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Lamy doesn't need introduction on this board. However as I enjoy writing introductions, here we go. Lamy was created by Josef Lamy who was a German export and branch manager for Parker until 1930, when Parker left the German market due to unsuccessful sales of its Duofold. http://imageshack.com/a/img538/9376/WLiktK.jpg www.lamy.com http://imageshack.com/a/img538/9505/e0y9bn.jpg www.lamy.com Lamy started his own company by acquiring the pen manufacturer Orthos Füllfederhalter-Fabrik producing celluloid pens. For quite few years they were selling conservative looking pens stylised after Pelinan and Montblanc pens. However in 1966 they invited industrial designer Gerd A. Müller to create their new flagship product - Lamy 2000, a classic Bauhaus-inspired design that has remained in production ever since 1966 with no significant change. This pen set the tone for all Lamys to come: forward-looking, innovative design, excellent quality and writing performance. Lamy 2000 is one of my all - time favourite pens. With time I even came to like Lamy Al-Star that looked like an ugly duckling for me when I first saw it. Basically I love their pens. However I wasn't so fond of their inks. They're not bad, they're sold in practical and functional bottle yet the colors really aren't mesmerizing. ANyway the inks are sold in bottle that provides a roll of blotter tape used to clean the pen after filling, or to blot writing. It is specially shaped with a wide neck and a basin to collect ink to aid filling when close to empty. http://imageshack.com/a/img901/2272/o3GrpD.jpg http://miestilografi...t=lamy-tinteros They can also be purchased in cartridges. It seems that lately Lamy came to conclusion they can make money on special edition inks that are introduced together with limited edition Al-Stars and Safaris. That's good, especially that new colors (Copper Orange and Neon Lime) stand out from their rather conservative and - let's face it - boring ink line-up. Black Blue Washable Blue / Black Copper Orange Green Neon Coral Neon Lime Purple Red Turquoise Neon Coral is not as scary as I expected it to be - it really is coral. I wasn't able to fully show the color - it's pink but with subtle orange undertones that got lost in most of the pictures. Anyway if I was writing a journal, I would write affirmations with this ink, you know, stuff like "world is good, people are sweet" and so on As I don't write a journal I just stop my experience with Neon Coral after this review Ink Splash http://imageshack.com/a/img538/8247/cgxdnH.jpg Drops of ink on kitchen towel http://imageshack.com/a/img661/4356/ltpPV4.jpg Software ID http://imageshack.com/a/img540/792/hGJ39z.jpg Oxford recycled, Lamy Al-Star, F and B nibs http://imageshack.com/a/img661/2332/BUnhFB.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img540/7271/ScV7YP.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img538/93/EXfoTy.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img537/8341/QdOyfD.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img673/6278/0qhYnx.jpg Cheap Notebook, Lamy Al-Star, B http://imageshack.com/a/img537/86/4PqF0t.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img901/3498/JmuYTt.jpg http://imageshack.com/a/img673/7565/k5Sopi.jpg

I bought a Lamy Studio and it says FA on the nib. What I bought was an EF nib. But I do not see any diffrence between the EF nib on the Safari I had and the FA nib. Is it like the finer version A nib or does it have a diffrent meaning?

Help! I really love the Robert Oster inks. Where can I get them in India? Have you guys used Robert Oster?

I love the design, weight and feeling of lamy Aion. But I can't stand the cap. It felt very loose. It creat noisy squeak and can rotate when I shake the pen... I also want more "snap" sound when close the cap (don't know it is possible or not). Have any of you tried to modify Aion cap ? Sorry for bad English.

