Penn State Industries - Quality Of Pens And Nibs?

[siovale]

Hello,

 

I have a colleague who enjoys pen turning and he has given me a Penn State Industries catalogue, since he knows that I love fountain pens.

 

I've looked through it and find that some of the finished pens are lovely. I know they probably don't compare with my other pens like my Sailor or Waterman, but I was wondering if you could tell me about the quality of these products in comparison, especially the nibs.

 

I confess that I'm rather fussy about fountain pen nibs in the sense that what I want is a super smooth writing nib. I've called the company, but, for some reason, they're hesitant about providing a great deal of information about their nibs and, so, I haven't a clue what they're made of.

 

I'd appreciate it very much if someone could fill me in on the quality of Penn State's kits because they do have beautiful blanks and their pens seem to be a fraction of the cost of modern brand pens like Sailor, etc. Thank you.

 

I'm very new to the fountain pen world, so in expecting turned pens to be similar to the expensive pens out there I'm probably being ridiculous. Apologies for that and thanks for your help,

Edited December 10, 2014 by siovale

[duncsuss]

Hi,

 

I've made many pens from PSI kits (and other vendors) as well as making pens where the only finished parts I bought were the nib units (nib, feed and housing) and clip.

 

The nibs that come in kits are highly variable. Some write perfectly straight away, others need to be tuned/smoothed. So far I've not experienced a nib so bad I couldn't make it into a smooth writer.

 

I recommend you look at THIS on the Meisternibs website -- there's another article Brian wrote about exactly what "Iridium Point Germany" means (basically, "nothing"). Brian Gray sells JoWo nibs from this site -- and the pens he makes as "Edison Pens".

 

The actual hardware of the pens (aside from the nibs) is generically "you get what you pay for." I like the Tycoon and the Apollo Infinity. I made several Olympian Elite but don't intend to do any more, IMO there's a bit too much plastic.

 

When you're considering the "fraction of the cost", please remember the cost of the blank, the consumables (sandpaper, polish, etc), the pen maker's time, the cost of the tools ... if I average out what I paid to be able to make my first 20 pens, it would be over $100 apiece

Edited December 10, 2014 by duncsuss

[duncsuss]

Sorry, Brian's article on IPG nibs is on his Edison Pens site, not Meisternibs.com ... LINK

[siovale]

Thank you so much. My colleague made me a Magnetic Graduate which he sold me for $50, but the nib isn't that good, and the casing twists open. I have to keep twisting it closed before I use it.

 

I see Penn State totes it's Majestic, Art Deco and Nouveau Sceptre as its high end pens. The nibs are two-toned (with gold????), but I'm not sure if they're better than their other nibs. Funny you should mention the Apollo Infinity. That is one of the kits I was looking at more closely.

 

Thank you also for the links. I'll be sure to check out Brian's article.

 

I have a feeling that my colleague isn't versed on nib smoothing or tuning, so I would have to settle for the nib as is.

 

So, in your opinion, is it better to buy a brand fountain pen that would cost around $100? I know that one wouldn't get the beauty of the different blanks, but, in terms of the nib quality, would that be a better deal?

[duncsuss]

As a pen-maker, I could never recommend that you choose a factory-made 'brand' pen over one made by a craftsman

Two-tone nibs are simply steel nibs with a gold (perhaps) plating over part of the surface. The non-gold area might be plated with rhodium or some other metal. My belief is that they look great, but are basically the same as a polished steel nib.

 

The more expensive kits from Penn State use more expensive components -- clip, section, cap bands, etc -- but I'm not sure the nibs are different in any way.

 

Some vendors sell pen kits and offer the option of an upgraded nib -- Exotic Blanks, for example, offers "Heritance" nibs as an upgrade. These are JoWo nibs, made in Germany (and better than the ones that come in the standard kit.) Perhaps that's the place for you to look -- see if Exotic Blanks sell a kit that you like the look of, and ask for the nib upgrade. Your friend -- or you -- will have to pull the original nib & feed out and reassemble with the Heritance nib. Ed has made several videos showing how to do this, you could even do it yourself.

 

Or you could buy a pen from me ...

[duncsuss]

Nib smoothing, by the way, isn't very complicated. One thing to try first is fill the cartridge converter (a.k.a. ink pump or piston) with water and simply draw figure 8s all over a sheet of paper till it runs dry.

 

Then fill it with water again and draw infinity symbols (figure 8s lying down) till it runs dry.

 

Brown paper bags (the typical supermarket type) are perfect -- they are very slightly abrasive, somebody said equivalent to 2000 grit sandpaper, and smooth the edges and corners gently.

 

After this, try it again with ink and you should notice it writes much smoother. If you have ink flow problems (it skips or dries out or floods) that might take more work, but there are videos on youtube that show how to do it. You don't have to be a rocket surgeon.