Reform Pens

[willprice94]

Hello Everyone,

Peter (aka. Smeden) has been selling lots of reform pens, I bought a p120 and 1745 off him (Shout out to peter, Great seller who shipped very quickly! no affiliation etc). I was curious as to what people think of the pens. My P120 wrote perfectly out of the box however both the 1745s seem to be quite toothy, I sorted 1 of them by adjusting the tines a bit which has helped. However on the other one, no matter how much i fiddle with the tines can i get it to write smoothly when pulling the pen left. Peter says there is a lot of variation between these pens, hence YMMV. What have others experienced?

Edited May 29, 2010 by willprice94

[wheezur]

I have no experience with Reform pens, but it seems that this is the perfect opportunity for you to venture into a bit of nib work. You have already done some aligning that helped. Take the plunge. Get a loupe and some abrasives (Binder's nib polishing kit is a good way to start, but Tryphon and others sell micromesh and mylar-backed abrasive sheets). With the aid of the loupe make sure that the nib is aligned before you start polishing. Then polish. There are some instructions posted at various places on the web (John Mottishaw's site, IIRC, has a good article) and numerous posts here about grinding and polishing.

 

These are inexpensive pens and you are not happy with the way they write so you have little to lose and a lot to gain. It is really a nice sense of accomplishment to spend 15 minutes (OK, it'll take longer the first couple of times) to change a scratchy nib into a great writer. I've had to touch up about 1/3 of my pens. A couple of nice vintage pens were huge disappointments when I first got them, but after just a bit of effort they have become some of my favorites.

 

By most accounts it seems that Reforms are good, well-well built pens. They might not be worth the trouble and expense to send them off to a nib expert (but you would very likely have a great writer if you go this route) but they are certainly worth tweaking yourself. Depending on the width of the nib, you might even want to try to turn one of them into a CI.

[willprice94]

Already got myself a 30x loupe and am waiting upon a micromesh stick This is exactly what i bought them for, cheap, good quality and i like the look. Replacements nibs i doubt would cost that much hence I dont mind messing them up!

[tawanda]

I've had several 1745s and each one was slightly different. Some nibs were 'springy' some nail hard, and the width - meant to all be standard medium - varied considerably. I've kept my favourite and sold the others on. I also had one with a very stiff piston, which was easy to rectify with a little silicone grease.

 

The P120s are ,IMO, slightly better pens. Bigger, nicer nibs, and less variation in nib quality. The only drawback to them is, unlike thw 1745, you cannot remove the nib to grease the piston, and some of them can be quite stiff. Having said that a month with Noodlers Eel ink sitting in it cured the worst offender. I have four P120s and love, and use, them all. Great for your more 'dangerous' inks like the Baystate series, or Parker Penman range.

 

But, in all honesty, for the price, you can't beat 'em. There's not another decent piston filler to be had for five times the cost. And smeden is awesome to buy from (no affil)

[willprice94]

I know what you mean, I'm really tempted to go back and buy another few p120s from smeden, for that price its very tempting, though i know i should get some more inks first

[Bo Bo Olson]

I won the double pack 1745 that was offered here in Germany (for E-3)...one Fine, one EF...one can swap nibs there. I got the P-125 the same week. I was disappointed the P-125 was a friction fit...nib writes well. The P-120 is semi hooded. I had that some few months before getting the rest of the set.

 

Now those pens NOS that have been sitting for @30 years.

 

So I smoothed away the micro-corrosion, using a brown paper bag...write circles left and right, up and down....do that for 20 seconds, check if it has helped. I did that three times...it will improve your pens I am sure. It improved mine.

To cheap to buy micro-mesh...still hooked on buying and not repairing.

 

On the 1745 I would suggest soaking and screwing out the nibs,and putting a toothpick's worth of pure 100% silicon grease on the edge of the piston, it will be come butter smooth, with in three up and downs. Soak and wiggle out the P-125 nib and feed to do the same.

 

I was not going to fiddle with that semi-hooded P-120 to get at the slightly stiff piston. I got some glycerin; mixed it with a tad of water and sucked it into the pen and let it sit a day. That worked well...not quite as smooth as silicon grease but improved the pen enough that the piston is no longer stiff.

 

I thought I had saved the exact measurements of the P-120, P-125, and the 1745's.

I didn't.

The P120-125 have the same size body, the nib of the older styled P-125 makes it a tad longer than the semi-hooded P-120. What surprised me was the Reform 1745 posted longer than I think it was the P-120.

The P-120 and 125 are the same width of the Parker 75...the Reform 1745 is noticeably thinner.

 

I am glad I got the Reform 1745 (double pack), one was an EF, and the other a Fine goes to my god son. Both the P-120 and the P-125 had F nibs...

 

My F's (EF) appear to be luck of the draw then...and do go get a second P-120...could say the same of the P-125 too, except because of scarcity they cost twice as much as a P-120.

Edited May 29, 2010 by Bo Bo Olson

[willprice94]

Smeden sells the 1745s already greased which is good! No need to do that myself. I tried the paper bag trick last night, they were somewhat smoother but not as smooth as i would like them to be, see how the micromesh works out!

Well done on your purchase of the double pack, what a bargain! I paid £19 incl postage for all 3 of my pens which i consider a good deal, but hell, you got an amazing deal! Was that on ebay.de?

[Bo Bo Olson]

Ya, Ebay.de.

There is a Reform double pack up for bid, every 2-4 hours. Well there is anytime I look...which is not in the last month of course.

 

Many months ago, I'd set a limit of E-5, and everyone out bid me, by a smidgen then.

I splurged on the P120 and got it for @E-6-7. I got lucky on that too, because many out bid me over the months I took a gamble.

 

Satisfied with the P-120 I had stopped looking.

