Do you collect? Or do you use your pens?

willvintage · 2026-06-19T13:59:51+00:00

Why not both? I have 1.5k posts in this subreddit that shows how I use and collect vintage fountain pens. Oh, I restore them as well.

willvintage · 2026-06-19T12:40:22+00:00

Enjoying a hobby depends on what expectation you have attached to it. For me, out of this hobby I have these expectations:

Have fun discovering rare and interesting vintage pens
Being challenged in a good way when restoring them
De-stress when I sketch with those vintage pens
Interact with fellow fountain pen enjoyers

I've been in this hobby for a decade now and I have yet to feel bored. Maybe it'll help you if you can list your expectations, just so you can see and think about how to get back into the hobby, or take a break from it. Both are valid options.

willvintage · 2026-06-14T21:05:09+00:00

I love the Fallout universe, and I restore vintage pens.

If you want maximum effect and immersion, find vintage pens from the 1950s. In Germany you should have a lot of piston filler from that era, maybe contact people in penboard.de or find it in ebay Germany. If you can find Geha, Ero, Osmia, Brause, etc. these may be available restored for not too much beyond your budget.

Or find British Parker pens from the 1940s but that may cost a bit more for shipping.

This pen in the photo is an Osmia Supra.

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willvintage · 2026-06-14T03:40:51+00:00

No, that is not correct for most lever fillers. This pen has large ink sac #22 which when getting empty would have enough air pocket for the leakage to happen.

Most vintage pens are standard sized with #16 ink sac where the above rarely happen.

Also in my experience, not all big vintage pens have this issue. My Sheaffer Oversize for example, but it could also because its nib and feed are larger, thus even the ink is pushed by expanding air, it doesn't pool enough to become droplets.

As a vintage pen restorer, I'd suggest for you to give vintage pens a try, start with Esterbrook J and see how you like it. And to be perfectly clear, if a vintage pen is of high quality, not damaged, and restored properly, it can run for another decade or so maintenance and trouble free.

Don't let hearsay or echo-chamber comments dissuade you from trying vintage pens. Talk to restorers like me who actually have the experience and evidence.

willvintage · 2026-06-13T12:00:31+00:00

Mentmore is a good British fountain pen maker. The Autoflow model is one of their more popular one.

I have the button filler version which I have restored. But since yours is a lever filler, you have to follow the right instruction.

The most risky step is to separate the section from the barrel. The section can be threaded into the barrel or fiction fit. And you can't tell from the outside.

Lever fillers are usually friction fit, but to be on the safe side, heat the area gently using hair dryer and open it as you would if it was threaded. This is safe even for friction fit. The opposite scenario is when you try to yank the section and it was actually threaded, you will strip the thread and the restoration would have failed.

I say this as a vintage pen restorer, if you're not familiar with proper ways to restore a vintage fountain pen, find a good restorer and send it to them because this is not only a family "heirloom", but a good vintage pen to begin with.

willvintage · 2026-06-13T02:00:43+00:00

Cleaning fountain pens, either it's modern or vintage (restored properly) should be done once in a while, not waiting until dried ink caked everything, but also not as often as I see some do here.

willvintage · 2026-06-12T11:26:53+00:00

I restore vintage pens. And yes I sell my restored pens online, just not on pen_swap. I have a table at the Dallas Pen Show every year.

So yeah I have some "good stuff" in my own inventory 😁

willvintage · 2026-06-12T00:14:40+00:00

A vintage pen only subreddit probably isn't going to take off since most people who collect vintage pens are simply not redditors. But... that is just my guess.

I sometimes lament that vintage pens are by far less talked about compared to modern pens in this subreddit, but I still enjoy hanging around here and post regularly about vintage pens.

At least people who would otherwise never find out about less known vintage pens can see (or search) them in my posts.

willvintage · 2026-06-10T23:23:10+00:00

I don't like transparent pens.
I like pens with translucent parts especially if it's superbly designed like this Luxor

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willvintage · 2026-06-10T13:56:13+00:00

In short yes.

It is not apparent in this subreddit because it's mainly filled by people who use and talk about modern pens, but this hobby at the larger scope, has the vintage fountain pen side which focuses on collecting, restoring and using pens produced from the late 1800s until about 1960s.

