Glass Pens and Nibs

Hello. I am new to the group, as well as to writing with my glass pen.
I was just wondering if any of the seasones veterans would share their
tips and experiences with me about their proper usage and any needed
maintenance.

I also have a question, if anyone should know the answer: Is there
anywhere that still sells just the glass nibs? I did some hefty
research on Google but cannot for the life of me find anywhere to
purchase just a glass nib. I am interested in making my own pens, as
we have way too much free time where I am right now.

Thank you in advance for any and all information that anyone might
pass along.

Haven3

In oups.com,
Haven3 wrote:

I also have a question, if anyone should know the answer: Is there
anywhere that still sells just the glass nibs? I did some hefty
research on Google but cannot for the life of me find anywhere to
purchase just a glass nib. I am interested in making my own pens, as
we have way too much free time where I am right now.

If you mean glass fountain pen nibs, I don't think anyone has made them
since the 1940's. According to Giovanni Abrate, Visconti made a
glass-nibbed fountain pen in 1990, but they used old points unearthed in a
warehouse.

Brian
--

On May 6, 4:16 am, "Brian Ketterling" tweel6...@no-potted-meat-
products-peoplepc.com wrote:
groups.com,

Haven3 wrote:
I also have a question, if anyone should know the answer: Is there
anywhere that still sells just the glass nibs? I did some hefty
research on Google but cannot for the life of me find anywhere to
purchase just a glass nib. I am interested in making my own pens, as
we have way too much free time where I am right now.

If you mean glass fountain pen nibs, I don't think anyone has made them
since the 1940's. According to Giovanni Abrate, Visconti made a
glass-nibbed fountain pen in 1990, but they used old points unearthed in a
warehouse.

Brian
--


There are pens that are entirely glass -- the handle and the "nib"
Search ebay for glass pens. Some are real artwork.

The nib is really just a round ball at the end of .. oh, I can't
describe.
It is used to dip in ink and write. Each "dip" will produce two or
more lines of writing. The advantage is they can be used in any
color of ink, and simply wiped off with a tissue after using. Great
for using those "extra" ink colors I dont want to dedicate to a
particular regular pen - or my experiments in mixing colors.

Of course, you can't carry them in your pocket.

There are also trays and stands designed to hold them.

Thank you to all who responded. The set that I have was given to me as
a gift and are not particularly fancy, but nice all the same. Writing
with them seems to be fairly problematic though. But I personally have
never had the best of luck with dip pens anyway. Still trying to get
the hang of it though. These are all glass and have the long tapered
spiral point that most have. I have seen a few pictures on the
internet of older glass nibbed dip pens that look very simular to a
standard fountain pen, but as Mr. Ketterling stated, they have been
out of production for quite some time. I think one of my problems for
now is the ink. It is the "stock" ink that comes with the pen set and
is definately not of high quality. I will purchase some better ink and
try again. Hopefully that will solve some of the problems. As a note
the problems are that it runs out of ink rapidly and either has
trouble getting ink to the tip or, if not held a the correctest of
angles, dumps large amounts onto the paper.

Regards,

Haven3

On Mon, 07 May 2007 22:39:43 -0500, Haven3 wrote:

Thank you to all who responded. The set that I have was given to me as
a gift and are not particularly fancy, but nice all the same. Writing
with them seems to be fairly problematic though. But I personally have
never had the best of luck with dip pens anyway. Still trying to get
the hang of it though. These are all glass and have the long tapered
spiral point that most have. I have seen a few pictures on the
internet of older glass nibbed dip pens that look very simular to a
standard fountain pen, but as Mr. Ketterling stated, they have been
out of production for quite some time. I think one of my problems for
now is the ink. It is the "stock" ink that comes with the pen set and
is definately not of high quality. I will purchase some better ink and
try again. Hopefully that will solve some of the problems. As a note
the problems are that it runs out of ink rapidly and either has
trouble getting ink to the tip or, if not held a the correctest of
angles, dumps large amounts onto the paper.

