Fountain pen articles

F. D. Waterman nearly drowns... (1902)

2011-12-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

"While bathing at Lake Hopatcong recently, F. D. Waterman, president of the Waterman Fountain Pen Company, narrowly escaped drowning. He swam out in the middle of the lake, and while endeavoring to reach shore was taken with cramps. Spectators on the pavilion thought he was diving, but when he vanished under the water twice, E. Faber swam out to him. and, with the assistance of two bathers, brought him ashore in a row boat. Mr. Waterman was unconscious for several hours, but is now much improved and again at his office." New England Stationer and Printer, v. 16, 1902

Early Esterbrook Fountain Pens

2010-09-01T05:15:00.000-07:00

These are one of the least well documented items made by Esterbrook.
I will try to collect here as much information as possible. Of course the interested reader should always consult Brian's (and Lisa's :)) website www.esterbrook.net (start from http://www.esterbrook.net/relief.shtml)

Can this be the earliest Relief pen?

American agriculturist: Volume 48 - Page 590, 1899.

1913 (British Books in Print)Eyedropper Relief. I have not been able to find the full photo yet. The imprint does say "Gold Relief". So the pen is the Onoto eyedropper shown by Brian in http://www.esterbrook.net/relief3142.shtml

Hazell's Annual (1915)
Level filler(?) Relief.

The Brisbane Courier Tuesday 10 March 1925
Level filler Relief.

The amazing Mr. Pickus

2010-04-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

Milton Robert Pickus (1913-1998)
(from University of California in Memoriam 1998, David Krogh Editor, a publication of the Academic Senate, University of California)

Milton Robert Pickus was born in New Haven, Connecticut, on December 22, 1913, and died on October 11, 1998, in Walnut Creek. His early education was in the schools of West Haven, Connecticut. This was followed by study at Yale University, which awarded him a B.S. in 1934 and a Ph.D. in 1938, both in metallurgy. During his graduate study he married Marcella Resnikoff in 1936. She, a son, Mark of Chicago; two daughters, Joan Cordon and Barbara Pickus, of Walnut Creek; and three grandchildren, as well as a brother, Irving of Alameda survive him.

After working for 10 years in industry, chiefly for the Parker Pen Company, where he was chief metallurgist, Pickus came to Berkeley as a Research Metallurgist, a position he held from 1948 to 1951. He then left the University and from 1951 to 1965 was a partner in Arrow Welding Supply. Starting in 1965, he became a faculty member of mechanical engineering and a Principal Investigator in the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. During 1965-76 he was a part-time Lecturer in mechanical engineering, with the remaining part of his time being devoted to his research in LBL. In 1976, he was appointed Professor-in-Residence, and, while continuing his work with LBL, served in that capacity until his retirement at the end of 1978.

Pickus' research interests centered around metallurgical processing, with special interests in powders. He developed the art and technology of powder processing and extrusion forming in order that he could apply his ideas and creativity to the manufacture of products ranging from fountain-pen tips to the important class of brittle superconducting compounds of refractory metals, such as niobium. Almost all of his research efforts were carried out at LBL, and, partly in association with metallurgy professors E. R. Parker and V. E. Zackay, were directed to solving the problems of production of complex materials. He published and lectured widely in this field.

Although Pickus' association with the University was shared with LBL, he was always an active member of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and also had close ties with the Department of Materials Science and Mining Engineering. He regularly taught graduate courses in various aspects of metallurgy, supervised over 20 master's theses and two doctoral theses, and also worked together with postdocs and visiting faculty. His teaching concentrated on topics related to his research, and most successfully resulted in a core graduate course in powder processing in the Mechanical Engineering Department, one which also became popular with students from other departments in the College of Engineering. Among his co-workers he was known as a dedicated scientist and engineer who strove constantly for perfection in solving an engineering problem.

The Waterson Saga

2010-04-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

Here is the Waterson saga from the FTC.

Esterbrook Plunger Filler

2010-02-17T18:20:00.000-08:00

We had a short discussion with Jim last week on Marketplace about these pens,
and someone has questioned their ink capacity. So I decided to see how much ink they hold.
Surprising it can hold about just a tiny bit less than a M600 piston filler.

Then I realized that I dont know their mechanism. What makes most of these pens are found to be in fully operational condition while the Sheaffers and other vintage plunger fillers always are found almost always in need of repair? First,I went to find the plunger filler patent of Esterbrook. US Patent 2,218,536Filing date: Jan 12, 1939 Issue date: Oct 1940, under the name Henry Clemens Klagges, a man with many Estie patents. There is also US Patent 2,500,833 Filing date: Oct 20, 1944 Issue date: Mar 14, 1950. But the actual design is much simpler.

First of all - it is friction fit... Second it has a sac!... The end of the rod has a disk (presumably with an o-ring (I still dont know how to disassemble the plunger) that slides on the sides of the barrel and created pushed the air in the barrel which compresses the sac and expels the air from inside the sac. Then you wait few seconds and presto. It does not need vacuum grease on the rod - only on the "piston". I need to get a better photo to show the plunger. Maybe next week (Engineering Week ) Till then enjoy another picture. Note the transparent collar on the late style renew point (Medium - no model number)

Filling Instructions from Penhero.com

You dont have to spend too much money to have fun with vintage fountain pens (Part II)

2009-07-06T20:34:00.001-07:00

How to have fun with pens at $10 or less (almost :) ), following along the same lines as a previous post of mine...

