Lamy 2000 And The Origins Of Lamy Design

[KAC]

That is an OUTSTANDING piece of work! The 2000 was Henry Kissenger's pen-of-choice and, like him, it had serious flaws and major redeeming features.

[HamFist]

That is an OUTSTANDING piece of work! The 2000 was Henry Kissenger's pen-of-choice and, like him, it had serious flaws and major redeeming features.

There is a whole section of Jokes that was dedicated to Mr. Kissinger, that man was THE diplomat.

[capsposted]

Hi to everybody! This is my first post in this forum.

More or less because I was so glad to read this fulminant review, I bought a Lamy 2000 with ef-nib and am quite content with it.

In a German fountainpen geekish forum I found an interesting posting about how to clean the grease off the Lamy 2000. The benefit is, that it's an answer directly out of the Lamy Headquarters Service Department in Heidelberg itself!

Somebody in this German forum asked the Lamy Service Department by mail how to clean the pen and this is what Lamy answered (translated more or less via google translator):

http://www.penexchange.de/forum_neu/viewtopic.php?p=49066#p49066

Dear Mr. ...,

first thank you for your email. The fact that the surface of the devices of the series 2000 with constant use over time gets "greasy", is an unavoidable phenomenon. If we receive such equipment in our repair center, we tarnish this manually; this we use a kind of plastic sponge, from the company Scotch, which is slightly aggressive. After matting the device first it gets gray, which is why a light greasing with Vaseline is done to darken the color again.

The sponge is also mentioned for cleaning pots and pans with the label "extra strong pot cleaner" under the registered trademark "Scotch-Brite" [German: "Scotch-Brite – Topfreiniger extra stark"; the sponge looks like this: http://www.officeb2b.de/media/product_data/163/200/application_pdf/deu_21516.pdf]; it is important that you at applying the sponge only moves exactly along the device.

If you are not convinced of self-repairing, we offer you a dealing free rework.

In this case, please send the device in a padded envelope by registered letter with a printout of this e-mail to:

C. Josef Lamy GmbH

Mr Günther

69111 Heidelberg

Sincerely, / Kind regards

 

 

From time to time I treat my Lamy 2000 pen, ballpoint and pencil like described in this mail – with best results.

Although I recommend doing so (and the people of this German pen-forum, too), like every time said: To do so is at your own risk!

 

(sorry for my awful English!)

Edited July 10, 2014 by capsposted

[readonly]

Steps to disassemble the piston

This is probably the coolest part of the Lamy 2000, but also the most cringe-worthy if you've never done it before: the piston screws right out without use of any special tools (well, one's fingers are quite special thankyouverymuch but that's beside the point). Here's how to do it.

 

1. Loosely unscrew the piston knob as if you were inking the pen. You'll feel it when the piston gasket gets to the end of the barrel.

 

2. Take a deep breath.

 

3. Keep unscrewing in the same direction. You may hear some clicking. After a few turns, the piston knob will come free.

 

4. There is a dark grey (newer model) or clear (older model) piece that will come out with the piston knob. Put that back in the body and twist it to reengage the threads just slightly so that you can get purchase on the piston rod to pull it and the rest of the piston assembly straight out.

 

I'm surprised nobody has---anywhere on the internet---mentioned this yet: be advised that this procedure causes permanent damage to the piston rod on newer models (black piston rod). This doesn't seem to affect piston operation, though. I don't have any long-term experience, however, if this leads to problems further down the line if you disassemble it over and over again.

 

What actually happens when you turn the knob further than intended is that the female part will shear off one or two thread turns of the rod. You can observe this damage in the pictures of this thread (go to flickr and request original size). If you do it yourself for the first time, you will also encounter loose small black bits of plastic.

 

Surprisingly, this "problem" did not exist with the older version of the rod. Just like OP mentioned, this material was sturdier. But then again, perhaps they changed this specifically in order to introduce a predetermined breaking point to make sure that the Makrolon body doesn't break.

 

Edit: attached some illustrations.

 

http://i.imgur.com/oetrXDb.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/8oZYTwz.jpg

Edited August 9, 2014 by readonly

[pen2paper]

frustration, cannot seem to post today without it disappearing..

 

Thanks for sharing this change and with photo evidence. People with interest in these instruments often tinker and adjust, enjoying seeing the internal working mechanisms, part by part.

the 200 is a nice pen, would have had one long ago if it fit my hand correctly.

[Pen Engineer]

and that's the reason why the Bauhaus slogan does not fit this design. if form would follow function than it would fit your hand.

I am happy to explain

Edited August 12, 2014 by Pen Engineer

[Pen Engineer]

interesting reading... at some design decission making I took part... reluctantly... I realised that most fountain pen users are very patient and forgiving when it comes to their favourite writing utensil...

any questions? I can answer a few.