I've read that Lamy has released special Hanzi nibs in Asia. They seem to be on the "architect" side to aid with Chinese or Japanese writing. I can't write Chinese but I'm curious. Anyone used one? https://www.instagram.com/p/CYc46c2vLFN/ https://www.instagram.com/p/CYfVKvQvUKn/ But since when is there a matte red Safari? 🤔

Just got the newsletter. Thought people might want to know about the new digital pen: LAMY safari twin pen all black EMR It offers a ballpoint and EMR point. Link to German LAMY page: https://shop.lamy.com/de_at/digital-writing-lamy-safari-twin-pen-all-black-emr.html#utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=TwinPen_29-04-22&stylus_technology=7531&model_color_material=7647

Hello FPN! It's been a hot minute since I've been on this forum so please excuse me if this should be in "Chatter," I will relocate it. The last activity I've had was when I really just got into the hobby as a bright-eyed teen obsessed about every bit of stationery, pens, and ink. Honestly, I cringe a bit when I look at my old replies and posts, and I was reminded of it when I was looking for more information about Lamy's history a year or two ago (my question about my mismatched Lamy 99 pen/Lamy 27 cap is one of the few results, much to my chagrin). Well, it's 7 years later, I'm about to get my undergrad degree in a bit, and my enthusiasm towards pens has mellowed. While I still use them daily, fountain pens do not define me like they did for a while back then. I was filling up my trusty Lamy 99 with Diamine Asa Blue earlier today when I felt compelled to tell this story. I'm not the best writer, but I'll try to make it at least somewhat engaging. Thank you for indulging me if you read on. When I entered this hobby, I was very fortunate to have my paternal grandfather dig up many of his old pens to give to me. It gave me a good range of different pens to write with while I only had my lone Sheaffer 100 previously (unfortunately for my dear Sheaffer 100, it is seldom inked nowadays, but I will not forget how it impacted my delve into stationery). From a Sheaffer Targa to a few Parker 21s to a few pens of brands lost to the sands of time, each was cleaned and subsequently inked in the following months. I went from having one fountain pen, to closer to a dozen than none. I was ecstatic to say the least. Now, if you you looked through my profile when I mentioned my old forum posts earlier, you'll note that I was overly skeptical of the pens my grandpa gave me. No ill will at all, but clones were indeed rampant in Asia at the time, and my grandfather being the ever-practical man, didn't really care about what brand writing instrument he used. Later I was told that most of the pens my grandfather owned were received as corporate gifts. So I went along my merry way and started acquiring inexpensive pens as many younger members of new hobbies do when they start a new collection, often forgetting about the pens my grandpa gave me. After all, I have so many pens to try out, so much ink, and only so much homework! I'm a stickler for getting every bit of visible ink out of a pen, like the water must run absolutely clear without a hint of colour against the white of my bathroom sink, so the Parker 21s were a bit of a pain to clean without taking apart the nib unit, the Sheaffer Targa would magically hide ink in its feed after I swear it was already totally clean, and the others were just not my favourite in terms of performance. All of the pens my grandpa gave me were thus relegated to back of my pen shelf while I went to play with the shiny new toys I kept buying. Except one. The Lamy 99. Practically speaking, it was the best of the bunch of pens my grandfather gave me. It was easy to clean, it held a decent amount of ink, and it was fine enough to use on bad printer paper without too much bleed (albeit with mild feathering). This was the stage of my obsession of fountain pens though. This is when I was deepest into reading every thread on FPN, every post on r/fountainpens, religiously watched GouletPens, The Pen Habit, and SBREBrown, and tried to get all my friends into fountain pens as well. Like my grandpa before me, his pens became "just another pen." Albeit for the exact opposite reasons. A year rolls by, then two, then three. By then, I had about 30 pens, but only inked up maybe 7 of them. I have definitively, fallen out of my fountain pen obsession. I'm about to graduate high-school when I realised something. Never once, in the approximate "kilo-day" of using fountain pens had I ever taken the Lamy out of my rotation. It was a staple of my pen roll. Never did I think about my "favourite pen," but by sheer statistical anomaly, the Lamy 99 must be my favourite, and it is. Naturally, I tell my grandparents this, and when they moved, they told me they'd give me any other neat pens if they dug any up during the move. They didn't find anything. It's late 2018-early 2019, and I'm new to uni. Some people ask about my pens, but I'm not nearly as much of a fanatic as I was in early high-school. The classes were small, so many of them saw my unusual writing, odd "ink pens", and eccentric colours in my notes, but besides the odd reply to a comment about my cursive, I kept quiet. It was during this time that fountain pens became a lot more personal to me. I still buy pens every now and then, but I can count the number of pens I've bought from 2017 to the present on one hand, and that number from 2017 to early 2019 on a hand that was in a severe woodworking accident. Anyway, the Lamy 99 became an extension of my hand, and if I questioned what my favourite pen was in the year previous, I didn't question it anymore. The pages upon pages of notes in the first two years of university have, for the most part, been written using the 99. From drawing the first page being simplified syntax trees and the economic situation of inter-war Germany, to the last being X-Bar expanded syntax trees and the establishment of Lesotho by King Moshoeshoe I. A good 66% to 80% of it was written by the 99 (usually in Chesterfield Mahogany, which I believe was a re-bottled Diamine Saddle