Some time ago when I asked about women in fountain pen history, George K. was kind to point to M. Isabel Ayer of Boston.
Few days ago, I got this nice pen from ebay for $9.38 :) Yes there was a chip on the barrel but so what ?

A rather thick ( 0.59" ; 15mm) cap diameter ) short (3.7"; 94mm) capped pen marked "The Ayer Pen" (as per trademark 155,136 of May 16, 1922 in use from Dec 1, 1920) with an Ayer BOSTON nib.

Time for repair which in most cases means just resacking :) I was expecting a joint line at the thread but a minor effort did not produce any sounds or gaps so I thought I should play it say. X-ray to the rescue. And lucky I was... as the joint want not next to the threads but rather close to the bottom of the section. Other nice things that the x-ray showed - a typical Wahl pressure bar and lever (patent1,585,805), and the use of a metal wire for securing the sac.

So knowledge is power and as I new where to push, the section gave up easily.

The lever is indeed a Wahl lever.

Lets try the nib. Long tines, sounds like it is going to be fun :)

Fun indeed.

BTW M. Isabel Ayer was more known for her puzzles than her pens.

and from http://www.oldpuzzles.com/Examples/collection.php?creator=1

Fun with inexpensive pens - Duocraft

2009-02-24T17:33:00.001-08:00

I have been always convinced that there can be a lot of fun without spending extraordinary amounts of money in the << $200 territory.

Here is a recent purchase for ... $26. Even if the true value is higher, I can not believe that it would cost more than $100-150 retail. Here it is.
From the first look - this is possibly a 40s pen. Cheap plastic, body is slightly warped, the area around the lever is bulging and the pressure bar has made also the end of the barrel deform. Clip, lever, cap ring, all fully brassed.

The imprint is ... interesting. "Duocraft, Brooklyn NY". First I thought Pencraft but nahh, too far. Then I tought Duocraft, Durocraft, maybe Durabuilt, W. Beaumel but the time frame was wrong. A quick Google search revealed Duocraft underwear but not fountain pens . Maybe this will bring George out of his igloo George do you have anything on this?

And here is the reason that I was excited about it Note the scale of the letters. This is a "Viv-nib"

And the nib - closeup ...

The nib flexing.

The nib flexing again. Hallelouya!..

Vanishing Point Trapdoor mechanisms

2009-01-25T11:27:00.001-08:00

Apparently Pilot has redesigned the trap door mechanisms of Vanishing Point pens.
Thanks to Wile E Coyote (FPN) here are the differences.

2008LE

Fermo

Raden

A. PARKER SONNET

2008-10-26T09:35:00.000-07:00

AS YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO SEE I AM GOING THROUGH AN REORGANIZATION STAGE IN ORDER TO MAKE THE CONTENTS MORE ACCESSIBLE AND TO IDENTIFY WHAT TYPE OF INFORMATION NEEDS TO BE ADDED.

The Parker Sonnet is a modern fountain pen with a lot of fans, and many haters. It has been in the Parker line up since 1993 (15 years) with many transformations. Touted by the company as the writer's pen some times it just did not write :) The consensus today is that once you get one going it is a highly enjoyable pen. I will try to post in the page information about this modern pen

The cap opening - regulations and drying of the pen (COMING SOON).
The section - an exploded view with parts and points of trouble (COMING SOON).
The nibs (COMING SOON)
The models (COMING SOON)
Spot the fakes:

My article on Penhero ((written on 6/26/04 and updated on 10/24/04)
Stylophiles article (by Bill Riepl)
Defects that can help you recognize fakes

Nibs
Joins, when the plastic meets the metal
Clip / etc..
The boxes of the fake Sonnets

NOTE 1: The magnet test that I proposed in my Penhero.com article, is not a panacea for the recognition of the fake Sonnets! It only worked in the early fakes. Recent ones are non magnetic stainless. Another possible test (suggested by Richard Binder) is to take out a nib marked 18K and try to scratch an area away from the tip (high, in the area that is in the section). Fakes are plated steel and scratching will reveal the "silver"-colored steel.

NOTE 2: With the many Sonnet fakes sold on ebay, at this point I would suggest (unless you feel adventurous) that you buy a pen only from Brick and Mortar Shops or from online retailers that have 100% perfect reputation (Pam Braun, Swisher Pens, and Pendemonium). There are specific ebay resellers that I know have bought fakes in the past, and chances are that they are or will be selling them on ebay. Ask me for a particular name if you wish to tell you my opinion about a specific ebay seller.

A. PARKER SONNET: Fake - Boxes - Recognize the Fake or Genuine Sonnets

2008-10-22T06:48:00.000-07:00

I had posted this on FPN but the format there is irreversibly destroyed. Here is the properly formatted article which I intend to keep updated with new information

I posted something analogous on PT two weeks ago. For the record and to help those of you who are interested in buying Sonnets, here are some boxes that are clearly associated with fake pens Sonnets. If you open the photos in a separate window you will get them full size.

Here are two common fake Parker boxes. You see them all the time on ebay. The photos are directly from e-bay auctions. You can easily find it there :( . If you see it, run away ...

