DIY Planner - Review: Lamy AL Star Fountain Pen - Comments

Vista survival rate

LisaPT — Fri, 7 Dec 2007 19:34:33 -0500

Just to let you know my Vista survived being taken apart by another engineer at work today. He wanted to see how it worked. Engineers are dangerous beings...

I took my much more expensive Platinum apart to show him how a converter worked just so he wouldn't be tempted by that.

Binder is a nice guy to

terceiro — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 16:38:47 -0500

Binder is a nice guy to boot. I've only spoken with him at pen shows, but he's always very approachable, welcoming, and professional. Never had him grind me a nib, but I wouldn't hesitate to contact him with any irreplaceable nib work.

On the other hand, don't let the voodooists scare you off. It's not rocket science; it's using friction to shape a small piece of metal. It's very forgiving and the rewards are substantial. By all means, don't start off with the vintage stock, but don't let that stop you from making a crappy fountain pen into a great one.

Richard Binder

Rollafool — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 15:55:07 -0500

I can vouch for Richard Binder's work. His rates are very affordable, but expect to wait at least 6 weeks because he is very popular. In fact, he's become a verb: people say they have had their pens "Binderized." :-D

He packaged my beat-up old Parker "51" with so much care (and included a personal handwritten note) that you'd think it was a priceless instrument. Which reminded me that, for me at least, it is!

Ah

Friend of Pens — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 14:16:35 -0500

Makes perfect sense now. I just hated to see someone make an unintentional "stub" nib with overenthusiastic grinding. FPN has lots of tips for self-grinders. I have yet to dabble in this mysterious art, though I have a Varsity that is rather fussy. Perhaps a date with some ultra-fine emery paper is in its future.

It should be OK

HistoricStitcher — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 14:00:55 -0500

It's an Esterbrook, and the first fp I ever bought. The nibs are so totally replaceable, and the secondary market is currently flooded with new-old stock, so i simply bought a new nib.

It's the old nib that I'm considering practicing on.

If it were attached permanently, I would send it off immediately!! (Thanks for recommendation, though! I might need it some time in the future...)

Seek ye a "nibmeister"

Friend of Pens — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 12:07:16 -0500

If you're dealing with a vintage pen, there are experts in the nib-grinding and pen repair magicks. The name that I see bandied around FPN with regularity is Richard Binder. If I had a nib or pen that needed work and was in any way special to me, I would contact Richard and ship it off without hesitation.

Practice grinding on a disposable Pilot Varsity or something without sentimental value.

Nib adjustment

HistoricStitcher — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 09:17:38 -0500

Thanks for the tip on grinding! I recently dropped a favorite vintage pen, and while I was able to straighten the nib out, it was left a little rough (40+ years of writing does tend to shape the nib a little...) This will be the perfect nib to practice on!

And my absolute always-there go-to fp is still my cheap-o Scheaffer - transparent plastic body, cartridge-fill, always ready to write, even after letting it sit for a year or more! It's my perfect pocket-pen, and I never have to worry about ruining it (it cost under $7 ages ago). Too bad I can't find more of them! I might have to try a Lamy.

And yes, I have and use "nicer" pens, though none in the $100+ range yet, and I still reach for the cheap-o. Always reliable.

re black ink: Noodler's

terceiro — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 08:51:15 -0500

re black ink: Noodler's Bulletproof Black is swell ink, but rather pricey, considering. Then again, the only black ink that's left me unsatisfied was the Lamy ink which, though nicely black, tended to smear and run with the pressure of a glance.

re nib modification: yes, yes, yes. I have made modification to my own nibs before (though only to cheap pens where I wouldn't mind losing the nib) and have not only smoothed out slight roughness, but even ground down a consistent medium nib to a nice italic. Now a cheap pen (I call it my "Parker Le Crap") is a favorite pen with a wonderful variable-width line and makes my handwriting look fantastic.

Cheap pens rock.

Good recommendation

Jon Rutherford — Tue, 4 Dec 2007 01:10:26 -0500

It's hard to go wrong with a Lamy Safari and I feel sure the same's true for this upgraded model.

If you want a blacker ink than Waterman's (I haven't tried Noodler's) Pelikan 4001 is about as black as one could wish, and it works fine in both the Safari and the classic Lamy 2000. For that matter, if you want a pen that will always and invariably write, any Pelikan pen will fulfill that wish. Pelikans are the only pens out of dozens I've used (and dozens I've discarded in various degrees of anger) that consistently perform. They aren't very pretty to my way of viewing, but they work.

The older Sheaffer pens are almost as trustworthy, and the vintage Sheaffer flat-top pens are not only often obtainable at a pretty reasonable price, but an absolute joy to write with, when in good condition. Like the Safari, they have stiff nibs, but 99% of writers today would not know what to do with a flexible nib anyway. The good Sheaffer nibs just flow, and flow, and flow -- similar to the Safari's, but often even more seductively.

However, every time I glance at one of my Safari's, I muse along the lines of "I wish more people would discover these. Life would be that much more civilized."

P. S. There's no reason a Safari nib cannot be as glassy-smooth as the most expensive pen's (and often smoother...since expensive pens very frequently constitute a rip-off). Anybody can learn to safely adjust a nib with a little patience, bare fingers, and a three-grade polisher such as the foam-based things sold for use with fingernails -- or, what I prefer, an almost-glasslike sea pebble. There is NEVER any need to put up with roughness in a pen. A little searching on the Web will find how-to's, but common sense and a good magnifier (10x, 16x) will do just as well. For those experiencing some trepidation about this, practice on a cheap disposable fountain pen such as found in office-supply stores or some pen from a flea market can be reassuring.