 

I expected the P-125 to be thicker than the P120, which it is not. It is a bit longer though, and posts a bit longer, so it's balance is a tad different.

 

The P-125 cost me @E-10 though...I got that the same week as the Reform 1745 double pack. There are a lot less P-125's out there.

 

I guess one could call the Reform pens the Esterbrook of Germany.

They lasted a long time in the school market with Geha, Pelikan and Lamy.

[willprice94]

I'm a big fan of german made pens: Lamy, rotring, pelikna, reform etc. Never tried an esterbrook, how do the 2 compare?

[kpkelsey]

i bought an esterbrook from a guy on here last week. love it. love it. might be my favorite pen right now, and that's saying something. smooth, fine point. not too wet, not too dry. beautiful. my first vintage pen and if they were all like this one, i'd be on the hunt for more of them.

[Bo Bo Olson]

The Esterbrook is a "second Tier" US pen, and are nice solid pens; still after 50-60-70 years.

I have a couple of Transitional, A "jewel" on the cap, and a flat bottom. The Double J, with jewels top and bottoms come in three sizes. I prefer the colors between the 40's and @1960 or so when the plain pastel came in.

I do not have any with the metal caps of that time.

There are six basic colors with many attractive variations.

 

 

What makes and breaks the Esterbrook is it's nib.

There are so many different kinds.

 

the 15xx was the first and not as good as the next generation the 2xxx, both are rolled steel tip and rolled steel seems to work well in the 2xxx....it was a use and change nib system.

The 9xxx system had iridium tip, that made it a longer lived nib......many like the 2xxx better, many the 9xxx.

 

There is also a 3xxx nib that is the most beautiful and very rare. There are a couple more; but I don't remember what the 8xxx did...I think that could have been war time

 

I'm glad you KPkelsky got a good Esterbrook....easy to repair, long lived....my first gray is from 1950, can tell by the shape of the end of the ink filling lever....and the original sac is still working....

[watch_art]

my 1745 wrote perfectly and has some spring to it. i can get some really nice line variation with mine. only thing is it's nearly impossible to get a full fill. but i don't mind that too much.

[Marko Kloos]

My 1745 is one of my favorite writers. The nib is a smooth medium-fine with a hint of flex, and it puts down some really distinctive lines.

 

I paid less than $20 including shipping. Dollar for performance, my best purchase by a fair margin.

[willprice94]

Is there anywhere where i can find a catalogue of reform pens, im interested at what they made.

[cuza]

Is there anywhere where i can find a catalogue of reform pens, im interested at what they made.

 

Reform is out of business and I would assume that Reform pen catalogs are most difficult to find. I believe a company called Alvin bought them out along with the Reform line of technical pens. Alvin pens are still available. Good luck.

 

-- cuza

[willprice94]

Yeh, I was hoping for an old scan in or something. I haven't managed to find anything though

[j-e-g]

Can anyone give me any information, opinions or review for a Reform calligraphy pen from ALVIN"

 

Another "junk" shop find. It is Unused, in a plastic box and the cardboard sleeve, the above written in gold (color) on the clear top.

The sticker on the box says : "ALVIN W- Germany No. 180 1-BR.

 

The pen is Brown with silver tone clip/band etc. The nib is gold tone and has lots of flex Nib reads: "Reform Iridium Point"

 

I haven't been able to find much with a Google search for Reform. I might have better luck searching for ALVIN.

 

The search did show one on eBay - Identical pen but the description is in Italian:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/stilografica-REFORM-ALVIN-fountain-Pen-Germany-1960-70-NUOVA-Nib-F-/221825341686?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_101&hash=item33a5d218f6

[j-e-g]

Love me some cut and paste. Google translate gives me this as the eBay description, not a good deal of information, but a start

Description -

"Rare Fountain Reform Alvin made in Germany, screw cap, suction piston driven by internal rotation of the tail, as the characteristic features of the German stylo.

Transparent window of observation, original nib period marked:

<Reform Iridium F W.Germany>

Which delivers a soft and smooth writing section End.

The stem color Brown and golden accessories:

- Clip engraved mod. ALVIN

- Eternity engraved Reform - Germany

It is fountain NEW while eessendo been realized in other time, because residue of old warehouses!

Writes magnificently well and without any doubt, it is a well-known brand, very popular in the 60's and 70's ......

The Stylo is accompanied by certificate of origin and guarantee."

[Bo Bo Olson]

Since this thread, I was told about Reform by Thomas/Kaweco. The Original Reform was a very solid pen, well made, one of the top quality pens of Germany.

 

In the mid '50's as the ball point came in, the owner refused to make a cheap pen to compete with ball points. He closed his factory....a few years alter sold the machinery and name to Muslchner(sp) another Heidelberg company. They made the cheap 1745 and other 3rd tier German pens..

 

Thomas thinks the machines were eventually sold to China.

So China must ship a crate of tops and a crate of bottoms to Germany where they are now 'made' into a pen.

Reform also made pens for Cento. I have one of each; war pens. Both very solidly made.

 

For cheap, the 1745 is a good enough pen. I gave mine except for the EF to my godson. I only have 4-5 EF pens; and no wish for more. A nail, (no semi-nails) regular flex, like the Reform, semi-flex and 'flexi'/maxi-semi-flex.

[Sasha Royale]

 

 

I got this box from a gentleman in Germany, who travels a lot. One has to be patient, as he is away from home often. With shipping, the display box of 24 pens was 100€ . Great value ! Four of us divided the order, after I lubricated the pistons and threads (nib and piston knob). All 24 used just over ½ vial of TWSBI lube. Post-lubrication, the mechanism is so smooth, some suspect the pen had broken.

 

The 1745 has a very fine nib. Some find it "scratchy". I hardly notice, as I write with a light touch.