I have a poor quality glass dip pen like this. I think it's a problem with
the tip shape and not inherent in all dip pens. Basically, from what I
have read on this newsgroup, there should be a round, ball-like tip on the
end of the pen, much like the tips of a fountain pen. However, in my
version, there is no such ball, and it is really just a softened taper
point. This is problematic because the taper and point is not even, and
the spiral threads which are designed to send the ink to the tip of the
pen can therefore not feed consistently at all angles of writing.
Basically, as the ink flow diminishes, the ink will sit in one or more of
the channels of the glass nib. If the tip is not formed correctly, ink
will end up being stopped at the bottom of the nib, and the ink will not
be able to "jump" to the bottom of the tip that is in contact with the
paper. This means that your dip pen will stop writing much more quickly
than it should. Additionally, if the nib of the pen is even slightly
uneven, and doesn't have the proper ball shaped end, the channels of the
nib are likely to be connected or let out at the bottom of the pen
inconsistently, When this happens, you will get widely varing ink flow
depending on which side of the pen you choose to use.

All this to say that you should probably carefully inspect the end of your
glass dip pen and see if everything is kosher. It could be the ink, but a
dip pen should be very tolerant with inks if properly designed. That's
part of the draw of a dip pen, as they are not nearly as sensitive to ink
flow as other pens. (I have a Monte Verde fountain pen that's hard to
write with if you put the wrong ink in because it spontaneously decides to
stop flowing.)

Something else that you might like to try is adjusting the amount of ink
you put in the pen when you dip it. With my steel dip flexible nibs, for
example, I dip it up past the resevoir hole, and then give it a slight
downward thrust to let some of the ink collect at the bottom of the nib.
This takes the form of a droplet that I can then touch off on the side of
the ink well and I end up with a fully loaded pen that flows consistently
without globbing as easily. You might try adjusting the way you let the
ink sit on your dip pen to see if that helps the flow work better. For my
glass dip (remember, low quality), I end up rotating the pen as I write to
catch the flow of ink from each channel in order. That way I can usually
get a pretty consistent line.

--
Aaron Hsu
"No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he
could do only a little." - Edmund Burke

Aaron,

Your glass pen sounds very much like my own, which is also of low
quality. It too doe snot have the ball end that was described. I have
seen a few pictures of the old glass nibbed pens and they were much
different. The nib was shorter and had at least the equivilent number
of spirals on it. I do not recollect seeing a ball on it though. It is
a curious thought though. Thanks for the info as well.

Haven3

In oups.com,
Haven3 wrote:

I think one of my problems for
now is the ink. It is the "stock" ink that comes with the pen set and
is definately not of high quality. I will purchase some better ink and
try again. Hopefully that will solve some of the problems. As a note
the problems are that it runs out of ink rapidly and either has
trouble getting ink to the tip or, if not held a the correctest of
angles, dumps large amounts onto the paper.

You could try asking Sam Fiorella at www.pendemonium.com whether he has an
ink recommendation. It seems like he and his brother Frank have been
selling glass dip pens for some time. You might like to check out their
selection of those pens, too.

Brian
--

"Brian Ketterling"
wrote:

You could try asking Sam Fiorella at www.pendemonium.com whether
he

She.

has an ink recommendation. It seems like he

She.

and his brother

Her husband.

Frank have been selling glass dip pens for some time.

http://www.pendemonium.com/images/temp/midwestliving_janfeb2005_lg.gif

--
Steve

My e-mail address works as is.

In ,
j. fabian wrote:

Sam[antha] usually wears her hair extremely short ... which looks
beautiful on her. Frank has very long hair (and a beard) which I think
is the source of all the confusion.

At one pen show Sam showed up with hair about 2.5" long & I swear I
mistook her for Frank... Just kidding -- Sam is taller.

Sorry -- I've never met them, just e-mailed (and now I look silly, in
20/20 hindsight). I was misled by something-or-other I read on the web,
apparently written by someone /else/ who's never met them.

Brian
--