The Best Of The Worst

[Richard]

My best? It depends on my mood.

 

This "51" is my all-time favorite. It writes wonderfully, it has the color combination that I love above all others, and it's a "51". What's not to like?

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/coll/zoomed/51_cedar_sterling.jpg

 

But my absolute hands-down best writer is this Waterman's Hundred Year Pen, which flaunts a killer flexie:

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/coll/zoomed/hundred_year_1943.jpg

 

My worst? Gosh, there are so many! My worst writer is probably this Arnold, which has a spoon nib that I've never even bothered to tune. (It's part of an FP/MP set, and I bought the set for its provenance.)

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/coll/zoomed/arnold_set_pen.jpg

 

But the pen I've loved least was probably a Hero 329. At one time I owned about half a dozen 329s. One of them refused to write no matter what I did to it. I had it apart enough times that it should have qualified for a quantity discount on repairs, and I could never get the bloody thing to write. It's the only pen I've ever worked on that I could not make work. It wasn't this 329; this one wrote well, but it looked just like this one except that it was green.

 

http://www.richardspens.com/images/ref/profiles/51/zoomed/329.jpg

Edited March 4, 2011 by Richard

[stevlight]

Best MB 149--any of the 10 I own--they all draw like dreams and ALWAYS work.

 

Worst was a Parker Sonnet--NEVER wrote--long gone---OH there was a Stipula 22 that I could not get to write no matter what i did--almost threw it across the room but gave it to some one here on FPN after disclosing how terrible it was they still wanted it!

[Sailor Kenshin]

a Chinese very inexpensive pen, which leaked right out of box. I did not hesitate to throw it out.

 

!!! You are made of sterner stuff than I am. I couldn't bear to throw out any fountain pen, unless it was so badly ruined it was useless even for parts. :roflmho: I even still have the pen I bought in Target...

 

 

We should stuff them and mount them on a rack...

[Motomo]

As for my pens, the absolute best I have are the Pelikan M150 I received for Christmas, a Parker Parkette I bought in the Marketplace, and Waterman 52 I bought on ebay.

 

The absolute worst pen was a camlin(?) piston filler I bought on ebay that leaked first time I filled it and then the piston snapped off.

[Black Rose]

Worst is tied between a Dollar piston filler and a Pilot 78G B nib, doth of which were absolutely awful.

Now isn't that weird. I received a new Pilot 78G B nib pen this week and it's a fantastic writer.

[Kid Parker]

Best: a toss-up between my trusty Yard-O-Led Viceroy with nib customized for my lefty penmanship, and my Parker 75 Ambassador with custom fine stub nib.

 

Worst: I don't have a worst pen. If a pen refuses to function well for me, I quickly replace it. Life's too short to wield substandard pens!

[nicholasyeo]

I haven't had a worst pen... I think I do test everything before buying.

But there are terrible nibs that come by. Just horrid, made wrongly.

[BrandonA]

Best = MB Marcel Proust

 

Worst = Don't have one as I only have good pens. For the sake of the decision though I will say my MB Kakfa as the filling mechanism is currently broken and needs to be repaired.

[in the flow]

Well, I don't have a lot of pens. So from a limited sample set:

 

My best is a Lamy 99 - very smooth writer, with great semi-flex nib, piston filling system, and low-key vintage style.

 

My worst is not a bad pen at all, so let me rephrase it as the one I like least: Lamy Safari - great practicality and functionality, but I don't (didn't?) hold my pens in the moulded grip shape and I don't like the weight or the chunky style (though I can appreciate it and it's growing on me).

[ticoun]

best: penusa genesis gunmetal, but it will probably go down to 2nd place when i recieve my nos sheaffer imperial II deluxe.

 

worst: my sheaffer 330. it has a very nice writing factory stub, but the feed is all clogged up, so much that ink barely gets trough. after 4 months of efforts, i still can't get the darn feed out of the inlaid nib's section. even if it never writes again, i'll keep that pen, since it was given to me by my dad 2 years ago. he used it a lot during the 70's and 80's.

[Fuddlestack]

Worst, was my first pen I ever bought once I started buying pens. The first thing I bought on Ebay. A chrome Graduate Waterman pen, a fingerprint trap with a nail nib. That may have been the worst. I sold it for almost the € 5.00 I paid for it.

I'd heard of Waterman....ok.

 

+1 on the Graduate, scratchy, horrid, unredeemable nib, feeding by dribs and drabs and stopping at every lamp-post. That is definitely my worst.

 

The best, though... probably my 1975 Sheaffer 444 XG with a slightly flexible nib, which writes smoothly and reliably despite having one tine higher than the other. A wee bit copious in the feed, it lays down a dense line with never a hiccup. If it flexed a whit more it would be perfect.

[knitknitfrog]

Best - a Sheaffer commandant in Carmine red, vac, with an original cursive italic fine nib. A find with a poor photo on eBay - restored by Gerry Berg.

 

The worst, well a 'vanity' buy, I found out that there was a Stella school pen, a piston filler in grey and just had to have one. After all my name is Stella. ... Cheap as, with a section crack so fine it took a loupe to see it. My namesake pen left me covered in ink every time I used it .... I'd like to think I had better manners than that pen.

