Pens that ruined it for you

[The_Beginner]

 

We've all had those horror story pens that made us swear, "Never again!" Some experiences are so bad that they make us vow never to buy from a particular brand again. I’m curious, what was that pen for you?

 

For me, it was a Montegrappa. Now, don’t get me wrong—Montegrappa is a lovely brand, but their products don’t always match their cost. The first Montegrappa pen I got was a gift from a friend who knew I was interested in fountain pens at the time. It was the Montegrappa NeroUno (version 1 with the hooded nib). I still love it, even though the cap cracked because I dropped it. You’d think it could handle a fall from a desk, but sadly, it couldn’t.

 

What really sealed the deal for me was the Montegrappa Parola. It was a beautiful red pen, but the nib feedback was horrible. The resin/plastic was also very thin and ended up shattering one day when I left it in the car. A hairline fracture appeared, and when I tried to write with it, it just fell apart. I’ve tried to source parts from Montegrappa, but to no avail. For the Parola, I made a wooden barrel (I'll attach a pic). As for the NeroUno, it's out of rotation until I can figure out the cap issue.

 

This was my personal adventure with this brand condensed but as i said what pen or event caused you to steer away from a brand?

 

[Ron Z]

Wearever.  In 1966.  I had two that leaked like crazy, and I always had ink on my hands, which created an intense, life long dislike of the brand.  It has been reinforced many times over in the years since.  Robyn and I call them "Whatevers."

[Format]

Probably more than 1.

 

There was an Italian made piston filled pen that was sold in retailers that were not stationers, very cheap, less than $1. The piston was so immobile that I had to press it down on my school desk.

 

Parker 41, pretty fishscale design but the cap split top to bottom

 

Parker 21, the early version that was simply a covered nib, when I say nib I really mean metal stick

 

Parker Parkette, 1950s version, when you make a great pen why make a terrible pen

 

Parker 61, fabulous when new, great nib. More cracks than Bob Hope when it is old.

 

Parker 51 2002. Bad materials and far too much money

 

And then you forgive them all with the 51, 75 and 95. Best of all was a 30s Duofold Streamline with a 50 Maxima Oxonian nib, like an idiot I gave it away to a friend who liked it a little too much.

 

[Sailor Kenshin]

2 hours ago, Ron Z said:

Wearever.  In 1966.  I had two that leaked like crazy, and I always had ink on my hands, which created an intense, life long dislike of the brand.  It has been reinforced many times over in the years since.  Robyn and I call them "Whatevers."

I call them 'Whatevers' as well… but happen to like them.  😹

[sandy101]

A cheap Chinese pen managed to leak a cap full of ink all over the carpet. The stain's still there. I threw them all out and haven't bought anymore. 

[Paul-in-SF]

Marlen is an Italian brand that is not mainstream, but has its followers. I was attracted to the quirky and interesting designs, and the first one I bought (used) wrote and operated well. The ones after that, not so much.

 

The American distributor is Yafa, who is also responsible for sending pens for repair back to the Marlen factory. I returned a pen to them for repair, and they "lost" it. Strike 1.

 

Though often described as piston fillers, many or most of them are in fact captured converters, which have turned out to be both proprietary and fragile. Strike 2.

 

A very well-known pen repair person of long experience and excellent reputation refused to even try to fix one of these captured converters. Strike 3. 

 

I still have three working Marlen pens, two of them will be sold on at some point, with full disclosure and therefore probably at a loss. The first one, the good one, I am happy to keep. 

[AmandaW]

Ripped off by an ebay seller. I was sent a cracked pen that leaked. They deducted the cost of shipping from the refund. No more secondhand pens for me.

 

 

[lamarax]

For me it's OMAS and in particular the OMAS 360 MoMA which has been my top grail pen for quite a long time. I couldn't believe it when I finally was able to acquire one in mint condition; its sculpted form is second to none IMO aesthetically (and contrary to the striking Nakaya Dorsal Fin II, it's actually ergonomic). A real Objet d' Art. And when you put it to paper, it's truly sublime (18K M nib): soft but snappy, with a unique feel when it writes!
 

 

You may have heard of the troubles with OMAS celluloids crystalizing and crumbling. Well, it's no better with 'cotton resin': it will shrink over time, leaving the slip cap useless as it won't seal the nib at all. No matter which ink I put in there, it will completely evaporate in just a couple of days. As in-

 

I happened upon an old review of a newer iteration of the 360, where it's suggested that Pelikan 4001 Blue Black for one, would alleviate the failings of the pen. Initially I thought so, and all seemed to go along perfect... for two days 🫥 Aargh!

Moreover, the 'HT' trim on all OMAS models will be brassing just by looking at it funny.

[Paul-in-SF]

I thought of another one -- vintage Onoto. They write beautifully, but the vacuum fillers are such a pain to repair. I've re-done Sheaffers a few times and I thought those were fiddly, especially the Touchdown, but Onoto puts them to shame for fiddliness. I just don't have the fingers for it, and I don't want to have to pay someone more than I paid for the pen to get it writing. Sorry, Onoto, your time has come and gone for me. 

