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Dollar pens


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Need bottled ink or refills?

 

No, the pens don't cost you a dollar -- sorry. Dollar Industries was founded in 1954 in Karachi, Pakistan and today is one of the leading manufacturers of writing instruments and stationery in Asia. Their products are exported to more than 50 countries, but their pens are just becoming known here in the U. S. I originally became aware of the neat piston fillers on this page a number of months ago, and have spent that time arranging to import them in quantity. Due to the continually  rising costs of importation I may have to raise the price of these in a future order, but for now I wanted to introduce them at a super-affordable price.

"Got the pen! LOVE IT, LOVE IT, LOVE IT!! P.S. The more I wander your site the more I like it. :) "
M. R., Kokomo, IN

"Norm -- just as note to let you know I received the burgundy Dollar pen and the black ink. The pen exceeds my expectations and lays ink to paper like a much more expensive pen. Its writing quality matches that of my more expensive pens: Pelikan, Parker, Namiki, etc."
J. K., Evergreen Park, IL

"Hi Norman, today I received the Dollar pens I ordered. What a great service: within one week, carefully packed! Nothing can beat this! I filled one of the pens with Private Reserve Sonic Blue....it gives smooth, wet lines and writing with this fountain pen is just pleasure all the time. Thank you for the nice note you enclosed and this marvelous writing material. When world economies would act the way you do, there wouldn't be a lack of confidence!"
P. B., the Netherlands

"Hi Norman, just to let you know I have received my order today. I am very impressed with your careful packaging, it's superb!  Of course the Dollar Pens and pen roll are in good shape too. The Dollar pen writes 
very smoothly for the price, almost as smooth as my properly tuned Pelikan. I really like the nib which is also suitable for me to write Chinese characters. They are really good value, I will be using them as my everyday writers. And the pen roll was elegant to look at, beautiful. Thank you for introducing the Dollar Pens, I wish the Internet would make them more famous among fountain pen lovers."

 L. Y. L., Singapore

"Dear Norman; I have received my order of these pens and to say the least, I am absolutely amazed! These pens write better than my Pelikan; i.e., they are not 'scratchy' writers. I have an affinity for fine or extra fine nibs and these Dollar pens fit the bill perfectly. I have used them to fill out paperwork for my job, write checks, and even to fill out my schedule in my daily planner and the quality simply floors me every time I use them. I gave one to my niece hoping it might inspire her to improve her penmanship (I don't  think it's going to work since she is perfectly content to write with a clear Bic), but I hope she will make the attempt to improve. She always tells me that she wishes she could write as well as I am able to, but she doesn't understand that comes with over 40 years of practice. I will be back for more of these as I absolutely love eyedroppers and piston fillers. Thank you for getting such a wonderful product! And the pen roll was fantastic, too. Finally, a place I can put my pens without scratching them. It's large enough to hold the pens I use a lot, and yet it's small enough to fit into my briefcase. Another happy customer! And I would also like to say that I'm amazed at how fast they arrived! Your customer service is second to none!"
V. D., Princeton, N.C.

"I bought one of the dollar pens from Norman at the NY Pen show (it was my first clear demonstrator). At the same time I bought a 78G BB and also a bottle of the new PR Ebony Blue ink. I have to say that I have been using the clear dollar pen piston filler with the PR ink all week and it has now become one of my favorite pens!!! It is now a permanent part of my Day Planner and I will be using it every day from this point on. Great piston fill - holds a TON of ink! Beautiful smooth nib - writes great. And all at a price that you can afford! No affiliation, blah, blah. I just had to tell everyone how much I love my dollar pen!!!!!!! It writes as well as pens costing hundreds more (a sad statement for those expensive manufacturers indeed!)."
J. K., Bloomfield, CT

"Hi Norman: Well, you have proven me wrong about fine point fountain pens! The Dollar pen writes smoothly, and I am enjoying it already. Thank you!"
Chip H., Twinsburg, OH

"Hi, Norman - just to let you know the order arrived yesterday.  Am impressed by the Dollar Pens - they're attractive (as far as demonstrators go, anyway), seem well made (no leaks yet, at any rate) and write extremely well.  The surprisingly smooth nib is fairly wet and has consistent ink flow: no hard starting or skipping. Thanks for introducing me to them!"
S. R., Philadelphia, PA

