Grandmia

[awarrenj]

Hi,

 Have any of you had experience with Grandmia pens from Europe. He does a number of vintage videos and sells restored pens. I noticed he has a number of P51's for sale and was wondering what you may have experienced with him.

Thanks

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

No personal experience. 

But wrt his videos; he tends to shellack seemingly everything. Many things that don’t need to be. Which will make future repairs more difficult than necessary. 
 

also, to my eye, he seems to polish a pen to within an inch of its life. 

just my 2 cents. 

 

[crescentfiller]

I actually wish I actually had an actual dime actually for every time he actually says "actually" in his actual videos.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-taRQmxTcM&ab_channel=GrandmiaPens

 

[Ron Z]

PM sent. 

[Paul-in-SF]

3 hours ago, crescentfiller said:

I actually wish I actually had an actual dime actually for every time he actually says "actually" in his actual videos.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-taRQmxTcM&ab_channel=GrandmiaPens

 

 

He has a number of often-repeated verbal tics that make it impossible for me to watch his videos. This is aside, of course, from whether his repair methods are valid, or whether it would be a good idea to buy a pen from him. I am agnostic on those points, only because I don't know many details. 

 

I believe there is a history of conflict between this place and Grandmia, but it was before my time here.

[Ron Z]

There was indeed some "history" about a decade ago that ended up with him IIRC, on permanent moderation.  He left for another pen board and lasted there just a short while before he got banned, which took some work, but he did it.

[LoveBigPensAndCannotLie]

I'm curious as well, I have used some of his videos as reference, can someone let me know what happened with him and why his videos are not recommended?

[Paul-in-SF]

18 minutes ago, LoveBigPensAndCannotLie said:

I'm curious as well, I have used some of his videos as reference, can someone let me know what happened with him and why his videos are not recommended?

 

What happened with him vis-à-vis this board? I don't know if you will get any very detailed answer to that. My very vague understanding is that there was fervent disagreement between him and repair experts here about some of his repair and/or restoration methods, which (I think) folks here regarded as potentially damaging to the pens. There may have been other issues, but it went downhill from there. 

 

In my opinion you can learn things from his videos about the insides of the pens he takes apart, and you probably won't come to any harm if you leave it at that. 

[es9]

I was curious about him too so I watched some of his videos. I think in one of the first ones I watched I saw him remove a Parker 51 cap jewel without any heat whatsoever—just pushing and twisting with great force against a friction pad of some sort, all while warning about the risk of shearing the jewel off but without advising any heat. This seems to be a theme: Some of what demonstrates might work some of the time, but it exposes pens to unnecessary risk and/or makes it harder to safely repair down the road.
 

It’s striking that he never shows a video in which something goes wrong. On the plus side, he must have a heck of a parts box. 

[senzen]

I find his videos informative and entertaining.

[Ron Z]

...and I find some of his stuff to border on frightening.  I want to choose my words carefully here.

 

The events were about a decade or more ago.  There was a thread  and video where he suggested a repair method on a snorkel that could lead to damage of one's pen.  A number of people suggested that wasn't a good idea, and got blown off. The guys who chimed in were experienced pen repair people,  one in particular an expert in Sheaffers, and who knows far more than I do.  Steff simply argued with them instead of considering their qualifications, when he was new at the hobby and repair.   It gradually escalated on that thread and others later, to the point where he was banned.

 

Pen repair is not an exact science.  Even with the same model of pen there can be variations in condition that make you change how you do things.  Jim Marshall, who along with Laurence Oldfield has written a set of very good books on pen repair, says that when he made repair videos for the WES in the UK, it took a great deal of time to produce them because you have to make sure that they are exactly right.  It takes time, it takes care, it takes wisdom.  I am not sure that he considers the responsibility that giving instructions on pen repair carries with it.  Your advice if wrong, could lead to a damaged pen. 

 

I've been doing pen repair for about 32 years now, and in the business full time for about 16 years.  I still approach repairs carefully.  I still am careful giving specific advice.

 

 

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

35 minutes ago, Ron Z said:

...and I find some of his stuff to border on frightening.  I want to choose my words carefully here.

 

The events were about a decade or more ago.  There was a thread  and video where he suggested a repair method on a snorkel that could lead to damage of one's pen.  A number of people suggested that wasn't a good idea, and got blown off. The guys who chimed in were experienced pen repair people,  one in particular an expert in Sheaffers, and who knows far more than I do.  Steff simply argued with them instead of considering their qualifications, when he was new at the hobby and repair.   It gradually escalated on that thread and others later, to the point where he was banned.

 

Pen repair is not an exact science.  Even with the same model of pen there can be variations in condition that make you change how you do things.  Jim Marshall, who along with Laurence Oldfield has written a set of very good books on pen repair, says that when he made repair videos for the WES in the UK, it took a great deal of time to produce them because you have to make sure that they are exactly right.  It takes time, it takes care, it takes wisdom.  I am not sure that he considers the responsibility that giving instructions on pen repair carries with it.  Your advice if wrong, could lead to a damaged pen. 

 

I've been doing pen repair for about 32 years now, and in the business full time for about 16 years.  I still approach repairs carefully.  I still am careful giving specific advice.

 

 

Thank you for clarification.