My first vintage pen purchase was two pens, and one of them was this model. It was a good fountain pen, and surprisingly good for a student pen. I've gone kind of nuts with the vintage pens since then!
I’m learning a lot about fountain pens 🖋 and new to the pen world.. I’m waiting on a nice package 📦 from Appelboom..You’re English is fine! A pleasure! Thank You
You're very lucky to have your great grandfather's pen! I have a picture of my great grandfather Martin and copywrites of a letter written by his grandfather. In the letter he apologizes for his handwriting as "his hand shakes with infirmity of old age." He was probably writing with a metal dip pen.
A tip for those who wish to try this. I'm fairly new at fountain pens. Several brand new cheap pens have given me troubles since first buying them. Everyone probably already knows about adding a small ball bearing or piece of spring in the converter. that helps a lot but I was still getting ink starvation in a few pens. In my attempts to find what I like on a very low budget, a few of the collectors, (I think they're called that), had the very small channels with various obstructions in them. Small little plastic fibers which cause "railroading". What I did was to pull out the tip and collector, grab a tiny sewing needle and very lightly scratch out the channel to clear the obstructions. It worked very well. From my "guestimation", you would not want to scratch the channel too hard since that would open up the feed too much and likely cause ink to drip out the end or at least become very much wetter. Just a very light swipe will do. Then reassemble the pen.
I think most folks just use a very thin but sturdy piece of plastic to run between the tines that cleans out anything that might be obstructing the even flow of ink with no risk of permanently damaging the nib by scratching it with a needle. But sounds like you’re having fun and learning fast! Enjoy
I managed to buy an old parker duofold for about 20$. Cheapest gold nib, as well as very vice to write with. I used it as EDC in my last semester at uni.
When I started buying fountain pens I saw a set of two Reform pens (a 1745 and a P120). They were cheap as dirt so I bought the set. They were NOS and I was not disappointed. Later I bought a cheap Reform "Calligraphy" model with a 1.1 nib and it's also a nice pen. If you want to try stub nibs this is a very inexpensive way to try out these kind of nibs. Prices have gone up during the last ten years and sometimes sellers are asking way too much. But the 1745 is a nice way to start exploring vintage pens without investing a lot of money. But remember: The Reform 1745 is not a Pelikan 200! It's a very basic pen and at this level it performs quite well.
In terms of vintage pens that I use, Parker 45's cheap as dirt still. Parker Super 21's are around. Both can be had for +/- $20 USD used and can be found as NOS sometimes. My daily driver is a Super 21, which is a poor man's 51.
I got an old Conway Stewart with a soft (not flex) 18kt gold nib, $12, and a Parker 75 ciselle all sterling silver with 18kt medium nib for $75. Love them both. Though the Parker I think needs a new clutch/liner in the cap, as it dries out quickly. But both better than many of my moderately priced contemporary pens.
I have some Reform pens, especially the black green ones write quite poorly. But there is for example the vintage Senator Windsor, so good and so cheap, they write like butter. And they are available in all sorts of colours, even transparent.
I have recently bought green and black Reform 1745 in poor condition just to replace the feed on my black Reform 1745 which I have destroyed when I was cleaning it with brandy many years ago and now it writes smooth with and with fine line that is indistgushabable from the line from my Pilot MR. The first fountain pen that I have bought for myself for my twelfth birthday in 1982 was gray and black Rexpen piston filler which is another model of Reform made under license by TOZ Zagreb, that is Pencil Factory Zagreb. This pen is sadly long gone, but I still have the same model in black.
I have an odd and old russian workhorse fountain pen, with a piston filling mechanism similair to yours and with an ink window. I haven't tuned it yet however so I can't tell you how well it writes
We didn’t have Euro in the 90’s. Deutsch Marks were still in circulation until 2002. Cool pen though. One could get really great deals in Italy in those days. The Italian Lira couldn’t hold a candle to an American Dollar or British Pound back then. Petrol in the USA was still 99 cents a gallon in that decade.
Your videos are very interesting! I'm young too and have been interested in fountain pens from two years now. I really liked your videos on affordable fountain pens, for students they're ideal. Just wanted your opinion, have you tried the Waterman graduate allure? I wanted to buy the pilot kakuno (because of your review), but having already plenty of unused cartridges (pelikan international ones) which I can't use on the kakuno, I opted for the Waterman. In the end I would have had to buy a converted which wasn't cheap (because of shipping).
`But it looks allright´ He says as he looks away, not yet rolling his eyes. The light makes it look as if you´re getting gray... I agree that the quality of yesteryear is so much better. These days it looks as if stuff is made to brake. Only so they can sell you more. It´s with almost everything.
Somebody help,I have pen in original box. Name reforma,model 966. 8 now parjer it is best. Im from croatia hometown of pen. Slavoljub Penkala first make pen in Zagreb. I found vintage Pen,2 peaces in one box originao. Reforma 966. Helo please
I got one today at the flea market, brought it home and gave it a good cleaning. Thanks for helping me identify it.
My first vintage pen purchase was two pens, and one of them was this model. It was a good fountain pen, and surprisingly good for a student pen. I've gone kind of nuts with the vintage pens since then!