Brown by xfountainpens). I continue using my pens, going through school, and eventually transferring to another institution where I am now. Thousands upon thousands of words written by my Lamy 99. Probably more than my grandfather ever wrote with it. In my turbulent undergrad program, using my Lamy 99 was the only constant, it was my anchor. May 2020. My paternal grandfather passes away after complications with a fall and undiagnosed cancer. I was told he had a relatively painless last few weeks in the hospital, and that his cancer hadn't actually manifested any symptoms other than a weakened immune system. The writing on the wall was there when the diagnosis came in, so he decided to rather not have chemo or radiotherapy even if he did get better. Being in the midst of the first big spike of COVID, I did not get to see my grandfather for a last time after Christmas dinner. He was in his late-80s. Everything being virtual, I didn't use my pens as much as I used to. Being that everything went online in March, I had not touched my pens since then. Summer term rolled around, low grades, fall semester, low grades, the new year, plagued with more awful grades. I risked withdrawal from my uni. I finally picked up my pens again in 2021 when it seemed like things were looking up pandemic-wise (oh how naive we were) and I was back on my antidepressants and seeking therapy. I was tasked with writing in a journal for the therapy sessions, so I rinsed out my 99 once more to fill with Montblanc UNICEF Blue. It was the first time that I had touched it in so long, that I forgot how well it fit in my hand. A little weird, since the writers' bump on my knuckle had shrunken slightly in the time I wasn't writing physically, but it was comforting, like an old friend hugging me at the door. The dried J. Herbin Lie de Thé reminded me of the dried ink I excitedly washed out in my grandma's kitchen sink the minute my grandpa gave it to me. It was the first time I had to clean dried ink from it since the first time. The gold-plated Lamy 27/32 cap on the body of a Lamy 99/37. Mismatched by my grandfather probably either out of necessity or simple misplacement. No matter, because they fit together all the same with a positive click. A cap of gold marred by thousands of micro-scratches, the numerous vertical stripes catching in the light like rays of a summer's evening sun filtered through the green leaves of an old oak. A smooth black body with an equal number of minuscule scratches making it not quite as shiny as it could be. A piston knob nearly seamless to the rest of the barrel when fully screwed-in abruptly cut by a slightly domed, but flat finial at the end. Moving to the other side, a slight step-down for the cap meeting a clear transparent ink window like portholes on a black submarine. A metal ring marking the seam between the body of the pen and the nib section housing a fine semi-hooded 14k nib. Here on the nib section, a small blemish where my index fingernail digs into the plastic if it gets too long. Despite being mismatched, the striated gold cap of the Lamy 27 perfectly matches the gold nib within, two stripes on either end of the breather hole mimicking the same stripes on the cap. A few months ago, my grandma was cleaning out my grandpa's desk when she said she found some more pens, I was excited at the prospect of finally reuniting my 99 with its long-lost cap, and likewise the 27 with its long-lost cap. Alas, the Lamy 27 was not within the bunch of pens that my grandma found. There some more ballpoint Parker 21s (I guess people in Taiwan really liked to gift 21s back in the day, which makes sense given its lower price than the 51 with the name-recognition of Parker) a Cross ballpoint, a Parker BP/FP set that has a weirdly narrow triangular nib, a Platinum C/C pen, an Elysee C/C pen I haven't looked into, and a partridge in a pear tree. I got first pick from my cousins because I'm the stationery nerd, so they got the left-over ballpoints. They were unused, so I'm pretty sure they were corporate gifts given to my grandpa near or at his retirement. I told my grandma that I still used my grandpa's 99 almost daily, and she was very happy to hear it. With a melancholic smile she told me about how my grandpa was always so happy when I visited him when his health was deteriorating even if he didn't show it in the moment. She also told me that while my grandpa thought of his pens as mere tools for his job, he was glad that I could appreciate them as objects. My grandpa had every pen in boxes stored away. Sometimes many many pens in a single mismatched box, but they were always stowed away in a container. And again, except one. The Lamy. The 99 was found by my grandpa in an old coat pocket, the ink in it crusted from when it was used last, sitting dormant for decades nestled in a coat he hadn't worn in equally long. Across an ocean, at least four houses, and a generation, only to be used by a snotty kid who doubted its very validity within a week of it seeing light for the first time in so long, unappreciative and frankly, undeserving, of its inky abilities. Thinking back to when my grandpa materialised the pen from his hands, and how it was indeed not in a box, I asked my grandma if the Lamy 99 was a pen that my grandpa used the most frequently. She didn't know the answer to that, but she did know that he used it, which is good enough for me. The fact that it was found in a pocket and that my grandpa remembered there was a fountain pen in an old coat that he had not worn in years indicates to me that he did at least use the 99 enough to remember the location. I have a new appreciation for my humble mismatched Lamy 99. I do not know where the Lamy 27 that its cap came from is, but if it was my grandpa's and my grandma finds it, I will not rejoin it with its long-lost brethren. My Lamy 99 and its Lamy 27 cap has a history together now. It is how my grandpa used it for so long, it is how I have been using it for so long, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, a matching Lamy 99/37 or 27/32 straight-up looks wrong to me now that I've had mine for so long.

