Your Best Cheap Pen?

[MuddyWaters]

47 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

I love my EF Platinum Carbon Desk Pen, especially for drawing. I've had it inked with Platinum Carbon for years, just topping up as it gets low and have never had it dry out or hard start. Just lucky? I don't think so, it lives in my go-everywhere sketch kit, in and out of the car, to my studio (which gets very hot) and sometimes forgotten for weeks at a time when I'm playing with something else.

 

I like it's dependability, the delicate - almost spidery - line and the balance of the long tail.

 

It's not just a favourite cheap pen, it's a favourite pen in every way.

 

 

 

The platinum carbon desk pen is also one of my most reliable writers. It's a bit fine and scratchy for journaling though and I've tried putting different barrels instead. I have to admit that I put a dry ink in it though which doesn't help the lubrication of the nib tip. 

[InkNsap]

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20 hours ago, MuddyWaters said:

 

Yeah these are excellent excellent pens. They just fall apart within a month or two of heavy use. But their nibs are exquisite. 

 

I wonder if I can fit the lamy Safari with this nib... it’s far superior. I think I have tried it before and didn’t work. 

[InkNsap]

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17 hours ago, Geslina said:

Here is a photo, writing on Weeks paper with the Kakuno EF.  I tend to write big, but you can comfortably write in those little graph spaces with this pen!

 

I just ordered a lavender cap with an EF! I use a Pilot 78g+ In EF for even tinier writing than the Prera F. I also really enjoy Pilot black! I ordered some Pilot namiki black cartridges with the Kakuno. 
 

for inks to use in EF Japanese I’d recommend this lady’s videos 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLuDpVcfnCaS9AcoGTETqLt_nN1tjHYpF8

Gadgetstop321 is also great for EF and F inks reviews in YouTube 

She’s also a member here in FPN. 

[InkNsap]

Just now, InkNsap said:

She’s also a member here in FPN. 

Liz! 

[InkNsap]

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17 hours ago, Geslina said:

Here is a photo, writing on Weeks paper with the Kakuno EF.  I tend to write big, but you can comfortably write in those little graph spaces with this pen!

 

Your handwriting is lovely btw!

[MuddyWaters]

45 minutes ago, InkNsap said:

I wonder if I can fit the lamy Safari with this nib... it’s far superior. I think I have tried it before and didn’t work. 

 

The nib is indeed superior to the Lamy Safari nibs, and indeed the fit is not great. After putting in the Wing Sung nib, the flow becomes poor and one has to splay the tines a little. Even with that it is not ideal though.

 

I tried the nib in other pens like the Wing Sung 3008 but in that too the flow is not great.

 

The original pen is the only one that I have found houses this nib properly with the great writing characteristics of the nib.

[Mannyonpil]

I would have to say the Wing Sung 601 and 699.

 

I have put a lot of miles on these pens. The 699 developed a crack, sadly, but I just got another one!

 

The 699s are hibernating right now but the 601 is in my shirt pocket as I type!

[MuddyWaters]

The 601 filling mechanism looks more durable than the one of the 699 and 618. Also, the solid plastic colour looked sturdier to me... 

[InkNsap]

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2 hours ago, MuddyWaters said:

 

The nib is indeed superior to the Lamy Safari nibs, and indeed the fit is not great. After putting in the Wing Sung nib, the flow becomes poor and one has to splay the tines a little. Even with that it is not ideal though.

 

I tried the nib in other pens like the Wing Sung 3008 but in that too the flow is not great.

 

The original pen is the only one that I have found houses this nib properly with the great writing characteristics of the nib.

 

Thank you! I thought so, well it’s a cheap pen with a great nib. 
 

thank you again for the feedback. 

[Samthor]

On 2/6/2021 at 11:06 AM, Mannyonpil said:

I would have to say the Wing Sung 601 and 699.

 

I have put a lot of miles on these pens. The 699 developed a crack, sadly, but I just got another one!

