Review: Sheaffer Legacy I Blue Gold Fountain Pen With Factory Stub *warning Picture Heavy

[cellmatrix]

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Appearance

This is one beautiful pen. The deepness of the lacquer is striking. I have a kikyo nakaya and the shine and finish of the blue urushi is a bit better, but I would say the blue lacquer on this pen is not far behind in its depth of color and shine. The colors and the design of the pen seems reminiscent of the blue and gold Waterman Edson. As I suppose any Van Gogh aficionado would be, I find the combination of deep blue with gold particularly fascinating. The trim is gold plated: shiny on the clip and cap band, and brushed gold on the rest of the cap. It has a square PFM like cap head. The end of the pen body is also squared like the PFM.

Nib

I've included some closeups of the nib unit, definitely my favorite part. The nib gives line variation like a crisp cursive italic, only the difference is that it is super smooth. Its unique in being able to give so much line variation with so much smoothness. The only other factory italic that approaches it in my opinion is the Esterbrook 9312 nib and even so, it is not nearly as smooth as the Sheaffer. It should be kept in mind that unlike many italics, the Sheaffer factory stub is not a nail, but rather it has a little bit of give to it, and feels springy when you write.

Design

The touchdown lever makes a pleasant whooshing sound when it is depressed. Note gold plated touchdown converter in the case. I like to post the cap and the lacquer finish is strong and does not leave scratches. The posting is very smooth, and the pen feels perfectly balanced with or without the cap on. The nib section, the part of the pen you actually put your fingertips on when you write, is quite wide, its in the range of a montblanc 149. From the nice hefty feel of the pen in the hand to the substantial but not over done weight, you really feel like you are writing with something very solidly built. Its especially good for someone with large hands.

Writing experience

The pictures cannot portray how nice the writing experience is. Its so smooth with just a hint of feedback, just enough to help you navigate the paper. Its funny, but as long as you position it right, and it has a very tolerant sweet spot, it does not seem like you are writing with an italic, until you look at the line variation you are getting. Its a wet pen, so if you want to get really tight italic lines, you need a somewhat dry ink. I used Sheaffers Skrip Blue Black, but probably would do even better using an iron gall like Montblanc midnight blue old formula, or perhaps Pelikan Blue Black.

Drawbacks

The only thing I wish is that the touchdown worked. It just does not seem to draw up ink. The o rings seem ok on it, so I am a bit stumped. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. However, it works great with cartridges and a sheaffer squeeze converter is supposed to fit it too. So taking into account the other positive features of this pen, lack of touchdown is only a minor issue.

Summary

Its an amazing pen, something I feel very fortunate to have the chance to use. If you ever have an opportunity to buy one, especially with the hard to find factory stub nib, I would say do it, you will not be disappointed.

Edited January 5, 2014 by cellmatrix

[Mr.Rene]

Beatiful.! Congratulations!

René.

[swanjun]

Wow, that is gorgeous.

[Drone]

Beautiful pen. The Sheaffer's Legacy and Valor are much overlooked "modern" pens.

[Koyote]

According to Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens (he is a mod on FPN), those Touchdown systems on the Legacy just fail after enough time -- something about seals at the back of the pen which are required to make enough vacuum.

 

The solution is to use cartridges and/or call Sheaffer (1-800-finepen) and buy a squeeze converter, then use the pen as a standard c/c filler. (I think the Sheaffer piston converter will not fit, but don't quote me on that.)

[jar]

Very nice pen. I have the somewhat less often seen and slightly lighter blue version.

 

http://www.fototime.com/AFA07DA8FC70570/large.jpg

[cellmatrix]

Beatiful.! Congratulations!

René.

 

 

Wow, that is gorgeous.

 

 

Beautiful pen. The Sheaffer's Legacy and Valor are much overlooked "modern" pens.

thanks for the compliments!

 

According to Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens (he is a mod on FPN), those Touchdown systems on the Legacy just fail after enough time -- something about seals at the back of the pen which are required to make enough vacuum.

 

The solution is to use cartridges and/or call Sheaffer (1-800-finepen) and buy a squeeze converter, then use the pen as a standard c/c filler. (I think the Sheaffer piston converter will not fit, but don't quote me on that.)

I appreciate this info, I will get a squeeze converter. But also, as I bought the pen new and it did not work properly out of the box, I will give Sheaffer a call to see if they can fix the touchdown seals.

 

Very nice pen. I have the somewhat less often seen and slightly lighter blue version.

