Your Best Cheap Pen?

[tonydent84]

Parker Vector or Baoer 388. I list these because they are pens that you can consistently find for pretty cheap prices and they write the way fountain pens should.

 

Now that I've experimented on my own with refilling a Pilot Varsity, I might have to add that to the top three dirt cheap pens that are great writers.

[womyn]

One of my best cheap pens is "Online Tango", availible with 1,1mm, 1,5mm and 1,9mm italic nib for all in all less than 25 Euro

[La Stilografica Milano]

Lamy safari, in italy 18 euro.. Best fountain pen so far around this price.

 

Cristian

[EenyBear]

Just about any Sheaffer in your price range will be satisfatory.

 

I currently have a Pilot Vpen on my desk - under $5. Although sold as disposable/recyclable, it is easily refillable. Nib and feeder slide out with a firm thumb/forefinger grip and a syringe/eyedropper tops it up. I wouldn't go to the bother if it wasn't such a nice nib.

 

Cheers

[balson]

i have had a ton of lucky vintage finds but my favorite cheap modern find was a sheaffer calligraphy pen that had a nib that was flexible

[ac12]

I started with a Pilot Metropolitan for $15. GREAT pen for the price, and VERY smooth. This was my first "modern" pen. All my other pens were over 25 years old. And none are as smooth as the Pilot Metro.

 

Then I got a Parker IM for about $20. Very nice, but the M tip was too wide. The section assembly has gone back to Parker for a nib exchange for a F nib.

 

Then I found the Chinese pens; a Baoer 388 for about $8, and a Baoer 100 for about $5. Now I'm looking at a Baoer 801.

 

• As was mentioned the Baoer 388 was nice right out of the box. I did a bit of nib tweeking and now it is a NICE writer, wet and smooth. It is so nice that I'm planning on getting a 2nd 388, this time in "flighter" finish. But, I could not pull the feed/nib, so working on the nib while in the pen was difficult.

• The Baoer 100, however has a F tip (0.5mm) which I found is a bit too fine for me. And when a tip gets too small, I have to switch to a dark/black ink so that the writing is easy to read. The hooded nib look cool, but it is difficult to work on if you need to. At least I have not figured out how to pull the feed/nib out of the 100.

• As a result of my experience with the 100, I will be getting the 801 with the larger M tip (0.7mm). Man was it hard to find a Chinese pen in other than F tip (0.5mm).

[davidv7]

Hands down a Lamy Safari.

[Tom Aquinas]

My best new cheap pen is a Lamy 2000. My best cheap pen overall is a $A3.50 UK Parker 51, with a Burgandy Barrel, Gold Filled Cap B UK Nib, found last year in a charity shop.

[BrandonA]

Although my Starwalker costs half the price of all my other pens I love it and it has become my permanent goto pen for work.

[Edwaroth]

Pilot Metropolitan, Faber Castell Loom. Picasso 623 Baroque. No particular order.

[Nonsensical]

Guanleming2001. Paid $3 for mine.

[TSherbs]

I got this for US$5.

Vintage Japanese Eyedropper medium SHIRO nib grouded to a stub.

 

468769_3958295071427_557819454_o.jpg

Looks awesome. I want one!

[Sasha Royale]

I like the Reform 1745. Everything about it works well. At $15, plus shipping, some may not consider it "cheap".

However, three of us just made an Ebay purchase of twenty-four pens, in a NOS retail display box. Shipping

from Germany, the total cost is $110 USD.

 

Most of the pistons will benefit from the slightest hint of TWSBI lube.

[Pterodactylus]

Rotring Artpens are great, you can't get a better italic nib for that price.

I also like my about 25 year old Parker Vector, which still works perfectly.

I also have two cheap Herlitz Carrera school pens about the same age as the Vector which also perform flawlessly.

 

I would not count my Jinhao 159 to the same category, as it dried out in factory default state and worked only somehow ok after I deepened the ink channel. Also the nib was not perfect.

Edited August 22, 2013 by Pterodactylus

[NedC]

The simply elegant Sailor HighAce Neo.

[Alec Fleschner]

I think the Pilot Metropolitan is a really good buy. $15, and it's built like a tank. Smooth writer as well.

[DanF]

My Cross Solo's are my best cheap pens at $20 a pop (got them on clearance). Best currently available would be the Platinum Plaisir.

 

Dan

Edited August 22, 2013 by DanF

[carlos.q]

My best inexpensive pens are:

Waterman Kultur

Esterbrook J

Lamy Safari charcoal

TWSBI Mini

 

My cheap pens are awful and are not used: Zebra 301 and Bic disposable.

Edited August 23, 2013 by carlos.q

[maus930]

Metropolitans are hard to beat but a Jinhao 159 is a reliable smooth writer -- always ready to right a nice wet line and very inexpensive

[oldmatekev]

The one pen I never leave home without is my Jinhao X450 that I put a Knox 1.1mm stub into.

 

I bought the pen for about $3 delivered, with a fude nib. There was nothing wrong with the nib, it was just too crazy for me and I wanted to try a stub.

If you have a pen that will take a Knox K35 nib (there are a lot that will) you have to give it a try. The feedback is absolutely amazing, it even makes some tiny little grunts and squeaks sometimes to show how happy it is.