Pens with the metal grip section

[Pen2009]

Most of my pens have the regular resin body and I find them to easy to grip. Even though I like the Omas Emotica's design very much, I am still trying to get used to its grip section, which is metal. There is something about the Emotica's metal grip section which makes it difficult for me to grip firmly. I am interested in hearing how others think about pens with the metal grip section. Visconti, ST Dupont, Dunhill, Faber Castell also make some pens with the metal grip section. So, I would like to make this thread include a variety of pens with the metal grip section.

[anaximander]

I had one of the Lamy Studio pens that has the metal grip (there are versions of that pen that don't have it). I found that pen very hard to write with. I felt like I had to grip the pen harder to avoid slippage, which of course meant serious hand fatigue.

[Silvermink]

I don't like metal sections unless they have some texture. I have to say that makes me a little less-inclined to get an Emotica, though it's otherwise-coolness will probably still win me over in the end.

[J English Smith]

I don't like pens with slippery metal sections. Two that I do like are my Conklin Victory and of course, the Lamy 2000. They require non-sweaty hands to use comfortably, but are reasonably comfortable because they are relatively light weight. The heavier the pen, the less well that a metal section works, IMO.

[Pen2009]

I don't like metal sections unless they have some texture. I have to say that makes me a little less-inclined to get an Emotica, though it's otherwise-coolness will probably still win me over in the end.

With my Emotica, I typically grip it around the upper metal grip section and the lower barrel section. So, at least my writing fingers can grab it better than other pens which have a smooth transition from the metal grip section to the barrel section.

http://www.worldlux.com/products/omas/_pens/emoticapolishedred/fullsize5.jpg

Edited September 5, 2009 by Pen2009

[Bill]

Before I joined FPN I didn't know I was supposed to dislike metal sections.

 

I feel so left out because I have yet to experience an Omas or Visconti or Pelikan M625 suddenly shooting out of my fingers and across the room. The horror! The horror!

 

And all those years of carrying skinny metal Cross and Parker and lacquered Waterman ballpoints in rain and snow and humidity gone to waste, too.

 

About the best I have done is maybe a Parker 51 squirming inside sweaty fingers. I feel so bad that I am not getting the full "gripability" experience. Maybe if I eat a greasy bagful of buttered popcorn before trying to pick up a Van Gogh from under a dripping faucet...

 

Bill

 

Text inside my thought balloon: You don't suppose that many metalized pens are harder to hold because of their extra weight or poor balance? Nah, I must have dreamed that.

 

 

 

[bphollin]

I had one of the Lamy Studio pens that has the metal grip (there are versions of that pen that don't have it). I found that pen very hard to write with. I felt like I had to grip the pen harder to avoid slippage, which of course meant serious hand fatigue.

I had the same experience with Lamy Studio. I don't mind the metal section on Lamy 2000 and Visconti Wall Street.

[Chthulhu]

The only pen I have with a metal section is enameled over the metal, but I find the appearance of a metal section unappealing; cold, hard, sterile ...

[Tumbleweedtoo]

When I got back into fountain pens earlier this year (having used one gray Cross Century for almost 20 years until I damaged the cap), I ordered off ebay a half dozen or more cheap pens that were made in China (mostly different Heros). I really enjoyed the way they all wrote right out of the box with no problems (and that re-ignited my interest in fountain pens), but they all had the metal grip that I had to hold tightly (which I did not notice or mind at the time). These cheaper metal grip pens were no problem; UNTIL I thought I would buy a Century II, then a Townsend, and about a half dozen different Cross pen models or the same model with different nibs, and then a Sailor, etc. Then, after dropping and damaging a very good Cross pen in a fast food joint last week, I thought I would go back to my cheaper metal grip pens to carry so if I dropped one on a hard surface it would be no big deal. To my dismay, I found I could not easily or enjoyably write with any of the metal grip pens I tried and had used before. So, I decided to go back to carrying my Cross pen and being more careful. Maybe I can use these metal grip pens for founrtain pen evangelism. :-) BTW: Cross customer service was great the first two times over 20 years when I needed the cap replaced on my old Century. The third time I damaged the cap (about 4 or 5 years ago), I chose to keep the pen with the damaged cap as a keepsake rather than have it fixed, and decided to support Cross and the company's excellent service by just buying a new pen (I did not anticipate that decision would lead me to buying another, then another, then another. . . .)