FAKE

FAKE

Below is a comparison of a similar genuine and a fake Sonnet pen box. I am not sure if my photos show the whole story. The genuine is on the top and the fake is at the bottom. The texture of the genuine is uniform and dotty. The fake has air bubbles under the paper, and a woody surface. My description is weak but if you have a modern Waterman box (for which I have not seen fakes yet) compare it with your Parker box.

GENUINE (top) versus FAKE (bottom)

The following two photos are genuine Parker boxes (courtesy of Jean-Michel Lewertowski). Note the ® mark next to Parker.

GENUINE

GENUINE

The following two photos are fake Parker boxes:

FAKE

FAKE

The following are examples of genuine Sonnet boxes:

Genuine Cisele 1994. Box marked made in Holland.

Genuine Sonnet mid 90s.

Genuine Sonnet 2004-05

2008-10-18T22:14:00.001-07:00

I will try to organize the information on this blog here.

Sonnet models (NEW)
Fake Sonnets. Information to help you identify a fake Parker Sonnet pen

Patents and historical information

Flex nibs and calligraphy

Materials in fountain pens and Misc (not organized yet :()

The perfect fountain pen

If you reached this page, chances are that you are interested in the history of fountain pens. Patents offer an interesting insight for the history of our beloved pens. You should consider purchasing George Kovalenko's book on Fountain Pen Patents 1911-1950s. Click here for more information. This is a labor of love and is the most comprehensive collection of pen patents that exists. George works currently on the first volume, which I am waiting anxiously for.

B: Fountain Pen History: When the doors closed in some well known and some unknown fountain pen companies

2008-10-18T22:11:00.000-07:00

I came across this book on Google: "Obsolete American Securities and Corporations, Illustrated with Photographs of Important Repudiated Bonds", by Roland Mulville Smythe Published by R.M.Smythe, 1911. Of course, I immediately wanted to see what I could fish out for some of our beloved fountain pen companies :)

American Fountain Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1905

This was the precursor to Moore Pen Co. Link to pens for sale from vintagepens.com (as of 10/18/08 several American Fountain Pen Co. pens were listed In the advertisement on the left from the MIT Tech Oct. 7, 1908 it appears that the company kept using the name till much later. Or is it that just the NY office closed?

Arcadia Fountain Pen Co., Newark, NJ Barred from US mails, July 12, 1902.

The photos are from ebay auction 350109797065. Of course I dont think there is a connection but I have no other reference for this early company.

Auburn Pen Co., Auburn, NY Barred from US mails, May 7. 1902

"The Government Interfers.
The mail of the Auburn Pen Co.was held at the Auburn Post Office by Postmaster Clark Wednesday after orders from the federal authorities at Washington, a telegram from Assistant Attorney General Tyner received at the post office ordering the action. The officers of the pen company are in the dark as yet regarding the cause of such action and are anxiously awaiting replies to telegrams and correspondence sent to Washington asking for explanation as to the reasons for the course which has been pursued.
H. M. Cameron of the company stated that he surmised the mail was held up on a complaint made by Mrs. Emma B. Smith of 39 Perry St. who had been writing letters for the firm and had been discharged, at the end of two weeks of the sales from her letter /unreadable/ satisfactory. He said, however, that she received payment for her work in full. The proceeding impresses Mr. Cameron as strange in as much as an inspector of the post office department at Washington was here recently investigating the methods of the pen companies and he found no fault.
Business is at a standstill with the Auburn Pen company and it will until it can obtain its mail. Another inspector of the Post Office will probably be sent to investigate the /unreadable/ - Bulletin"
From www.fultonhistory.com

Bank Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1905

Central Pen & Manufacturing Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1902

(Reference to 1899 from http://www.kamakurapens.com/Manhattan/ManhattanList.html)

Colonial Pen Co. Incorporated in Maine. Three years' franchise taxes unpaid 1903

"Lancaster pens were made by the Colonial Pen co which seems to have moved around a lot" from http://www.pensandwatches.com/_pages/otherpens9.html

Diamond Point Fountain Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1894

I dont know much about this early company but it has been going on and off till the 30s-40s.

Earl Fountain Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1904

Empire Fountain Pen Co, Massena, NY Barred from US mails, June 19, 1902

Foley Gold Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1890.
Foley, John, Gold Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1904

Interesting - Fischer and Schneider said that they dissolved in 1915.

Fort Wayne Fountain Pen Co., Fort Wayne, Ind. Barred from US mails, Sept. 17, 1902

"The post office department has issued ia fraud order against the Fort Wayne Fountain PenDaily Chronicle, The (Newspaper) - October 7, 1902, Elyria, Ohio Company which has been.."

Fountain Automatic Pen Co., Office in New York. Dissolved 1904

H.G.H. Fountain Pen Manufacturing Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1904

Kerner Stylographic Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1883

Mackinnon Pen Co Office in New York. Dissolved 1884

From Andy

New Century Pen Co. Office in New Yorkm Dissolved 1904

Novelty Fountain Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1890

Prange Pen Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. Barred from US mails, Aug. 13, 1902

Quaker City Fountain Pen Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Barred from US mails, Mar. 28, 1904
Quaker City Self Filling Fountain Pen Co., Philadelphia, Pa. Barred from US mails, Mar. 28, 1904

Ray Pen & Pencil Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1888.

