Fountain Pen Durability

[Wolfcube]

I'm planning to buy a few sturdy fountain pens. I'm looking for some that are durable enough to last years of everyday use without accumulating unsightly scratches and dents or losing any performance, so I've got a few questions.

 

I'm interested in the matte-black Lamy Accent. How do matte finishes in general hold up? What about this particular one?

 

How does resin or plastic compare to metal as far as scratches go? I'm especially looking at the Pelikan 200 versus the Pelikan 215.

 

Thank you for any help.

[jar]

Plastic or resin pens are unlikely to get dented. Like metal pens they can get scratched or gouged. Dents, scratches and gouges seldom effect performance. how pens stand up to wear though is far more a function of the owner than the material.

[Praskaton]

How does resin or plastic compare to metal as far as scratches go? I'm especially looking at the Pelikan 200 versus the Pelikan 215.

 

Thank you for any help.

 

I have both. Both are very good and I really do not know which one is better.I used M215 daily for about a year and today is my working pen (which is always in my pocket).

M 200 I recently got as a gift and I used it a little, but it is a very good fountain pen. My M600 was for a few years my favorite pen, and despite daily usage, there are no visible traces of use. Conclusion, I have no idea, you will not go wrong with any.

[Joe in Seattle]

Lamy 2000 is built like a tank, and doesn't display wear, in my experience.

[Malcy]

My only concern with durability concerning the Pelikans is the durability of the plating.

 

Having used two M250s daily over nearly 16 years, I found that general durability was very good with little wear to the plastic other than fine surface scratches. I did find that the plating on the cap wore pretty quickly. I have to say that the pens spent a large amount of their time in a pocket, not in a box or pen holder.

[nxn96]

There's no magic solution here. Some do better than others, but by and large, it's more a function of how you plan to use the pen, how you carry it and where you store it.

 

As much as I like the Parker Sonnet, trim wear has been my complaint. On the other hand, I carry the pen in my shirt pocket and I usually wear a suitcoat, and the coat rubs against the clip. I like the pen but as I live in the the Midwest, I need a coat on a regular basis.

 

Others on this site will tell you that wear = character, that a pen with some scatches and dents tells you something about the history of the pen. It sort of comes down to what you're happy with and what you can live with

[Russ]

Try Yard-O-Led, solid sterling.

[79spitfire]

One word..... Esterbrook

[langere]

I'd say the Diplomat pens, but my cleaning lady somehow put a dent in it. In any case, also try a all-metal Cross Townsend - hard to go wrong with those.

 

Most pens will last more than a lifetime if treated well. Be that as it may, I agree with Joe from my home town (Seattle) that a Lamy 2000 is the champ of them all.

 

Erick

[yachtsilverswan]

I'm planning to buy a few sturdy fountain pens. I'm looking for some that are durable enough to last years of everyday use without accumulating unsightly scratches and dents or losing any performance, so I've got a few questions.

 

I'm interested in the matte-black Lamy Accent. How do matte finishes in general hold up? What about this particular one?

 

How does resin or plastic compare to metal as far as scratches go? I'm especially looking at the Pelikan 200 versus the Pelikan 215.

 

Thank you for any help.

 

Hey -

 

Plastic, resin, and metal pens will all eventually show fine scratches with daily use. Plastic and resin pens may develop scratches more quickly, because plastic and resin are softer materials than metal. But scratches on smooth finish high gloss metal may be more noticeable because the scratch breaks up the glossy sheen, drawing the eye to the imperfection.

 

Matt finishes hide fine scratches better (and they hide fingerprints), but deeper scratches pierce the matt finish - and the scratch looks shiney - again producing a discontinuity that draws the eye to the imperfection.

 

The best design to hide scratches is a design that is textured - tactilly or visually - a course guilloche engraving pattern or a visually busy design.

