Current Production Fp 2-Pen Desk Set?

[markh]

Does anyone still make a desk set - two fountain pens (one will be black, one red). I'm not looking for anything too expensive.

 

thx,

 

.

[ac12]

First, what is your budget? "Not looking for anything too expensive," tells me very little about your budget. "Too expensive," differs by who you talk to. Where is YOUR $ cut-off.

 

Yes, I Platinum does. If not a set, you get the base + 2 pens, separately.

But the Platinum pens have very fine nibs. The Platinum Extra Fine = western Extra Extra Fine nib. That is fine if you are an accountant, booking entries with a pen, or writing in Japanese or Chinese. But that XXF nib is likely too fine for general purpose western writing.

 

2 pen base:

https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Desk-Pen-Stand-Double/dp/B001D7ZY2S/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1499547650&sr=1-2-fkmr0&keywords=platinum+desk+pen+stand%2C+two+pens

pen:

https://www.amazon.com/Platinum-Desk-Pen-Black-Extra-fine/dp/B004BA6ASQ/ref=sr_1_fkmr1_1?s=office-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1499547650&sr=1-1-fkmr1&keywords=platinum+desk+pen+stand%2C+two+pens

 

I understand that the Pilot desk pens will also fit the Platinum base.

This one has a Medium nib = Western Fine.

https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Fountain-Medium-Black-DPN-200-B-M/dp/B001AX3SS2/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1499547837&sr=8-3&keywords=pilot+desk+pen

 

There are also vintage options. But you are limited in pen options, most pens being ink sac pens.

There are only a few cartridge desk pens that I know of, that will fit a base.

And pen to holder fit is critical. You can't just stick one desk pen into another holder, it likely will NOT fit.

 

Two pen bases are going to be more difficult to find, but they are available on eBay.

Just be careful that both pen are what you want. Some sets are fountain pen + ball pen sets, or ball pen + mechanical pencil, not two fountain pens.

Edited July 8, 2017 by ac12

[markh]

Not too expensive isn't exact, but means "not OMAS, not Montblanc" So it's a wide range.

 

I currently have a clear plastic base (probably Pilot) and two Pilot super cheap pens, all acquired on EBAY. Both nibs are marked "Pilot Super Quality,", which I think they might have been made for the Korean market.

 

Both pens are filled using a Pilot squeeze converter (CON-20). After a week or less, both holders need to be cleaned out of the ink that has leaked into them.

 

I used to use an Esterbrook double holder, a sacked pen. Had the same problem.

 

I was hoping that a higher quality, newer pen might behave better. Maybe not. Might have to settle on a ball pen pair....

 

.

Edited July 8, 2017 by markh

[sciumbasci]

Marlen Scrivania

 

http://www.giardino.it/accessori/marlen/IMMAGINI/deskset.jpg

 

Comes with either wooden holder or the glass(?) one. Should be around ~600 dollars

[FarmBoy]

Sir Strother will have what you desire...

[pajaro]

Rather than pay that, I would go on ebay and seek a Sheaffer two-pen Touchdown Imperial set or seek a Parker 51 set.

 

I have already tried the Parker 45 and Parker 21 sets and found them wanting. I anticipate someone suggesting them. You wouldn't have to worry about leakage into the trumpet of the desk base, though. They will be dry by tomorrow. Been there, tried them, got the T-shirt.

[ac12]

My choice is vintage.

For ease of maintenance, I would get:

• A Parker 51 set, with aerometric pens.
• A Parker 45 set. (Robert Kennedy had a 45 desk set)
• Sheaffer Imperial set with cartridge/converter pens.

But you can also go older vintage like:

• Parker Challenger
• Parker Duofold
• Parker Vacumatic
• Sheaffer, various models.
• Sheaffer Snorkel (President Kennedy had Sheaffer Snorkel desk set)
• Wahl/Eversharp
• etc.

Any pen with a rubber ink sac will have to have the ink sac replaced. Even if it works, the sac could be 50+ years old and about to fail at any time.

 

With vintage pens, you usually do not have a choice of what nib is in the pen. You might be lucky and the nibs are the size you want, or you could be unlucky and the nibs are smaller or larger than what you want. Some pens like the Parker 45 is easy to change the nibs, others like the Parker 51 is more difficult, and some like the inlaid Sheaffer Imperial are impossible to change the nib size.

 

A desk pen leaking into the holder needs to be looked at. It could be the pen, but it could also be the environment.

 

I have used several desk pens, in holders, and they have not leaked into the holders.

• Parker 45
• Parker 51
• Pilot 200
• Sheaffer Touchdown

I have an Esterbrook desk pen that has leaked into the holder. But it is in a room that sometimes gets uncomfortably warm, from the afternoon sun. It is likely that the heated room causes the air in the sac to expand and push out ink, just like an eye dropper pen burps.

Edited July 9, 2017 by ac12