Hi everyone, This is the first midle priced pen I 've bought when I was stil at school (6-7 years ago) to replace my Parker Jotter Steel. I wanted a pen that whould be a good everyday writer and when I saw this slim matte black pen with modern look I had to get it. After 3-4 months of continuous use, the matte finish has disappeared, giving it's place to a shiny finish which started picking up some scratches. I didn't really minded back then, but as the years have pasted, and I watched some reviews on youtube, I haven't see anyone that had the same problem with me. So I wonder, - have I got a pen with defective finish? - or is it just the daily use that it has seen back in the day? I expect that from the daily use it would acquire some scratches, but I find it dificult to believe that the matte finish would go away so easily.

In the past few years I have had a Safari die on me. Despite repeated attempts to wash/ flush it through having not caught the cartridge running out in time I could not get it writing. Now the Al-star that replaced the Safari last year is playing up despite regular cleaning and flushing with clean water. I also wonder if it is the Lamy ink especially the black that has been on the shelf a while that is drying up in the cartridge and in the workings of the pen. Am I better off A) storing vertically B ) using converter and Quink black ink or other ink or C) both of the above I am rapidly going off Lamy ink, especially there cartridges as they do not seem to last all that long before I am putting a new one in either of my Lamy pens

Hello guys! I want to change my nibs from F to EF. Than i went to appelboompen and saw that they have the new Lamy LX nibs. it cost twice the price of the current lamy z50 nib. So Does the LX nibs or the Z52 nibs have a different writing experience than the normal lamy nib? does the new coating effect the nib width? Is it worth it compare the normal nib? Please share your story if you have use a Lamy LX nib. Thanks!

