Pens With Big Sections

[Fiddlermatt]

As much as I like my esterbrook J, I think I am going to have to start collecting pens with bigger sections. Apparently I have giant ape-like hands. I've been looking at several pens refuted as being large--Laban Mento, A varuna, or a Lamy studio. I would prefer sections larger than .50 inches. Also, I would like to keep it under $100 (well under if possible). Filling mechanism is not a big deal for me. Converter, piston, eyedropper--whatever. Are there any pens that fit my criteria? (And, does anyone want to buy an Esterbrook? :ltcapd: )

[UDog]

I have the same affliction, size 9.5 glove size. I really like the Monteverde Prima at the lower price range and the Pilot Custom 742 at the upper price range (used of course). To me, they seem perfect. I have an Esterbrook J and it is okay, but a little too dainty.

[linearM]

I just purchased a Danitrio Cum Laude which has a nice large diameter section and is a C/C filler. It is a beautiful pen to boot. Cost is under $100.

[Fiddlermatt]

I have the same affliction, size 9.5 glove size. I really like the Monteverde Prima at the lower price range and the Pilot Custom 742 at the upper price range (used of course). To me, they seem perfect. I have an Esterbrook J and it is okay, but a little too dainty.

 

My problem is my hands are not just wide (same size as yours) but my fingers are really, really long. I makes gripping a small pen hard. Thanks for the suggestions. The monteverge looks great! I really like the styling.

[Fiddlermatt]

Sorry to hijack my own thread, but does anyone have the section diameter of a TWSBI 540? I'm not crazy about not being able to post it, but it is reputed as being a large pen.

[UDog]

Sorry to hijack my own thread, but does anyone have the section diameter of a TWSBI 540? I'm not crazy about not being able to post it, but it is reputed as being a large pen.

 

The TWSBI section is 10-11mm. For me, it is right on the edge of being a little small. It's not bad unposted though. It does hold a lot of ink. The nibs are true Western sized.

[Fiddlermatt]

Sorry to hijack my own thread, but does anyone have the section diameter of a TWSBI 540? I'm not crazy about not being able to post it, but it is reputed as being a large pen.

 

The TWSBI section is 10-11mm. For me, it is right on the edge of being a little small. It's not bad unposted though. It does hold a lot of ink. The nibs are true Western sized.

 

Thanks for the info, 12mm is way to small for me, so the TWSBI don't work.

[crazystan]

Sorry to hijack my own thread, but does anyone have the section diameter of a TWSBI 540? I'm not crazy about not being able to post it, but it is reputed as being a large pen.

 

The TWSBI section is 10-11mm. For me, it is right on the edge of being a little small. It's not bad unposted though. It does hold a lot of ink. The nibs are true Western sized.

 

Thanks for the info, 12mm is way to small for me, so the TWSBI don't work.

 

But you're able to play the fiddle? I too have fairly large hands, and it's just too tight a space to work in. I wound up having to switch to bass. From experience, the Lamy Studio is probably not going to be wide enough, and with the metal section, the grip can get kind of funky. I found myself struggling with it. I know it's a bit over your budget (by +/- $40) but have you thought of a Bexley Corona? I find them to be really comfortable, and while not overly substantial, they are a good size pen. The sections are long and have a really nice taper to them. Also, they hold a good amount of ink. Just a thought...

 

Good luck in your quest!

[mhosea]

Thanks for the info, 12mm is way to small for me, so the TWSBI don't work.

 

Confused here. Of all the pens in the table on www.nibs.com, the ONLY one that has a gripping section larger than 12mm is the Montblanc 149, which has a gripping section diameter of about 13mm. There are pens with larger section diameters of course, weird and wonderful things, no doubt, but I was wondering if maybe you had some numbers mixed up. I use, among other things, a Bexley Poseidon Magnum, and its section is pretty large, though not as large as a MB 149. If you look at the pens for sale area of Richard Binder's site www.richardspens.com, there's a tool that allows you to "Compare our new pens side by side". Then you can select some pens to show and compare gripping section sizes visually. He has some vintage "not for sale" pens there for comparison purposes, including an Esterbrook J.

Edited April 24, 2012 by mhosea

[linearM]

I just checked and the section on the Danitrio Cumlaude is 1/2".

[bicfan]

As much as I like my esterbrook J, I think I am going to have to start collecting pens with bigger sections. Apparently I have giant ape-like hands. I've been looking at several pens refuted as being large--Laban Mento, A varuna, or a Lamy studio. I would prefer sections larger than .50 inches. Also, I would like to keep it under $100 (well under if possible). Filling mechanism is not a big deal for me. Converter, piston, eyedropper--whatever. Are there any pens that fit my criteria? (And, does anyone want to buy an Esterbrook? :ltcapd: )

Jinhao 159. Clone of Mont Blanc 149. $10 shipped on the bay. Biggest pen I own. Too big for me.

Edited April 24, 2012 by bicfan

[bluejay]

http://www.vintagepens.com/pen_measurements.shtml

 

Use this site to help find out what pens will fit for your needs.

[mhosea]

Jinhao 159. Clone of Mont Blanc 149. $10 shipped on the bay. Biggest pen I own. Too big for me.

 

I just received one of these Jinhao 159's today. This pen makes me sad. I've bought several pens costing 10-20 times as much, and while some of them write differently, and all of them look better (IMO), none of them actually write better.

[DanF]

I agree that 10 - 11 mm is a pretty large section by todays standards, even more so for vintage. If 12mm "way too small", I wonder if you are thinking circumference (distance around) rather than diameter (distance across).