Standard Fountain Pen Co. Office in New York. Dissolved 1903. Barred from US mails, Dec. 15, 1902

Not really the same Standard Fountain Pen, in 1926:
"Complaint No.1264.--In the matter of W. C. Blickenstaff; otherwise known as W. C. Buick,
doing business under the trade name and style Standard Fountain Pen Co. Charge: Unfair
methods of competition are charged in that then respondent, engaged in the sale of fountain pens
at wholesale, supplies circulars and advertising matter to his dealers which describe said pens
and bear purported regular retail prices (which are in fact fictitious prices and greatly in excess
of the real value of said pens) and further supplies coupons bearing statements to the effect that
for one day only said coupons will be accepted at their face value inn part payment for the
respondent’s pens at said regular retail prices, thus falsely representing that the penis wilt be
sold for a limited the at a substantial reduction in price ; and in that respondent causes certain
of his pen points to be stamped “ 14 K,” thereby indicating that said points are 14-karat gold,
when in fact they are made of an alloy simulating gold in color and appearance but containing
no gold inn substantial quantities, all in alleged violation of section 5 of the Federal Trade
Commission act.
Disposition : After a stipulation, entered in lieu of testimony, the commission entered an order
to cease and desist on June 24, 1925." From the trade Commission 1926 annual report.

Sterling Fountain Pen Co., Wilkesbarre, Pa. Barred from US mails, July 11, 1902.

Any connection with the Boston company?

C. VINTAGE PENS: My Drexel Collection - Cheap Pens - Beautiful Plastics

2008-10-16T19:31:00.001-07:00

DREXEL PENS

I started collecting these pens because of the name. I thought that it might be nice to end up with a connection with my employer :) Now I know that they have nothing to do with the University or the philadelphian financier who established it.

To the contrary it appears that the pens were distributed by Frank Spors, Le Center, Minn (formely known as Le Sueur). According to Dennis A. Spors a grandson of Frank Spors: "The Haro pen was also connected to Spors Company. Hans Roggenbuck was a cousin of Frank Spors. Frank's (Franz) wife was Antonie v. Roggenbuck. Both families were from the same district in Pomerania, Prussia. The von der Spors's and V. Roggenbuck's were all i officers in the army until the abducation of the Kaiser in 1918.
Hans often visited Spors Co. in the 30's until the US declared war on Germany. By then the supply of Japanese pens had been cut off.

In the 1920's Franz Spors started selling fountain pens to drug stores. When he ran out Franz went back to the distributor who could not resupply him. Franz contacted the manufacturers in Japan and became his own wholesaler. With his brothers he founded Spors Company in LeCentre, Minnesota.

The pens were part of a program to create and provide traveling salesmen who went to independent stationers and drug stores across the midwest, providing a variety of items. The glass tip fountain pens were good sellers for many years. Mail order was a big part of the business and Spors Company owned the US Post Office in LeCenter. This thriving business involved many farmers wives who worked part tIme assemblying an packaging, through the Greta Depression.

Dennis A. Spors
Spors Co. , Inc. " (from this post at L&P)

More information about Frank Spors should be in:

Coronet by Arnold Gingrich - 1951
Page 140
" Clark Foss, house manager, is a brother of Mrs. Frank Spors; and Warren Christiansen, ... Until he died in 1949, Frank Spors always sat at a big desk in the ..."

If anyone has a copy of this publication please let me know.

Frank Spors Co. LeSeuer Center Minn. is listed in the 1928 Plastics Guidebook.

From a copy of the 1943 catalog ... A gazillion of DREXEL pens.

C: VINTAGE PENS: You dont have to spend a lot of money to have fun with FPs.

2008-09-23T20:44:00.000-07:00

From my post on Pentrace c. 2007.
Many fountain pen aficionados get discouraged when they face the price of expensive modern or vintage pens. But the "secret" of this hobby is that one can have fun with a handful of dollars
I got this pen on ebay for less than 3 cups of Venti Lattes. Let's see what we got.

The box says REMEX FOUNTAIN PEN, N. Y. Remex is a Waterman sub-brands. Large companies like Waterman had their regular models at relatively high prices. There were, however, many people that could not afford them.

To address this lower end market, they offered "similar" products with a different name (so as not to damage the good name of the brand). These products were in many cases identical to the lower end of the "regular" products but priced lower. Of course, there were no warranties etc.

The box has filling and cleaning instructions on the bottom, which refer to an eyedropper pen.

A slip cap (no threads) eyedropper indeed, with the typical chip on the lip of the cap.
Oh, and take note of the brand which is written on the box as L. E. Remex Co. as in L. E. ...Waterman

Opening the barrel was relatively easy and the ink dust from the last fill are now on the paper. How many years ago was the pen inked for the last time?

The nib is marked REMEX NY USA. It is definitely gold but it is unmarked (i.e., no 14K mark).
Can someone remind me when the law changed to require marking of the gold content?

The barrel bears an imprint that is worn but still there and reads REMEX, New York, NY.

The pen is marked ALLEN and Pat. Apr. 19-1910.
There are 7 patents on 04/19/1910, two of which are on pen clips. This one is clearly the US patent #955430 "Pen and Pencil Clip" by Joseph H. Pilkington. But if this is a Pilkington clip, who is Allen?

The feed is interesting because it is a Waterman pre-spoon feed. Could this be a 19th century pen? Possibly. Maybe a Waterman expert can give us more information. (edt. actually more knowledgeable people at Pentrace mentioned that this is most probably 190x's rather than 18xx's pen).

Anyway time to ink. My favorite ink for eyedroppers is Pelikan Brilliant Brown. Let's get the ink and the eyedropper.

