Lamy 2000: A Review

[jbn10161]

Although I generally shy away from adding replies with only a "great review" theme, your review was so informative--you wrote about issues that really matter for people thinking of buying an L2K (like me...)--that I'm going to break radio silence and add my voice to the crowd's. Thanks; good review!

[PAKMAN]

I broke down and bought a Lamy 2000 from SpeerBob a couple of months ago. It has not been a great experience. Don't get me wrong the purchase and dealing with SpeerBob was excellent!!! It's the pen that I have had a problem with. Seems everyone praises the 2000 for it fine German engineering and appearance. I too like the appearance and appreciate the engineering that went into the pen.

 

However, after filling with ink and trying to use the pen there is were the disappointment set in. The EF nib was the scratchiest nib I have ever used and the flow was very skimpy. I checked alignment on the nib and there did not appear to be any alignment issues. I polished on the nib several times until I finally got it smooth and flossed the nib and finally got decent flow. Then it decided to start burping ink out of the breather hole under the nib. I removed the section and noticed that the o-ring had become set (permanently deformed) where the vent hole was and at a notch. I rotated the o-ring to see if this would help and sure enough the breather hold seems to be dry of ink. But now it has decided to drizzle ink out of the filler knob. When the filler knob is turned, withdrawing the piston ie filling with ink, bubbles of air and ink come out of the gap between the pen body and the knob.

 

I hear that putting silicon lubricant on the o-ring, section threads and in the piston chamber will probably fix all of the problems I have been seeing. I guess I will send it to Lamy and have it worked on.

 

It just seems that everyone that says they love their 2000 has a tale of how many pens they tried or how they sent it back or how they made adjustments them selves before they finally can say how much they love the pen!!!

[jonro]

I bought a Lamy 2000 about 2 weeks ago (EF nib) and have been somewhat in awe of how good a pen it is in terms of design, looks and the nib. I feel bad for the people who have had QA issues with their 2000s. There's no excuse for that, especially when you're talking about a $100 fountain pen.

[abp]

Pakmanpony (or Perry, if I may?),

 

I think in your first post you mentioned that you had bought a NOS pen from the '70's? If that is the case, it is not a surprise that the main o-ring seal has taken a permanent set really. I would suggest that you return it to Lamy or someone else you trust) for a full service. I don't know how many o-rings there are in the 2000, but I would certainly recommend replacing all of them after that amount of time...I don't think just jubricating the seals (which would really only prevent rolling and nipping) will fix a problem with set.

 

If nothing else, I wouldn't be surprised if Lamy had changed the O-ring material in the intervening years as well, so you may be able to take advantage of "improvements".

 

No intention to teach grandma to suck eggs; hope you don't mind.

 

Antony

 

PS. Excellent review; I am amazed that you got that much flex out of an EF. I would never dare to try that!

Edited August 28, 2007 by abp

[PAKMAN]

I finally got the filofax folks to respond and plan to send the Lamy to them for refit. I am also surprised by the flex. The EF I have has virtually no flex to it.

[ganjohan]

hello there,

 

May I just ask how does the lamy 2000 nib size compares to their safari range? I'm thinking of biting the dust to buy one of it online. As I already have a safari, it might be helpful to know the comparison in order to determine the correct nib to get.

A handwriting sample of F would be helpfull..

 

Thanks ya

[Desirider]

Lamy 2000 is an excellent pen with a great design, but straight out of the box my F nib was also slightly misaligned and scratchy. A minor adjustment and some polishing fixed it. Other than that the pen is a great writer and very reliable. In my case, the F nib wrote exactly as wide as a Pelikan M600 F.

 

Desirider.

[adair]

Very good review, thanks.

 

I have bought two Lamy 2000's in my time. They have proved to be very disappointing, despite having a number of excellent qualities. I think that the f nibs, though a bit too broad to be real "fines," are the smoothest ever, and the flow is generous. Unfortunately, both pens leak. The section where the underside of the silver feed meets the Makrolon body is quite shoddily welded on both pens (you can actually see the little holes and some sort of crumby plastic), and this is where the leaks begin. The Lamy 2000 has the potential to be the perfect fountain pen, yet my experience with not one but two of them makes me hesitant to recommend it. The Bauhaus may have influenced this pen's outward design, but the strict Bauhaus insistence on solid craft and good workmanship for industrial products seems to be missing. Lamy would do well to review Bauhaus values, which are more than just about simplicity of appearance!

