I've Crowned A Winner!

[bemon]

I have more M800s than any other pen, so I'm obviously partial to them. That said, I've recently gravitated towards more c/c pens for a couple reasons. 1) they're a ton easier to clean; 2) the smaller ink capacity lets me rotate through more pens and inks.

 

My biggest beef with the GvFC is the snap cap; it doesn't seem to create an airtight seal so the nib tends to dry out. I haven't done any formal (or informal) testing, so my observations may be off (I have other snap caps that seem to create a tighter seal). The nib on my GvFC also sings a little bit, which doesn't always bother me but can be annoying. This is my only GvFC so I don't know if this is a common issue; for comparison, I have one M800 that's also a little noise but the rest are completely quiet.

I hear you on the snap cap. I have a feeling I'd enjoy the GVFC Intuition if for no other reason than the grip area would be larger. But it's a snap cap. The Classic though in my picture is a screw cap if that helps.

 

My M800 is a zero issue writer, but I had a 600 that sung a bit. I sold it.

[Mercian]

WARNING: Thread Hijack!

 

I have more M800s than any other pen, so I'm obviously partial to them. That said, I've recently gravitated towards more c/c pens for a couple reasons. 1) they're a ton easier to clean; 2) the smaller ink capacity lets me rotate through more pens and inks.

 

I’m a bit surprised by you saying that you find c/c pens easier to clean than piston-fill Pelikans.

I do agree that a c/c pen fitted with a squeeze converter or Parker ‘slide’ converter might be quicker, because one can cycle water/cleaning solution through it more quickly - but I find that any pen with a twist/screw converter is slower to clean than a Pel, because the converter’s capacity (& piston knob) are both smaller than their equivalents on the Pelikan.

Of the pens that I own, I find my piston Pelikans to be the easiest pens to clean out if I feel that I need to do a ‘deep clean’ (e.g. if switching from iron-gall ink after a couple of months of using it). Because the nib/feed unit just unscrews, I can soak/rinse that on its own, and then rinse out the whole piston chamber really quickly and easily.

N.b. I am careful to the point of paranoia when unscrewing the nib/feed, and when replacing it.

They ain’t cheap, & I’m a cack-handed klutz

 

In terms of ink capacity, if you like to cycle through your inks more quickly, you could always only half-fill (or 1/3- or 2/3- or 1/4-fill) any piston pen.
That’s what I plan to do with my M805 when writing this year’s Christmas cards (because I intend to use Edelstein ‘Star Ruby’ for them, & I’ve seen reports of that ink being a stainer).

[bemon]

WARNING: Thread Hijack!

 

I’m a bit surprised by you saying that you find c/c pens easier to clean than piston-fill Pelikans.

 

I do agree that a c/c pen fitted with a squeeze converter or Parker ‘slide’ converter might be quicker, because one can cycle water/cleaning solution through it more quickly - but I find that any pen with a twist/screw converter is slower to clean than a Pel, because the converter’s capacity (& piston knob) are both smaller than their equivalents on the Pelikan.

Of the pens that I own, I find my piston Pelikans to be the easiest pens to clean out if I feel that I need to do a ‘deep clean’ (e.g. if switching from iron-gall ink after a couple of months of using it). Because the nib/feed unit just unscrews, I can soak/rinse that on its own, and then rinse out the whole piston chamber really quickly and easily.

N.b. I am careful to the point of paranoia when unscrewing the nib/feed, and when replacing it.

They ain’t cheap, & I’m a cack-handed klutz

 

In terms of ink capacity, if you like to cycle through your inks more quickly, you could always only half-fill (or 1/3- or 2/3- or 1/4-fill) any piston pen.

That’s what I plan to do with my M805 when writing this year’s Christmas cards (because I intend to use Edelstein ‘Star Ruby’ for them, & I’ve seen reports of that ink being a stainer).

I'm on board with this hijack.

 

I agree my Pelikans are probably the easiest to clean piston filler I've got. But many are hand cramps waiting to happen. Plus the piston knob gets wet and then it's harder to grip.. ugh.

 

Cleaning converters can be a pain too, but I always detach them from the section and use a snorkel to fill them back up anyway. So I just run them under the tap instead of cycling them. Seems to be the faster route at least for me. And if I'm putting a pen into storage I can use a large bulb syringe to flush the feed.

 

Really it comes down to long term maintenance for me: These pens aren't cheap, and I like the idea of buying something once and using it for a long time. Simple at home maintenance is a huge selling feature for me.

 

It's not that I don't use pistons or vacuum fillers, and a piston filling system wouldn't stop me from buying a pen I want. I'd just be that much happier if said pen had a simpler system.

[maclink]

c/c pens are very easy to clean once you have a bulb syringe.

 

I've found that un/screwing nib and feeds can at times throw the tines out of alignment. I therefore dislike doing this as a means for cleaning unless it's only the occasional thorough cleanup. However, with a bulb syringe, I can quickly flush the section, nib and feed without having to unscrew anything on a c/c pen.

[mulrich]

Pelikan's are probably the easiest piston fillers to clean, and the nibs do come out easily, so I don't worry about misaligning anything. But, c/c pens are still so much faster. I don't even use a bulb syringe, my method is to rinse my mouth out a few times and then blow a big mouthful of water through the section. For the cartridge or converter, I usually just flush it with 10ml of water using syringe, which is very quick (once normally does the trick). Some converters are more annoying than others, but I've largely excised those from my normal use (e.g., CON-70).

 

Even with a Pelikan, I don't find that soaking alone is enough to really clean out the nib; it normally still takes a few rounds of flushing using the piston to really get it cleaned out. The pistons are relatively easy to clean once you have the nib off, but you have to use a few little tricks to really clean them out (e.g., fill the barrel half way, then stick your finger over the opening to create a seal. Then continue to close the piston filling nob, which creates a little suction to get ink out of hard to reach places).