Stypen

grog — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 15:56:19 -0500

Those used to be from the Stypen brand. They were relatively available in Montreal, but I've never seen them elsewhere in North America. Stypen was bought by Bic.

Those Stypen puppies wrote pretty well in the days for $5.

Another nice little pen...

Hammer6 — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:23:16 -0500

You might also want to take a look at the Kaweco Aluminum Sport. It's a great "pocket pen" with a good nib, great flow, and the ability to take cartridges and a small converter. It's one of my "grab and go" pens. Even has a nice sketching pencil in the same form factor and a little pocket sleeve to hold the two. Worth exploring.

Bic fountain pen

Katrina — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 23:37:09 -0500

It's on 'twenga dot co dot uk' for 6.99 pounds. I think that's about $US12

Probably a good pen as price often doesn't reflect quality for ordinary use.

price and U.S. availability?

supenguin — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 22:12:47 -0500

No price listed. Any idea how much these usually go for and any way to get them in the U.S?

-Kenny

Lamy

wamcadoo — Thu, 22 Nov 2007 09:19:51 -0500

I've the same, exact pen in the photo and also love the sleek style and ease of use. There are never any splatters or leaks. It does skip once in a while though and I only use the darker inks recommended by the stationers store where I bought it. Still, that may be the paper. It's a great pen that I would certainly recommend.

Bic anybody?

jonglass — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 04:30:53 -0500

Actually, there are few retractible nib pens period.

In a strange, um... "twist" of fate, Bic also makes a retractable fountain pen. Here's one link:
LINK

There are a couple versions of this model, in fact. Unfortunately, while they are available in Europe, try as I might, I've never found one where I live, so I can't comment on them.

-Jon

Review: Lamy AL Star Fountain Pen

dougj — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 08:00:00 -0500

I'm not an expert on fountain pens by any stretch of the imagination, having received my first one about two years ago --an amazing and unexpected gift from Robert Lynch, an Aurora Style. Since then, however, I've certainly fallen under their spell. True, they're not always the most convenient, and I almost always have a little splatter of ink in the corners of my fingernails, but there's something about the way that they glide across the page trailing a fine wet line that glistens even in the dim light of my office. Or perhaps it's the throwback to a calmer, less hectic time when we had time to make words meaningful. So, too, the relaxing ritual of filling my pens with sundry types and colours of ink, even mixing my own concoctions, a past-time that merges my wild ambitions as artist, scientist and writer.

But the mystique of fountain pens can also be mystifying for the beginner. I know it was for me. A glance through various fountain pen websites will quickly bring into focus the highly regarded pens that cost thousands of dollars. Wandering through fountain pen listings and forums will baffle you with an arcane lexicon and conflicting statements about pens, nibs, inks, filling systems, pricing, collectability and custom grindings. Alas, these are barriers to entry for the poor newbie who wishes simply to buy a reliable and inexpensive pen that can be used as a daily writer without pain, confusion, financial ruin or the permanent soiling of one's carpet.

Enter the Lamy AL Star.

The AL Star is the slightly upscale version of Lamy's low-end utility Safari line, upgraded with an aluminum body and a translucent gripping section, but still keeping the same form factor and nib as the plastic-bodied Safari. The suggested retail value of the AL Star is $38 USD, about $9 more than its sibling, but it can often be found on eBay and on special for between $23-29 USD.

Given that so many people recommend pens that cost $250-400, it mustn't be a very good pen, right? On the contrary, the pen writes quite well on decent paper. (Few fountain pens will write well on ultra-cheap paper like newsprint or bargain-basement stock.) The fine nib on my Silvergreen pen exhibits little scratchiness --it'll never write as smooth as a $150-200 pen, but it's quite acceptable-- and it demonstrates excellent flow with most of the inks I've tried. In fact, it's probably one of the most reliable of the pens I've used; it starts writing smoothly every time, with no need to "start" it on some scratch paper beforehand. The nib is affectionately known as a stick type, which means that is has no flexibility, but just a strong, even line with little deviation in thickness.

One thing that often plagues newcomers to fountain pens is the turning or rotation of the pen while writing, since the nib should always remain at a consistent angle on the paper. The AL Star (and Safari) line overcomes this problem with two angular cuts in the usually-rounded area of the gripping section, just behind the nib where the fingers generally squeeze while writing. This clever design is not only ergonomic, but has the effect of maintaining the nib at the perfect angle all the time time, with no creeping rotation.

The body is more or less rounded except that opposite sides are flattened to prevent rolling off the table. Within these flat areas are a window to see the remaining supply of ink and an etched Lamy logo near the rear of the pen. The pen itself is rather thick, about one and a half times as thick as a Pilot G2, but it tends to fit all but the smallest hands fairly well, and it's quite light to handle.

The cap is completely rounded and a bit bigger than the body of the pen. A large wire-spring clip and a plastic plus-shaped accent at top round out the stylish modern look of this pen (which is decidedly not for everyone). The cap doesn't screw on, but instead creates an air-tight seal with a satisfying click. This is a virtue in a pen that you need to uncap quickly.

The whole pen is quite a rugged affair and --given its toughness and inexpensive price-- would feel quite at home tossed in a backpack or in a purse. Combine it with an adapter/converter for filling from ink bottles and a small selection of smooth-writing ink such as Noodler's or Waterman, and you can have an excellent daily writer that's not only economical and ecologically friendly, but a great introduction to fountain pens.

Thinking of dipping your toe into the fountain pen waters? I doubt you'd go wrong with the Lamy AL Star, or even with the more vibrant colours of its cheaper plastic cousin, the Safari.

D*I*Y Planner - Review: Lamy AL Star Fountain Pen - Comments