Jeph
August 20th, 2013, 12:02 PM
From 2 different treasure hunting cheapo buys I got this pair of Senator Windsor (I think that is the correct name) piston fillers. Both happened to be the pen that interested me most in each batch. (I consider a “treasure hunting buy” a handful of non-descript pens with only one picture, or blurry pictures and virtually no description on the auction sites that most people won’t touch. This lets me get them for on average far less than $5 each.) Now that I know what to look for, I see these pens everywhere. So I intend this description to allow people to recognize and either avoid or snag these depending on your perspective.
Summary: Very inexpensive piston filler that functions and writes well and is reasonably well made for a mass produced plastic pen. Good looking from 3 feet away. I consider this a piston filler version of a Pilot Varsity that looks better and writes better. This would be a good option for a starter pen.
Senator Windsor Piston Filler Dimensions
Length 136 mm 5 3/8" 5.37 in
Posted Length 145 mm 5 11/16" 5.69 in
Unposted length 122 mm 4 13/16" 4.82 in
Barrel Length 105 mm 4 1/8" 4.13 in
Cap Length 67 mm 2 5/8" 2.62 in
Barrel Max Dia 11.5 mm 15/32" 0.47 in
Section Min Dia 9.3 mm 23/64" 0.37 in
From a distance these are pretty good looking pens. They have the cigar shape of a Mont Blanc. The body decoration is provided by a printed wrap glued to the barrel. This offers a wide variety of interesting patterns. Up close, you can see that the design is just printed and the seam of the wrap is clearly visible. The clip is gold colored steel (magnetic) shaped similar to a Pelikan clip. The cap ring is plastic, like the rest of the pen other than the nib and is marked with the Senator “S” SENATOR GERMANY SENATOR. The ink window is clear. The piston draws around 0.8 ml of ink. The nib and feed are friction fit into the section.
The red one had ink present behind the piston and leaked. I tried very hard to disassemble the pen but was unsuccessful. Neither the section nor the piston mechanism would budge at the limit of the amount of force I was willing to apply. I was much more aggressive than I would have been with any other pen. I did not try heat due to the decorative wrap. I might try that at a later date. The black one worked without a hitch as received. After cleaning, I have used it for about 2 weeks for 15-30 minutes per day with no issues. So don’t expect to easily repair one that is defective, but if you get one that works it should work fine.
And then there is the nib. This is a senator gold plated steel nib. The nib is marked with the Senator “S” / “IRRIDIUM” / “POINT” / “GERMANY” / “M.” The “M” is hidden by the section. The first difference I noticed was that the gold plating is substantial, not just some thin gold wash. This was verified as the nib on the red one had the plating chipped off at the back of the nib and you could see the interface. Both nibs are marked “M” but I do not think that they came in any other widths. Both nibs required some tuning, but once tuned they write comparable to my tuned steel Pelikan nibs. They are not quite as smooth, but the difference is very small. Where both these nibs surpassed the Pelikan nibs is in the amount of spring available. I am not going to use the “F” word, but there is substantial line variation available if you are willing to exert the pressure.
From what I have been able to find, these pens retailed for $20 new. I see them below $10 frequently, and I got both of mine shipped for less than that. That is not bad for roughly twice the price of a Pilot Varsity to get a pen that writes this well. It is plastic, it feels cheap, it looks cheap up close, it IS cheap, and it writes very well. I feel that this would make a very good introduction to a piston filler for someone willing to take a chance on one of the auction sites.
4823482448254826482748284829
Summary: Very inexpensive piston filler that functions and writes well and is reasonably well made for a mass produced plastic pen. Good looking from 3 feet away. I consider this a piston filler version of a Pilot Varsity that looks better and writes better. This would be a good option for a starter pen.
Senator Windsor Piston Filler Dimensions
Length 136 mm 5 3/8" 5.37 in
Posted Length 145 mm 5 11/16" 5.69 in
Unposted length 122 mm 4 13/16" 4.82 in
Barrel Length 105 mm 4 1/8" 4.13 in
Cap Length 67 mm 2 5/8" 2.62 in
Barrel Max Dia 11.5 mm 15/32" 0.47 in
Section Min Dia 9.3 mm 23/64" 0.37 in
From a distance these are pretty good looking pens. They have the cigar shape of a Mont Blanc. The body decoration is provided by a printed wrap glued to the barrel. This offers a wide variety of interesting patterns. Up close, you can see that the design is just printed and the seam of the wrap is clearly visible. The clip is gold colored steel (magnetic) shaped similar to a Pelikan clip. The cap ring is plastic, like the rest of the pen other than the nib and is marked with the Senator “S” SENATOR GERMANY SENATOR. The ink window is clear. The piston draws around 0.8 ml of ink. The nib and feed are friction fit into the section.
The red one had ink present behind the piston and leaked. I tried very hard to disassemble the pen but was unsuccessful. Neither the section nor the piston mechanism would budge at the limit of the amount of force I was willing to apply. I was much more aggressive than I would have been with any other pen. I did not try heat due to the decorative wrap. I might try that at a later date. The black one worked without a hitch as received. After cleaning, I have used it for about 2 weeks for 15-30 minutes per day with no issues. So don’t expect to easily repair one that is defective, but if you get one that works it should work fine.
And then there is the nib. This is a senator gold plated steel nib. The nib is marked with the Senator “S” / “IRRIDIUM” / “POINT” / “GERMANY” / “M.” The “M” is hidden by the section. The first difference I noticed was that the gold plating is substantial, not just some thin gold wash. This was verified as the nib on the red one had the plating chipped off at the back of the nib and you could see the interface. Both nibs are marked “M” but I do not think that they came in any other widths. Both nibs required some tuning, but once tuned they write comparable to my tuned steel Pelikan nibs. They are not quite as smooth, but the difference is very small. Where both these nibs surpassed the Pelikan nibs is in the amount of spring available. I am not going to use the “F” word, but there is substantial line variation available if you are willing to exert the pressure.
From what I have been able to find, these pens retailed for $20 new. I see them below $10 frequently, and I got both of mine shipped for less than that. That is not bad for roughly twice the price of a Pilot Varsity to get a pen that writes this well. It is plastic, it feels cheap, it looks cheap up close, it IS cheap, and it writes very well. I feel that this would make a very good introduction to a piston filler for someone willing to take a chance on one of the auction sites.
4823482448254826482748284829