith had the Frontier flighter on sale.

 

I have two: one GT and one CT, both in medium. I find them to be between my best writers in the <50€ range.

 

Nice pics, thanks for the review.

 

Andre

[lightweaver]

Hello,

I found it strange that you had to purchase two pens to combine them to get a flighter! I remember in UK any WHSmith had the Frontier flighter on sale.

 

Andre

 

I must admit, I haven't really looked very hard at the Frontier, so I wasn't aware that flighters were available. I just went by what I could find on ebay - laziness on my part!! Again, glad to hear that you've had a good experience with them. I wonder if my nib was one that slipped through the qulity control net!

 

[UPINARMS]

Sorry you were disappointed! I have two Vectors and one Frontier, all medium nib, and I just love them to death. They are as reliable as the sun coming up every day, and altho they write a bit wet, they are fine every day performers.

[czeeric]

I bought a Frontier SS GT with medium nib as well. The nib shines, but when it comes to actual writing is a bit of nightmare - it's far too scratchy. I'd say the worse Parker that I have had. It's a GBP20 pen, but it's just as bad as a GBP2 cartridge pen. I may be a bit too harsh to the Frontier but there's no doubt this pen has upset me a lot. It looks as good as a Sonnet fighter but it's *very* scratchy and it started skipping after writing 5 to 6 pages of A4 (with the cartridge come with the pen - Parker washable Blue). It's worse than other FP in my collection: Jotter, Profile, Contact, 45. Looking the nib under a 30x magnifier, it reveals that there's something wrong with the design of this nib - it looks more like a calligraphic nib (in my opinion). Having said that, I do like the look and the build of the pen.

 

p.s. seriously I do have some GBP2 cartridge pens write better than this Parker Frontier SS GT pen.

[lovemy51]

I bought a Frontier SS GT with medium nib as well. The nib shines, but when it comes to actual writing is a bit of nightmare - it's far too scratchy. I'd say the worse Parker that I have had. It's a GBP20 pen, but it's just as bad as a GBP2 cartridge pen. I may be a bit too harsh to the Frontier but there's no doubt this pen has upset me a lot. It looks as good as a Sonnet fighter but it's *very* scratchy and it started skipping after writing 5 to 6 pages of A4 (with the cartridge come with the pen - Parker washable Blue). It's worse than other FP in my collection: Jotter, Profile, Contact, 45. Looking the nib under a 30x magnifier, it reveals that there's something wrong with the design of this nib - it looks more like a calligraphic nib (in my opinion). Having said that, I do like the look and the build of the pen.

 

p.s. seriously I do have some GBP2 cartridge pens write better than this Parker Frontier SS GT pen.

 

you mean, the nib doesn't have the iridium balls at the tip? that's interesting, at least to me.

 

can you post a picture of that?

[jalison]

I was using my green Frontier during a meeting and got a grump from a client to the effect- "We're paying these architects too much if they're using these $100 fountain pens" Har!

[ScratchyNib]

First sorry for the grave digging but I feel I should share some knowledge into the pool.

 

In the last months I've acquired some Frontiers from the non so common colors to add to my collection. In between I got a CT flighter for daily use and that where I got a (rather awfull) surprise and encountered another thread (which I can't find now) explaining the substantial differences in between Frontiers.

 

As you may be aware they were made first in Janesville, U.S.A. and then production moved on to the UK up until they got discontinued. However they're still being made in India, under license by Luxor. And the Indian made pens aren't a match for the UK or US made pens.

 

Generally Indian models are most seen in GT/CT trims. One distinguishable trait is that they lack the model designation on the cap as older Frontiers have. The pictures above are too small to see. The other distinguishable trait is that the rubberized section isn't that much rubber but much more of a kind of hard plastic. Which in the pictures seems to be it. But I may be wrong.

 

As I said, I bought a CT flighter without knowing of said differences. When I tried to write with it it was just awful. Had to tuned and even then the experience was nowhere near any of my other Frontiers (US/UK made) which have all been smooth writers out of the box, medium and fine nibs.

 

It may not be a rule of thumb, but I'm willing to guess the Indian made pens have a lower QC and therefore its much more common to lack some quality and/or be scratchy from the start.

[jalison]

Thanks for the tip about the Indian Parker Frontiers- I'll stick to "vintage" ones. My older Flighter and Green Frontier are good smooth writers. TBH the Flighter has a custom cursive italic nib from Pendemonium tho' .

[Ted_1944]

I have a Luxor, Indian made Frontier fountain pen and frankly, I love the thing. First thing I noticed was that the cap is really snug. All of my US/UK models the cap mounts with a solid snap, but then is seats itself so loose that I can hold it by the cap and twist the barrel of the pen and encounter no resistance. Personally, I don't find that kind of loose cap to be confidence inspiring. The second thing I noticed was that the "fine" point was more like an extra fine, or ultra fine. And, yes it was very scratchy. But I also have a recently acquired Sheaffer Snorkel pen with an extra fine nib. It was listed as "never inked" and as far as I can tell, that was true. I flushed the pen with water and let it soak for a few hours and there was no trace of any ink in the pen. But that point!! It was just as scratchy as the Frontier.

 

I'm no expert on extra fine points. I'm strictly a "medium to fine" point user. I bought the Sheaffer in spint of the extra fine point because it was otherwise the exact image of one that was stolen from me when I was in high school. (Around 1961) I bought the Luxor Frontier because it was so cheap I had to see if it was any good.

 

Both were horrible writers when they arrived. I managed to smooth them pretty well by rubbing them across the surface of a glass manicuring file that I found in a dollar store. It has a very gentle action, but still gets rid of most of the roughness. With a few months use (after that filing) both of these pens are writing beautifully. So much so that I ordered another Luxor from an ebay store. The first one is black matte with chrome clip , and the new one is stainless steel with chrome trim. For $13.00 USD with free shipping! How could I resist? I've noticed that most pens I've ordered from India come with fine points. Medium points are as rare as hens teeth. Even a Parker ballpoint I ordered came with a fine point.

 

When it arrives, I'll give it a work out and report the results.

[RwindleIII]

Thanks for the great review!

[chromantic]

I love my Frontiers, I have 7 now. All are US/UK ones; NOS runs $25-30 for most colors (Flighters might go for more). I find them to be quite smooth, if not quite as smooth as the Inflections. (Even the nib on my one Indian Vector is fairly smooth, I must admit.) Great looking, nice ink flow and very comfortable.

 

Parker cartridges are actually pretty easy to rinse out and you can use a syringe to fill them with ink of your choosing.