Office1000 Blog June Archive

Metal nibs and the history of fountain pens

A fountain pen contains a reservoir of water based liquid ink. The ink is provided to the nib through a feed via a combination of gravity and capillary action. Older fountain pens had an internal rubber sac that was squeezed and released to create the suction needed. The more modern fountain pens can utilize a convertor, or screw or piston mechanism, or a disposable ink cartridge.

The earliest historical record of a reservoir pen goes back to the 10th century. In 953, the caliph of Egypt demanded a pen which would not stain his hands or clothes, and was provided with a pen which held ink in a reservoir. It is probable, however, that attempts at a fountain pen go back way further.

In 1636, German inventor Daniel Schwenter described a pen made from two quills. This pen had one quill that served as a reservoir for ink inside the other quill. The ink was sealed inside the quill with cork. Ink was pushed through a small hole to the writing point.

The oldest surviving reservoir pens date to the 1st century. It was only after three key inventions were in place that the fountain pen became a widely popular writing instrument. Those inventions were:

• The iridium tipped gold nib
• Hard rubber and
• Free flowing ink

Here are some other key facts about the progress of metal nib pens:

• The first fountain pens making use of all these key ingredients appeared in the 1850s when a student in Paris, Romanian Petrache Poenaru, invented the fountain pen
• In the 1870s, Duncan MacKinnon and Alonzo T. Cross created stylographic pens with a hollow, tubular nib and a wire acting as a valve. These stylographic pens are now used mostly for drafting and technical drawing
• William B. Purvis from America is credited with inventing the ink feeding tube and patented it on January 7, 1890
• In the 1880s the era of the mass produced fountain pen finally began
• During the 1940s and 1950s, fountain pens retained their dominance. Early ballpoint pens were expensive, prone to leaks and had irregular inkflow, while the fountain pen continued to benefit from the combination of mass production and craftsmanship
• Although fountain pens are still in common use, a few modern manufacturers (especially Montblanc) depict the fountain pen as a collectible item or a status symbol, rather than an everyday writing tool. In spite of this, a majority of modern fountain pen users use fountain pens as their primary writing instruments over ballpoint and rollerball pens for reasons related to writing comfort, expressive penmanship, aesthetics, history and heritage

NIBS:
The nib is usually made of stainless steel or gold, with the most popular gold content being 14 karat and 18 karat. Gold nibs are tipped with a hard, wear-resistant alloy that typically uses metals from the platinum group. The tipping material is often called "iridium", but there are only a few penmakers that still use this metal in their nibs. Gold is considered the optimum metal for its flexibility and its resistance to corrosion, since fountain pen inks tend to be somewhat acidic or alkaline.Steel nibs may also have harder tips; those with un-tipped steel points will wear more rapidly due to abrasion by the paper. The nib will adjust itself more readily to the user's style as it wears down. Although the most common nibs end in a round point of various sizes (fine, medium, broad), various other nib shapes are available. Examples of this are oblique, reverse oblique, stub, italic and 360 degree nibs. Broad calligraphy pens may have several slits in the nib to increase ink flow and help distribute it evenly across the broad point. Nibs divided into three 'tines' are commonly known as 'music' nibs, as their broad line is suited for writing musical scores. An apparent common denominator of good quality nibs, that have been used appropriately, is that they are long lasting - often lasting longer than the lifetime of the original owner. Many vintage pens with nibs that are several decades old can still be used today.

FILLING MECHANISMS:
The filling mechanisms of the pens evolved over the years as more efficiet ways were introduced:

• Eyedropper-filling pens
• The crescent filling system
• A series of systems of increasing complexity, which were phased out in favour of convenience but reduced capacity
• Piston filler or a cartridge
• A converter, a device which has the same fitting as the pen's cartridge, but has a filling mechanism and a reservoir attached to it. This enables a pen to either fill from cartridges, or from a bottle of ink.

CARTRIDGES:
Most European fountain pen brands and some pen brands of other continents (for example Tombow) use so called international cartridges or standard cartridges in short or long sizes, or both. Many fountain pen manufacturers have at various times developed their own proprietary cartridges, for example Parker, Lamy, Sheaffer, Cross, and Namiki. Fountain pen cartridges are closed by a small ball of plastic, held inside the ink exit hole by glue or by a very thin layer of plastic. When the cartridge is forced inside the pen, a small pin pushes in the ball, which falls inside the cartridge. While cartridges are mess free and convenient to refill on the go than bottle filling, many users of fountain pens today appear to prefer filling from a bottle.

FOUNTAIN PENS TODAY:
Despite the perceived heightened prices in the modern niche, good quality steel and gold pens are available inexpensively today and there are even some disposable fountain pens available. The main reasons people seek fountain pens in recent times are for: ease of writing and comfort (some sufferers of arthritis are unable to use ballpoint pens, but can use fountain pens), expressive penmanship and calligraphy, longevity, professional art/design, wide range of ink colours available, recreational collecting, and academic benefits. Many users also mention that fountain pens retain a sense of timeless elegance, personalization and sentimentality that computers and ballpoint pens seem to lack. Fountain pens have also always been prized as works of art. Ornate pens are sometimes made of precious metals and jewels with cloisonné designs; others are inlaid with lacquer designs in a process known as maki-e (Maki-e is lacquering, a centuries-old technique in which multi-layered patterns are drawn on the barrel and cap with urushi - sap from Japanese lacquer trees). An avid community of pen enthusiasts collect and use antique and modern pens and also collect and exchange information about old and modern inks, ink bottles, and inkwells.

Fountain pens, whether used in offices as a disposable fountain pen or an executive's favorite, are timeless. Used for calligraphy or art style writing, they can make memories last forever.