 

Tumbleweedtoo

[Pfhorrest]

Only if it's a thin section. Thicker ones, regardless of the slippery texture, are pretty secure, at least in my hands.

[Tumbleweedtoo]

All of my Hero pens have a very thin metal section that gets more thin as it approaches the nib. That may be why they no longer write as well for me. YMMV

 

Tumbleweedtoo

[Ghost Plane]

No problem at all. I have a wide variety from Visconti to Yard o Led. Mild annoyance is needing to occasionally wipe off a buildup of fingerprints, but I find having a wide enough section is the key. The pens simply lay in my hands and no need to grip them beyond steering. It's the pens with the too narrow diameter that drive me nuts, but that's more a function of the pen designs than what material the section is made out of.

[Ernst Bitterman]

The only one I have of that sort is slightly less slippery than the plastic section of my otherwise all-steel Waterman Hemisphere. It's an unhappy problem when it develops, though.

[FrankB]

I do not find metal sections necessarily slippery. My dislike of metal sections is mostly tactile. I don't like the feel of them. They are cold and uncomfortable, and I feel they unbalance a pen. I consider it one of my (many) eccentricities, yet a metal section is a deal breaker.

[DRP]

I have a Bexley Grande Submariner with a metal section and have had no problems with it. Let me go beyond that by saying that I really like it.

 

I purchased the pen from Dennis at Parkville Pens. I don't think it had a metal section originally but I saw another pen with the metal which matched the clip, etc. and really liked it. So, Dennis traded sections (Dennis is very good about accommodating customer requests).

 

Anyway, I have a unique pen which is among my favorites.

 

I've had absolutely no problem with the metal section.

 

There is one point which deserves mentioning: It is important to buy from a dealer where you can try the pen before buying it -- or else buy from a dealer who will make changes after the sale in order to ensure customer satisfaction. When you're spending a lot of money on a pen, it's important to buy from someone who committed to customer service and satisfaction.

[orangeaurora]

I have a Taccia Ta-ke pen with a metal section. Before I bought the pen, I thought the section might be a problem, but it hasn't been at all. My experience is the same as Ghost Plane's. The pen is very comfortable to write with, although posting the cap makes it a bit top-heavy. Even that isn't a problem, though; it's just a different feel from my other fountain pens. I do a lot of writing with the Ta-ke and am very pleased with it.

[Silvermink]

I do not find metal sections necessarily slippery. My dislike of metal sections is mostly tactile. I don't like the feel of them. They are cold and uncomfortable, and I feel they unbalance a pen. I consider it one of my (many) eccentricities, yet a metal section is a deal breaker.

 

This is a consideration for me, too. A metal section just doesn't feel as nice under my fingers as other materials.

[Painterspal]

By and large, they haven't caused me many problems. They can seen a bit slippy at first and I sometimes find it takes me a moment or two longer to get my grip right, compared to plastic or ebonite pens, but once I get going I like most of the ones I've tried just as much as any other material. It also depends a bit on the shape, for example the Pelikan 625 and Visconti Van Gogh are great, but I never manage to get comfortable using the Lamy 2000.

[Chthulhu]

The only pen I have with a metal section is enameled over the metal, but I find the appearance of a metal section unappealing; cold, hard, sterile ...

 

Without altering my previous stance, I now have three pens with bare metal sections: two Parker Vectors and a Jinhao "Missile" pen. The satin stainless steel on the Vectors isn't bad, being just a short cylinder matching the cap-posting station at the butt of the pen; regardless, my large hands force me to hold the pen by the barrel with only the tip of my index finger resting on the section, and that isn't at all slippery.

 

By contrast, the tiny Jinhao pen has drip points formed into the section, and the whole pen is brightly polished, almost to a mirror finish. Rather than making it slippery, it's more like holding glass unless my hands sweat. Again, though, I'm forced to hold the pen by the barrel and behind the section, so slipperiness isn't an issue.

 

Interestingly, having the entire pen in the same bright metal removes much of the sterility of its having a metal section ... I'll have to try more of them, I suppose. :-)

[Peter from Sherwood Park]

I have oily skin and sweaty palms (sounds lovely, doesn't it?) and use pens with metal sections (from Cross, Faber Castell, Rotring and Pilot) without problem.