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Thread: Throwing Pens in the Trash

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    Senior Member manoeuver's Avatar
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    Default Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Have you thrown a pen in the trash? I mean one that isn't s'posed to be disposable.

    I remember a gross chewed up Parker 45, I think I yanked the nib and tossed the rest of it.

    I know I had some vintage parts for a while, with the unwelcome to-do of find someone who can use these.
    The instant relief I felt tossing them in the trash was worth more to me than the parts could ever mean to whatever dustsniffer might have expressed an interest in getting them for free.

    Then there were the new/cheap pens that worked so poorly I wouldn't wish them on anybody.

    what pens do you remember throwing away?

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    A couple of times when I bought 'lots' of pens, the seller threw in a bunch of true junkers in addition to the pieces I was going for. I guess I was *their* trashcan. Anyway, sometimes there are pens that are so cheap, so broken or otherwise worthless, that there is nothing on them you can salvage. Bin it.

    I've never thrown away a drum, though.
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Yes. I threw away a Noodler's pen. The pen was a waste of $40 dollars. It cracked at the demonstrator window. The piston froze up. All sorts of problems. Junk.
    Lady Onogaro

    "Be yourself--everybody else is already taken." --Oscar Wilde

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Mine was also a Noodler's pen. A Creaper I believe. Tried unsuccessfully to fill/write with it several times until I just gave up and threw it in the bin. Like manoeuver I felt instantly relieved that it was a problem I no longer had to try and solve. On the other hand I'm not 100% convinced that it wasn't supposed to be disposable. LOL
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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Don't think I ever outright threw a pen in the trash. I've purchased lots as Jon did. But usually what I'd end up doing is kind of fixing it best I could and then "donating" it off to some hopeful tinkerer to do with as they please without any regret of ruining it further.

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Two have gone in the bin. Sadly, they were both Platignums that were truly beyond any possible hope of a resurrection.

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    Senior Member KBeezie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Quote Originally Posted by An old bloke View Post
    Two have gone in the bin. Sadly, they were both Platignums that were truly beyond any possible hope of a resurrection.
    I imagine beyond-resurrection celluloid pens on the other hand deserve a Viking funeral... :P they do go up in flames pretty fast...

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Very rarely. Usually I can at least salvage parts.

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    I put them in the scrounge box at pen shows. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    I put them in the scrounge box at pen shows. One man's trash is another man's treasure.
    Thank you! A far better approach!
    Just because you don't want it does not mean someone else might not have a use for it...or some part of it.

    And, the colleague who has such a need, hardly a "dustsniffer looking for a freebie," will be most appreciative.

    (Better to just toss the lousy Show coffee into the trash instead.)

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    I think so. Decades ago, before I understood leaky pens might be fixed.

    I used to do the pen show box thing but no longer attend pen shows, so now conduct PIFs for working pens that don't, for whatever reason, work for me.
    My other pen is a Montblanc.

    And my other blog is a tumblr!


    And my latest ebook, for spooky wintery reading:

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Yes.

    But, to put it in perspective, it's a very, very low percentage compared to the ones that ended up in my parts collection.
    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    This was about 45 years ago, but I threw away a Sheaffer Stylust that I bought at the campus bookstore. Loved the pen, didn't like having ink on my fingers all the time. But I was missing two bits of information. One was Sheaffer's warranty. The other was that the leak was where the 180 style nib screwed into the section. If I had known, I would have unscrewed the nib unit, and the applied bees wax or some kind of sealant on the threads to fix it.

    I've also tossed cracked Parker 21s. Not my favorite pens.

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Quote Originally Posted by manoeuver View Post
    I remember a gross chewed up Parker 45, I think I yanked the nib and tossed the rest of it.
    I had a Parker 45 with a badly mangled cap top that someone had unsuccessfully tried to remove in order to replace the broken clip. Even though I bought new parts and worked out how to fit them I kept the mangled top for a while - just in case. But then I chucked it.
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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    I've got a parts bin myself. If I could find a 1920's large Esterbrook pencil cap. I'd be in business.
    Last edited by Chuck Naill; January 3rd, 2022 at 10:45 AM.

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    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Items like this gorgeous Scripto pen. Modified to write around corners. Nib mashed to avoid poking yourself with anything sharp. I thought maybe it might make a nice fake gold cap on a Sheaffer school pen, but it doesn't fit. So I'll open it up and see if the j-bar is worth saving and the rest gets binned. I save so, so many pens for parts and restoration that the occasional death of one like this gives me no qualms at all.

    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    I just fished this out of the trash bin because of the interest. No teeth marks!

    IMG_4340.jpg

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  32. #18
    Senior Member Jon Szanto's Avatar
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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    I just fished this out of the trash bin because of the interest. No teeth marks!

    IMG_4340.jpg
    Is it "vintage"?

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
    "When Men differ in Opinion, both Sides ought equally to have the Advantage of being heard by the Publick;
    and that when Truth and Error have fair Play, the former is always an overmatch for the latter."

    ~ Benjamin Franklin

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    Yep, Noodlers Ahab.
    Worst most tinkery pen I've ever encountered.
    Literally had to tinker with it for an hour each day before it worked for another 4-6 hours. Then the process would repeat.
    And it stank to high hell.
    Buried it in the backyard.
    Then exhumed it and sent it to a pen-pal in Austria to try out.
    He thought it stank too.
    Last edited by Detman101; January 3rd, 2022 at 12:10 PM.
    "I can only improve my self, not the world."

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    Default Re: Throwing Pens in the Trash

    All the cheap Chinese pens I bought.

    Caps didn't fit, cap rings became undone and they leaked like sieves.

    Cheap pens that ink carpets and shirts cost much more than they "save".

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