"Hey, Norman -- Just wanted to let you know that the little Dollar pen arrived yesterday in fine shape thanks to your super job of packing it. I filled her up with some old gold label Skrip and have been writing away ever since.  Tiniest nib I've ever seen!  I prefer fine points, though, so the line suits me fine..."
J. B., Collierville, TN

Wow. Initial impression, VERY well made. Light, but that's practical - no need for extra weight just to make it feel 'substantial' molding, especially the tassie, is as good as Japanese work. Overall, its as good as the typical German piston filler from the 1950s, actually a bit better.  The only thing that isn't perfect is the finish on the clip. A minor nit, as it is certainly adequate and totally functional.  With a little better plating, and a slightly more substantial plastic, this could be as good as a Pelikan 400. If someone wanted to produce a vintage style piston filler, say, using designs from the past, like the Conklin Nozac, or an Onoto K, I would bet this company could do it.  They could do a Pelikan 100, or 140  style, single color, in a heartbeat....based on initial observation, this is very close to at least a Pelikan 200, functionally. Again, thanks.
S. L., Arlington, VA

 

Dollar 717i Smokey Gray piston fill FP    $15.00    Sold out

Dollar 717i Burgundy piston fill FP    $15.00

Dollar 717i Blue piston fill FP    $15.00

Dollar 717i Smokey Gray Demonstrator piston fill FP    $15.00    Sold out

Dollar 717i Burgundy Demonstrator piston fill FP    $15.00

Dollar 717i Blue Demonstrator piston fill FP    $15.00

As can be seen above, there are two groups and three colors of the pens available. The first group evidences a solid color barrel and cap, while the second group is made up of largely transparent demonstrator versions. (Note: The colors directly above are the most true of the photos on this page. Later photos were taken under different lighting conditions and the burgundy pens especially came out as more red than they actually are. They are burgundy, as shown above. All nibs and trim are silver colored, despite some that appear more golden).

           

The pens measure 5" capped, 5-3/4" posted and 4-1/2" with the cap held aside. In the ever-evolving, and subjective measure of these things, they'd be considered medium-sized pens.

The solid-color versions all have black sections, cap tops and piston knobs. Each cap top sports the dollar sign logo of Dollar pens, the clip has 'Dollar' spelled out, and the barrel is imprinted with 'Dollar 717i'.

 

 

Where are the black piston knobs in the photos above you ask? Why they're hidden under the blind caps -- a nice throwback to vintage designs.

 

Even before the blind cap is revealed however, unscrewing the cap of the solid-color pen displays the large ink view window built into the barrel (hidden when the cap is back on the pen).

                      

 

Here we see the burgundy pen's window in the foreground, with the piston retracted, while the blue pen's piston (black rod with a clear end) is shown fully extended.

If you're unfamiliar with piston-filler pens, the knob is turned counter-clockwise to extend the piston down the barrel and expel the air. Once you've dipped the nib and a bit of the section in your chosen bottled ink, a clockwise 'turn of the screw' will draw a rather massive amount of ink (compared to a cartridge/converter pen) into the barrel itself. With the pen still in position within the ink bottle, I'd suggest that you then repeat the procedure to expel additional trapped air and to take in a bit more ink. Finally, with the nib out of the ink, turn the knob counter-clockwise a final time to let two or three drops back into the bottle and then return the piston to its fully retracted position. I've found this last step helpful in clearing the feed of trapped air, which can sometimes cause an air-lock, preventing the ink from traveling from the reservoir to the nib.

                                    
                                                    Video showing filling of the Dollar 717i

 

                 
             (Again, these photos are slightly false-color. The burgundy pen is not red, nor the nib or trim gold)

Although much of the barrel is taken up with the piston mechanism itself, I'd nonetheless estimate that the ink capacity of these pens is 3-4 times that of a typical cartridge/converter pen (no, I haven't measured the actual capacity), due to the fact that you're filling the full barrel width with ink.

The nib on the pens is steel and it is engraved with "Iridium Point" and the dollar sign logo. The nib shape is reminiscent of that used on the Parker 75. Taking after Henry Ford, you can get the nib in any point size....as long as it's a fine! There are no variations, but I've been very impressed with the smoothness of the nibs right out of the box. Few have needed any tweaking.

