Pen Rambling - Sheaffer Icon

[MuddyWaters]

1 hour ago, Tas said:

Yes and no, mostly no. It looks and feels that way capped but the section is super gorgeous and tapers down nicely so as not the feel "fat".

Not at all. It's balance is such that the lightest touch will keep it moving along.
I've also just compared its sweet spot to my Lamy 2K. Similar . . . only the ICON is somehow balanced so you don't ever seem to wander away from it. I've not had to adjust my grip yet.

 

It's a very interesting pen. If it was in stock somewhere for the 55-65$ price it was listed for, I would have ordered one!

[MuddyWaters]

Would you care to put your Lamy 2000 and Sheaffer icon unposted side by side in a picture? 

 

How would you describe the nib of the icon compared to the Lamy 2k?

[Tas]

1 hour ago, MuddyWaters said:

Would you care to put your Lamy 2000 and Sheaffer icon unposted side by side in a picture? 

 

How would you describe the nib of the icon compared to the Lamy 2k?

 

My pleasure.

(shhh . . . I think it's nicer. It's much more delicate. The Lamy's is more solid but then again so is my medium Taranis nib. If you were going for a <M> nibbed version I'd say the two would be as solid as each other.)

The Icon uncapped feels and writes a lot like my Vanishing point but without the mechanism.
 

[MuddyWaters]

Very nice Tas! Thanks for posting!

[chromantic]

I love the blue/black combo but my first thought, like Muddy, was that it looks chunky. And the tiny nib on the chunky body looks very out of proportion (by contrast the nib on the Lamy looks more "of a piece").

 

My other concern is cleaning. Does the fat section hide an ink reservoir, like the P45, that can make cleaning more difficult? What is your experience with flushing it?

[vyma]

Great review and a lovely pen, however I would have liked it more if Sheaffer retained the inlaid design like on the PFMs or Legacys instead of the hooded Taranis style nib for this, which admittedly I'm not a very big fan of appearance-wise. Hopefully they come out with more finishes and trim choices in the near future.

[Tas]

13 hours ago, chromantic said:

I love the blue/black combo but my first thought, like Muddy, was that it looks chunky. And the tiny nib on the chunky body looks very out of proportion (by contrast the nib on the Lamy looks more "of a piece").

 

My other concern is cleaning. Does the fat section hide an ink reservoir, like the P45, that can make cleaning more difficult? What is your experience with flushing it?

So far, I’ve flushed Nurebairo, Sou Boku (twice) Ackerman #10, Misty Blue, American Aristocracy (yuk) and Mont Blanc Midnight Blue from it. (I’m working on my OCD) All left the pen without fuss after a few pumps of the converter. 

[g33klibrarian]

Legacy and Taranis sitting in a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g?

[Paul-in-SF]

Based on Tas's ramblings and photos, I ordered one of these and it arrived yesterday (I got the green one). A few notes: The size and shape reminded me strongly of the PFM, so I will compare it to that pen, which many Sheaffer aficionados have probably used before. 

 

Girthiness - at its thickest point, the cap on the Icon is 14.47 mm, slightly smaller than the PFM I have (15.15 mm). The Icon cap doesn't taper like the PFM does. At its thickest point, the section on the Icon is 12.33 mm, while the PFM is 12.49 mm. So the Icon is slightly less girthy than the PFM.

 

Length - the Icon is also slightly shorter than the PFM, at 133.3 mm vs. 135.2 mm. 

 

Posting is very similar, both post deeply and the pen stays well balanced. Posted lengths: Icon 143.7 mm, PFM 141.1 mm (so I guess the PFM posts deeper). 

 

Weight - The Icon is a metal pen and weights accordingly, 43.4 grams with ink vs. 22 grams for the PFM without ink. I have not written with the Icon long enough to tell if it's going to be a problem. The section appears to be plastic, which helps to keep the weight down, and for me makes for a better grip. 

 

The steel nib is smooth and firm. I don't have any problem with the way it looks, but of course that's a very personal opinion. Looking at the design of the section, I wonder how it would be to take apart, that is, to remove the "hood" piece from the metal frame that holds the converter. At this point, that concern for me is moot. 

 

My first impression conclusion is that this is a sturdy and well-built pen that is worth the few bucks more than $65 total that I paid for it. So far, Sheaffer seems to have hit all the marks I could have wished for in a pen at this level. 

[Tas]

10 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

Based on Tas's ramblings and photos, I ordered one of these and it arrived yesterday (I got the green one). A few notes: The size and shape reminded me strongly of the PFM, so I will compare it to that pen, which many Sheaffer aficionados have probably used before. 

 

Girthiness - at its thickest point, the cap on the Icon is 14.47 mm, slightly smaller than the PFM I have (15.15 mm). The Icon cap doesn't taper like the PFM does. At its thickest point, the section on the Icon is 12.33 mm, while the PFM is 12.49 mm. So the Icon is slightly less girthy than the PFM.

 

Length - the Icon is also slightly shorter than the PFM, at 133.3 mm vs. 135.2 mm. 

 

Posting is very similar, both post deeply and the pen stays well balanced. Posted lengths: Icon 143.7 mm, PFM 141.1 mm (so I guess the PFM posts deeper). 