 

http://www.fototime.com/AFA07DA8FC70570/large.jpg

That all blue Jim Gaston special is stunning. You are right, from the photo you showed, the color is slightly lighter and more of a true blue, mine is more of a royal blue. By the way, your sterling silver legacy reviews are part of what made me take the plunge on this pen and I am glad I did. I already have an order in for a plain sterling silver legacy stub from Mauricio. I am a user not a collector, so these two will probably be my main pens for the long term. Anyway, thanks for your info, and for introducing me to these pens!

 

edit to add: Jar - congratulations on your 15,000th post!

Edited January 5, 2014 by cellmatrix

[da vinci]

Lovely pen, great nib. Thanks for review/pics.

 

I have a sterling silver legacy with a plain medium nib. I am sure you wont be disappointed.

[Koyote]

cellmatrix, asking Sheaffer to repair the pen is a good idea, but don't be surprised if they decline. That filling system is a bit out-of-date now. I have a first-generation Legacy (but not with that sublime stub nib...and yes, I am envious!) that I bought NOS about three years ago, and the Touchdown system has just recently started drawing noticeably smaller fills. Even if that system does not work, your pen is a gem - I have searched for a stub and would kill for one!

[jameswatts]

I have the exact same model -- although mine has a fine nib -- that I bought in the early 1990s. Used the touchdown system happily for a few months. Then then seal failed and it started leaking from the blind cap. Have used cartridges since and still love this pen. It's one of those pens that, when I use it, makes me think "why would I ever want to use any pen other than this?"

[cellmatrix]

cellmatrix, asking Sheaffer to repair the pen is a good idea, but don't be surprised if they decline. That filling system is a bit out-of-date now. I have a first-generation Legacy (but not with that sublime stub nib...and yes, I am envious!) that I bought NOS about three years ago, and the Touchdown system has just recently started drawing noticeably smaller fills. Even if that system does not work, your pen is a gem - I have searched for a stub and would kill for one!

thanks for the advice and I hope you can find one if these stub nibs. It might be worthwhile asking Mauricio over at vintage pen?

[breaker]

nice review and pics!

thanks!

[hsianloon]

Great for a factory stub. Do you feel it's more of an italic ? Nice clear pic of a writing sample, thanks

[Montblanc owner and lover]

Nice and interesting as factory stub are not easy to find...

[cellmatrix]

Great for a factory stub. Do you feel it's more of an italic ? Nice clear pic of a writing sample, thanks

its far closer to an italic than most stubs, thats for sure

[shuuemura]

Nice review! I have this pen in a sterling silver finish. Thanks to Koyote for the tips to use cartridge sor a squeeze-converter. My stub nib would hard-start even after I got it professionally adjusted. After switching over from the touchdown converter to cartridges the hard-starting problem is gone.

Edited January 13, 2014 by shuuemura

[Albinoni]

According to Ron Zorn of Main Street Pens (he is a mod on FPN), those Touchdown systems on the Legacy just fail after enough time -- something about seals at the back of the pen which are required to make enough vacuum.

 

The solution is to use cartridges and/or call Sheaffer (1-800-finepen) and buy a squeeze converter, then use the pen as a standard c/c filler. (I think the Sheaffer piston converter will not fit, but don't quote me on that.)

I've got the Sheaffer Legacy touch down filling system but in green. Love it and gorgeous pen to write with too. But my Touch down filling system has never failed on me yet, had it for 9 years almost. I am sure if you're having problems with the Touch Down filling system Sheaffer will fix it for you, dont think it will be that serious

[Steven]

Thank you for the nice review. Great penmanship also.

[cellmatrix]

I've got the Sheaffer Legacy touch down filling system but in green. Love it and gorgeous pen to write with too. But my Touch down filling system has never failed on me yet, had it for 9 years almost. I am sure if you're having problems with the Touch Down filling system Sheaffer will fix it for you, dont think it will be that serious

 

Thanks for the advice, after Coyote's suggestion, I had called Sheaffer and they had me send the pen in and to try to fix the touchdown mechanism. They were really nice about it too. I am liking the Sheaffer customer experience so far. I will like it even more if they can fix the pen.

Thank you for the nice review. Great penmanship also.

Thank you, its nice of you to say that. I feel I still have a lot more room for improvement, but I'm working on it!

[cellmatrix]

cellmatrix, asking Sheaffer to repair the pen is a good idea, but don't be surprised if they decline. That filling system is a bit out-of-date now.

Good news, I sent my pen to Sheaffer in Ft. Madison and they fixed the touchdown problem! All it needed was a replacement touchdown converter unit. I'm overall very happy with the Sheaffer service.