             

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, to the demonstrators! This past year or so has been the 'Year of the Demonstrator' amongst pen manufacturers, with almost every brand sporting an entry. Monteverde was one of the earliest, with the Artista line, and as I said upon its introduction:

"All hail the return of the demonstrator! Almost from the first days of the fountain pen, one of the most sought-after additions to a collection was the pen salesman's demonstrator pen. These were typically pens that were partially, or fully transparent...used by a fountain pen salesman to demonstrate the inner workings of the particular pen model that was being sold. Later, pen companies began producing demonstrators -- usually in very small quantities or as limited editions -- especially for the collecting market. Consequently, these were often sold at a premium."

Well, here we have another series of demonstrators that are definitely not being sold at a premium price! Unlike the solid-color 717i pen, the demonstrators have matching color sections, feeds, cap tops and piston rods.

Here we have the burgundy demonstrator, filled with Private Reserve Ebony Blue ink.

 

                    

 

 

           

 

 

Although the pen does not come boxed, should you wish to give one as a present, it fits perfectly into our...

Red Triangular gift pen box    $3.50

   

 

Made of a series of triangular supports, this innovative hard-plastic pen box slides open in the center.

 

                                    

 

 

IMPORTANT SERVICE NOTE: Every nib that ships from His Nibs is closely examined under high magnification and tuned or adjusted if needed. About 85% of modern nibs need some adjustment out-of-the-box from the manufacturer for an optimal writing experience. Most commonly, the tines of the nib are misaligned -- which would cause scratchiness at the minimum; the slit between the tines is partially or fully closed -- which would starve the nib of ink and at best cause skipping; or the slit between the tines is too wide -- which will either again cause skipping, or conversely, flooding. There are other factors  -- such as separation of the nib from the feed -- that are inspected and repaired before any pen leaves the Palace.

The only 100% guarantee of course comes when the pen is actually filled with ink and written with for the first time, but our pre-shipping inspections and tunings have eliminated 99.99999 (my finger is getting tired) of the frustrations that a customer experiences when first using a new fountain pen. Although this can be time-consuming on occasion, it affords our customers a much more pleasant experience when receiving a fountain pen from His Nibs -- and saves us the frustration of dealing with returns!

 

Ordering Procedures & Returns

International customers, please note, we will not falsify shipping documents

Credit cards, for the quickest fulfillment of your order, are accepted through PayPal, a secure site allowing you to use your credit card without us even seeing the information. If you'd like to make use of this credit card service, please let us know when you email your order and address, and we'll email you the appropriate Request for Payment, and instructions for the simple payment procedure (you don't need to join PayPal to use it).

                                                                                               

If you would like us process your credit card directly instead, then please email us:

1. Card # (dividing this number in two, between two emails, will ensure security)
2. Expiration date
3. Name on card
4. Address for billing statement
5. Card verification # (3-digit number printed on the back of your card. It appears after and to the right of your card number, or 4-digit number on the front of your AMEX card).
 

If you'd rather pay by money order or check, kindly make payable to:

His Nibs.com
  2540 W. Union Street
  Allentown, PA 18104

We ship via insured Priority Mail
(email for cost)

 

 

Please send your order and shipping address (along with any questions) to:

orders@hisnibs.com
(on PayPal transactions, the email address may also display as stonebri@sprynet.com -- both are valid)

We will email you back with your order total (PA residents please add 6% sales tax)

 

Warranties and returns

If an item proves to be defective, in most cases the manufacturer's warranty will apply. However, please email us first so that we can determine the easiest way to resolve the problem to your satisfaction. In the case of fountain pens -- which are a bit more individualistic than other writing instruments -- what may at first appear to be a defect (hard starting or poor flow for example), can in almost all cases be resolved with a few simple 'tweaks' to the nib, which we'll be happy to guide you through or perhaps suggest returning to us for adjustment.

Should you wish to return a non-defective item within 3 days of receipt because it doesn't suit you for some reason, again please email us and we'll arrange an exchange, credit or refund (minus any shipping/insurance charges), if the item is returned in an 'as new' condition. If you've dipped a fountain pen to try its writing characteristics, kindly clean off any ink residue prior to shipping -- to save us both a nasty surprise .

We want you to be happy with your purchase from His Nibs.com and hope to have you join the ranks of our many long-term, repeat customers!

 

Revised: January 5th, 2009

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All images and products on this site are trademarks, registered trademarks and/or copyright of their respective
company and used with permission. Unauthorized reproduction of any image or product is strictly prohibited.

 

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