 

Weight - The Icon is a metal pen and weights accordingly, 43.4 grams with ink vs. 22 grams for the PFM without ink. I have not written with the Icon long enough to tell if it's going to be a problem. The section appears to be plastic, which helps to keep the weight down, and for me makes for a better grip. 

 

The steel nib is smooth and firm. I don't have any problem with the way it looks, but of course that's a very personal opinion. Looking at the design of the section, I wonder how it would be to take apart, that is, to remove the "hood" piece from the metal frame that holds the converter. At this point, that concern for me is moot. 

 

My first impression conclusion is that this is a sturdy and well-built pen that is worth the few bucks more than $65 total that I paid for it. So far, Sheaffer seems to have hit all the marks I could have wished for in a pen at this level. 

Awww, chuffed to bits you like it. 🥰 The guilt is real when someone buys a pen (or ink) based on any of my words . . . and is then disappointed.

Did you go for fine, like me, or medium?

 - I attempted to take my broken Taranis nib apart (the metal converter tip had fused with the metal body and it all went badly wrong when I used pliers) and can wholeheartedly recommend you leave these types of nibs well alone unless you know exactly what you're doing 🥺
 

[Paul-in-SF]

3 hours ago, Tas said:

Awww, chuffed to bits you like it. 🥰 The guilt is real when someone buys a pen (or ink) based on any of my words . . . and is then disappointed.

Did you go for fine, like me, or medium?

 

Well, I might not have posted at all if I hadn't liked it, or at least not in the same thread, or I wouldn't have said why I bought it. Anyway, I bought the Fine, which is fairly wet but not a gusher. As near as I can measure, the line is about 0.5 mm or maybe a touch wider, which is a pretty good European Fine. 

[Tas]

7 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Well, I might not have posted at all if I hadn't liked it, or at least not in the same thread, or I wouldn't have said why I bought it. Anyway, I bought the Fine, which is fairly wet but not a gusher. As near as I can measure, the line is about 0.5 mm or maybe a touch wider, which is a pretty good European Fine. 

🤜🏼🤛🏼

  🥰

[Paul-in-SF]

On 11/20/2021 at 8:53 AM, Paul-in-SF said:

 

Well, I might not have posted at all if I hadn't liked it, or at least not in the same thread, or I wouldn't have said why I bought it. Anyway, I bought the Fine, which is fairly wet but not a gusher. As near as I can measure, the line is about 0.5 mm or maybe a touch wider, which is a pretty good European Fine. 

 

I'm afraid I have to give my instance of this pen one demerit. I left it idle for 16 days, and when I went to write again, the nib was quite dry (plenty of ink still in the converter). A short dip of the nib in pen wash was enough to get it going again so it's not a huge problem, and maybe it has learned it's lesson. My normal idle time for inked pens is around 12 days. 

[Tas]

5 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

 

I'm afraid I have to give my instance of this pen one demerit. I left it idle for 16 days, and when I went to write again, the nib was quite dry (plenty of ink still in the converter). A short dip of the nib in pen wash was enough to get it going again so it's not a huge problem, and maybe it has learned it's lesson. My normal idle time for inked pens is around 12 days. 

🥺

I’m so sorry to hear that. Poor starting pens  are probably my number one bug bear.  I’ve not left my Icon anything more than a couple of days. 🥰

[LizEF]

@Paul-in-SF and / or @Tas  Does the Icon have an inner cap?  I live in a very arid environment.  Pens that don't seal well are pointless for me.  I don't generally leave pens inked and unused for more than a few days, but I don't want to even think of something with no cap liner to help it seal.  My Waterman Kultur would evaporate enough ink overnight that I could tell just by looking at it. I don't want to repeat that experience.  (It may be irrelevant - apparently, by the time one of my pen shops has this thing in stock, I'll have forgotten the word "icon"...

[Paul-in-SF]

@LizEF Yes, it does have a plastic inner cap. I can't tell by looking how well it is designed or engineered to do its job, just that it's there. I will report again the next time I use the pen as to whether it was dry again or wrote right away. 

[LizEF]

10 minutes ago, Paul-in-SF said:

@LizEF Yes, it does have a plastic inner cap. I can't tell by looking how well it is designed or engineered to do its job, just that it's there. I will report again the next time I use the pen as to whether it was dry again or wrote right away. 

Thanks, Paul.

[essayfaire]

7 hours ago, Tas said:

Poor starting pens  are probably my number one bug bear.

 

Yes, if things can't stand a bit of time unattended, I tend to decide they shouldn't be in rotation.

[Tas]

5 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

@LizEF Yes, it does have a plastic inner cap. I can't tell by looking how well it is designed or engineered to do its job, just that it's there. I will report again the next time I use the pen as to whether it was dry again or wrote right away. 

Yep. I just shone a torch in there. Plastic it is. 😇

[LizEF]

17 minutes ago, Tas said:

Yep. I just shone a torch in there. Plastic it is. 😇

Thanks, Tas!  In my experience, most pens with a liner / inner cap will do fine for me (perhaps since I don't tend to leave pens idle for more than a few days).  Sigh.  So much for a good excuse to save money.  Maybe my pen stores will never get this in stock...