Some people can wield a big, fat stub and get amazing results. Not me. I'm a sloppy writer and still learning basic penmanship. I rotate my pens and stubs don't like that. I write fast, and stubs don't always forgive me for it. Just for fun, I made a quick comparison of the stubs that I have in my collection at the moment. ^---normal writing speed at left, slow in the middle, fast at right The TWSBI 1.1 stub I've personally got three of those, in two pens: the Eco and the Go. One is nice (in the Eco), one is okay (in the Go), one is sharp, scratchy, dry, unusable and out of rotation. They're the only ones in this comparison that have a small amount of bounce and they're not very sensitive to rotation (which is good news for me). They're dry-ish when writing at speed, as can be seen in the writing sample. In terms of line thickness, both their vertical and their horizontal strokes are the widest of the 1.1 nibs in this comparison. Crispness is OK but not exceptional. No hard starts (good). No railroads (good). Pens: TWSBI Eco with 1:1 mixture of J. Herbin Rouge Caroubier and Diamine Sunshine Yellow and TWSBI Go with Noodler's Burgundy. Verdict: a nice, all-round, rather forgiving stub. The Lamy 1.1 italic Lamy offers cheap 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9 replacement nibs that you can slide on to your Safaris and such. I can't even wield a 1.5 (see below under Kaweco) and therefore a 1.9 is way out of my league, so I bought the 1.1. This nib, which is an italic, offers you a hard deal: absolutely wonderful crispness at the cost of rotation sensitivity and scratchiness. I love the look of the text on paper, it's so nice, so crisp, so disctinctive... But with my unsteady hand, I can only use it with pleasure when writing slow. At normal writing speeds, I can tolerate it. When writing fast, it feels like an abomination. This nib could be a true gift to people who have a steady hand and good penmanship. No hard starts (good). No railroads (good). Pen: Lamy ABC with Lamy Blue ink, but it will also fit the Safari and some other Lamy pens (and supposedly even a Platinum Preppy!) Verdict: amazing crispness at the cost of forgiveness... Choose, because you can't have your cake and eat it too. Kaweco #2 1.1 stub One of the many charms of the Kaweco family is that the Liliput, the Sport, the Dia2 and the Special all sport the same #2 screw-in nib/feed collar, so instead of buying a dedicated pen for each nib size you can buy one nice pen and swab nibs in under 60 seconds. I'm not exaggerating: pull out the converter, unscrew the nib/feed collar, screw in the new one, pop in the converter, prime the feed and you're off to the races. Among other models I have a Dia2, which in my opinion is one of the best modern pens being sold today around its price point, and I've got several nibs to use with it, including the 1.1 stub. Its line width is slightly less than that of the TWSBI 1.1, in both directions. It's also slightly more crisp than the TWSBI, which I like, especially since this crispness does not come at the expense of smoothness or rotation sensitivity. Compared to the Lamy, the downstroke is slightly wider and the sidestroke slightly more thin. This is a nib that offers both smoothness and good crispness (though nothing near the exceptional crispness of the Lamy). In fact, it's smoothness is incredible and needs to be felt to be believed. Performance is flawless: it always starts, it doesn't railroad. The TWSBI stub seems to offer more shading, though. Pen: Kaweco Dia2 GT with Iroshizuku Shin-Kai. Verdict: an amazingly smooth and forgiving stub without sacrificing too much crispness, solid performance, a good mix of qualities and clearly a notch above the TWSBI. Kaweco #2 1.5 stub This stub matches the smoothness of its smaller cousin, but that's where the similarities end. Perhaps it's me; perhaps I'm not ready to play with the grown-ups yet. After all, I also couldn't really befriend the Pineider La Grande Bellezo stub, nor the Leonardo 1.5 stub. To me, 1.5 feels as wide as the Grand Canyon and I really struggle to get something nice out of it. This Kaweco 1.5 is no exception to that, despite its amazing smoothness. Personal shortcomings aside, I do notice less crispness in the lines (the worst of this sample) and it's a severe hard-starter. To be specific, after capping the pen and putting it away, it doesn't write when you want to continue, especially on smooth paper. Not just on downstrokes either, it just doesn't write at all after a pauze and takes quite some effort to get going again. In terms of line width, this stub is wide enough to make standard line spacing in a notebook too small (in this case an Oxford 90 g/m^2 notebook with 8 mm line spacing). This is one big nib and it requires lots of space - that's how it was designed, so no criticism there. Pen: Kaweco Dia2 GT with Iroshizuku Shin-Kai. Verdict: very smooth and forgiving stub, but at the expense of crispness (at least when writing at normal and fast speeds). Obnoxious hard-starter, prefers rough paper. Should not be confined to the limitations of ordinary notebooks - this nib really wants to do calligraphy. The outsider: 1948 Onoto 5601 with #3 ST nib I added this Onoto for the sake of reference and comparison, not as a contender. This is a wonderful, narrow stub and they just don't seem to make 'em like that anymore. This is one of the few stubs that make me forget about the pen so that i can just focus on writing. Ink: J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage, Summary: Those who can handle the Lamy 1.1 italic will be highly rewarded by its amazing crispness. As an all-round, forgiving, wonderfully smooth steel stub that does not sacrifice much in terms of crispness, Kaweco's 1.1 is a thing of beauty and as such is the overall "winner". The TWSBI 1.1 is a solid all-round stub that lacks some of the finesse and smoothness of the Kaweco 1.1. The Kaweco 1.5 might be the ticket for those who require a really smooth nib for calligraphy purposes. (When I find the ultimate stub for me, I'll let you know. At the moment the chase seems to be even better than the catch.) EDIT: corrected the text about the Lamy 1.1, which is an italic.

