The making of fountain pens(Pilot)

[rokurinpapa]

I have found the animation of making of fountain pens(Pilot pens).

 

rokurinpapa

[AltecGreen]

Thanks for the link.

 

The nib making process is fascinating. It was interesting to compare Pilot's process with Aurora's process shown on "How It's Made". Every company has it's little quirks.

It is also clear that nib making in-house is too expensive for smaller companies. The amount of specialized machines and tooling is a significant capital cost.

 

 

[Moonraker5]

Cool, thanks for the link!

[Mr.Rene]

:roflmho: :roflmho: :roflmho:

Rene.

[troglokev]

Great video! You should send that link to MYU, for the Technical Details thread in the Reviews section. thanks for posting it.

[meowmda]

Thanks, that was awesome to see.

[MYU]

Thank you for sharing with us this great find, Rokurinpapa. It is really quite illuminating to see the process--very educational. I like the pop-synth music that accompanies this video, too. The creation of the tipping material is fascinating! It's also impressive to see how much specialized machinery is involved in the process. This must have been quite an investment by Pilot, that I hope is paying off on reduction of manual labor time.

Edited August 4, 2009 by MYU

[HenryLouis]

What were the black pens shown at 13:19? Custom 74? From what I know only the demonstrator version has RT.

[I am not a number]

Excellent!

 

Thanks for providing that link.

[nemesiz]

Thank You Rokurinpapa, I thoroughly enjoyed the demonstration of making a fountain pen.

[Brian]

Really interesting and educational. I am a little more than surprised at the amount of hand steps needed to complete these pens. No wonder they are so good.

 

 

[HenryLouis]

I wonder: Do they make the VP the same way

[Chazzozz]

I, too, was impressed with the way the tipping material is made, as it passes under what looks like an arc-welder. 3000 deg. C! That's hot...

 

I also enjoyed the gravity-defying demonstration of capillary action with the naked feed.

 

Now, I wonder how this would differ from a company like Nakaya or Danitrio, where there is quite a lot more manual labour involved?

[HenryLouis]

I, too, was impressed with the way the tipping material is made, as it passes under what looks like an arc-welder. 3000 deg. C! That's hot...

 

I also enjoyed the gravity-defying demonstration of capillary action with the naked feed.

 

Now, I wonder how this would differ from a company like Nakaya or Danitrio, where there is quite a lot more manual labour involved?

 

I don't know, doesn't a pen from Nakaya take a long time to make?

[bhil]

I have found the animation of making of fountain pens(Pilot pens).

 

rokurinpapa

 

Hi rokurinpapa,,

what if you can't speak / read japanese ?? can you translate the pages ??

 

thanks bhil

[troglokev]

万年筆は１８８４年アメリカのウォーターマンによって創られた

Fountain pens were invented by Waterman in America in 1880.

 

金属やプラスチックなど様々な素材が使われている

Various metals and plastics are used to make them.

 

万年筆の一番重要な部分＝ペン

The most important part is the nib. It actually says pen, which is technically correct, but we are more used to using the word "nib" for the whole part, so I went with "nib".

 

ペンには純金に銀、銅などを混ぜた金合金が使われている

For the nib, an alloy of pure gold, silver and copper is used.

 

ペンを打ち抜いたあとのスクラップ材も貴重な材料になる

Scrap metal remaining after nibs have been stamped out is also used.

 

原料とスクラップ材を炉に入れる

Raw materials and scrap are put into a furnace.

 

この時の温度は約１０００C溶けた金合金を型に流し込む

At this time, molten alloy at a temperature of 1000C is poured into the mold

 

型からはずし水に入れて冷やす

(the ingot) is removed from the mold and quenched in water.

 

できあがった金合金をローラーにかけて延ばす

The finished alloy is extruded using rollers

 

徐々にローラーすき間を狭くして延ばしていく

Gradually the roller gap is reduced, and (it) gets longer

 

厚さ０．５ミリ程度まで薄くしていく

It is reduced to a thickness of 0.5mm

 

ペンの形に打ち抜く

The shape of the nib is stamped out

 

ペンの先端にはペンポイントという別の合金がつかわれている

For the tip of the pen, the pen point, a different alloy is used.