I’m learning a lot about fountain pens 🖋 and new to the pen world.. I’m waiting on a nice package 📦 from Appelboom..You’re English is fine! A pleasure! Thank You
You're very lucky to have your great grandfather's pen! I have a picture of my great grandfather Martin and copywrites of a letter written by his grandfather. In the letter he apologizes for his handwriting as "his hand shakes with infirmity of old age." He was probably writing with a metal dip pen.
A tip for those who wish to try this. I'm fairly new at fountain pens. Several brand new cheap pens have given me troubles since first buying them. Everyone probably already knows about adding a small ball bearing or piece of spring in the converter. that helps a lot but I was still getting ink starvation in a few pens.
In my attempts to find what I like on a very low budget, a few of the collectors, (I think they're called that), had the very small channels with various obstructions in them. Small little plastic fibers which cause "railroading". What I did was to pull out the tip and collector, grab a tiny sewing needle and very lightly scratch out the channel to clear the obstructions. It worked very well.
From my "guestimation", you would not want to scratch the channel too hard since that would open up the feed too much and likely cause ink to drip out the end or at least become very much wetter. Just a very light swipe will do. Then reassemble the pen.
I think most folks just use a very thin but sturdy piece of plastic to run between the tines that cleans out anything that might be obstructing the even flow of ink with no risk of permanently damaging the nib by scratching it with a needle. But sounds like you’re having fun and learning fast! Enjoy
I managed to buy an old parker duofold for about 20$. Cheapest gold nib, as well as very vice to write with. I used it as EDC in my last semester at uni.
When I started buying fountain pens I saw a set of two Reform pens (a 1745 and a P120). They were cheap as dirt so I bought the set. They were NOS and I was not disappointed.
Later I bought a cheap Reform "Calligraphy" model with a 1.1 nib and it's also a nice pen. If you want to try stub nibs this is a very inexpensive way to try out these kind of nibs. Prices have gone up during the last ten years and sometimes sellers are asking way too much. But the 1745 is a nice way to start exploring vintage pens without investing a lot of money. But remember: The Reform 1745 is not a Pelikan 200! It's a very basic pen and at this level it performs quite well.
Stephan Feinen Thanks! Good advice
In terms of vintage pens that I use, Parker 45's cheap as dirt still. Parker Super 21's are around. Both can be had for +/- $20 USD used and can be found as NOS sometimes. My daily driver is a Super 21, which is a poor man's 51.
Great vids !
I got an old Conway Stewart with a soft (not flex) 18kt gold nib, $12, and a Parker 75 ciselle all sterling silver with 18kt medium nib for $75. Love them both. Though the Parker I think needs a new clutch/liner in the cap, as it dries out quickly. But both better than many of my moderately priced contemporary pens.
Nice informative videos , thanks
I have this pen. It is reliable, and the nib has some soft bounce to it, which I enjoy. So many nibs nowadays are nails.
I have some Reform pens, especially the black green ones write quite poorly. But there is for example the vintage Senator Windsor, so good and so cheap, they write like butter. And they are available in all sorts of colours, even transparent.
I have recently bought green and black Reform 1745 in poor condition just to replace the feed on my black Reform 1745 which I have destroyed when I was cleaning it with brandy many years ago and now it writes smooth with and with fine line that is indistgushabable from the line from my Pilot MR. The first fountain pen that I have bought for myself for my twelfth birthday in 1982 was gray and black Rexpen piston filler which is another model of Reform made under license by TOZ Zagreb, that is Pencil Factory Zagreb. This pen is sadly long gone, but I still have the same model in black.
I have an odd and old russian workhorse fountain pen, with a piston filling mechanism similair to yours and with an ink window. I haven't tuned it yet however so I can't tell you how well it writes
Parker 51 is a good vintage pen.
We didn’t have Euro in the 90’s. Deutsch Marks were still in circulation until 2002. Cool pen though. One could get really great deals in Italy in those days. The Italian Lira couldn’t hold a candle to an American Dollar or British Pound back then. Petrol in the USA was still 99 cents a gallon in that decade.
Your videos are very interesting! I'm young too and have been interested in fountain pens from two years now. I really liked your videos on affordable fountain pens, for students they're ideal. Just wanted your opinion, have you tried the Waterman graduate allure? I wanted to buy the pilot kakuno (because of your review), but having already plenty of unused cartridges (pelikan international ones) which I can't use on the kakuno, I opted for the Waterman. In the end I would have had to buy a converted which wasn't cheap (because of shipping).
I'd like to mention to ebonite feed seekers that all Noodler's pens have ebonite feeds. Priced $16 - $75. Also some Indian brands.
I have just noticed what appears to be an RT transmitter on your desk. Do you live in the outback ofAustralia?
`But it looks allright´ He says as he looks away, not yet rolling his eyes.
The light makes it look as if you´re getting gray...
I agree that the quality of yesteryear is so much better. These days it looks as if stuff is made to brake. Only so they can sell you more. It´s with almost everything.
Somebody help,I have pen in original box. Name reforma,model 966. 8 now parjer it is best. Im from croatia hometown of pen. Slavoljub Penkala first make pen in Zagreb. I found vintage Pen,2 peaces in one box originao. Reforma 966. Helo please
Exactly what I thought, meh...
Nice pen. Ink is wimpy and boring.