[langere]

For me, it's the new Conklin.  And Monteverde too.  Just cheap construction.  Things start clattering about.  Not put together at all. And the Conklin clip.  A number of them started to brass over.  So shoddy.  Conklin since then has brought out some beautiful resins.  But  aargh, the clip...  I resist buying them and have succeeded thus far.  Just not worth it, compared to other pen companies.

[InesF]

For me it was the Parker 51 2020 edition. It is and it will be may last Parker ever.

[Format]

The Sonnet wasn't their finest hour either.

 

I had the classic letter from the repair department at Parker who tried five times to fix my Sonnet, 'We cannot fix this pen'

 

It leaked worse than Julian Assange.

[VacNut]

Wahl Eversharp Half-Coronet. Great design. Good looking pen, but I picked it up one day and the back end of the barrel was faded and powdery. The celluloid had started to deteriorate. I had the barrel stabilized and rebuilt but not worth the effort. No more Eversharp celluloid coroners or Deco pens for me. 
Still a great design but the celluloid is too unreliable.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Having little money, was warned away from a lot of pens.

...................................

I am sorry I got rid of my top of Wearever's brand...2nd tier pre and post war pens...and some of the 2nd tier 50's pens were nice too....

Having said there were more to the color of Esteis than just 5;...like having 5 of the 8 grays (of which I had names, like Midnight Smoke, )......and stifled, I got rid of them too.

 

I still have just two of the Esties and two of the Wearevers, the turquoise '60-70's one is my wife's like I'd used in a different color in the '60's...that she'll never use. The other one is the FP/MP. Clear feed to tell you when you are running out of ink.

I never had any problems with them leaking on me.

 

I do oddly regret more getting rid of the solid What..Evers, than the Esties.

 

There had been Dennis the guest, one of them who started the com,  who has to sell the worlds largest collection of Wearevers, in he had major can't breath health problems for a nickle on the dollar. His absolutely great Wearever blog couldn't be kept up just by Frank.

Because of that blog, I was able to find my two A's and an Elbow.

 

Wearever nibs in spite of how they looked were ...at least as far as I can remember nice springy nibs....like a Pelikan 200. The two that I kept are...checked it a while back.

 

In grade school to 10th grade, My fountain pen and Jotter were stolen every year.....You just don't know long it took some fool to steal my Venus fountinan pen.

[senzen]

Waterman Lauréat: burped all its ink onto the cap, a change of section and converters didn't help.

 

Platinum Cool: starting problems every single time.

 

Parker Sonnet: dry out in record time, hence starting and skipping problems every single time. I tried and tried for years to improve them, to no avail.

 

Faber Castell Ambition: the section cracked; managed to get another section, dries out quickly.

 

Since major brands have problems with basic reliability this also convinced me to stay well away from no name, Chinese vendors.

[Format]

I know that Wearevers are not the best but I have an odd soft spot, in the early 2000s you could buy them for very little money, $2 each, I bought Wearevers and Travelers, (a syringe filled cheapie), and learned a little in terms of plastics and nibs.

 

They were not good quality but good enough to be a teaching aid.

[LukeSkyliner]

13 hours ago, Paul-in-SF said:

I thought of another one -- vintage Onoto. They write beautifully, but the vacuum fillers are such a pain to repair. I've re-done Sheaffers a few times and I thought those were fiddly, especially the Touchdown, but Onoto puts them to shame for fiddliness. I just don't have the fingers for it, and I don't want to have to pay someone more than I paid for the pen to get it writing. Sorry, Onoto, your time has come and gone for me. 

I get it; my love for these is often unrequited.  But the key seems to be getting the cap washer size more or less exact, and making sure the cork in back is tight against the plunger shaft.   Marshall and Oldfield plus Grandmia on YouTube are my professors.  Hang in there, and great rewards will be yours.  But if divorce is certain, may I make an offer?

[Bo Bo Olson]

20 minutes ago, LukeSkyliner said:

 Marshall and Oldfield

I have the second edition....and never used. Very interesting to read though.

[LukeSkyliner]

9 hours ago, senzen said:

Waterman Lauréat: burped all its ink onto the cap, a change of section and converters didn't help.

 

Platinum Cool: starting problems every single time.

 

Parker Sonnet: dry out in record time, hence starting and skipping problems every single time. I tried and tried for years to improve them, to no avail.

 

Faber Castell Ambition: the section cracked; managed to get another section, dries out quickly.

 

Since major brands have problems with basic reliability this also convinced me to stay well away from no name, Chinese vendors.

On the Sonnets - just like 75s, they write very dry.  I’ve had great luck dunking the section and nib assembly in the Ultrasonic for a few minutes with a mild surfactant.  
 

Somebody told me Parker made quick drying inks and dry writing pens to help southpaws avoid schmeers on the hand.

[LukeSkyliner]

18 hours ago, Format said:

The Sonnet wasn't their finest hour either.

 

I had the classic letter from the repair department at Parker who tried five times to fix my Sonnet, 'We cannot fix this pen'

 

It leaked worse than Julian Assange.

Brilliant analogy