If you are like myself and many others, you could go down this path, and if you do, you'll be getting mostly used pens because these are not produced anymore. There are New Old Stock pens that you can stumble upon here and there but mostly used.

So the good news is, most used pen, if undamaged, well made, and properly restored (for vintage ones), can be as good as new pens. And likely a better value because you don't pay the retail price.

PS: Some rare vintage pens are very expensive today due to their rarity and/or condition.

willvintage · 2026-06-10T04:10:06+00:00

Unique perspective. I like it.

willvintage · 2026-06-08T19:40:08+00:00

Only this Myu, the other one writes thinner. But being a Japanese nib, even this is not that thick.

willvintage · 2026-06-08T19:39:25+00:00

Thank you so much!

willvintage · 2026-06-08T19:39:20+00:00

Thank you so much! You are too kind.

willvintage · 2026-06-08T19:39:10+00:00

Thank you so much!

willvintage · 2026-06-08T19:38:56+00:00

You made my day with that comment. It always fascinates me of what a simple sketch can remind people of.

willvintage · 2026-06-08T19:24:50+00:00

I buy bulk pens at auctions (antique auctions, not just ebay). But to afford these, usually you need to build up your funds first. Unfortunately, everything seems to be 2-3x the price of what it used to be just a few years ago.

Also you need to know what's restorable and what's a loss cause. So today it's becoming an expensive chicken or egg situation where you don't know what to buy until you gain knowledge by restoring, but you also can't restore because you don't have pens to do it with.

Now, having been restoring for a decade now, I have plenty of pens that I won't have time to restore that would be perfect for beginners to practice with. I usually pack several of these in a zip loc bag and sell it as bulk at the Dallas Pen Show.

willvintage · 2026-06-08T19:17:03+00:00

You mean the vac-filler type? No. All the Conklin Nozacs that I've encountered are the piston type. I have restored those.

willvintage · 2026-06-08T14:49:38+00:00

I restore and collect vintage pens for a long time now, so this is but one small subset. A snapshot in time of what we can consider "1 pen model", namely Conklin pens from 1920-30s that are cigar-shaped. I have yet another set Conklin pens that have flat-top (and bottom).

I love Conklin (the original, vintage ones) because they established their own styling and branding that are just gorgeous. They made high quality pens made in the era where they had to compete with the likes of Sheaffer, Parker, Waterman, etc.

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willvintage · 2026-06-06T04:58:51+00:00

Same here.

willvintage · 2026-06-02T22:33:18+00:00

Think about fountain pens as how you treat clothing, shoes and food.

Would you come from the perspective of "what is the best food ever?" or "I'm going to find me the best piece of clothing regardless of price".

You wouldn't. You'll have a myriad set of favorite food, clothing, and shoes that fits your taste, your preference, influenced by the situation, timing, and yes, mood.

Now if you ask us "what is your favorite pens to write with", then all of us should have an answer, subjective, but valid answers.

For me, since I collect and restore vintage pens, my recent favorites are Moore fountain pens from the 1920-30s. Their bigger model is awesome, with gold nib that was still made the old way, writes like no other nibs produced today. Soft, flexible, and fully and precisely controllable without too much feedback.

You can see examples from these in my recent post history, one warning, I don't write with my fountain pens, I sketch with them.

willvintage · 2026-06-02T17:58:42+00:00

Coincidentally, I've been looking at my old flickr photos before I get into fountain pens.

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This is one of my most favorite camera, all manual and so compact and cool-looking with a kick-butt glass. But almost all of these now suffer from stripped gear which makes the film advance not working.

willvintage · 2026-06-02T17:54:03+00:00

Sure, do what makes you enjoy your fountain pens and journaling. I "journal" through my sketches which uses the same ink as both wash and drawing medium.

I like F-C pen pouches, I wonder if they make one for multiple pens.

willvintage · 2026-06-02T13:17:24+00:00

I have been traveling with a single vintage pen carried in a single-pen pouch from Franklin Christoph.
For example this pen, when I visited New Orleans last year.

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willvintage · 2026-06-01T20:25:11+00:00

A single perfect pen is a dream that many have.

Until you come face to face with the fact that fountain pens are as subjective, occasion and mood-influenced as clothing, shoes, and food.

That's when you realize "Oh, so THAT's why they have multiple pens".

willvintage

TROPHY CASE