 

And it is such a nice grey ... Still the Sheaffer is magic to look at and use.

Stella

[empyrean]

Worst: hate to say it, because my old Sheaffers from the 1960s and 1970s write very well. But my recent purchase of the Sheaffer 300(med nib) is dry and you have to make an effort for the nib to write. I have tried many different brands of inks, including the wonderful Aurora black, but the nib is just not up to par. I imagine a fine nib on this pen, if you can find one, would be like writing with a safety pen.

 

Update: I tried a suggestion of one of our members here and used a razor blade on the top of the Sheaffer 300 nib...worked like a charm; the ink flow is better, but still not my favorite pen.

Edited March 4, 2011 by empyrean

[lapis]

By no means a toughy.

You said: "My best is a Parker 51 Aerometric which I use daily." I can only say DITTO -- DITTO -- DITTO (not sorry for yelling). Second, third and fourth best are my M1000, Sahara and M800.)

Worst: 146 but everybody already knows that story of mine.

 

'Ave ze nice dayo.

 

Mike

[OcalaFlGuy]

Through the combination of being blessed, having a little bit of good luck and doing my homework before buying a pen I wanted, I can honestly say I have only 1 pen that falls into the Bad category. I knew I was taking my chances when I bought it and sure enough, I got bit. It's a beautiful Black Laque/GT Parker Sonnet with a delightfully springy 18k nib in it. That unfortunately exhibits the textbook Sonnet ills, hard starting and at random, non-predictable skipping. I would see about having it repaired except I lost my interest somewhat in black pens along the way.

 

All the rest of my pens are perfectly acceptable writers and lookers.

 

Of those, a BUNCH have been made Perfect with either custom ground nibs or at least in one case, having the flow alone optimized to my preference.

 

The 4 pens in my usually grab it first carry case are an Estie Blue Transitional with a Pendleton Point, a Blue Sheaffer Imperial with a Binder CI, a Cedar Blue P-51 Vac with a Masuyama CI and a Midnight Blue/Lustraloy-GT Aero P-51 that also has a Masuyama CI. I REALLY wouldn't want to have to pick just one of them but if you put a gun to my head, I guess I'd have to go with the Aero 51.

 

Life is too short for less than great pens. Either get the goods one made great or cast them away from you.

 

Bruce in Ocala, FL

[corniche]

Greetings all,

 

Thank you all for chiming in- this has made interesting reading to say the least. The only real surprises I've found so far are that Richard was foiled by a Hero 329 and that there aren't more 51s in the "best" column. (Excepting Mike's exuberant endorsement, of course ). Please keep 'em coming.

 

All the best,

 

Sean http://www.millan.net/minimations/smileys/ribbons/black2.gif

Aka, the friendly curmudgeon

Edited March 5, 2011 by S. P. Colfer

[Blade Runner]

By no means a toughy.

You said: "My best is a Parker 51 Aerometric which I use daily." I can only say DITTO -- DITTO -- DITTO (not sorry for yelling). Second, third and fourth best are my M1000, Sahara and M800.)

Worst: 146 but everybody already knows that story of mine.

 

'Ave ze nice dayo.

 

Mike

We heard that story recently. Any brand can create a lemon, but throwing away a new 146 instead of demanding ultimate satisfaction from MB is silly. You have only yourself to blame for that wasteful act.

Edited March 5, 2011 by Blade Runner

[rwilsonedn]

...

We heard that story recently. Any brand can create a lemon, but throwing away a new 146 instead of demanding ultimate satisfaction from MB is silly. You have only yourself to blame for that wasteful act.

I have to differ. When my 146 turned out to be useless, I demanded satisfaction from MB. Repeatedly. What I received was two large charges for factory repairs on what was clearly a defective pen, plus a pen scarred by what appears to be plastic cement around the end of the barrel. In my experience trying to deal with MB was a waste of time and money. Had I known then about the network, I would have been far better off sending the new pen to an independent restorer.

ron

[JefferyS]

Best - Parker Duofold - very smooth and pleasant to hold

 

Worst - Omas Jerusalem 3000 - skips, and about a smooth as writing with a safety pin on a paper towel.

[Blade Runner]

...

We heard that story recently. Any brand can create a lemon, but throwing away a new 146 instead of demanding ultimate satisfaction from MB is silly. You have only yourself to blame for that wasteful act.

I have to differ. When my 146 turned out to be useless, I demanded satisfaction from MB. Repeatedly. What I received was two large charges for factory repairs on what was clearly a defective pen, plus a pen scarred by what appears to be plastic cement around the end of the barrel. In my experience trying to deal with MB was a waste of time and money. Had I known then about the network, I would have been far better off sending the new pen to an independent restorer.

ron

I've sent many new pens from a variety brands back, sometimes multiple times, and eventually I've gotten satisfaction, either a perfectly functioning pen or a refund. I am very persistent when I know my rights and what I am entitled to. Even if you don't get satisfaction the first time or two, throwing away an expensive new pen isn't the most brilliant idea.

Edited March 5, 2011 by Blade Runner