 

Using your pen un-posted (palming the cap or setting the cap aside while writing rather than posting the cap on the end of the barrel) will avoid the circumferential scratches that posting a cap to the barrel will always create. Those posting scratches are usually some of the most noticeable because they follow a pattern and because they accumulate in the same place on the pen.

 

Using a pen case to store and protect your pen whenever you are not writing - that will minimize the scratches, but nothing can completely prevent scratches except storing the pen forever unused in a locked display case.

 

Fine scratches can be easily buffed from plastic and resin pens, restoring their factory gloss. Just tape off the trim pieces and any nooks and crannies - then apply Simichrome paste polish, and buff.

 

Scratches on solid metal (sterling silver, solid gold, platinum, stainless steel) can be professionally buffed on a Jeweler's wheel, with some care.

 

Polishing plated metals too aggressively will of course polish right through the plating to the underlying base metal.

 

You may be interested to know that Montblanc has a restoration program to replace basically all the worn and scratched parts (resin and plated trim pieces - everything except the nib) for around $100 - about 15% of the original purchase price of a Montblanc 149. Montblanc offers this program to encourage owners to use their pens as daily workhorses, safe in the knowledge that the pen can be restored to factory fresh at any time.

 

Use your pen. Using good tools marks you as serious about your writing. And every guy should own a good pen. I've used the same Montblanc 149 for thirty years - it required its first ever professional service only this year to replace a deteriorated section seal. Still looks great. Still writes smoothly and reliably.

Edited September 7, 2010 by yachtsilverswan

[Bo Bo Olson]

I like posting. I post all my pens. (Some times I'm stubborn enough to post my Lamy Perosona and Cross Townsend, because the cap clicks on so solid. They are the only pens I have that I will from time to time write with un-posted.)

 

I like low nib; pen in the web of my thumb. I use long finger Forefinger Up to do that.

Most "plastic" pens which do...mar...because of posting, the mar can be removed with a light finger polishing of the barrel and buffing, say every couple of months.

 

I just wasted three minutes looking for mars on my vintage pens...

Of course I did lightly polish them all when I got them. I have not polished them since.

 

Do you think they made tougher plastic back in the old days?

 

If a pen of mine develops a slight mar, I'm not going to go ballistic AR about it. Not when it takes up to a full minute to remove it, if it was to bother me, with finger pressure only application of something similar to semichrome.

 

If you are going to freak out because of a posting mar, I hope you mirror spit polish your shoes too, other wise you are out of balance.

[lewis]

I've never used one but have held one that would stand up to the test of time no problem: Conway Stewart!

[rwilsonedn]

In regard to yachsilverswan's comments, I have to say that MB's marketing never ceases to amaze me. Not only can they sell me a rather nondescript and fragile plastic pen for $700 with a straight face, but then they can turn around and sell me the same pen again--all the "precious resin" and furniture, just not the nib, feed, and piston assembly--for $100 and expect that I will not ask any questions. Now I'm assuming that they are making a good margin on the $100 sale, since that amount has to include a fair bit of labor along with the parts. So they are saying a fair price for a decent 14K nib, and adequate feed, and a piston that fails every few decades is $600? It's enough to make BMW shake with envy!

ron

[Bo Bo Olson]

I forgot to mention 93% of my @ 50 pens are pre-1960, some from the 30's. Some need new sac's, some new corks on the pistons.

Like gaskets in a seventy year old car engine.

 

If you put your pen in a shirt pocket instead of sitting on it, just about any pen made by a reputable company should last your life time...even the Vintage ones.

 

Cross makes a good pry bar.

 

My take one pen around the world would be a piston plastic one, with a semi-flex nib.

[Tsujigiri]

The Lamy 2000 is really durable: solidly made out of fiberglass reinforced makrolon and metal. But how you use the pen is key. If you take care of pretty much any pen properly it will last for a very long time. 100 years ago pens used to be made of fragile ebonite material, and there are still quite a few of them around today. If you treat a modern plastic pen the same way, it will outlive its original owner too.