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Thread: Pens that haven't aged well?

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    Default Pens that haven't aged well?

    I've spent the morning cleaning out a Parker 61 Capillary and it got me thinking about pens that haven't aged well somewhat successfully. To me 61's are pens that don't age well as there 3 common issues; arrows falling off, the capillary units getting blocked and the connectors failing on the cartridge converter pens.

    I know there a Sheaffer Plunger filler that is near impossible to service without a Lathe what other pens weren't made to last?

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Celluloid Waterman’s 100-year pens certainly make the list
    So do Soennecken 111 -and 222 in bright colors, Eversharp Dorics in the same...
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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by fountainpenkid View Post
    ...
    So do Soennecken 111 -and 222 in bright colors...
    And I'd still give every one of them a very loving home. Quite possibly my grail pens - especially a sea green Lady 111 *sigh*

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Waterman Taperites are not exactly a pleasure to service. Many post-war plastic pens suffer from shrinkage - probably Platignum and Osmiroid are among the worst.

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by top pen View Post
    I've spent the morning cleaning out a Parker 61 Capillary and it got me thinking about pens that haven't aged well somewhat successfully. To me 61's are pens that don't age well as there 3 common issues; arrows falling off, the capillary units getting blocked and the connectors failing on the cartridge converter pens.

    I know there a Sheaffer Plunger filler that is near impossible to service without a Lathe what other pens weren't made to last?
    Just about all of the Omas 75th Anniversary (2000) limited edition Arlecchino celluloid FPs have fallen victim to acid degradation / crystallization. In ~five years time they have gone from > $1,000 collectables to pens you cannot even give away!! What a shame!

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by top pen View Post
    I've spent the morning cleaning out a Parker 61 Capillary and it got me thinking about pens that haven't aged well somewhat successfully. To me 61's are pens that don't age well as there 3 common issues; arrows falling off, the capillary units getting blocked and the connectors failing on the cartridge converter pens....
    It's a shame about the 61. Mine is a very nice writer, when it's not clogged, much nicer than the 51s I have, and the arrow has not fallen off. But yes, there's that clogging issue. And although that might be alleviated by a different choice of ink, when a pen gets clogged using plain old Namiki Blue, I have to think that it's not very practical.

    Well, at least I managed to write with it enough to learn to appreciate the nib, and I may try it again some time, just not soon.
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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by mizgeorge View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by fountainpenkid View Post
    ...
    So do Soennecken 111 -and 222 in bright colors...
    And I'd still give every one of them a very loving home. Quite possibly my grail pens - especially a sea green Lady 111 *sigh*
    I can greatly empathize with that feeling—the 111 Superior was the most spectacular pen I ever owned...as ill-fated as they are.
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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Bump
    "If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly."
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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?


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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    I must say, I always considered that to be one weird pen right from the start.

    eta: Robyn reminded me that we had one years ago. We couldn't give it away.
    Last edited by Ron Z; January 14th, 2025 at 05:01 PM.

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by manoeuver View Post
    I have one of those in ball point mode.

    The French bulldog of pens.

    Sent from my SM-G781V using Tapatalk

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by Kaputnik View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by top pen View Post
    I've spent the morning cleaning out a Parker 61 Capillary and it got me thinking about pens that haven't aged well somewhat successfully. To me 61's are pens that don't age well as there 3 common issues; arrows falling off, the capillary units getting blocked and the connectors failing on the cartridge converter pens....
    It's a shame about the 61. Mine is a very nice writer, when it's not clogged, much nicer than the 51s I have, and the arrow has not fallen off. But yes, there's that clogging issue. And although that might be alleviated by a different choice of ink, when a pen gets clogged using plain old Namiki Blue, I have to think that it's not very practical.

    Well, at least I managed to write with it enough to learn to appreciate the nib, and I may try it again some time, just not soon.
    And I currently am trying it again, almost 4 years after that previous post, which I'd forgotten making. Seemed like an okay but not exceptional writer, but after getting used to it, I'm finding it to be actually very nice. Hasn't clogged yet, but we'll see. I'm using Private Reserve Tanzanite. If memory serves, that's the ink that Richard Binder called "Ex-Lax for pens". Am I remembering that correctly?

    Quote Originally Posted by manoeuver View Post
    I was just going to ask, "what is that thing?", but I googled "Core fountain pen", and had my answer, a Rotring Core. I think I had heard of it before, but had suppressed the memory.

    I have some Rotring drawing pens, which are okay, nothing special, and some Rotring mechanical pencils, which I don't use a lot, but there's nothing wrong with them. I lost the eraser cap on one, and wrote to Rotring asking if they sold replacements, as I didn't see them on their site. They responded that they didn't sell them, but would send me one for free, and they did, shipping it from France. I thought that was very nice of them.
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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by 724Seney View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by top pen View Post
    I've spent the morning cleaning out a Parker 61 Capillary and it got me thinking about pens that haven't aged well somewhat successfully. To me 61's are pens that don't age well as there 3 common issues; arrows falling off, the capillary units getting blocked and the connectors failing on the cartridge converter pens.

    I know there a Sheaffer Plunger filler that is near impossible to service without a Lathe what other pens weren't made to last?
    Just about all of the Omas 75th Anniversary (2000) limited edition Arlecchino celluloid FPs have fallen victim to acid degradation / crystallization. In ~five years time they have gone from > $1,000 collectables to pens you cannot even give away!! What a shame!
    Many Omas pens made of celluloid have fall in pieces. A lot of money disappeared and no company to repair them.

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Quote Originally Posted by manoeuver View Post
    I wanted one of these when they came out. I guess what an 11 year old liked doesn't age well.

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    She's purty ain't she?20250116_141703.jpg

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    Default Re: Pens that haven't aged well?

    Stipula Nettuno Idra.

    They are beautiful pens to behold, but Stipula's design of the convertible filling system resulted in too-thin barrel wall at the threads for the section, and the barrels were prone to snap in two with just a twist. Ron Zorn was already repairing a Nettuno Idra for another collector when I brought him mine (that had snapped in half in the hands of a well-known nibmeister at a pen show). Unfortunately, the repair necessarily ends the convertible filler function. I took quite a loss on that one.

    IMG_2688.JPG
    Couldn't find my photos of the pen; the box will have to do.

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