Swan Lever Fillers - What Do I Have Here?

[Wet-Noodle]

Good Lord! You certainly need to learn how to drive that one. Actually that's not a bad simile, in that you clearly need to "go easy on the loud pedal"... "Put your brain into gear before slipping your foot off the clutch".. In fact it immediately reminds me of my own mid-life crisis, my contribution to growing old gracefully if you like. I had always liked my rather tame little MGBs... and then one day I bought a bile yellow MGBGT V8 and promptly 'took it for a spin' around the back lanes of Kent. That evening I so nearly killed not just myself but other rather fortunate souls. I had no idea of just how dangerously over potent the car was; no wonder that British Layland only ever made 2,500ish of them!

 

I digress, well, maybe I don't. It looks to me as if you could very easily overshoot and go off the road while driving that nib.

[Wet-Noodle]

Have you tried one of these?

[Cob]

Have you tried one of these?

No.

 

DIp pens do not work full stop...

 

Cob

[Wet-Noodle]

I was using your 100/60 today, it really is a lovely pen, seeing as it's a #1 the nib is a gem for flex. Flexibility really hasn't much to do with the nib's size does it. Once my writing has improved (I'm getting there) I'll post a sample for you and Effin10.

[Cob]

No 1 nibs are mostly very nice indeed.

 

Size isn't everything you know...

 

C.

[Wet-Noodle]

Thank God for that Cob!

[Cob]

Here's a nice pair of pretty Swans - both lever fillers too, so more or less on-topic!

 

Cob

 

[Wet-Noodle]

They are nice, I like what they do Cob!

I'm continuing with my writing exercises and experiments and keep coming back to both the 100/60, and the 2.S.F. Effin, they are both exceptional - well they are to me with my minimal experience.

 

I've tried another ink, R&K Sepia. I found it too deep and so mixed a little 50/ 50 with tap water. I think it's really nice, the shading is terrific, it dries quite quickly and I haven't seen any sign of bleeding. It flows very nicely in your 2.S.F. Effin.

 

I've just been a very silly boy - after a couple of weeks of taking your stern advice Effin my eye was caught by the Waterman fitted with what looks like a rather large Mabie Todd nib with a nice looking 'nose down' tip. Having looked around and seen that Waterman pens sometimes were originally fitted with other nibs, including Mabie Todd, I thought I'd take an interesting looking chance on it. I wonder what the feed/ section situation is and what sized ink sac I'm likely to need?

By the way, the size 18 sac I fitted on my 3261 felt just too big so I tried something. I cut a ring from the sac length trimming and slipped it over the sac and rolled it towards the section end. I then shellacked the section nipple, fitted the sac as normal then shellacked the result and rolled the band onto the nipple on top.... bingo! It looks very neat and it feels nicely tight. Importantly it also fitted and screwed into the pen barrel properly.

 

So a shot of the ink mix in the 2.S.F. And a couple of my probably foolish Waterman Mabie Todd buy (this too is leaver-err-Mabie Todd sharp end, and so might be slightly on topic:

[Cob]

I have never heard of Waterman's pens being fitted originally with Mabie,Todd nibs - after all Waterman's and Mabie,Todd were rivals in New York in the early part of the 20th century, and Waterman's made their own nibs!

 

On the other hand it looks as though you have a very nice NY Mabie,Todd nib there which will be as good as anything Waterman's made! Does the pen have number stamped on the end?

 

As for the ink I'm afraid it just looks watery to me!

 

Rgds

 

Cob

[Wet-Noodle]

Bonsoire Cob,

 

That's what I thought too, that Waterman/ Mabie Todd was an unlikely marriage, but I found a possible answer to this here on The FPN... Must find the thread again ... Apparently this mix is not unknown and that there was a time when Waterman sold their pens without nibs (feed, section??) so that customers could fit their prefered choice; this seems to imply that there was some uniformity or that there were adapters of some sort. Anyway, other's on this site have owned such combinations. Not surprisingly Waterman called a halt to this and reverted to selling complete pens only. Maybe they found that Mabie Todd nibs had been doing rather better out of that than they did?

Yes it was that nib that grabbed my attention Cob and so I bid for it and got the pen this morning, I haven't held it yet, but will keep you posted - it may be a disaster of course!

 

It's certainly true that the ink mix looks very much better on paper than on my screen too, but I was looking for a faded sepia and this comes close. Anyway, I'm pleased that you think that nib looks interesting too.

 

Whatever, thanks to you guys and galls I am really having fun with all this, I so needed a new, or rekindled interest, and am very pleased indeed to have chosen to try Mabie Todd pens (and now nibs). Incidentally Cob, that dip nib I posted was a fearsome fake, I admit that I was pulling your leg a bit. In fact it is the same dip nib as my avatar, I just dragged it out to that obscene size in Photoshop, I'm sorry and apologise if I put you off your lunch!

 

Best thoughts!

 

Wet-Noodle

[Wet-Noodle]

Here we are Cob:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/223745-waterman-eye-dropper-with-a-mabie-todd-nib/

[Goudy]

 

Your nib looks like the twin of a nib in a Swan woodgrain SF1 that I've been repairing. Very, very supple. One of the noodliest nibs I've used...

