fountain pen feed material, especially Pelikan pen ink feeds

I'm curious about the material used to make fountain pen feeds. It seems to
vary from one pen to the next. Some material is plastic, other is rubber,
and they all have different propensities for ink flow. The ink feeds in
Pelikan pens seem to have the best flow of all, especially the older
Pelikans. Does anyone know about the composition of these feeds? I'd like to
emulate these feeds, but I'm not sure what type of material to use.

"Charles Ackerman" wrote in message ...
I'm curious about the material used to make fountain pen feeds. It seems to
vary from one pen to the next. Some material is plastic, other is rubber,
and they all have different propensities for ink flow. The ink feeds in
Pelikan pens seem to have the best flow of all, especially the older
Pelikans. Does anyone know about the composition of these feeds? I'd like to
emulate these feeds, but I'm not sure what type of material to use.


Ebonite. It has better flowing properties because it has some grain,
so it is usually wet (the ink grabs onto that grain, so to speak). A
plastic feeder can be made to act (almost) like that. Some pens have
feeders done that way, and they tend to be very good writers, whereas
others (sheaffer balance II comes to my mind) have "hi gloss" feeders,
and curiously they use to have flowing problems.
There are some ways to get some grain in those feeders, but I will
leave that to the experts in this group.

I hope this helps

Juan

Charles wrote:
... The ink feeds in Pelikan pens seem to have the best flow of all,
especially the older Pelikans. Does anyone know about the composition
of these feeds? I'd like to emulate these ...

Hi Charles,
It depends on what you call "older." Pelikan used ebonite for their
feeds early on (through the 1950s I believe) and then switched to
injection molded plastic later. Modern Pelikans all use injection molded
plastic feeds. The composition can be important, but the way feeds are
cut and the manner in which they're surface-treated will have a huge
impact on their performance. Regarding performance, I doubt anyone would
notice a difference between a well-made ebonite feed and a well-made
plastic feed. Ebonite is easier to modify post-manufacture, but plastic
can make a perfectly serviceable feed (as we see with modern Pelikans).
I'll forward your message to Paul Gloegger and see if he can date the
materials. ---- Bernadette

Here's Paul's response:

"I believe the first moulded plastic feed was on the Mertz & Krell 120,
and it was a dynamite feed with two ink channels and a vent. So, that
would be maybe '72?? I think at that point most new releses were
moulded. That 120 feed was used as the prototype for the current comb
feed. Any feed with straight fins (not comb) would be ebonite. Even the
early 400, n,nn had the straight feeds thru the 50's and 60's when
made."

When Paul says "straight feed," he's referring to the feeds with
vertical fins versus horizontal fins. Folks familiar with vintage
Pelikan feeds know that the fins on those feeds run north and south
parallel to the nib slit. The new feeds have fins that run east and west
or perpendicular to the nib slit. The old feeds with vertical fins were
hard rubber. The newer ones with horizontal fins are plastic.

He went on to say:

"I might add, the newer feeds were designed with bigger and more
channels as fp's evolved. This made them flow much like the older ones.
It is hard to tell the difference when you have a good one."

Bernadette

From: "BLandolf"
Date: Wed, Mar 3, 2004 9:55 AM


Charles wrote:
... The ink feeds in Pelikan pens seem to have the best flow of all,
especially the older Pelikans. Does anyone know about the composition of these
feeds? I'd like to emulate these ...

B, I see that Paul Gloegger has given the information requested concerning the
Pelikan feeds and sent it on to you.

I think a bit of additional information about the initial request might be
necessary here (although it might not ).

Charles makes the Pump Pen. I have two of them. The purpose of the pen is to
allow the use of india ink, acrylic inks, liquid acrylics, etc. to be used in
what is a FP set up (ED fill).

The pen works to a certain point. After a cleaning or two, the flow of the ink
decreases substantially. In order to clean the pen the nib and feed are
separated and the feed's channels cleaned per the instructions.

I think something happens at this juncture in the functionality of the pen. I
know Charles is always seeking ways to improve his product. Finding the best
feed possible for the set up is the right way to go.