 

Dan

 

 

[bicfan]

Jinhao 159. Clone of Mont Blanc 149. $10 shipped on the bay. Biggest pen I own. Too big for me.

 

I just received one of these Jinhao 159's today. This pen makes me sad. I've bought several pens costing 10-20 times as much, and while some of them write differently, and all of them look better (IMO), none of them actually write better.

 

That's the nature of modern fountain pen QC. A fountain pen is pretty low-tech, old-tech stuff when you think about it -- not rocket science. Anyone making fountain pens should have it sorted by now; it's been 100 years.

 

I mean, we can build computer chips with a bazillion transistors on them, and they work . . . but we can't cut and polish a piece of steel into a damn nib that writes well.

Edited April 24, 2012 by bicfan

[mhosea]

I mean, we can build computer chips with a bazillion transistors on them, and they work . . . but we can't cut and polish a piece of steel into a damn nib that writes well.

 

Yeah. I re-read my post, however, and I wasn't sure my intended irony was clear because folks may not know that I have some great-writing pens, most of these adjusted by Richard Binder, and my new $11 Jinhao 159 writes about as well as the best of them. Smooth, no start-up problems, no skipping, good flow. Of course the steel nib is a little stiff compared to any of my gold nibs, but it's not too bad in that respect. I'd probably give my Binderized Parker Premier Medium nib the nod for being a better experience overall because of a little bit of bounce that the 18k nib gives, but I'm tempted to buy another Jinhao 159 and toss it in the drawer for when something happens to this one, just in case it gets harder to find bargains like this in future rather than easier. Of course, as you point out, there's no guarantee that the next one will be as good as the one I've got.

 

What's annoying to me is that pen companies have never bothered to develop steel nibs that give the same semi-flexibility of gold nibs. I think maybe the reason they don't is the same reason that Sailor makes 21k nibs even though there's probably no good reason to go above 14k. Gold costs money but it also sells expensive pens. Still, you'd think some nib manufacturer or other would just sort it out.

[bicfan]

I mean, we can build computer chips with a bazillion transistors on them, and they work . . . but we can't cut and polish a piece of steel into a damn nib that writes well.

 

Yeah. I re-read my post, however, and I wasn't sure my intended irony was clear because folks may not know that I have some great-writing pens, most of these adjusted by Richard Binder, and my new $11 Jinhao 159 writes about as well as the best of them. Smooth, no start-up problems, no skipping, good flow. Of course the steel nib is a little stiff compared to any of my gold nibs, but it's not too bad in that respect. I'd probably give my Binderized Parker Premier Medium nib the nod for being a better experience overall because of a little bit of bounce that the 18k nib gives, but I'm tempted to buy another Jinhao 159 and toss it in the drawer for when something happens to this one, just in case it gets harder to find bargains like this in future rather than easier. Of course, as you point out, there's no guarantee that the next one will be as good as the one I've got.

 

What's annoying to me is that pen companies have never bothered to develop steel nibs that give the same semi-flexibility of gold nibs. I think maybe the reason they don't is the same reason that Sailor makes 21k nibs even though there's probably no good reason to go above 14k. Gold costs money but it also sells expensive pens. Still, you'd think some nib manufacturer or other would just sort it out.

Actually, I have a 159. Must have some baby bottom because it would sometimes not start on the first stroke. I tried to sort it out, diy-style, but I just ended up creating a gusher! So, you might get a good one, you might not.

[jslallar]

I mean, we can build computer chips with a bazillion transistors on them, and they work . . . but we can't cut and polish a piece of steel into a damn nib that writes well.

 

Yeah. I re-read my post, however, and I wasn't sure my intended irony was clear because folks may not know that I have some great-writing pens, most of these adjusted by Richard Binder, and my new $11 Jinhao 159 writes about as well as the best of them. Smooth, no start-up problems, no skipping, good flow. Of course the steel nib is a little stiff compared to any of my gold nibs, but it's not too bad in that respect. I'd probably give my Binderized Parker Premier Medium nib the nod for being a better experience overall because of a little bit of bounce that the 18k nib gives, but I'm tempted to buy another Jinhao 159 and toss it in the drawer for when something happens to this one, just in case it gets harder to find bargains like this in future rather than easier. Of course, as you point out, there's no guarantee that the next one will be as good as the one I've got.

 

What's annoying to me is that pen companies have never bothered to develop steel nibs that give the same semi-flexibility of gold nibs. I think maybe the reason they don't is the same reason that Sailor makes 21k nibs even though there's probably no good reason to go above 14k. Gold costs money but it also sells expensive pens. Still, you'd think some nib manufacturer or other would just sort it out.

I have a cpiple of Parker Sonnets, a Medium and Ffactory Stub, both steel nibs, but with a flex in them. The stub was a replacement for a Medium which had flex but would not write well, and was a chance find at nibs.com.

 

There are stell nibs available with flex but I agree not as many as there could be.

[UDog]

I mean, we can build computer chips with a bazillion transistors on them, and they work . . . but we can't cut and polish a piece of steel into a damn nib that writes well.

 

Yeah. I re-read my post, however, and I wasn't sure my intended irony was clear because folks may not know that I have some great-writing pens, most of these adjusted by Richard Binder, and my new $11 Jinhao 159 writes about as well as the best of them. Smooth, no start-up problems, no skipping, good flow.......

 

I have a couple of $3 Platinum Preppy pens that write as smoothly as my Salior Pro Gear at near 75 times the price.