 

http://i.imgur.com/BbKf5XT.jpg

[Wet-Noodle]

That's very encouraging Goudy! They do look similar, maybe yours is a little narrower? It's difficult to tell exactly at this stage, the feeder on mine looks huge on the photograph, a great block of rubber! It would be fun if it turned out to be a ballet dancing wet noodle rather than a lame dog... one can but wait and see I suppose. Thank you for your info and the photograph, your nib looks very elegant, I wonder if mine doesn't look a bit sprung? At least it doesn't look as if it has a fold in it, it was worth buying just for the excitement.... Effin's right, I'm in mortal danger of becoming hopelessly hooked on buying Mabie Todd ... err ... well anything marked Mabie Todd really.

[Goudy]

I think it's just the angle of my photo that makes the nib look narrower. Your nib doesn't look sprung at all to me. The feed on mine is the ladder type but that big solid feed should do the job just as well. I think you're going to love it!

[Wet-Noodle]

More and more encouraging! Here's the best I can do to sharpen a couple of very soft eBay Internet shots of the complete Waterman/ Mabie Todd "combo".

[Cob]

The nib is not original - that pen is much later than 1890 as it's a lever filler; but someone with taste and discrimination fitted that nib - or perhaps they were just lucky.

 

Cob

[Effin1]

Glad you are still enjoying the pen Wet-noodle but I have to agree with Cob the ink does nothing for me. My favourite R&K ink is Cassia. Many say it's a dry ink but I have found it's well lubricated and makes my pens that tend to write dry much more free flowing. I don't think your MT nib and Waterman pen started life together but some of my best writers are strange combinations eg. Mentmore with Del A Rue nib. Still not managed to sort any pens out for E Bay but might get Steve to put some on this morning. I've got about 60 that need write testing but may let new owner do that. Just because a pen writes well for me there is no guarantee it will perform well for someone else. I was deliberating if I should sell a Sheaffer Triumph Autograph with extra fine nib. Seemed a bit scratchy to me even though the tines were fine and it had been smoothed. My left handed friend tried it and thought it was wonderful. Perhaps I should sell as nib for leftie.

[Wet-Noodle]

Hello Effin,

That's a good thought, I guess that those of us who are right-handed don't give nearly enough thought to left-handed people, I wonder if that's the answer.

Yes your pen is a delight for some reason it no longer seems too wet, even with my watery ink that you and Cob aren't switched on by - I've only mixed a very small amount and may add a sac of un diluted ink to it as you are both probably right though that said it does look so much better on paper.

 

This pen/ nib mix is interesting, well I find it intreaguing anyway. People have usually tended to do something different for a reason and your comment that some of your best writers are strange combinations lends weight to a thought I was having about it possibly being the more impassioned writers who would want to construct their own pen, maby around a favorite nib from a damaged pen? Or because they like the feel or look of another pen but like another nib.

 

I think that I agree with you both, that it's an individual's choice rather than a Waterman factory combination, I expressed myself badly, what I meant was that both pen and nib seem really quite old and may well have been together since the pen (not the nib) was new - I based that thought on the thread I referred to which talks about Waterman selling nibless pens for people to decant their prefered nib into - apparently a practice that they stopped. It seems more likely that Waterman really only thought of Waterman nibs, feeds and sections being transposed, but found that people were choosing to fit let's say, MT nibs and so called a halt to publicising the possibility? Just my conjecture of course. Anyway, I'll be really interested to see and try this Waterman/ Mabie Todd pen, the nib does look sort of interesting and what Cob and Goudy say is really rather exciting..... fingers crossed...

[Wet-Noodle]

I've seen something this morning that puts me in a campaigning mood. One butcher by the name of Womble1962 is apparently stripping gold nibs from fountain pens, (and doubtless anything else he/ she can get at) and selling the remains " for parts or repair" I think that this heathen, heid banging philistine, who sells the purist dross, should be bombarded with messages.http://www.ebay.fr/sch/m.html?item=351349542960&ul_ref=http%253A%252F%252Frover.ebay.com%253A80%252Frover%252F0%252Fe11010.m2368.l3160%252F7%253Feuid%253D71a9939dc1a243c59475241194a55afa%2526loc%253Dhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.ebay.fr%25252Fitm%25252F351349542960%25253F_trksid%25253Dp11010.c100136.m2769%252526_trkparms%25253Daid%2525253D555012%25252526algo%2525253DPW.MBE%25252526ao%2525253D1%25252526asc%2525253D20140212115136%25252526meid%2525253Da76ed1d692014051a70e0f36a9aa1b2b%25252526pid%2525253D100136%25252526rk%2525253D1%25252526rkt%2525253D12%25252526sd%2525253D301561760653%25252F%25253FssPageName%25253DADME%25253AB%25253AWNA%25253AFR%25253A3160%2526srcrot%253De11010.m2368.l3160&_ssn=womble1962&rt=ncWhat about a "save Mabie Todd" thread that would willingly accept other maker's fans? I think I'll start a thread right now and send this heathen a link.

[Goudy]

He/she may well have acquired the pens that way, perhaps from an estate sale. Clearly someone stripped the nibs from those unfortunate pens, but it may be unfair to blame the eBay seller. I read somewhere that gold nibs are only worth about $10 in melt value, so it would be much more profitable to sell the pens with nibs included.