The Worst Pen Ever

[Pelikan Vera]

any Noodler pen I have tried are not worth the fiddle or effort.

[Duro]

The Jinhao Pocket is the pen that's given me the most amount of trouble, but it was only a 5$ purchase so who cares?

 

My Lamy Safari peeved me off because as I was cleaning the part of the section just as the nib sticks out (because the cap accumulated ink and it always ended up on that lip), I accidentally twisted the pen and two big cracks formed..... this was only a few weeks after purchasing it (and they aren't that cheap where I live)

 

Other than that, I've been pretty happy. No expensive pen has let me down (yet)

[arkan15]

Sheaffer Viewpoint calligraphy set. The only fountain pen that I've ever thrown away. Cheap plastic (obvious cost cutting with the "viewing window") and terribly inconsistent nibs that refuse to start.

Thankfully I had found my old Sheaffer NoNonsense calligraphy set from the 90s which works beautifully.

[slimnib]

Parker 51, even after in was adjusted by Richard Binder?

[MaddyMarcel]

Parker 51, even after in was adjusted by Richard Binder?

 

Really? I believe you, but what's wrong with it? (Somebody had to ask.)

 

edit: I volunteer to give it a new home ....

Edited April 16, 2013 by MaddyMarcel

[Mike_Dowling]

It was a $13.00 Franklin Covey from Staples, it only wrote (skipping every other line) upside down and literally tore my paper apart, it was terrible in every way.

[Christi0469]

My Noodlers Konrad was a complete and utter disappointment. It was incontinent and scratchy out if the box. I had finally gotten it adjusted where it didn't drop ink blots all over the page (and made it too dry in the process) when my daughter closed the cap too tight and bent the nib. Now it's scratchier and only writes (poorly) when I manually advance ink through the feed. It reminds me of a particularly bad tempered toddler.

[hank scorpio]

The original Pilot Birdie. Too short, too narrow, lousy nib, and leaked like crazy. If that wasn't bad enough, just about every aluminum edge on that pen was sharp.

[Fakie]

A cheap chinese pen that had a ridiculously tight cap and a nib that was misaligned along with a poorly set feed (gap between nib and feed)

[terminal]

My Noodlers Konrad was a complete and utter disappointment. It was incontinent and scratchy out if the box. I had finally gotten it adjusted where it didn't drop ink blots all over the page (and made it too dry in the process) when my daughter closed the cap too tight and bent the nib. Now it's scratchier and only writes (poorly) when I manually advance ink through the feed. It reminds me of a particularly bad tempered toddler.

 

Wow it sounds just like mine. In fact I'd say you ended up with mine but it's still sitting right here. It's one of the top three biggest disappointment pens I've purchased too.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Worst I ever bought (I don't have it any more) was a presumably fake Hero. Examining it to see why it wrote so badly, I discovered that the nib had actually been manufactured as two separate pieces, which were pushed into the hood side by side to leave a "slit" in the center.

 

Just to be clear, I have a couple of real Heros which, while they aren't particularly great, are functional, and as good as you can expect for the price. They actually cost less than the fake.

[pokermon]

Had a chinese Hero fp that was just very scratchy. I ended up tossing it out of frustration, but not before testing out smoothing and grinding on it. It was the first one I used to learn to do anything with the nib, so I'm glad I got my money's worth out of experimenting and learning with it.

[georges zaslavsky]

any delta pen I tried.

[Alberez]

In my case, I loved the looks of the Jinhao X450. The first I bought was a real pain, since the section would run out of ink and the pen would stop writing; I had to prime it every five minutes or so. I bought three more, trying to get one to "write right". None of them did. All of them had exactly the same problem. The feeders of those pens are a joke. I have never seen anything so poorly constructed. One of them looked like it had even been rubbed with rubber cement for some reason. The feeder back center guide was a piece of plastic stick, stuck loose in the back hole of the feeder... in a few words: ridiculous. I was never able to have one of those pens writing properly.

[Aramchek]

In my case, I loved the looks of the Jinhao X450. The first I bought was a real pain, since the section would run out of ink and the pen would stop writing; I had to prime it every five minutes or so. I bought three more, trying to get one to "write right". None of them did. All of them had exactly the same problem. The feeders of those pens are a joke. I have never seen anything so poorly constructed. One of them looked like it had even been rubbed with rubber cement for some reason. The feeder back center guide was a piece of plastic stick, stuck loose in the back hole of the feeder... in a few words: ridiculous. I was never able to have one of those pens writing properly.

I have four Jinhao pens. Two are OK, but both the X450 and X750 (which has the same nib and feed) have the same issue as yours. Although cleaning them thoroughly at least made them skip less. They look nice though...

 

My worst pen is by far my Parker Vector, I'd rather write with a broken rusted steel nail as it would be smoother and actually write without getting ink all over my hands.

My Vector is a smooth and a reliably writer. Pity it is so boring though.

 

 

My worst pen is also the Noodlers Ahab.

I imported it from the US as I thought it could be a nice pen as I like flex pens.

I read good and bad reviews of it and thought it couldn't be a complete flop.

5 seconds after I put it out of the packaging I had the strong wish to throw it away.

I never smelled something like this from a pen.

This penetrant sweetish chemical smell almost made me puke.

Ok, some people might judge the smell different.

Although I don't have the Ahab, many, or possibly most, of the Indian pens I bought where smelly when new. Presumably, this is due to whatever type of plastic they use. Obviously, the ebonite ones smell differently than the plastic ones.

Edited May 26, 2013 by Aramchek

[proton007]

A couple of really cheap pens I got as a kid. Leaky as hell.

Give a leaky FP to a school kid and you have a recipe for disaster.

[cbaytan]

My case was a Noodler's Conrad, piston was too stiff I eventually broke it, it's smoothed nib is still on the use though on an Ahab.

 

I don't count the fake Chinese pens sold on streets illegally for 2,5 $, they were just look like FP's actually never worked.

[balson]

Easy, my Zebra V301. If you dislike someone so much that you wish they never get the joy of fountain pen use, just buy them one of these and they will stay away from FPs for decades.

 

Well, it's actually not that bad, it's worse, much worse.

 

this!

 

i loved using their mechanical pencils as a kid, so when i saw they made a pen i thought i would check it out. its so bad i use it to poke holes in things

[carlos.q]

Yup... Zebra V301: simply awful!!!

[Ceramicist]

I bought a Wearever at an antique/flea market right when I began getting serious about fountain pens. It was before I knew to bring a loupe and light to check the nib and cap, etc. and I bought it just because I liked the way it looked and I thought $20 was a good deal for it. Now, I know better.

 

Not only did the pen need to be re-sacked (something I now know how to do) but the nib was impossibly scratchy and still is. I really dislike the pen and it sends shivers down my spine when I attempt to write with it, which I won't do anymore. The plastic is pretty but the nib can cut through cement, even after filing it with a brass shim.