Lamy 2000 Nib Sizes

[Joker4Eva]

Hi there,

I've managed to snag this Lamy 2000 at a really good deal, and I was pleasantly surprised by the pen, despite a huge crack on the cap. The thing is, when was it made?

The current lineup from Lamy includes nibs from the sizes EF, to BB, and a few oblique nibs (OM, to OBB). Now, I think that oblique nibs are really nice, being able to lay down lines with width variation without the fuss of holding the pen at the right angle, etc. This one, it seems, came with an OF nib, if what I deduce is correct.

 

Note the angle of the tip. It is an oblique nib.

 

An OF engraving on the underside of the front section, "OF". An oblique fine? When was that from?

 

Nib doesn't want to disclose much information, only that it is from 18C gold.

 

Digging around hasn't told me much about the date of manufacture, in fact, it seems that many have never heard of an oblique fine nib on a Lamy 2000 before. While I'm pretty certain it's not a fake, I'm really interested to know the time period during which it was manufactured.

 

Help me, please? Could anyone tell me when it was manufactured?

 

Thomas

 

[MBFan]

I have a 2000 with an 'M' stamped where yours is stamped 'OF', so I would safely believe that it indicates the nib size, especially if you indeed have a nib with an oblique grind. My L2k has 'W.Germany' stamped on the cap, indicating a 1980s build. If you have this imprint then it may also be from this period.

 

They are superb pens!

[lawrenceg]

The earlier pens had an L on the end of the barrel.

Also the pen clip used a "ball" in the end of the clip, instead of there being a once piece clip as now..

My early one with the L has"lamy2000WGermany" on the cap

It also does not have lamy on the side of the clip.

It has "m" stamped on.

 

The modern ones do not have the nib size on the pen.

My later one has nothing on the cap.

My later one has lamy on the side of the clip.

 

Also the earlier it is the bigger the chance it will be split somewhere :-)

 

Ps does anyone have any spare parts available?

[Joker4Eva]

  On 6/21/2014 at 2:47 PM, MBFan said:

I have a 2000 with an 'M' stamped where yours is stamped 'OF', so I would safely believe that it indicates the nib size, especially if you indeed have a nib with an oblique grind. My L2k has 'W.Germany' stamped on the cap, indicating a 1980s build. If you have this imprint then it may also be from this period.

 

They are superb pens!

 

Hey there! I've never actually owned an oblique fine nib before. Compared to my Lamy 99, it writes a lot broader, despite the fact that the 99 has an OM nib. Guess Lamies do run wide!

My cap only says Lamy 2000, without W. Germany and all. Is this yet another hint as to it's date of manufacture?

 

  On 6/21/2014 at 3:29 PM, lawrenceg said:

The earlier pens had an L on the end of the barrel.

Also the pen clip used a "ball" in the end of the clip, instead of there being a once piece clip as now..

My early one with the L has"lamy2000WGermany" on the cap

It also does not have lamy on the side of the clip.

It has "m" stamped on.

 

The modern ones do not have the nib size on the pen.

My later one has nothing on the cap.

My later one has lamy on the side of the clip.

 

Also the earlier it is the bigger the chance it will be split somewhere :-)

 

Ps does anyone have any spare parts available?

 

Yup, the L on the piston end is there. I never looked into the cap, seeing that the cap really is ugly with that huge crack. Despite being an earlier model, the Lamy 99 which I have only has one stable hairline on it's cap. This one's a lot worse, imagine a glass crack type of crack.

Owh, it also doesn't have the engraving Lamy on the clip.

 

 

I've heard via PM that it could be one of the very early models, from around the late 60s. Can anyone verify that?

[ac12]

@ Joker

Nib size-wise depends on what you are comparing it to.

My reference point is the old US Parker nibs 1960s and 70s.

Out of curiosity I used a dial caliper to measure my nibs and got hard facts about the nib size.

My Lamy F nibs (both Safari and 2000) is approx 0.028 inch wide.

This is in the range of my old Parker M nibs.

So based on my old US Parker nibs, and my small sample size, yes the current Lamy nibs run wide.

 

I think the current European Parker nibs are similar to the current Lamy nibs.

[Joker4Eva]

  On 6/23/2014 at 6:23 PM, ac12 said:

@ Joker

Nib size-wise depends on what you are comparing it to.

