Lamy 2000 - understated but much appreciated

[JohnJW]

 

 

Lamy 2000 is my favorite Lamy fountain pen because it's the only one with a piston fill mechanism. I like my SS Studio with a 14K nib, but the converter just doesn't hold enough ink for me. For me, the Lamy 2000 has the best combination of all the characteristics I look for in a fountain pen. The pen is understated and aesthetically pleasing. The nib is not the smoothest but very acceptable for everyday use. The price is also very affordable. Though, to echo some of the posts on quality concern, I have encountered problems with the plastic section. To be fair, the Lamy 2000 being my daily pen do get dropped occasionally and I've already sheared one section off where it meets the barrel and the second section is already cracking in the same area and needs repair. Luckily I have two Lamy 2000 so while one gets repaired I have another for use.

 

My Lamy 2000 has became as indispensable as my leatherman.

[MYU]

My Lamy 2000 has became as indispensable as my leatherman.

Now THAT's a great testimonial quote! I've never heard anyone speak about their L2K with such devotion. And having two of them to work with in case one suffers an issue is a great idea. I know one board member who has a whole bunch of them, in various states of repair (he obtained a group lot where many of the pens had suffered tough environmental conditions)--a veritable parts cache on hand for any emergency.

 

As for your nib not being the smoothest, that is a case-by-case basis. I've seen plenty of testimony where people have "the smoothest nib I've ever tried" with an L2K out of the box, and a small number that have had annoying scratchiness with theirs. Any nib of any brand can be smoothed. It depends on what is making it rough and what needs to be done to achieve smoothness. So, if you're not 100% satisfied with your nib, you can either try a little smoothing yourself or have a pen specialist have a go at it.

Edited December 21, 2008 by MYU

[BillTheEditor]

The barrel on my less-than-two-year-old Lamy 2000 just failed, right above the section. I was writing, and suddenly realized my fingers were coated with ink.

 

This has been one of my favorite pens, and was in almost constant use. Nothing rough, hardly ever left the house.

 

I guess I'll send it off to Lamy and hope that they don't find some bogus excuse not to honor their lifetime warranty. A replacement barrel from them is $160, same as their list price for an entire new pen (and I paid Chuck Swisher like $90 for mine, nowhere near $160).

[Daosus]

This is a great review, and one that inspired me (after almost a year of waiting) to buy a Lamy 2000. I am quite happy with the pen. Mine is an XF and puts down a medium-wet Fine line. Very nice indeed! What I like best is the surface finish.

[shrinknib]

Hi gary

after reading your review and much consideration I have bought my first 2000 and will ink it tomorrow- I can't wait.

Thank you for such a lovely review, and it is great you are still following on the thread which is just great.

 

I also want to praise your review of the Lamy 27, which has made me question which vintage type pen I would buy next. I was definitely thinking the Parker 51, but may go the Lamy first (then the 51 next!!

 

All in all a great weekend.

Just loving this forum.

 

 

Jeremy

[JEBennett]

Hi gary

after reading your review and much consideration I have bought my first 2000 and will ink it tomorrow- I can't wait.

Thank you for such a lovely review, and it is great you are still following on the thread which is just great.

 

I also want to praise your review of the Lamy 27, which has made me question which vintage type pen I would buy next. I was definitely thinking the Parker 51, but may go the Lamy first (then the 51 next!!

 

All in all a great weekend.

Just loving this forum.

 

 

Jeremy

 

Just wanted to chime in with a "Do eeeet!." I'm currently waging a great internal battle to decide which of the two, 27 or 2000, is going to have the privilege of staying with me, but I have to say that the 27 is one of the best near-past vintage pens I've encountered.

 

The semi-hooded nib is beautiful, while at the same time being understated, the ink windows are definitely superior to the 2000, the spring-loaded clip doesn't worry my pockets, and the when posted the pen as an excellent light weight and easy handling that I adore.

 

Probably the only pen I'd put in the ballpark of 27 for comfort/capacity is my Esterbrook, but then those are the best practices of sixty years of penmaking all rolled into one writing instrument, so either that isn't very fair or its high praise, I'm not sure. Regardless, the 27 is a wonderful pen. The primary advantage the 2000 has over it is the fact that you can drop the former off a two-story building, while I wouldn't try that with the latter.

[MYU]

Thanks for the compliments, Daosus and shrinknib. I'm glad you've found the reviews helpful and that you were inspired to buy the pens.

 

I'm a little behind on updating this review... I have a reground nib that Dillo did for me and I really like it. A kind of crisp stub nib that writes beautifully. I'll have to take some closeup photos and provide writing samples.

 

 

Regarding the 27, it is in my mind a superior pen to the Parker 51. It has more modern features and is easier to maintain. While you require special tools with the Parker 51 to remove the aerometric sac or to replace the diaphragm on the vacumatic model, the 27 sports a near flawless piston system. I've never had to take apart any of mine. The Parker 51 section is almost always secured with shellac. To remove the 51 nib, you must warm up the section to get it off. There's always the chance of applying too much heat or cracking the section. Then there's the pain of trying to line up the nib upon reassembly. The Lamy 27 section simply unscrews and the nib unit withdraws out the back. Super easy.

 

When both pens are freshly maintained, they write beautifully. The 51 is a very nice pen. But dollar for dollar, the 27 is my writing instrument of choice. I have to admit, I hardly use my 51's anymore!

[Daosus]

Noooo, don't do it! I have a 51 and now a L2k...If you keep praising the Lamy 27, I will have to buy one of those too!