A little bit of silicon grease on the threads and we are good to go.
What do I see here? Flex?
I guess it is rather common to see flex in pens of that era. Let's see a quick and dirty sample (sorry for the typos).

This was fun. Let's do it again some time..

TEST-123

2008-09-23T19:14:00.003-07:00

test 123

B: FOUNTAIN PEN HISTORY: Waterman Patents

2008-03-01T12:46:00.000-08:00

293,545 Fountain Pen, 2/12/1884, L. E. Waterman
307,735 Fountain Pen, 11/4/1884, L. E. Waterman
559,422 Fountain Pen, 05/5/1896, L. E. Waterman
578054 Fountain Pen, Mar 22, 1897, W. I. Ferris
604,690 Fountain Pen, 24/5/1898, L. E. Waterman
607,397 Fountain Pen, 7/12/1898, L. E. Waterman
607,398 Fountain Pen, 7/12/1898, L. E. Waterman
607,399 Fountain Pen, 7/12/1898, L. E. Waterman
607,400 Fountain Pen, 7/12/1898, L. E. Waterman
607,401 Fountain Pen, 7/12/1898, L. E. Waterman
625722 Fountain Pen, Mar 23, 1899, W. I. Ferris
646383 Fountain Pen, Mar 29, 1900, W. I. Ferris
692,009 Safety Fountain Pen, 28/1/1902, Frederick Gilbert
698,881 Fountain Pen, 29/4/1902, L. E. Waterman, Dec'D (F. D. Waterman Executor)
698,882 Safety Fountain Pen, 29/4/1902, L. E. Waterman, Dec'D (F. D. Waterman Executor)
735,659 Fountain Pen, 08/04/1903, W. I. Ferris, L. E. Waterman
736,710 Fountain Pen, 18/08/1903, W. I. Ferris, L. E. Waterman
742,036 Fountain Pen, 20/10/1903, EdwardJ. Kastner, L. E. Waterman
799,897 Fountain Pen, 9/19/1905, FERRIS WILLIAM I, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
800,141 Safety Clip For Holding Pens and Pencils, 9/26/1905, FERRIS WILLIAM I, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
908,537 Clip, 5/1/1909, FRANCIS ROBERT BAKER, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
909,262 Fountain Pen, 12/1/1909, Frank E. Waterman, - Hmmm this is not a LE Waterman patent
950,817 Fountain Pen, 3/1/1910, FERRIS WILLIAM I, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1,154,498 Gold Pen, 9/21/1915, William I. Ferris
1,156,748 Spring and presser bars for fountain pens, 10/12/1915, BRITTEN JR. EDWIN F.,L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1,176,529 Fountain Pen, 3/21/1916 , William I. Ferris
1180946
1,197,360 Presser Bar Actuating Lever for Self Filling Fountain Pens,9/5/1916, William I. Ferris and Edwin F. Britten
1,201,951Fountain Pen, 10/17/1916, William I. Ferris,
1,228,177Mounting for Presser bar actuating lever for self filling Fountain Pens, 5/29/1917, E. F. Britten Jr.
1381856 Mechanically-operated advertising device, 06/14/1921, ARCHER ASTON, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1511225 Pencil, 10/14/1924, GABRIEL LARSEN, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1555407 Fountain, 09/29/1925, FERRIS WILLIAM I, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1620529 Fountain pen and stand therefor, 3/8/1927, FERRIS WILLIAM I , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1762103 Fountain pen and stand therefor, 6/3/1930, IRVING FERRIS WILLIAM , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1762104 Stand for fountain pens, 06/03/1930, LIDDELL ROBERT C, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1808779 Fastening clip and means for attaching the same, 06/09/1931 GABRIEL LARSEN, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1842503 Penholder for writing instruments, 01/26/1932, BOWEN DANIEL V, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1853316 Device for facilitating the filling of fountain pens, 04/12/1932, NILSSON OSCAR F; JOSEPH BACHRACH, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1863061 Receptacle for pen points provided with dark bands, 6/14/1932, GABRIEL LARSEN , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1876698 Pencil, 09/13/1932, GABRIEL LARSEN, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1882644 Feed for fountain pens, 10/11/1932, JUSTER LOUIS H, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1902091 Inkstand, 03/21/1933, NILSSON OSCAR F; JOSEPH BACHRACH, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1923269 Fastening clip for fountain pens, pencils, and the like and attaching means therefore, 08/22/1933, GABRIEL LARSEN, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1935010 Desk stand, 11/14/1933, BOWEN DANIEL V; DOUGLAS CHARLES W, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1935011 Desk stand, 11/14/1933, BOWEN DANIEL V, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1957677 Liquid container and housing, 05/08/1934, SOPER HENRY F; SPARKS EDGAR P, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
1967580 Pump, 7/24/1934, GABRIEL LARSEN,
2002092 Inkwell, 05/21/1935, JUSTER LOUIS H, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2048127 Fountain pen cap and clip, 7/21/1936, GABRIEL LARSEN , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2068419 Fountain pen, 1/19/1937, GABRIEL LARSEN , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2078083 Fountain pen barrel, 4/20/1937, GABRIEL LARSEN , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2087672 Fountain pen, 7/20/1937, GABRIEL LARSEN; BRIECHLE HENRY N , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2099126 Method of forming tubes, 11/16/1937, GABRIEL LARSEN, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2139084 Fountain pen, 12/6/1938, GABRIEL LARSEN , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2162223 Fountain pen barrel, 6/13/1939, GABRIEL LARSEN , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2217755 Fountain pen, 10/15/1940, GABRIEL LARSEN , L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2547100 Dip inkwell, 04/03/1951, RAYMOND SPILMAN, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2519675 Desk penholder, 08/22/1950, GORDON LIPPINCOTT JOSHUA, L E WATERMAN COMPANY
2770221 Fountain pen, 11/13/1956, WILLIAM TONKOWICH , WATERMAN PEN COMPANY INC
2782762 Snap-action cap for fountain pen or the like, 2/26/1957, YOUNG DONALD H , WATERMAN PEN COMPANY INC
2802448 Fountain pen construction and ink cartridge therefor, 8/13/1957, YOUNG DONALD H , WATERMAN PEN COMPANY INC
2881737 Fountain pen feed construction, 4/14/1959, YOUNG DONALD H , WATERMAN PEN COMPANY INC
2987044 Fountain pen nib mounting, 6/6/1961, YOUNG DONALD H , WATERMAN PEN COMPANY INC
3066652 Reservoir writing instruments, 12/4/1962, ALLORD BROWN HENRY , WATERMAN BIC PEN CORP
D436995S Pen, 1/30/2001, VEILLON JEAN (FR) , WATERMAN SA (FR)
D441792S Pen, 5/8/2001, CARRE ALAIN (FR) , WATERMAN SA (FR)
D449650S Ball-point pen, 10/23/2001, VERHAEGHE JEAN-PAUL (FR) , WATERMAN SA (FR)
D459393S Pen, 6/25/2002, VERHAEGHE JEAN-PAUL (FR) , WATERMAN SA (FR)
D501028S Pen, 1/18/2005, CARRE ALAIN (FR) , WATERMAN SAS (FR)
D503740S Ball-point pen, 4/5/2005, CARRE ALAIN (FR) , WATERMAN SAS (FR)

