The Parker Reflex, a loathesome pen

I bought one of these from Quill out of curiosity a year or so ago,
because it was only $6.50. This is the worst fountain pen I have ever
encountered, and I have tried several hundred. The pen barely writes;
in fact most ballpoints give a better line. It is almost as if the pen
had been designed to mimick a ball-point - one must continually apply
pressure to achieve even a miserably dry ink flow. The pen skips
continually, and is scratchy in a peculiarly irritating way - sort of
like writing with a dry crayon. The rubberized grip is slimy to the
touch, and the plastic barrel and misshapen clip are ugly and
screamingly cheap-looking. It makes one shudder that some people get
their impression of what a fountain pen should be from this thing

Recently I decided to experiment with the pen before throwing it away.
I cut away the first few millimetres of the feed with a razor blade,
and cut right through the feed as well, longitudinally and beyond the
nib slit. Then I bored a breather hole for the feed on the underside of
the barrel. The ink flow is now about doubled, but the pen is still
abominably scratchy and loathesome to use.

It is simply unbelievable that Parker would put out such rubbish. And I
think it most unlikely that I just have a bad exemplar, as there are
just too many things wrong with this pen.

However, it is just barely possible that an occasional Reflex will be
better than the one I have. After all, the Sheaffer school pens are
notorious for their variability. One is ten or so writes like a Parker
51 or better, another two or three are acceptable, and the rest are
scratchy and dry.

Actually, mine writes pretty well, but I will agree that it is one
homely excuse of a fountain pen. But it writes well enough. Perhaps
you got a lemon.

"virgiliopoeta" wrote in message
oups.com...
I bought one of these from Quill out of curiosity a year or so ago,

I'm sorry that it took you a year to figure out that you loathe it. I always
return pens that I don't like within a week.

because it was only $6.50. This is the worst fountain pen I have ever
encountered, and I have tried several hundred. The pen barely writes;
in fact most ballpoints give a better line. It is almost as if the pen
had been designed to mimick a ball-point - one must continually apply
pressure to achieve even a miserably dry ink flow.

As for me, my four Reflexes are still among my favorites especially with the
fine nibs that I got from Parker last spring.

I don't have to apply pressure.

The pen skips
continually, and is scratchy in a peculiarly irritating way - sort of
like writing with a dry crayon.

My four pens never skip and don't irritatingly scratch up my paper. Nor do
they have too much bite for me.

The rubberized grip is slimy to the
touch,

My grips aren't slimy.

and the plastic barrel and misshapen clip are ugly and
screamingly cheap-looking.

Considering that you could see what you were getting for only $6.50 you
expected what, gold? The Rotring Core, Pelikan Pelikano and Future cost
double and nearly triple (depending on where you get/got them) and look
worse, IMO.

It makes one shudder that some people get
their impression of what a fountain pen should be from this thing

I gave one to a neighbor for her 10th birthday last April and she's still
thrilled with it. Her dad has a fountain pen, himself, and borrows it from
her on occasion because he likes it, too.

Different strokes for different folks. IMO, it's a great pen for the price.
Obviously, YMdidV.

--
~~Bluesea~~
Spam is great in musubi but not in email.
Please take out the trash before sending a direct reply.

I too bought one out of simple curiosity but with a somewhat different
experience. It wrote surprisingly well for such an inexpensive pen. I grant
you that in such a species the variance in performance must be great.

Gordon

Dear Virgilio,
your judgement is rather harsh!
I have tried a few Reflex pens and some are dull and uninteresting, some are
OK. There is a lot of variability.
What you did was not the best way to increase flow, by the way... tine
adjustment, setting the right gap between the tines and between nib and feed
may have qorked.
Also, you could have used some Mylar backed abrasives to smoothen the nib.
Or you could have returned the pen for exchange.
IN any event, the Reflex is not as good as the pen it replaces in the Parker
lineup (the venerable Vector), but it can be coaxed into becoming a decent
writer.
For nib smoothing kits and other pen repair supplies, you may want to check
out mt website (shameless commercial plug....) at
www.tryphon.it/catalogo.htm
Take care,
Giovanni

"virgiliopoeta" wrote in message
oups.com...
I bought one of these from Quill out of curiosity a year or so ago,
because it was only $6.50. This is the worst fountain pen I have ever
encountered, and I have tried several hundred.