[shrinknib]

Hey Gary et al

First day of using the Lamy 2000 with waterman blue-black and boy did she write like a treat all day- and consistently on different types of paper. I work in a hospital so use the pen ll day on decent paper and not so dcent paper and it was just pure joy.

This pen definitely has a different feel to my modern parker duofold M, although surprisingly the nib sizes are similar. It looks great and feels great and will be in constant demand for years to come.

 

thanks so much- next step some research on the Lamy 27- your article is just the trick

[John Cullen]

I went to Lamyusa and they do not show an extra nib unit for the 2000 for sale. Is that normally where some of you have purchased these?

[Limerick]

I like the Lamy 2000 very much. It has suddenly become my favourite pen from the day on when I've bought him. It's a very sturdy writer.

 

But just after having used him some weeks, there is one annoying thing. It has always ink on the "hood" above the nib. Though the pen has rested in my pencil case for a night, it still has ink stains on the section. It's not only ugly but also annoying because I always have ink on my fingers. And as I like to use my 2000 everywhere not only at my home desk, it's some kind annoying cleaning the grip section everytime when I uncap it.

 

My question is now: is it because of my ink (PR American Blue) or because of the pen itself? My cap is cleaned. No ink in the cap.

[encremental]

It's the ink, Limerick. My PR Black Cherry is just the same - not so much nib creep as nib 100 yard dash.

Use a less saturated ink, and I think you will find the problem disappears.

 

John

 

 

[Limerick]

Thanks, John. I will try that. Would Diamine be OK? I guess Visconti is still too saturated.

[encremental]

Diamine is fine, I have some Saddle Brown in my 2000 at the moment. If you've got some Visconti to hand, why not try it - I think it is only the super saturated inks that cause a problem.

 

John

[Robert Alan]

I went to Lamyusa and they do not show an extra nib unit for the 2000 for sale. Is that normally where some of you have purchased these?

 

Hello! Regarding buying parts and nibs not shown on lamyusa.com, call LamyUSA/Filofax and ask for Bob in Lamy pen repair. He's a really nice guy, and he's the one to ask about parts not shown on the Website. However, I discovered that if I ordered just a 14K bi-color nib for a Studio (not shown on the site, but available) it was $50, but if I ordered the 14K bi-color nib, feed & section for an Accent it was $45 (shown on the site). The nibs are exactly the same, and can simply be removed from the feed/section just like a Safari nib (same shape).

 

Regarding quality control, I have had bad luck with 14K bi-color fine nibs on the Studio, and the fine nib on the L2K model. When checked with a loupe, the tines were not aligned properly, and there wasn't enough space between the them for proper capillary action. Surprisingly, the fine steel Studio nib looked correct and worked perfectly right out of the box (on a black Studio--an everyday workhorse). I did get one properly aligned 14K bi-color fine nib on a Bronze Studio (purchased at an excellent price from Todd at isellpens--no affiliation), but I've put it in the "collection" and, at present, I'm keeping it pristine next to its Pearl White medium-nibbed cousin.

 

My favorite L2K nibs have been the medium that came with my West German L2K (purchased new in the early 80s--and, now, has a beautiful patina), and the extra-fine (more like a fine) on my L2K purchased in 2001. The extra-fine L2K nib was a revelation since it wrote so well from the very first line and I've kept it in, nearly, constant service since buying it. Mainly, I like Lamy blue ink in the 2000 because it has a beautiful darkness to it, while still remaining blue.

 

BTW, did I miss the "patina" factor in the review, or was it not mentioned. The L2K is one of the few writing instruments that, in a way, takes on something of the owner's being (personality; DNA?). A new L2K writing instrument has a matte appearance to the Makrolon (the fiberglass-resin material), but after a few years, the writer's hand slowly alters the surface bringing out a beautiful, modulated, glistening shine that, I don't believe, can occur with polishing. Anyway, polishing an L2K would spoil the magic.

 

Best regards to you & Lamy fans everywhere, Robert

[along]

i have 2 groups of pen rotations, one for my train-ride journal and the next for bedtime journal.

 

in the past 2 rotations for both journals, i have skipped the next pens in rotation, and continue with Lamy studio pearl white and Lamy 2000.

 

Is this a passing phase, or have i reached a point where i'm sure Lamy 2000 and studio are all i need, and i should sell off the rest of the collection?

 

[Philip1209]

Grr, my 2000's makralon section has developed a crack (between the nib and the ink window) without any apparent cause. Has this happened to any other of the 2000 owners on here? I'll have to call Bob at pen repair to see if warranty covers it.

[gds]

Grr, my 2000's makralon section has developed a crack (between the nib and the ink window) without any apparent cause. Has this happened to any other of the 2000 owners on here? I'll have to call Bob at pen repair to see if warranty covers it.

 

Yes, I've seen this. Nasty, isn't it? It started as a small crack extending about 15% of the way around the pen and within a couple of days it had become this:

 

I sent mine back to Heidelberg and they took care of it without the slightest hassle.

 

[Elisablue]

Isn't it exactly where the "ears" are ? Because I can see a very fine line on mine just there but I assumed it was normal ...

[gds]

The very fine line is normal (it's actually where the section can be unscrewed from the barrel - the "ears" are part of a small metal ring that's pressed between the section and the barrel - there's a great disassembly article here). I can't speak for Philip1209, but in the case of my pen the crack developed about 2mm below that, in the section itself. It seemed to appear quite spontaneously one afternoon, and spread fast .

 

At the risk of giving other Lamy 2000 owners nightmares, here's another shot from my poor pen that shows things more clearly. You can see one of the ears in this, though I don't think you can quite make out the seam.