 

The 699s are hibernating right now but the 601 is in my shirt pocket as I type!

Another 699 vote. It's not so nice as its obvious inspiration, the Pilot 823, but it's 1/6 the price and definitely more than 1/6 the quality and writing experience. My vacuum-fill and piston-fill 699s, both with XF nibs, write smooth without adjustments, always write at the first touch to paper, and have given no trouble through many fills in the 8 months I've had them (except for a persistent user error I describe below). I got the blue version but I also appreciate the brown with transparent section option, as both are departures from the Pilot 823 options.

 

Just don't make my mistake and get two in the same colour with different filling modes. (I hadn't realized that any were piston-fill, so I didn't give due care and accidentally ended up with that combination.) It took a long time and a lot of messes to break my habit of giving the piston-filler's end knob a half turn as I sat down to write, as one does with self-sealing vacuum-fill pens. It's a smooth starter without fiddling with the piston. But I need to give one or the other to a local friend. I don't dare have both types inked at the same time--I'm too much a creature of habit.

 

The XF nibs on each pen put down a line about as thick as my 823's F nibs do. The 699 XF nibs have a bit of variation but less than the significantly larger number 15 fine nibs on Pilot 823s. 

Edited February 7, 2021 by Samthor
changed "all-transparent" to "with transparent section"

[TSherbs]

WS 699 is a great, inexpensive pen (inexpensive for a fountain pen, that is)

[ibrahim]

Anything Pelikan.

[Mech-for-i]

My latest pick goes to the Jinhao 51a open nib version Journalling  edition, I would agree overall the Wing Sung 601 a better pen, but the ability to just take a cartridge is a plus always , and no less where I bought them the pen is only 1/2 to 1/3 the price of the 601 ( depending on which version of the 601 was being talk about )

[InkNsap]

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18 hours ago, Mech-for-i said:

My latest pick goes to the Jinhao 51a open nib version Journalling  edition, I would agree overall the Wing Sung 601 a better pen, but the ability to just take a cartridge is a plus always , and no less where I bought them the pen is only 1/2 to 1/3 the price of the 601 ( depending on which version of the 601 was being talk about )

 

I have been looking at this one with a wooden barrel. I like the idea of writing with a little piece of wood. Why is it always better the open version? 

I have a WS601 and it’s a bit on the scratchy side, I’m considering changing the nib to a broader Bobby nib.... 

[A Smug Dill]

8 hours ago, InkNsap said:

Why is it always better the open version?

 

What do you mean by that?

[es9]

TWSBI 580AL for modern and Esterbrook J for vintage.  Both are incredible values.  They: (1) write very well for their price point; (2) are extremely reliable; (3) can be customized; and (4) are relatively easy to disassemble and clean/service.  Additionally, replacement parts are neither expensive nor difficult to find.  

[RJS]

TWSBI very reliable? 🤔 If these forums are to be believed they're the brand of pen most likely to fall apart/crack. I was going to buy myself one, but have never seen such horrendous reviews here for anything else.

[es9]

4 minutes ago, RJS said:

TWSBI very reliable? 🤔 If these forums are to be believed they're the brand of pen most likely to fall apart/crack. I was going to buy myself one, but have never seen such horrendous reviews here for anything else.

 

I can only speak for my experience, but I have regularly carried my TWSBI 580AL around in a backpack for years.  The only problems I have ever encountered were self-inflicted when overdoing it on nib smoothening.  Perhaps other models are more problematic; I recall wanting the metal parts, for example.  And this is the only TWSBI I have ever used or owned.  

 

YMMV, of course, but my mileage has been quite good   

[RJS]

I've never had any structural problems with fountain pens, new or vintage, other than 3 cheap Chinese pens. Perhaps I'm also lucky! Though I baby the ones that appear comparatively fragile.

[InkNsap]

2 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

What do you mean by that?

A lot of people have said they prefer the open version of the Jinhao 51A. I was just wondering why? I’m considering getting one.