I often see mentions of a pen having an ebonite feed. Generally, the context of the description indicates that an ebonite feed is a definite plus for a pen. I have done a search on FPN and Google, but haven't been able to come up with a definitive answer as to what, if anything, makes an ebonite feed desirable. My understanding so far is that ebonite is "hard rubber" and is therefore higher quality than plastic in terms of how long it will last. I have also seen mentions of ebonite feeds promoting smoother, more consistent ink flow to the nib.

So, in an effort to educate myself, I'm hoping someone here can help me out with the following questions:

(1) Do ebonite feeds in fact promote smoother, more consistent ink flow to the nib?
(2) If so, how?
(3) What other materials are feeds generally made of? Which ones are more durable?
(4) Is an ebonite feed a good litmus test for whether a given pen is of reasonably high quality?

Thank you all in advance for your responses!

I'm not the chemical engineer, but Ebonite generally provides a better surface for ink capillary action down the nib and returning/replacement air. Modern injection moulded plastics tend to not provide good surfaces for the ink to traverse and so they are hard starters or poorly flowing pens. (I guess it's an interaction in the Van der Walls forces of the feed driving capillary action, but I'm >20 years past my chemistry days.) I understand that many plastic feeds are treated or etched with some chemical to help this problem. But the gold standard for feeds is hard rubber, or ebonite.

I've seen ebonite feeds on vintage pens in Black, Red, and Mottled/Ripple. I imagine that they could be made out of any ebonite.

In general, I'd expect a pen with an ebonite feed to be a good writer. If it's advertised as such, you should expect that the maker is trying to offer a superior product. But it's not definitely an indicator of price. I've got a number of hand-made Indian pens that are 100% made of ebonite and are superb writers....but they only cost $30-50.

Skip

I am a chemical engineer who worked at polymer facilities and I'd say it comes down to ebonite is wet better than a standard plastic used for feeds, so you get a faster controlled flow.

Kurt

Also, Ebonite deforms under heat. This means you can heatgun the pen and press the feed into the nib for a very close fit. This, in turn, means that you'll get better capillary action. Of course, none of that means anything if someone didn't bother to do the fitting, but they are easier to adjust in the future.

If you have the opportunity to try a vintage Pelikan 400/400NN in comparison with a modern Pelikan M400 you will know the difference!

The vintage Pelikans have ebonit feeds and they produce a consistent wet inkflow. Modern Pelikans have a plastic feed but except for the feed they are pretty much the same pen. An ink that does not flow well in a vintage 400 will not do so in most other pens either ....

Thank you, everyone, for the replies. That is exactly the information I was looking for.

Piembi, do any of the modern Pels have ebonite feeds? Specifically, any pens in the modern Souveran line, such as the M600, M800, or M1000?

I don't know if those Pelikans have ebonite feeds, but I've found my M640, M800, and now-sold M1000 to be amongst the most consistent feeding and writing pens that I've got out of 3-400. If they don't use Ebonite feeds, then they certainly do something to make the pens superbly reliable.

Skip

All of this is true, but equally important is the dimensions and quality control of the feed. Ebonite, as I understand it, has to be milled to shape, wheras injection-molded plastic can be molded in just about any shape physically possible.

I recall a post by Giovanni on Pentrace some years back about one of the more expensive lines he carried that had ebonite feeds. He described a surprising large percentage of the ebonite feeds had to be replaced because of quality control issues, in large part because of the hand-milling involved. An injection-molded plastic feed with a hydrophillic surface coating can probably be pumped out consistantly much more easily (and cheaply) than an ebonite feed, which is why most pens today use plastic feeds (I would be surprised if Pelikan feeds were ebonite).

So ebonite (which should really be called hard rubber I think - wasn't Ebonite a trademark?) technically has better wetting characteristics than plastic feeds, but a lot depends on the construction and quality control as well.

John

So, here's the obvious follow up question. Why don't company's use more ebonite feeds? I know, I know, I am sure the plastic feed is to cheaper to manufacture and that means more profits. But, the market has shown we will buy expensive pens, yet modern ebonite feeds are few and far between. is the price really that great? Is the ebonite harder to QA and therefore there is more waste, is it the cost of the materials, is ebonite hard to find. What gives???

andy w

Milling something is orders of magnitude more expensive than injection molding it. It'll take you maybe 30 seconds per shot when injection molding, while milling will take a couple of minutes on machines with more delicate parts that wear out faster.