 

ペンポイントは直径１ミリ前後のとても硬い金属の球

The pen point is a 1mm ball of extremely hard metal.

 

原料はオスミウムとイリジウム

The raw materials are osmium and iridium

 

オスミウム（元素記号Os）Osmium (chemical symbol Os)

イリジウム（元素記号Ir）Iridium (chemical symbol Ir)

 

均一に混ぜられた原料が小さなスプーンに盛られる

An equal mixture of the raw materials is heaped on a little spoon.

 

ローラーですり切り、一定の量ずつ銅板の上に置かれる

It is skimmed off using a roller, and uniform amounts are placed on a copper plate

 

３０００C以上の電気アークによって一瞬で溶け、表面張力で球になる

It is instantly melted using an electric arc at more than 3000C, and forms a ball due to surface tension.

 

That's enough for tonight.

Edited August 10, 2009 by troglokev

[scratchy]

Seriously interesting - thank you!

[penspouse]

Very interesting. Thank you for posting and for the translation. Most informative.

[rokurinpapa]

Dear troglokev

 

Thank you for your traslation.You are a true gentleman. I am drunk now after welcome party.Thank you again,thank you again.

 

drunken rokurinpapa

[troglokev]

I had a small libation myself tonight, so any errors in the following are all Lord Nelson's fault.

 

もう一度電気アークで熱し，球形に仕上げる。

It is heated once more with the electric arc to perfect the sphere.

 

ペンポイントを電気溶接する

The tipping is electric welded (to the nib)

 

ペンポイントの硬さが摩耗を防ぐ

The hardness of the tipping prevents wear

 

マークの刻印と穴の打ち抜きが同時に行われる

The imprint of the maker's mark and the breather hole are stamped out at the same time.

 

ペンに丸みがつけられる

Putting the curve in the nib.

 

ペンの先端を硬い砥石のついたカッターで切る

The nib is slit using a grinding wheel

 

この溝をインキが通る

The ink passes through this slit

 

ペンの先端のすき間を寄せて完成

The gap in the nib gradually narrows

 

加工前　before processing

加工後　after processing

 

ペンの裏側にはペン芯がつけられる

On the back of the nib, the feed is attached

 

ペン芯はインキをペンに伝える役割をしている

The role of the feed is to transmit ink to the nib.

 

ペン芯は主にプラストックで作られている

Feeds are mainly made of plastic.

 

原料を溶かして金型に入れて成形

The raw materials are pressed into the mold

 

中央の溝がインキ溝

The middle channel is the ink channel

 

ペン芯をインキに浸すと毛細管現像によって流れ込む

If the feed is dipped in ink, it flows in due to the capillary effect

 

万年筆で紙に字が書けるのも繊維のすきまに流れ込む

When a fountain pen writes a character on paper the ink flows into the gaps between the fibres

 

軸やさやなど他の部分の多くがプラスチックで作られる

The barrel and cap and lots of other parts are made of plastic.

 

さやの部分

Part of the cap.

 

金属の部分を先に金型にとりつけ成形と同時にはめ込んで作る

The metal part is first put in the mold and molded and inlaid at the same time

 

接着剤を使わなくても金属部分が外れることがない

Even though an adhesive is not used, the metal part wil not come off.

 

万年筆を組み立てる

The fountain pen is assembled

 

さやを組み立てる

The cap is assembled

 

ペンとペン芯を首と呼ばれる部分に差し込む

The nib and feed are inserted into the section

 

一本一本確かめながら組み立てる

Each pen is checked as it is assembled.

 

先端を目の細かい紙やスリで研ぎなめらな書き味にしあげる

The tip is finished by grinding on fine sandpaper to give a smooth writing feel.

 

ルーペで仕上がり具合をチェック

The finish is checked with a loupe

 

キズなどがないか最後のチェックをしながら全体を組み立てる

The final check for damage is performed during final assembly

 

こうして万年筆は私たちの元に届けられる

And in this way the fountain pen can be delivered to us.

 

I think that's most of them.

Edited August 11, 2009 by troglokev