So The new lamy 2000 brown is up for pre order and the price is almost 4 times the base black version https://wonderpens.ca/products/lamy-2000-fountain-pen-anniversary-edition-brown Are you going to buy this one??

I recently found out about the Lamy Pur and over the last few days I think I've read most of the few reviews available online. I've also found a handful of spots that are selling the last few units. So, should I? Or should I save-up a little more for a CP1? I would assume that they all write the same since they have the same feed, filler, and nib. One concern I have with the CP1 (to me one of the best looking pens around) is that it looks really thin. I don't have overly large hands but I do prefer my pens closer to Safari size than pencil size. A Pur looks like a fatter, cheaper version of it. It's less common too. Discontinued Lamys also somehow "resonate" with me and I think this is the latest discontinued Lamy pen—then again, was it discontinued for a reason? nb. I have used a friend's Logo and it's not for me.

https://www.sintons.co.uk/sintons_commercial/the-pen-shop-bought-from-administration/ It is now down to 5 stores from 10. IIRC, they had 20 stores 3/4 years ago. OTOH, their shop in Trafford Centre (one of the largest malls in the UK) had only one MB LE ink in stock and 3/4 from the standard range. The website has had a revamp.

Is it just me, but I just can’t see a forum regarding Lamy nibs. If there is a forum about Lamy nibs, do me a favour and tell me about it. Back to the main issue. I know that Lamy nibs are interchangeable, but there’s something weird I found. Both my Lamy Safari and AL star are using an EF nib, however my Safari has a thinner stroke than one from my AL star. I just can’t understand why. This particular question left me puzzled for quite a while now. I use the same ink for both pens. Any suggestions?