Somewhat related to this question is the function of vanes in fountain pen feeds? Why is it that early fountain pen feeds do not have them, while some later on have vertical ones, others just shallow cuts on either sides of the feed, and the rest very fine and horizontal?

See - Feeds: Revolution, Evolution, and Devolution

'splains it all.

[EDIT to add]: But one comment on Richard's otherwise outstanding article - he repeats the Waterman Ink-blot story, which is generally considered to be a myth - Waterman’s Ink Blot: More on the Birth of a Myth at Vintagepens.com.

As the Ebonite International Corporation is still in business making bowling balls, I would guess it still is.

Most people are going to find this nit picking but ever since Xerox, Kleenex, Celluloid, Hoover, etc. fell into the common vocabulary these companys have been getting rather serious about the misuse of their property.

Incidental: That "Skull" model ball used in the movie "Mystery Men" is apparently a standard catalog model.

Thank you for the link! I've spent a ton of time exploring Richard's site but somehow missed that article before posting this question.



That might just be the best news I've heard in several months. I am soooo getting myself a skull bowling ball. Or maybe one of the rose bowling balls like the one Bill Murray's character in Kingpin used. Genius.

Aside from its excellent flow characteristics, I find that ebonite feeds can remain uncapped for a longer period of time than plastic feeds without drying out.

Thanks for the link. I have always wondered why they could not leave well enough alone. I completely overlooked the fact that they have to work around existing patents.

Are there any modern non-Indian pens that ave been manufactured with ebonite feeds? Perhaps some LEs? I have been trying to find this out for some time without success.

Thanks,
QM2

Is there a way to easily distinguish ebonite feeds from plastic feeds, without disassembling or damaging the pen?

-Mike

rub the feed and see if it smells of sulphur. It should also be more matte that an injection molded feed, you can sometimes see tool marks on it.


Kurt

The Aurora Talentum has an ebonite feed and what an excellent pen it is! I wish there were a piston fill version of the Talentum (the Optima is a piston filler, but is a smaller pen than the Talentum).

You're kidding! Do you know whether this also applies to the Talentum Finesse (the slimmer size)? My Finesse is one of my best writers.

After reading this thread, I decided to take another look at the Walitys that I purchased from isellpens a few years ago. I have two piston fillers, both with stinky (sorry, my impression) ebonite feeds. I remember that the thinner one with a slightly hooded nib was great. The larger one, with rose-gold plated nib did a surprising thing when I first used it (with Waterman Havana brown ink): produce a green-tinted leakage from the nib area.

So, is that due to the ink or the pen? Some further information:

Last night I cleaned this pen thoroughly (water and a few drops of natural dishwashing detergent), removed nib and feed, flossed between the tines and let everything dry thoroughly. This morning I looked at the ink (haven't used it since), cleaned the cap area, noticing some small amounts of green and black residue only in that area. The ink itself had no sludge or things growing in it. I added sterilink from Tryphon and later inked up the Wality in question.

Just a few hours later and the pen writes well, very smoothly, and the ink color seems to be the same. However, I see that the slice in the nib between the tines seems to be producing a very small amount of the green-looking stuff. It almost seems to me like a combination of cheap metal (?), ebonite and ink is producing a weird reaction. Is this possible?

Some Omas pens have ebonite feeds and also some Montegrappa pens as mentioned in the catalogs, I don't own any.



The weird smell in some of the Walitys is from the plastic used, the ebonite feeder is too small a component to raise this kind of stink

The nibs on all the export model(identified by 2 tone nibs) Walitys have SS nibs with geniune Heraeus tipping.

Best,
Hari

The Edison Pen Co. makes ebonite feeds, as well as ebonite pens.
Some day when I save enough money I will buy one.

Sorry, I don't know about the Finesse (except that's it's smaller than the full size Talentum). Kenro Industries is the US distributor for Aurora. They would probably be able to tell you. My Talentum is one of my best writers, too.

Hi Hari, thanks for the information! Just an update: the green situation is not getting any worse now.
The pen has a one-tone rose gold colored nib, so I'm not sure if it's made of the same material you mention. However, it writes really smoothly! An extremely easy starter that glides over the paper. Furthermore, the design on the cap of the one I'm using reminds me a bit of the recent Bexley Owner's edition--well, something about it does.

My Talentum is the best also---WHY,WHY,WHY doesn't Aurora make it a piston fill????? I just don't understand!!