Edited September 5, 2007 by adair

[BoxerDad]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...c=38608&st=

[BoxerDad]

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/in...c=38608&st=

Read this !!!

 

LAMY is LAME in the Quality Department

[beezaur]

LAMY is LAME in the Quality Department

 

Most fountain pens are lame in the quality department.

 

My fix to my particular Lamy 2000 nib problems was to send it off to a nib-meister for work. Between the good price I got purchasing it new and the nib work, the total cost of the pen will be right around list price. I figure that's not too bad, and I'll have a nib-meistered duo-point when it comes back home.

 

Scott

[dwwst12]

Question for any 2000 experts out there: Should a Lamy MK (medium, basically) be a little thin on the upstrokes? It never skips, but it is thinner going up. I had a similar situation with the Namiki Falcon and sold it because I didn't like it. But I never really knew if it was a defect or if that's a quality of slightly flexier nibs?

 

Dan

[davidmigl]

Question for any 2000 experts out there: Should a Lamy MK (medium, basically) be a little thin on the upstrokes? It never skips, but it is thinner going up. I had a similar situation with the Namiki Falcon and sold it because I didn't like it. But I never really knew if it was a defect or if that's a quality of slightly flexier nibs?

 

Dan

 

Interesting - I had the same thing happen to me with (yet another) EF nib that I got. It wrote like a reverse stub. I sent it in to Lamy Repair and they installed a new nib that does not have this problem. I thought it was simply them being sloppy and grinding the sides down to make an EF without paying attention to the height of the tipping. Strange to hear of it happening on a medium. I would send it in.

 

Looks like my review has become the thread for all Lamy 2000-bashing! Meh, I guess it's OK to talk about the problems that an otherwise overly-praised pen has. It's rather easy, too, to get a defective 2000 and jump to the conclusion that all 2000s are bad. Though, since this review I have used two more EF's and one F; the EFs have been the same - toothy, dry, and the F was likewise very dry (4/10) but at least it was very, very smooth. Five not-up-to-par nibs tells me that something's up recently. Stay tuned: I am continuing to search for a good 2000 like they have been described in other threads. A Part 2 might be coming once I get that perfect one.

Edited September 7, 2007 by davidmigl

[AndyHayes]

My OB nib struggled on the upstroke. At first I thought that it was me, but eventually I had to discount that. I am awaiting its return from Germany. It is somewhere beyond the fog bank enveloping Shetland at the moment.

[cpsantillan]

Great review!!!very informative,I love the design of this pen,and I was thinking in the future to get one,but now with all these coments about lamy quality control, I am undecided,but you never know...

[jmpennifeather]

[b][url="http://www.jmpennifeather.co.uk/lamy/lamy-2000"]Lamy 2000[/url][/b]

 

That is a great review for the Lamy 2000. J M Pennifeather as retailers of the Lamy 2000 think it is one of the finest pens we sell. Lamy is our flagship brand and we currently have the Lamy 2000 pen range at 10% off. The Lamy 2000 is a classic and one of the best pens money can buy.

[mizcutiepielivzi]

:thumbup:Great review!

Maybe I'll buy one...?

[Dan308]

Wonderful review David. Many thanks.

 

I agreed with you on the reservations about how smooth this pen likely was..."warm butter over glass" tends to come across as a bit of an exaggeration for any pen. Until I received mine a couple of days ago. The one that I have has nearly zero feedback at all, and although it is not my favourite pen, it is certainly the smoothest. My Waterman Serenite used to be the smoothest I had...until now.

 

I was surprised also by the mechanical precision of this pen. I have many high-end FP's, but none of them really "surprised" me the way this pen did. When twisting the tail cap to work the piston, that tail piece screws back into place so perfectly that the seam quite literally disappears entirely.

 

Thanks again.

[Toolattack]

Great review, thanks for posting it.

[Surf Monkey]

Nice work.

 

I own a Lamy Studio Paladium that I really love and have been thinking about adding a 2000 to my collection. This review helps.