Some older German "student" pens: GEHA Schulfüller, Montblanc 32, Reform 1745

[Pinkys.Brain]

I just wanted to share pictures of the pens that brought me to starting collecting pens: older German fountain pens that were originally made for students.

*My camera isn't the best, so the pictures aren't either*

Why do I like them:
- You can get the for a surprisingly small amount of money from ebay
- most of them are piston fillers

For a size comparison:
- Capped: all about the same size
- unposted: the GEHA is the smallest, the Reform 1745 is the largest
- posted: the Montblanc is the smallest, the Reform 1745 the largest
All three pens should be used posted IMHO




1) GEHA Schulfüller with an extra ink reservoir (I paid 16€):
*you cannot see the green switch for the resevoir as it is integrated into the feed. It reserved enough ink for another 1 or 2 pages*
+ sturdy
+ piston filler
+ extra ink reservoir (not needed, but a nice addition)
+ pretty flexy steel nib
+ nib and feed can be screwed off, so it is easy to clean
- a bit toothy (could not yet fix that)
- starting problems after overdoing it with the pressure when "flexing"





2) Montblanc 32 (I paid 10€ on ebay ^_^):
*The nib is from a Montblanc 34. The nib it came with was an OB which I did not like. Someday I will give it another try though*
+ piston filler
+ nice looks, especially the nib
+ 14k gold nib
+ grib section can be screwed off, so the pen can be thorougly cleaned
+ great ebonity feed
- these Montblancs are prone to cracks, so you have to handle them carefully
- the clip is not the best but does its job




3) Reform 1745 (I paid 4€):
+ cheap
+ cheap piston filler-
+ light
+ nib and feed can be screwed of, so the pen can easily be cleaned
- very light => feels cheap
- nib was scratchy so I had to gring it (and it became something like an M nib)

[goldiesdad]

Wow those are good pics ... I too use ebay to "hunt" for pen deal as of late and have come across nothing like what you got ... Congrats

[KrazyIvan]

Very nice. I really like that Geha and lost out on a couple of auctions on the US eBay site. It seems that it is easier to get them on the German eBay site and for a lot less. I just need to do more research before diving in. Someone on FPN has a guide for navigating the German eBay and German language as it pertains to fountain pens in general, IIRC.

[Freddy]

I have a Reform 1745 but really like that Geha.

[Bogon07]

Pinkys.Brain,
Nice collection of FPs. Good photos too.

I was just listening this morning to an old PenAddict podcast (#5) and they were talking about one of their German listeners, Lucas who said all students in Germany are made to write with fountain pens in school. " A fountain pen is a pen for children as it is the device you learn to write with"

[Pinkys.Brain]

Pinkys.Brain,
Nice collection of FPs. Good photos too.

I was just listening this morning to an old PenAddict podcast (#5) and they were talking about one of their German listeners, Lucas who said all students in Germany are made to write with fountain pens in school. " A fountain pen is a pen for children as it is the device you learn to write with"

Lucas is right. In 3rd grade German kids start writing with a fountain pen. My first pen was a Lamy ABC and after that came a Pelikan school pen (I don't remember the exact name but it was a cartridge pen). The third one was a Lamy Safari. These three pens were the most popular student pens in the early to mid 90's, I guess.
But that has been changing a lot. I heard, that fountain pens are not that mandatory anymore. I had to write exams with a fountain pen until the 8th grade.

At the university students at my time switched to Lamy Safaris and Lamy Logos. These were at least the pens I encountered most often.


@German ebay: If you want German pens you HAVE to use the German ebay site. When I heard of the "international" prices for Montblanc 34 I almost fell of my chair. The one that was once part of the Sunday shopper went for almost $200. On German ebay the highest price I have ever seen was about 55€... GEHA Schulfüller are readily available on German ebay too, and they almost never cross the 30€ line.
So if you know someone who lives in Germany, ask him to bid for you. These pens are often sold my normal people, so they are mostly shipped in Germany only. And often you have to wire the money and cannot use paypal.

I also one got a cheap Stella Osmoroid(?). A white/beige piston filler, but it had a crack in the barrel and the nib was springy but atrocious. Scratchy as hell and not fixable (by me). I always wanted an older Kaweco piston filler but they are a bit more expensive, even in Germany.

I have a Reform 1745 but really like that Geha.

The GEHA is the far superior pen. But it is way harder to get one.
IMHO a good use for a Reform 1745 is to use it in conjunction with a very portable notebook as it is thinner than a lot of ballpoint pens. The GEHA lays down a very wet line, so a lot of notebooks with thinner paper will not be a good companion for the pen.

Because the ben is so wet I use it with Waterman Havana which really profits from wetter pens as it becomes a lot darker

p.s.: Since last year cursive writing is not mandatory anymore at German primary schools. Nowadays kids only learn block letters...what a shame!

p.p.s.: Just bought another GEHA Schulfüller at an ebay auction (16€) ^_^ Now I have to get it to Japan... -_-

[85AKbN]

I am intrigued by German school pens (I think the first one I read about was the Pelikan 120). Talk about the ultimate workhorse, proven, been there, done that fountain pens. I'd like to get a few too.

[Jeph]

I have already posted a few times about how much I like the Geha school pens so I won't go into that again. It just so happens that I recently nabbed another Pelikan M100 and a Reform came with it although I ignored it in my bidding. I have handled some of the reform pens and cheap is a pretty good description. So I planned to just clean this one up and dump it in The Box as a potential penvangilism pen when my current supply of Hero 616's in gone. After this post I went back and looked at it again. The first hint that something was different was that it was all black. The other thing is that the ink window has rounded slots instead of the full circumference window. Upon closer inspection I found that the plastic is much higher quality than I normally associate with Reform pens. I would call this pen as well made as the Geha and even the Kaweco school pens. It is still black and boring, but it is a solid fountain pen with a piston filler, an ink window and a removable nib unit. I spent some time today cleaning out some of my lever fillers and was reminded about why I like piston fillers with removable nib units so much. Note that the Reform nib units are not interchangeable with the Pelikan nib units. The Pelikan M150/M200 nibs are slightly narrower and the Reform feed is slightly smaller in diameter.

So if you come across one of these in the wild at a low price, don't automatically dismiss the Reform.

Reform Capped.jpgReform Posted.jpgReform Parts.jpgReform Nib.jpg

Please ignore the random water drops. I quickly cleaned this one and posed the pictures.

[orfew]

Very nice pens. thanks for the photos.

[whych]

1) GEHA Schulfüller with an extra ink reservoir (I paid 16€):
*you cannot see the green switch for the resevoir as it is integrated into the feed. It reserved enough ink for another 1 or 2 pages*
+ sturdy
+ piston filler
+ extra ink reservoir (not needed, but a nice addition)
+ pretty flexy steel nib
+ nib and feed can be screwed off, so it is easy to clean
- a bit toothy (could not yet fix that)
- starting problems after overdoing it with the pressure when "flexing"

If you soak the nib and give it a few cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner, you should be able to push the nib out to realign it.
Push the Reserve Tank button out before knocking the back of the feed or the feed can break with it still in.
To reassemble, start the nib and feed into the dollar (only goes one way) and then half screw the nib back into the pen before pushing it back in.

[Pinkys.Brain]

If you soak the nib and give it a few cycles in an ultrasonic cleaner, you should be able to push the nib out to realign it.
Push the Reserve Tank button out before knocking the back of the feed or the feed can break with it still in.
To reassemble, start the nib and feed into the dollar (only goes one way) and then half screw the nib back into the pen before pushing it back in.

Already found that out. The nib was pretty hard to get out, but it worked. But now the pen is too wet...