A pot-pouri of information about fountain pens.

2007-11-18T05:45:00.001-08:00

I will start organizing things thematically because it has become difficult to sort them out in one post. These are so old posts mainly on FPN which might be of interest and enjoyment for fountain pen affictionados. So we have:

Patents and historical information
Flex nibs and calligraphy
Posts about specific models
Materials in fountain pens and Misc (not organized yet :()
The perfect fountain pen
Fake Sonnets. Information to help you identify a fake Parker Sonnet pen

A. PARKER SONNET: FAKE VS REAL A DETAILED COMPARISON

2007-07-13T19:02:00.001-07:00

FAKES

They are not easy to spot with the naked eye but with a loupe you should be able to tell them apart from the real Sonnets. Here is a list of what to look for:

Lets start with the nib. The unmistakable test on a fake 18K marked nib is this one. What do you think? ;)

Here is a steel one. At the top (REAL) clear lettering and symmetry in the cut. At the bottom .. hmm, the opposite lettering is faint and the cut way offset (FAKE) This should be easy to recognize by everyone.

On the feed where the size of the tip is marked. The real one has a clear mark of F (REAL) which the FAKE has a mark that looks like a hot iron burn on a cow :)

Marks on the nib (18K 3rd generation nib)
REAL: Sharp grid with clear shape - indicates good tools with precise tolerance and good wear resistance.

FAKE: Rough grid - bad tools (or improperly hardened tools). Note also the pure plating (this was supposed to be a two-tone nib.

Similar differences in the other marks on the nib. In each set - the first is the OK one and the second is the fake one.

REAL

FAKE

REAL

FAKE

Another obvious difference. The FAKE (bottom) has a huge gap between nib and feed (not always) and it has the remains of an injection molding gate at the tip. The REAL (top) is nice and snag.

At the section ring, the fakes (right) usually have an ugly gap between the section ring and the main part of the section.

The bottom face of the section provides more clues. The REAL (left) is smooth and clean. The FAKE (right) has filling signs on it and excess plastic from injection molding. Look also at the machining marks on the face of the section ring in the FAKE (right)

REAL
FAKE

The fit between the plastic part of the section and the metallic part of the section threads is a major tell-tell. Bad fit and signs of glue (do you see the two blobs of glue ...) - mean it is FAKE.
NOTE: The shinier is the FAKE here !!!!

The barrels are difficult to distinguish externally. Inside they are very different. FAKE on the left - REAL on the RIGHT :)

Cap jewels. Look for signs of misalignment in the fakes. Here the difference is clear. FAKE on the left - REAL on the RIGHT. A more suttle difference is in the metallic part under the jewel. In the REAL pen, it is nicely machined with round fillets and clean lines. Not in the FAKE.

Cap ring.

REAL: Nice and clean joint line

FAKE: Note the roughness of the ring and the poor surface quality.

Note the difference in the clarity of the feathers and the gap under the clip.
Another common tell-tell sign of the fakes.

REAL: Clean and strong feathers.

FAKE: Weak Feathers

Similarly under the microscope.

REAL:

FAKE:

I hope this is helpful. Don't hesitate to send me samples to evaluate.

