New or Old

[inkstainedruth]

Vintage 51 Vacs are more likely to need to be checked out/repaired, because of the diaphragm in the barrel going bad.  OTOH, if they are working, they DO hold more ink because the entire barrel becomes a reservoir.  The 51 Aerometrics are likely to just need a good flushing out.  So my general preference is for the Aeros -- but I have and like both.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[welch]

2 hours ago, thisteensy said:

People love those 51s. I don't have one yet. I haven't found the right one.

 

It is time, then, to get a Parker 51. You can probably get two for the price of another new pen, if you buy through EBay. You can get a refurbished 51 from Parker51.com for around $150; vac-u-mania has them, but has not refreshed their sales site for years; Peyton Street Pens. 

 

If you buy from EBay, get an aerometric. Most often, a 51 aerometric will write as soon as you flush it. If the the nib scratches, consider sending it for a tuning, which will run about $40. See the thread "So you have your first Found in the Wild Parker 51" over in the "Parker" sub-site at FPN.

[IknowWrite]

Other than a pack of Pilot Varsity pens I bought last year (which are nice writers, actually), the “newest” pen I own is most likely from the early 2000’s.

 

SO, I use the Olds. AND I LOVES THEM!

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Lifetime Sheaffer Balance (it’s not a Junior, but it is petite…SO STINKIN’ CUTE! And such a smoooooooth writer!) and can’t wait to get some sacs for some of my other vintage pens.

 

I feel…elegant (I guess?) when using pens that are nearly 100 years old. I love thinking about the people who owned these pens previously- what stories could these pens tell?? 

 

I also feel like I should be writing whilst holding a long cigarette holder in my other hand…but that’s probably because I’ve seen too many Poirot episodes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[thisteensy]

15 minutes ago, IknowWrite said:

I also feel like I should be writing whilst holding a long cigarette holder in my other hand…but that’s probably because I’ve seen too many Poirot episodes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Hah. Probably. I have a couple of Sheaffers that I love, and they're not even white dots. Even though the nibs are firm, they're lovely to write with. I was just having a moment with my super humble Craftsman.

[amberleadavis]

I have some vintage, some new and those that I purchased new-to-me (vintage and modern).

 

My favorite are generally whatever I have inked at the moment, but I prefer demonstrators and I have some nibs that I must prefer because they get the most use.

[kestrel]

On 12/14/2023 at 9:58 AM, thisteensy said:

What do you love about the Crescent? I've been looking at them.

This applies to vintage crescents, the ones the original company quit making in 1931 because they were too old-fashioned.  First and most important, the majority of the Conklin crescents that have passed through my hands were great writers.  The nibs range from very good to fantastic, from firm to flexible, from very fine to almost a broad.  I love the feel of BHR pens in the hand.  They are light and well-balanced.  The crescent filling system is simple, robust, and easy to use.  The pens are usually easy to restore as long as you aren't looking for spare parts (locking rings are very rare and usually expensive).  The history of the brand is fascinating.  They were endorsed by Mark Twain and, unlike the MacKinnon Stylographs Twain also endorsed, he actually used and appreciated the Conklins.  I have and use a Conklin S5, the pen at least one source says is the model Twain used, and that connection means something to a history buff like me. 

 

If you are considering one the only two caveats I have are make sure the locking ring is not sticking or hard to rotate (the youngest of these pens is 90+ years old and BHR can get a bit brittle) and look carefully at the nib for excessive tip wear or signs of being sprung. 

[Mangrove Jack]

11 hours ago, thisteensy said:

So it seems. From what I can tell people don't even care whether they're vacumatic or aerometric. I'm definitely curious.

I do care, because I hear that the vacumatic mechanism needs repair after many years but the aerometric ones most often do not need seal or sack replacing.

All my 51's are aero's and I never had any problems with them. 