My reference point is the old US Parker nibs 1960s and 70s.

Out of curiosity I used a dial caliper to measure my nibs and got hard facts about the nib size.

My Lamy F nibs (both Safari and 2000) is approx 0.028 inch wide.

This is in the range of my old Parker M nibs.

So based on my old US Parker nibs, and my small sample size, yes the current Lamy nibs run wide.

 

I think the current European Parker nibs are similar to the current Lamy nibs.

 

I find it very surprising that the Safari and 2000 nibs are both the same size! Do you perhaps have a writing sample with both nibs?

Despite having the same size, I'm very very very surprised that one receives complains for not being true to nib size, while the other is still widely accepted as a Western size.

[ac12]

 

 

  On 6/28/2014 at 7:17 PM, Joker4Eva said:

 

I find it very surprising that the Safari and 2000 nibs are both the same size! Do you perhaps have a writing sample with both nibs?

Despite having the same size, I'm very very very surprised that one receives complains for not being true to nib size, while the other is still widely accepted as a Western size.

 

While I measured the width of the tip, the other variable is the tip profile.

The profile/shape of the tip will also affect the width of the ink line.

The Lamy tips are not as varied as my old Parker nibs, where I had tips shaped line balls, cylinders and slabs. The different tip profiles affect the width of the ink line, the ball being the narrowest and the cylinder and slab the widest. I did not compare the shape of the tips from the L2000 and Safari. They may be the same or different.

Sorry but my L2000 has been long deinked and is sitting in my deinked collection. The pen is just too fat and heavy for me to use.

[Bo Bo Olson]

It is true to Lamy size.

Why should Lamy make a Parker size?

Their customers would have bought a Parker or a Pelikan had they not wanted a Lamy with it's very own company's standard.

Yep, my 27n looks like an FK, and my Safari looks like an M....in Lamy size.

 

In Lamy had been working for Parker before 1929 when he took over Parker/Osmia, then after that folded, started making his own pens...Orthro or something similar, before calling it a Lamy either just before or just after the War, when he picked up Artus's pen division. I'm sure he could have made Parker size nibs, had his market called for it.

Lamy was mostly a nail nib...so had his niche (My Lamy owned Artus pens are regular flex). He chose not to make a Parker size nib, but a Lamy size nib.

It does not run wider than normal; in there is no 'normal'. There is only that company's standard....= tolerance/slop; just like every other company.

There is no 'normal'.

[Joker4Eva]

  On 7/1/2014 at 5:04 PM, Bo Bo Olson said:

It is true to Lamy size.

Why should Lamy make a Parker size?

Their customers would have bought a Parker or a Pelikan had they not wanted a Lamy with it's very own company's standard.

Yep, my 27n looks like an FK, and my Safari looks like an M....in Lamy size.

 

In Lamy had been working for Parker before 1929 when he took over Parker/Osmia, then after that folded, started making his own pens...Orthro or something similar, before calling it a Lamy either just before or just after the War, when he picked up Artus's pen division. I'm sure he could have made Parker size nibs, had his market called for it.

Lamy was mostly a nail nib...so had his niche (My Lamy owned Artus pens are regular flex). He chose not to make a Parker size nib, but a Lamy size nib.

It does not run wider than normal; in there is no 'normal'. There is only that company's standard....= tolerance/slop; just like every other company.

There is no 'normal'.

 

Not that anyone's complaining about the sizing, but despite both nibs having the same dimensions, they both seem to lay down a line of different width, given all other factors remain constant, with the 2k laying down a thicker line compared to the Safari.

I'm hypothesizing that this has to do with the grind profile, the 2k given one that has a larger sweet spot, compared to the Safari nibs, causing the 2k to lay down a wider line compared to the Safari, despite the same dimensions given above by member ac12.

[modifier]

  On 7/3/2014 at 9:56 AM, Joker4Eva said:

 

...compared to the Safari nibs, causing the 2k to lay down a wider line compared to the Safari, despite the same dimensions given above by member ac12.

 

Safaris seem to be all over the map on grinds, at least in the EF nibs in mine (which is all of them). Between half a dozen both new and vintage, all lay down a slightly different line despite the tines being aligned and gapped correctly under a loupe. I'm considering a 2000 in EF next but expect the true line width to be a surprise. As long as it's not in the M to B range with a reasonable sweet spot then I'll be happy.