PS1> In an earlier version of this post I wrote:
REAL: A round hard tip material was ground on the top (non-writing side) to shape and a round mark remains (M nib).
FAKE: A round ball with no grinding sings is present indicating that this is most probably a steel ball rather that a hard material than needs to be shaped by grinding.
This is NOT correct. The majority of the true Sonnet nibs dont have grinding marks.
A detailed comparison of nibs is coming up soon.

PS2> The high mag photos were taken by a QX5 Digital Blue toy Microscope ($70)

THE PERFECT FOUNTAIN PEN

2007-07-13T18:36:00.001-07:00

When you set out on your journey to the perfect fountain pen,
pray that the road is long,
full of adventure, full of knowledge.
The Oasicos and the Dieths,
the vulgar e-bay seller -- do not fear them:
You will never find such as these on your path,
if your thoughts remain lofty,
if a fineemotion touches your spirit and your body.

Pray that the road is long.
That the writing sections are many,
when,with such pleasure, with such joy
you will buy new pens seen for the first time;
stop at the Marketplaces and the Green Board,
and purchase fine merchandise,
red hard rubber and celluloid, stubs and flex nibs,
and colorful inks of all kinds,
as many exotic plastics as you can;
visit many fountain pen boards and shows,
to learn and learn from pen gurus and make friends.

Always keep the perfect pen in your mind.
To arrive there is your ultimate goal.
But do not hurry the voyage at all.
It is better to let it last for many years;
and to finally write with it when you are old,
rich with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting that fountain pens will offer you riches.

Fountain pens have given you the beautiful voyage.
Without them you would have never set out on the road.
They have nothing more to give you.

And if you find it poor (and you will ), the perfect fountain pen has not deceived you.
Wise as you have become, with so much experience,
you must already have understood what perfect fountain pens, vintage or modern, mean.

PS> This is "contextualization" of an original poem by Constantine Cavafy

Misc posts for specific pen models.

2007-07-03T13:56:00.000-07:00

Belmont Level Filler (mechanism)

Beyer & Hayes Red Hard Rubber

Diamond Point: Long and Short

Dictator

Drexel

Early Coin-Fillers

Esterbrook:

Eversharp

John Hancock (early cartridge filler - c. 1925)

Morton (Morrison sub-brands)

Osmiroid Sketch nib

Parker Falcon P50

Parker 45 nib codes

Pilot 743 with a Falcon (FA) nib

Sheaffer Stylist

Strawbridge and Clothier marked pen

Superite DeWitt and LaFrance

Waterman 12 POC with Artist's nib

B. Fountain Pen History Resources and Posts

2007-07-01T17:20:00.000-07:00

Patents

The mother of all database searches: A way to extract all post-1920 pen related patents from the European Patent Office.

Early Patents . FPs existed earlier than we think. Look at this interesting article too.

A list of patents from 1911-1919

Patents of Parker Sheaffer Esterbrook Patents of Wahl/Eversharp | Wearever (59 patents from the pariah of the FP world) Waterman (incomplete)

Historical information about FPs through ads and other ephemera

From the Journal of the Society of Arts:Three 'Cantor' lectures given by James.P.Maginnis in early 1905 on 'Reservoir Fountain Pens and Stylographic Pens':(1) Ancient Writing Instruments, (2) Stylographic Pens and Manufacture of Gold Pens (3) Fountain Pens.
FP ads in The Tech : I: 1881-1899 II: Moore ads 1902-1915 III: 1900-1919 (others) IV The roaring twenties (1920-1929) V: 1930-1941 VI: Parker dominates 1942-1960 VII: 1960-today
Chilton Ads: By Dr. Seuss ! Long Island Boston
Prince's Protean, the first commercially successful FP in the US
New York FP companies in 1925 (since that post a much more complete list of NY FP makers has appeared here).
Early (pre-1850) fountain pens
An interesting 1895 document
Dissolved - Companies were closed

Materials in Fountain Pens and other links

2007-06-09T14:17:00.001-07:00

Materials for FPs

What Material is Best for Flex Nibs?

Nib Corrosion Example Photos

Parker Sonnet "Clones" from China.
Also look at this newer article on Counterfeit Sonnets by Bill Riepl on StylophilesOnline.com

x-ray photo of section and nib of a Parker 51 Special

x-ray photo of Vanishing point trapdoor mechanism (new and old designs)

Scanning Electron Microscopy of a 14K Warranted nib (c. 20-30s)

A very brief primer on celluloid plastics

Hard Rubber: The strange story of rubber (from Goodyear Co. web site) The making of hard rubber

Casein: Its Preparation and Technical Utilisation By Robert Scherer, Charles Salter, 1911

You dont have to spend a lot of dollars to have fun with fountain pens!

General Douglas MacArthur's Duofold

Charles Keeran the founder of Eversharp.

Eistein's pen

Photos

Taper in nibs

A short guide to flex (comments welcome)

2006-05-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

People who try to buy their first flex nibs are usually purplexed. Too many variables, too many choices. What should I buy, vintage or modern, semiflex or wet noodle, 14K or steel etc.? Often misconceptions that propagate in fountain pen boards make the confusion worse. In the following discussion, I attempt to clarify some ideas based on my experiences with flex nibs.

Table of Contents
1. What is flex?
1.1 Grades of flex
1.2 Thin/thick contrast and tine opening
1.3 Behind a beautiful flex nib there is a capable feed
1.4 Materials for Flex
2. Practical advice for writing with flex nibs
2.1
3. Links to samples and other resources

1. WHAT IS FLEX?

Flexible nibs produce variation in line thickness by applying high pressure on downstrokes and no to low pressure on upstrokes.

