Do you like nice pens?

[Joe Bob]

[pwd72s]

Originally Posted by javadog

I seem to recall being rather underwhelmed with the attitude from the service department of one of the major pen manufacturers. I don’t remember which one, but it very well could’ve been Mont Blanc.

I don’t recall the details but it seems like they wanted a chunk of money just to receive the pen, before providing any sort of assurance that the problem could actually be fixed. Maybe they wouldn’t give a repair price, either. Whatever it was, they did not get my business.

Sadly, all too often "the best" turns out not to be. I think Mont Blanc got me for $35 when I shipped it back to them with an explanation of the problem...they sent it back with a very polite "screw you...it's perfect" note. They probably knew I'd give up after that.

On the flipside, I got great service from the guy who made my cue case...I'd cut it's carrying strap closing the trunk lid on it. He sent a new strap...no charge.
Yes, I'd told him what I did...

(edit) The youtube reviewer..."this is not a cheap pen". LOL! It sure was for Joe Bob!

[Joe Bob]

Oh Jaysus...did you keep it?

[Joe Bob]

And another perspective....which is talking about the pen Paul sent me...the 14"9". Which is the nib size. MY NIB IS BIGGER!

[Joe Bob]

And now watches...

[pmax]

These bleed thru. I have tested them.

No good.

[Joe Bob]

Evidently there are some characters that like or wanna post an opinion on a pen that has been around longer than Paul's underwear.....

[Joe Bob]

AND.....one more.

This has turned into an interesting subject, at least to me an few others....

[pwd72s]

Hey. glad you're having fun... Really, I'm glad to be shed of it. Guess I'm just not as much into $pendy stuff as other people.

[Joe Bob]

Meneder

[Tishabet]

I'm a fountain pen guy, have various varsity brand fountain pens scattered throughout the house (they are disposable) but also have around a dozen nicer ones.

The ones I use most often are Pelikan, Lamy and my new TWSBI... the TWSBI is a 580, really a great pen and writes better than some of my really expensive pens costing 10x as much.

[rusnak]

A tip for you pen guys: Try the Monteverde USA Gel ceramic rollerball inserts in place of your ballpoint cartridges. You'll thank me.

I'm using the XF needle P41 in my PD rollerball pen. It's next level good.

check out monteverdepens.com

[sc_rufctr]

I've always had a thing for fountain pens... My modest collection is mostly Lammy and Montblanc.

I rarely use a ball point but I have a Montblanc Rollerball for document signing etc.

[WPOZZZ]

I have a lot of expensive pens that I got as gifts, but I tend to use free pens. lol

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Joe Bob

BTW, the Russians gave their cosmonauts pencils....they write everywhere.

I believe a bit of research will prove that statement isn't really true....

[Joe Bob]

From Snopes:
NASA’s ‘Astronaut Pen’
Space race legend claims NASA spent millions of dollars developing an 'astronaut pen' that would work in outer space, while the Soviets solved the same problem by simply using pencils.

NASA never asked Paul C. Fisher to produce a pen. When the astronauts began to fly, like the Russians, they used pencils, but the leads sometimes broke and became a hazard by floating in the [capsule’s] atmosphere where there was no gravity. They could float into an eye or nose or cause a short in an electrical device. In addition, both the lead and the wood of the pencil could burn rapidly in the pure oxygen atmosphere. Paul Fisher realized the astronauts needed a safer and more dependable writing instrument, so in July 1965 he developed the pressurized ball pen, with its ink enclosed in a sealed, pressurized ink cartridge.

Fisher sent the first samples to Dr. Robert Gilruth, Director of the Houston Space Center. The pens were all metal except for the ink, which had a flash point above 200°C. The sample Space Pens were thoroughly tested by NASA. They passed all the tests and have been used ever since on all manned space flights, American and Russian. All research and development costs were paid by Paul Fisher. No development costs have ever been charged to the government. Because of the fire in Apollo 1, in which three Astronauts died, NASA required a writing instrument that would not burn in a 100% oxygen atmosphere. It also had to work in the extreme conditions of outer space:

In a vacuum.
With no gravity.
In hot temperatures of +150°C in sunlight and also in the cold shadows of space where the temperatures drop to -120°C
(NASA tested the pressurized Space Pens at -50°C, but because of the residential [sic] heat in the pen it also writes for many minutes in the cold shadows.)

Fisher spent over one million dollars in trying to perfect the ball point pen before he made his first successful pressurized pens in 1965. Samples were immediately sent to Dr. Robert Gilruth, Manager of the Houston Space Center, where they were thoroughly tested and approved for use in Space in September 1965. In December 1967 he sold 400 Fisher Space Pens to NASA for $2.95 each.

Lead pencils were used on all Mercury and Gemini space flights and all Russian space flights prior to 1968. Fisher Space Pens are more dependable than lead pencils and cannot create the hazard of a broken piece of lead floating through the gravity-less atmosphere.

[pwd72s]

The pen/pencil legend may be more fun...but there it is, the story behind the space pen.

Kudos to Paul Fisher and his inventive american spirit. Another plus? To this day, Fisher Pens are made in the USA! I can now uncap my Fisher Chrome "Bullitt" pen with national pride.

Also, it pleases me to know that Joe Bob is having a hell of a lot more fun with that old Mont Blanc than I ever did. Long may his nib be bigger!

[Joe Bob]

Just bought a 50ml bottle blue/green MB ink. 28 bucks delivered. Some of the inks are as much as 100 for 30ml of fluid.

It seems that there is a MB store nearby...25 miles. As you say, they send them out for service. $100 to just inspect it. Gal on the phone suggested rinsing the reservoir out with distilled water to see if it has any remnants of ink.

Then suck up some fresh ink to see how it works.

[pwd72s]

Hey, if they still use the same ink bottles, it will arrive in a cutesy bottle shaped like a boot. I thought of sending the one I have, (blue/black) but USPS doesn't like liquids, so decided not to.

Distilled H20 might be a good move. I vaguely remember rinsing the reservoir with water, but more likely just tap...we have a good well here.

Hey, noticed in one of the writing videos, the nib was rotated in the hand, more of an angle instead of facing the paper straight on...that might work? (edit) like more of the writing weight being place on one nib...not even weight as I was doing.

Wow! Inflation! They only charged me $35 to "inspect", if my memory is right. I can't recall what I paid for that little boot of ink, but I'm sure it wasn't $28. The price of "cool" has really inflated.
Or, as Dolly Parton said: "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap."

Anyway, do keep us posted. Nice to have a fun thread for a change...

(edit) Almost forgot. Joe Bob, are you going to look for a Mont Blanc watch now that you have the pen?

[rusnak]

Jeesus Christ, enough about the "I gave JB a pen" already.