I found here one review of an Onoto K series pen. It is excellent, worth reading as a companion because I do not plan to repeat most of that information. This is more of a comparison and notes on the pens. However, I will recap the series briefly. In 1955, just three years before they gave the pen game away entirely, Onoto released a series in a new style for them, being fairly plain plastics, piston fillers, mainly with hooded nibs, and barrels in the vogue cigar style. They proved to be good pens but, too little, too late as the British were wont to say. The pens were: K1 - Gold clutch cap, ink window, hooded nibK2 - Same as the K1 except with body coloured capK4 - Same as the K2 except the cap was screw rather than clutchK3 - The odd one. It is slimmer (by about 1 mm), slightly shorter in barrel and cap with flattened ends to both, an open No 3 nib, no ink window, and the piston mechanism is able to be serviced, unlike the other three. In remaining respects it was somewhat like the K2 with body coloured clutch cap.Onoto's marketing of the time profiled the pens like this: The K3 and K4 were the same price despite their obvious differences, with the K4 described as a basic pen and the K3 as a conventional pen. The K1 stepped up the price 7% for its gold cap.The most expensive was the K2, up another 12% in price, distinguished as having "extra iridium". So, the numbering follows no price or feature pattern, and the K3 remains quite an oddball among them when you get to the detail. In the following photo I have placed an Aurora 88 and Lamy 2000 for comparison, being similar hooded piston fillers of the era and shortly after. From left to right, Aurora 88, K1, K3, K4, K4, Lamy 2000. Note also clip differences in the K1, K3 and K4. I have not purchased a K2 because its features all exist elsewhere in the K models. Buying a second K4 was somewhat accidental. The Lamy looks huge next to the others, the Aurora (an original 88 with Nikargenta cap) quite comparable if slightly bigger over all. I speculate that the Aurora 88 may have been Onoto's principal model for their pen. Here are the pens with nibs exposed. From left to right, K1, Lamy 2000, K3, Aurora 88, K4 underside of nib, K4 with shroud removed. Note slimness of the K3's section compared with the others. The K3 has a conventional section which unscrews to reveal the barrel internals and piston. The other three pens have a friction fit section which is concealed under a screw-on plastic shroud. Note that after removing the shroud on the K1 on the left, I have not quite re-aligned it correctly. In this case I can screw the shroud a shade tighter. If you have removed the section (you can grease the piston, needed maybe once if ever, but you can not remove or replace it) then unless you have marked carefully you will be up for some repeated un- and re- screwing of the shroud while you rotate the section fractionally until the tightened shroud lines up with the nib. A touch of silicone grease on the friction fit is useful simply to make that a little easier. The K1 nib and feed I own do not appear to be set correctly, or else the K1 is different in one respect. On removing the shroud I can read the nib down to where it says K1 on it, below "De La Rue // 14 ct // Onoto". This part of the nib is inset further on the K4 pens so I can not read below 14 ct. I have not thought finding out a sufficient reason to pull the nib. The K3 sports a standard Onoto No 3 nib, saying "Onoto // 14ct // 3" as usual. I have inked two of these pens and dipped the other two. Pelikan 4001 Königsblau was used in both of the filled pens, for comparison. I dipped the other two in my Random Mix Bottle as an afterthought. Both of the K4 models display a heavier line but the inked grey K4 needs a little tine adjustment (closure), I think. Note the railroading in the closing bracket of "grey". At first that happened to the "i" in Pelikan as well, but enough ink was laid that it soon filled the gap with bleed in the paper. Used after dipping, the maroon K4 seems better behaved. The K1, dipped only and unadjusted at all so far, also looks a bit dodgy with bleeding. Hands-down winner here for me is the K3, the No 3 nib gliding softly to produce a beautiful line, as these nibs usually do. I do not normally post pens, including these Onotos, although to be fair they look elegantly longer if you do. You might gather the K3 is my favourite although I think I will get good service from the others with a little nib work, which is not unexpected in a 60 year old pen. Comparing the Aurora 88, and Lamy 2000, the lack of an ink window is a deficiency of the K3, and I am not keen on the heavy hooding of the other K models. I prefer to see the nib at least a bit, if only not to have to think about rotation alignment of the pen at the first stroke of writing. Writing, none of these nibs (all 14 ct) could be called soft so far as the metal goes. The Lamy is well known to people, a smooth nail. Closest comparison would be with the K1 and K4 Onotos. The Aurora 88 has its characteristic slight toothiness and little in the way of softness either, really, so my narrow writing winner is the K3 even though that too is not a soft nib. This is purely a personal preference. Subject to a little work on two of them, I think all of these will be found to be excellent. The Onoto K-series pens are good buys in that they are simple, robust, light, discreetly elegant and capable of writing very well. The fact you can not service the piston seal other than on the K3 does not seem to have been a problem anywhere to date. Like the two comparison pens, A88 and L2K, they will serve as workhorse pens that no-one should be afraid to take anywhere. They are also inexpensive. Oh, and my favourite colour is the maroon. They also come in black. eta: a couple of extra notes