A flex nib is good when it:
1) allows for comfortable execution and
2) results in pleasing writing.

1.1 Grades of flex

The terms soft, semiflex, full flex and wet noodle are often used in reference to flex. In general, I prefer the following definitions:

Rigid ("nail"): If you press more than normal on the paper, it will drill a hole.
Soft: The pen feels like a spring. It “gives” under pressure. The line may or may not get wider under pressure but the line variation is not "significant" under "normal" force.
Semiflex: A nib that is non only springy but it creates a "clearly" wider line when pressed during the downstrokes. Flexing requires "some" force to be applied. There will be several people who may not be comfortable to flex on every downstroke, but occasional flourishes should not cramp your hand.
Full flex: A nib that flexes easily enough to allow significant line variation on every letter.
Superflex a.k.a wet noodle: A nib that flexes easily and to a considerably large opening under a low force. A characteristic of the wet noodle is in the lifting of the pen after flexing. In a semiflex or flex nib the pen bounces right back once the force is released. In the case of the superflex I almost feel that I have to consciously lift the pen. Then may lead to loss of rhythm if the writer does not have a good hand control.

There is no strict demarkation between the various grades. These are not discete values. Not only this but these terms are relative. First, they depend on the individual strength of each writer (what is flex for me maybe semiflex for someone else). To make things a bit more complicated, these terms are used by the average user in a way that reflects their own experience. For example, a user, who has only tried modern flex, will not be able to appreciate that many vintage pens are much more flexible than most modern and will most often overestimate the flexibility of a nib.

The flexibility of a nib must be matched against the writing force and the dextrity of the writer. For this reason, the best way of selecting a flexible nib is to try it in person. If you don't do this, chances are that you will need to go through several pens in order to get to one that is best for you.

1.2 Thin/Thick contrast and tine opening

You may have noticed that I did not employ the opening of the tines in my discussion of flex grades. I did this for a specific reason. Although we often get excited with very large, maximum tine opening, it may not be useful. A wet noodle with large maximum tine opening is useless if your letters are small. Good flex to me is the one that produces a pleasent result. The secret to a pleasing result is:

good thin line/thick line contrast
proper proportionality between thick line and letter size

It does not make sense to use exact ratios as a variety of ratios produce pleasing results. So take the following suggestions with a grain of salt. I like a ratio of thick to thin line that is more than 3. I like the thick lines to be about 1/5 of the height of small letters. If they are larger the letters appear chubby.

Therefore one needs to match the opening of the tines to the size of the writing. A ultra super-duper wet noodle pen is useless to someone who writes with small letters. Also such a pen does not allow quick and precise control over short strokes. As a result, it requires very high attention to perform well even if the user has high levers of dextrity. In these cases a semiflex nib might be better.

1.3 Behind a beautiful flex nib there is a capable feed

Flex nib require highly variable and rapidly changing ink flow. A good flex nib should have:

sufficient flow to allow the formation of fat lines
rapid reduction of the flow when switching from thick to thin lines (like in letters u, n, m, etc.)

The key to the reputation of vintage nibs as "best" flexers is usually the fact that they are very wet when flexed. Modern pens have feed that limit too much flow and as a result they starve the nib when they are flexed, i.e. the ink film breaks and instead of a fat line we get two fine lines, one from each tine. There is nothing worse than a nib that is capable of large opening but the feed can not supply ink to it.

On the other hand the ability of the feed/nib to regulate the flow in rapid changes from thick to thin lines (like point C in the image below) is of paramount important for a beautiful result. There are 3 factors that play a role in all these: (a) the feed, (b) the fitting of the nib onto the feed, and (c) the spacing of the tines (I need to talk more about this - touching tines are good only in flex nibs :))

1.4 Materials for Flex

Before the discussion takes (as usual) a philosophical turn, let me preface it by saying that you can make a flex nib from any material... Turkey feathers have been used for centuries Inexpensive flex dip nibs are still made of steel but they corrode easily.
Stainless alloys have been used for a long time. Look at this gorgeous flexing steel nib (posted by Phthalo on FPN)

Long time ago I posted this article on Pentrace where I presented some comparisions of different materials with respect to flex. But the comparison is based on the specific criteria. For example when a nibmeister is asked to modify a nib, they prefer 14K than 18K because in general the 14K is stronger than 18K and allows for more drastic modification. remember that flex nibs are a disaster in the making according to Richard Binder. Especially the "flexier" ones are prone to damage (permenant deformation of the tines, unacceptable tine opening, cracks at the breather hole etc.).

The moral of the story is that flex can be found in any material, 14K, 18K gold, titanium, steel, etc. Try the pen and decide for yourself.

2. PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR WRITING WITH FLEX NIBS

Under construction :)

2.1 Hand and pen position for writing with flex nibs
2.2 ....

3. LINKS TO WRITING SAMPLES AND OTHER SOURCES

Under construction :)

Test driving a wet noodle.

What makes a flex nib "good"?

How to flex to the max?

One of my best flex nibs on a Waterman Safety restored by Richard Binder

Sample from a Waterman #7 Pink

Sample from a Sheaffer Saratoga Snorkel FF3

Sample from a Sheaffer Saratoga Snorkel FX3

A way for lefthanders to use flex nibs

The difficulty of quantifying flex