 

I am in the process publishing a blog that focuses more on function, design, research and manufacturing of fountain pens

http://fountainpendesign.wordpress.com/

Have a look there. Any technical questions I will also publish there. Your questions will determin what's next

 

 

[igor61]

Fantastic Article. Congratulations. I have two Lamy 2000, one from the 70´s and one from the 90´s

 

Great Pens. The first time I saw a Lamy 2000 was in 1979, I was at junior high, and since then I was in love with the pen.

[Namo]

interesting reading... at some design decission making I took part... reluctantly... I realised that most fountain pen users are very patient and forgiving when it comes to their favourite writing utensil...

any questions? I can answer a few.

 

I am in the process publishing a blog that focuses more on function, design, research and manufacturing of fountain pens

http://fountainpendesign.wordpress.com/

Have a look there. Any technical questions I will also publish there. Your questions will determin what's next

 

Interesting site! - and tons to read!

 

I for one think L2K is about the perfect pen... for my hand! ;-)

[ahmadaamer6]

Love the work put into this thread. Thank you!

Edited September 13, 2014 by ahmadaamer6

[ahmadaamer6]

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I will post this anyway. I have a Lamy 2000. I have opened the piston mechanism and when I put it back together and opperated the piston and draw the piston back a little bit too far I hear clicks that I heard when oppening the piston. Is this normal. I have to go slow to ink the pen up to make sure the piston does not open up. Let me know if my question or explination is too hard to understand and I will try again. My pen stillworks fine. I just have to go slow when inking it up.

[lawrenceg]

The clicks that you hear what you hear/ happens when you are dismantling the pen.

When you are filling the pen with ink you should stop turning the piston when it starts to resist and starts to click.

Filling the pen up should be smooth and silent.

Great article

[itsallkg]

This post gave me that final push to shell out the money on my 2000. Very worth it

[risingsun]

I'd like to suggest that this thread be moved to and pinned in the newly created Lamy forum as I find it to be more of an encyclopedia of information on the Lamy 2000 rather than a simple FP review... But that's just my opinion...

[kdquenzer]

 

I'm surprised nobody has---anywhere on the internet---mentioned this yet: be advised that this procedure causes permanent damage to the piston rod on newer models (black piston rod). This doesn't seem to affect piston operation, though. I don't have any long-term experience, however, if this leads to problems further down the line if you disassemble it over and over again.

 

What actually happens when you turn the knob further than intended is that the female part will shear off one or two thread turns of the rod. You can observe this damage in the pictures of this thread (go to flickr and request original size). If you do it yourself for the first time, you will also encounter loose small black bits of plastic.

 

Surprisingly, this "problem" did not exist with the older version of the rod. Just like OP mentioned, this material was sturdier. But then again, perhaps they changed this specifically in order to introduce a predetermined breaking point to make sure that the Makrolon body doesn't break.

 

Edit: attached some illustrations.

 

http://i.imgur.com/oetrXDb.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/8oZYTwz.jpg

 

I wander if the damage is not caused by the clicking sound of unscrewing the blind cap but instead is from screwing back on slightly to pull it out. A better procedure is probably to push the piston out from the other end once the blind cap is off.

[readonly]

 

I wander if the damage is not caused by the clicking sound of unscrewing the blind cap but instead is from screwing back on slightly to pull it out. A better procedure is probably to push the piston out from the other end once the blind cap is off.

 

This is indeed the better procedure, but that is not the cause of the damage (I never used the cap to pull out the piston).

[Calabria]

Thank you for this review. Jony Ives recently did a RED special version of the 2000 for Bono's campaign, so I guess that connects the design history dots to the iPhone I'm currently using.

 

I'm somewhat perplexed by the broadness of current German pens, as you are. The argument usually is that it conforms to ballpoint users' expectations. But that makes no sense at all - since rollerballs, ballpoint pens and mechanical pencils all write extremely fine. Maybe I'll just have to have the nib customized, as I do on all new Pelikans now.

[kpyeoman]

I'd like to suggest that this thread be moved to and pinned in the newly created Lamy forum as I find it to be more of an encyclopedia of information on the Lamy 2000 rather than a simple FP review... But that's just my opinion...

 

I second this motion.

[son vo]

My Lamy 2000 (broad nib) skips after I write for 2-3 lines. I don't know what is the cause of the skipping. I assume broad nib should be wet in writing which I like. Could anyone advise on how to fix this skipping? Many thanks!

[ParkerQuink]

This thread is still every bit as helpful and informative as it was back when it was made in 2012-so thank you! One thing that I didn't seem to find out here- Does anyone know the origin of the name of the pen? 2000