"virgiliopoeta" writes:

I bought one of these from Quill out of curiosity a year or so ago,
because it was only $6.50. This is the worst fountain pen I have ever
encountered, and I have tried several hundred.

I have three Parker Reflex -fountain pens. One of them is blue and two
are black.

Only problem I have with my Parker Reflex -fountain pens is starting.
Sometimes it writes one centimeter empty line before it starts. Maybe
cap breathes so well, that nib becomes dry, if I am not writing with
that pen for few days. I store those pens nib pointing upwards, mostly.
That may accelerate drying.

That blue pen has weird nib: When I got my first loupe, I realised slit
do not go symmetrically through the pellet. But it still writes well
after it has started.

I don't find those pens scratchy at all, but I have and I have
experienced many much smoother fountain pens. And they don't skip.


--
Juhapekka "naula" Tolvanen * http colon slash slash iki dot fi slash juhtolv
"Pahat enteet hiljaisuuden kaiken täyttää. Niin tuskaisen läsnä joka hetki,
vaikka pään pois kääntää. Vaikka sulkisi silmät kuva säilyy, eikä mee
minnekään, muttei silti tule luo, vaan tuijottaa tuijottamistaan." Apulanta

After this post, I had to check the one I bought some time ago but had never
popped out of the bubble card. Works great. No flex, of course, but feed
is consistent & adequate for the medium point, even when I write fast.
I think you just got one that was very bad. I'd ask for a replacement.
Clint

"virgiliopoeta" wrote in message
oups.com...
I bought one of these from Quill out of curiosity a year or so ago,
because it was only $6.50. This is the worst fountain pen I have ever
encountered, and I have tried several hundred. The pen barely writes;
in fact most ballpoints give a better line. It is almost as if the pen
had been designed to mimick a ball-point - one must continually apply
pressure to achieve even a miserably dry ink flow. The pen skips
continually, and is scratchy in a peculiarly irritating way - sort of
like writing with a dry crayon. The rubberized grip is slimy to the
touch, and the plastic barrel and misshapen clip are ugly and
screamingly cheap-looking. It makes one shudder that some people get
their impression of what a fountain pen should be from this thing

Recently I decided to experiment with the pen before throwing it away.
I cut away the first few millimetres of the feed with a razor blade,
and cut right through the feed as well, longitudinally and beyond the
nib slit. Then I bored a breather hole for the feed on the underside of
the barrel. The ink flow is now about doubled, but the pen is still
abominably scratchy and loathesome to use.

It is simply unbelievable that Parker would put out such rubbish. And I
think it most unlikely that I just have a bad exemplar, as there are
just too many things wrong with this pen.

However, it is just barely possible that an occasional Reflex will be
better than the one I have. After all, the Sheaffer school pens are
notorious for their variability. One is ten or so writes like a Parker
51 or better, another two or three are acceptable, and the rest are
scratchy and dry.

You are right of course that slightly splaying the tines out by bending
them up increases ink flow. But I wanted to try something more
adventurous.

It is simply unbelievable that Parker would put out such rubbish. And I
think it most unlikely that I just have a bad exemplar, as there are
just too many things wrong with this pen.


The nib used in the Vector, Reflex and Jotter looks the same. My children
are a very good judge and they all hate these pens for school use. I got
them a Parker 45 each and they really like those. They are so much better
but not not nearly so easy to get hold of now for some strange reason.

John

The Reflex is about as big a bang as you can get for six bucks from a
fountain pen. Mine write smoothly, flow really well, and can sit for
weeks without drying up. They're great pens to practice stubbing or
other nib modifications on as well. If you mess them up, you're not out
a huge chunk of change.
Tom