[thisteensy]

13 hours ago, Mangrove Jack said:

I do care, because I hear that the vacumatic mechanism needs repair after many years but the aerometric ones most often do not need seal or sack replacing.

All my 51's are aero's and I never had any problems with them. 

Yeah, I guess I just thought the vacumatics would be more desirable for some reason. Maybe because they're older or fancier. It seems like 51 lovers just love the way they write. I think I might be losing my grip, because I'm about to buy the tools to fix the vacumatics. I do love a rabbit hole.

[thisteensy]

14 hours ago, kestrel said:

This applies to vintage crescents, the ones the original company quit making in 1931 because they were too old-fashioned.  First and most important, the majority of the Conklin crescents that have passed through my hands were great writers.  The nibs range from very good to fantastic, from firm to flexible, from very fine to almost a broad.  I love the feel of BHR pens in the hand.  They are light and well-balanced.  The crescent filling system is simple, robust, and easy to use.  The pens are usually easy to restore as long as you aren't looking for spare parts (locking rings are very rare and usually expensive).  The history of the brand is fascinating.  They were endorsed by Mark Twain and, unlike the MacKinnon Stylographs Twain also endorsed, he actually used and appreciated the Conklins.  I have and use a Conklin S5, the pen at least one source says is the model Twain used, and that connection means something to a history buff like me. 

 

If you are considering one the only two caveats I have are make sure the locking ring is not sticking or hard to rotate (the youngest of these pens is 90+ years old and BHR can get a bit brittle) and look carefully at the nib for excessive tip wear or signs of being sprung. 

I did not know that about Mark Twain. Now I want to know what all of my favorite authors wrote with. What was Dorothy Parker's favorite pen?
 
I think for any hard rubber pen I would want to buy it in person, or from a really trusted restorer. I would want someone to vouch for the state of the rubber. My original newbie FOMO shopping fever has turned more toward curiosity about the history of the different lines, and what people like about them. In my early excitement I spent what I consider real money (it was timed with a bonus I received--lots of giddy neurotransmitters in play) on a beautiful specimen, that arrived exactly as described, gorgeous, in perfect condition, and with a nib that I just do not love. That has slowed my roll quite a bit.

[thisteensy]

16 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

I have some vintage, some new and those that I purchased new-to-me (vintage and modern).

 

My favorite are generally whatever I have inked at the moment, but I prefer demonstrators and I have some nibs that I must prefer because they get the most use.

Why do you like the demonstrators? Celluloid has a grip on me.

[PAKMAN]

Roughly 1/3 of my pens are vintage most of those are Parker or Sheaffer pens. I love writing with both my modern and vintage pens.  Right now I only have modern pens inked.  But I'm looking at the pen cabinet now to see what vintage pen needs some love and attention!.

[amberleadavis]

2 hours ago, thisteensy said:

Why do you like the demonstrators? Celluloid has a grip on me.

 

I should have some sophisticated answer, but I think the real reason is that I am a child of the 1970s and clear plastics were just becoming readily available.  I still have all my clear action figures (even those that I bought in the 1990s).  I like how the plastic holds up to some abuse and I like seeing my ink status.  I like seeing the ink slosh around and I like how some plastics glow under UV light.  I also think that at my first pen show back in the 1990s, I saw a Pelikan 1000 demonstrator and I decided that I wanted one.  It took me years to buy an M200, even more to acquire an M600 demonstrator and I love them.

 

Here is what is on my desk inked up today.  OH and all of them are new or new-to-me.

 

 

 

 

Franklin Christoph

 

 

 

 

 

 

Visconti

 

 

 

Hinze - with blank from Mutt Blanks

 

 

And my newest acquisition a Russ pen.  I love his work.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzexF9dP4RR/?img_index=1

 

 

 

In fairness, I think that ebonite is a sophisticated material.  I take perverse delight in being under-estimated and acrylic pens are like me, under-estimated and perky.