However, at this point, I think the inclusion of the cleaning aspect of the
feed should be considered as well as the flow. What material can "take a
licking and keep on keepin' on". That would be my main concern.

Perhaps that should be factored into this equation. India ink is tough on
everything. I hope you all can solve this with a degree of certitude. I like
the pen as the alternative to the dip pen and my Chicago Rexall ED with
Esterbrook nib combination (think of it as a mutated Parker 51 that understands
the enemy of the ink is the air).

It isn't pretty.

Good luck all the way around on this one.

RM

LEFTPAWRM wrote:

B, I see that Paul Gloegger has given the information requested
concerning the Pelikan feeds and sent it on to you.

Hi Reid,
Yes he did, and I typed his name wrong... it's Gloeggler not Gloegger...
my mistake. Anyway...

I think a bit of additional information about the initial request
might be necessary here (although it might not ).

Charles makes the Pump Pen. I have two of them. The purpose of the pen
is to allow the use of india ink, acrylic inks, liquid acrylics, etc.
to be used in what is a FP set up (ED fill).

The pen works to a certain point. After a cleaning or two, the flow of
the ink decreases substantially. In order to clean the pen the nib and
feed are separated and the feed's channels cleaned per the
instructions.

I think something happens at this juncture in the functionality of the
pen. I know Charles is always seeking ways to improve his product.
Finding the best feed possible for the set up is the right way to go.

The additional information was very helpful. If Charles wants a feed
that'll work well with India inks, acrylic inks, liquid acrylics, etc.,
he probably shouldn't emulate too closely a feed that was designed for
use with fountain pen inks. I think you'd want to use a material that
works well with India ink etc. ... conveys those inks well and rinses
clean afterward thus preserving the feature(s) of the surface that make
it a good conductor of ink. (Will have to use something other than water
to clean a pen that's used with shellac-based India ink.) Hard rubber is
porous. I'd be concerned that it wouldn't clean well after use and would
eventually become clog prone. Paul mentioned that many professional
cartoonists of the '70s used Mertz & Krell 120s (plastic feeds), but
that they modified the feed by cutting the separator between the two ink
channels thus making one wide ink channel. I don't know whether they did
this to improve flow or allow for better cleaning. Maybe they did it for
flow and just replaced the screw-out nib/feed units when they became
clogged.

You mention that in Charles's pump pen, cleaning of the ink channels
requires the nib and feed to be separated. The fit between nib and feed
can affect the pen's performance... I wonder if, during cleanings, the
fit (gap between nib and feed) is altered to a point where flow is
compromised. It'd be nice if Charles could find a feed material that
could be rinsed clean with some kind of cleaner without having to
disassemble the nib-feed assembly. Interesting problems... I wish
Charles the best of luck. --- B

On 2 Mar 2004 23:36:51 -0800, (Juan) wrote:

"Charles Ackerman" wrote in message ...
I'm curious about the material used to make fountain pen feeds. It seems to
vary from one pen to the next. Some material is plastic, other is rubber,
and they all have different propensities for ink flow. The ink feeds in
Pelikan pens seem to have the best flow of all, especially the older
Pelikans. Does anyone know about the composition of these feeds? I'd like to
emulate these feeds, but I'm not sure what type of material to use.


Ebonite. It has better flowing properties because it has some grain,
so it is usually wet (the ink grabs onto that grain, so to speak). A
plastic feeder can be made to act (almost) like that. Some pens have
feeders done that way, and they tend to be very good writers, whereas
others (sheaffer balance II comes to my mind) have "hi gloss" feeders,
and curiously they use to have flowing problems.
There are some ways to get some grain in those feeders, but I will
leave that to the experts in this group.

Maybe I'm missing something, but just what is ebonite? Is it a
plastic, rubber, wood, or something else?

Pat

On Sat, 06 Mar 2004 19:55:39 -0600, Patrick Lamb

Maybe I'm missing something, but just what is ebonite? Is it a
plastic, rubber, wood, or something else?

Pat

hard rubber, vulcanite, ebonite -- (a hard nonresilient rubber formed
by vulcanizing natural rubber)