Lamy joins a Gemstone Club with their new series of "originally" named inks. As much as I'm excited about new Lamy inks, I loathe their lack of creativity. Call it a pet peeve but when I see another line of inks inspired by gemstonjes, I clench my teeth. Anyway, the bottles and packaging look cool. Ink The ink is moderately saturated. It flows well but shows a tendency to dry out in the pen. Apart from this, it behaves well. Probably not the best archival ink ever, but well worth a shot. Drops of ink on a kitchen towel Color ID Midori, Lamy Safari, EF Fabriano, Hero 5032, stub 1.9 Water resistance

I've been using Lamys as my pens for school for seven years. I've never had any problems. However, my most recent purchase, which I've been using for about two months, has the same issues that stopped me using the previous one. I use these pens a lot, probably changing my cartridge every two to three weeks. I rely on my pen a lot as a student and I need it to work otherwise I'll have to turn to *shudder* ballpoint. Essentially the ink stopped flowing as easily as it used to, skipping on upstrokes or horizontal lines. Then it got very very hard to work. So I rinsed the whole of the pen, removing the nib and blowing very gently to push water through where the ink goes (I think it's the feed). It worked- for a day. Now it's gone back to being very pale and scratchy even though it's got enough ink and the nib seems fine? I'm so frustrated by this as pens aren't cheap and I've only had it for two months! I love fountain pens so much- what can I do to fix this one? Soak it? But I don't see how the ink could have dried up during such regular use? The nib is fine, not bent or anything. aargh, please help me!!!

There is a new "limited" edition Lamy Safari coming up for sale in October. White with red clip, charity donations. Does any one know what design the top has on that one? Cross or dot? Sold here for instance

Hey guys, I had a Lamy 2000 and sold it, but really missed it. The other day I jumped on a Lamy 2000 with a 0.6mm stub customized by Mike Masuyama. I really like the nib, but it's way too broad for my liking for everyday use (I can see it coming in handy for special occasions, though). I want to buy a nib and/or section. Preferably something already put together so all I have to do is swap it out. Worst case scenario is that I can trade someone the Mike-ified nib that I have for a standard Lamy 2000 EF nib as I'll use that way more than this stub. But I'd really like to have it as a second option. I called Lamy USA and they flat-out refuse to sell me the nib/section for the 2000. They offered a swap. When I explained that I wanted both options, I just got a weird, "Oh, okay...". LOL! I didn't mention the modification as I thought their heads might explode. Anyone? Anywhere? Have money, will spend.

Hi, I have accumulated more pens than I can write with. So I have decided to give away one of them. It's a Lamy nexx M. The pen is in near perfect shape with a medium nib. Ideally, I'd like to give it away to someone who is making a leap from lower end pens (sub Rs 1000) to Lamy for the first time. Please note: the pen does not come with a convertor. So you would either need to buy a convertor or use the cartridges. Of course, I am not looking for any form of monetary compensation or trade.