[thisteensy]

10 minutes ago, amberleadavis said:

Here is what is on my desk inked up today. 

Wowowow. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but this is a sufficiently sophisticated answer as far as I'm concerned.

[amberleadavis]

1 minute ago, thisteensy said:

Wowowow. I don't know what anyone else thinks, but this is a sufficiently sophisticated answer as far as I'm concerned.

 

. Thank you.

 

I try to be self-aware.

 

When I want to act like a grown-up attorney, I take my MB149, but for most meetings, I take something a lot more wild.

[thisteensy]

2 hours ago, PAKMAN said:

Roughly 1/3 of my pens are vintage most of those are Parker or Sheaffer pens. I love writing with both my modern and vintage pens.  Right now I only have modern pens inked.  But I'm looking at the pen cabinet now to see what vintage pen needs some love and attention!.

What do you like tactilely about your modern pens? I trust they are beauties. That goes without saying in these fountain pen obsessed streets. 

[PAKMAN]

2 hours ago, thisteensy said:

What do you like tactilely about your modern pens? I trust they are beauties. That goes without saying in these fountain pen obsessed streets. 

So many different things, with about 100 modern pens from Visconti, to Pelikan to Mont Blanc, Lamy, Pilot, Platinum, Parker and so on, it's hard to to answer your question.

 

The warmth of the material of a Visconti Homo Sapiens, the smoothness of most of the nibs, the girth and heft of many of the pens. Some pens have a great section to hold others have ebonite bodies that have a great feel in the hand.

[kestrel]

6 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

 

I should have some sophisticated answer, but I think the real reason is that I am a child of the 1970s and clear plastics were just becoming readily available.  I still have all my clear action figures (even those that I bought in the 1990s).  I like how the plastic holds up to some abuse and I like seeing my ink status.  I like seeing the ink slosh around and I like how some plastics glow under UV light.  I also think that at my first pen show back in the 1990s, I saw a Pelikan 1000 demonstrator and I decided that I wanted one.  It took me years to buy an M200, even more to acquire an M600 demonstrator and I love them.

 

Here is what is on my desk inked up today.  OH and all of them are new or new-to-me.

 

 

Visconti

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In fairness, I think that ebonite is a sophisticated material.  I take perverse delight in being under-estimated and acrylic pens are like me, under-estimated and perky.

That is one nice looking crescent-filling Visconti.  A modern Italian pen with a 125 year old filling system.  What ink did you put in it?

[amberleadavis]

11 minutes ago, kestrel said:

That is one nice looking crescent-filling Visconti.  A modern Italian pen with a 125 year old filling system.  What ink did you put in it?

 

The KWZI Monarch you sent to me (or to @webgeckos). I loaded up at the pen show and haven't finished out my fill.

[txomsy]

Most of my pens are vintage and I use indistinctly vintage or modern pens, I bought them all to write with.

 

However, still, so far and by far, the pen I most likely use is my old Montblanc Noblesse, which being 30+ years old and not longer made would probably be considered vintage by many, though it has only been my pen for these so many years.

 

But I do also use olders, like the MB 342G that was my father's, Aurora Hastil, Garant pens, or even early 20thC eyedroppers (among so many others), or the modern Kaweco AL/Brass Sports and Liliput which I do also absolutely love.

 

It is writing that matters, not what with.

[thisteensy]

23 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

In fairness, I think that ebonite is a sophisticated material.  I take perverse delight in being under-estimated and acrylic pens are like me, under-estimated and perky.

I think you might have started me down a whole new interesting path. I grew up in the 80s, so neon is my catnip, and I love that other people are repelled by it. I have a comme des garçons pochette that is neon yellow on one side and hot pink on the other. It delights me every time I see it lurking in a dark purse, and I dig the surprise on other cashiers' faces when I pull it out.

p.s. being underestimated can be kind of a strategy in your profession, no? I love it.

Edited December 17, 2023 by thisteensy