Jump to content

Revolutionary Fountainbel "bulk" Filler


fountainbel

Recommended Posts

Hi all,

Attached a Photobucket link showing my "bulk filler" flat-top prototype , made in blue marbled Tibaldi celluloid.

I've made already several demonstrators,of which a few are actually undergoing intensive writing and evaluation test.

The fountainbel "bulk filler" system" is a real breaktrough, allowing a 3.1 ml ink intake for a pen the size of a Pelikan 800 ( which holds only 1.37 ml)

The pen will be made in to length sizes, the shorter version ( not shown) will hold 2.4 ml.

The clip is made from 2mm thick silver sheet, featuring a black delrin pinching notch

Being a mechanical design engineer, I did not want to take any compromise on the mechanical reliability of the design.

The pen is ridgid as a rock, maintenance freindly , and I'm convinced it will last for decades.

I've already registered the system and the EU/US patent requests will go out next week;

We will start selling the pens as soon as the patent requests are accepted, hence the patents become "pending"

I have an arrangement with an industrial fountain pen maker which will start making series of the pen, after the 6 months test period is positively ended.

Is first instance we will make demonstrators, although I've just finished the first celluloid prototype version in "Tibaldi marbled bleu"

The pen can be disassembled completely in 10 minutes, nothing is glued nor shellacked all screwn parts are sealed with O rings.

All pens are equipped with large 18K Bock screw-in nib units, alternatively Titanium or stainless nibs are possible.

The pen also features a shut-off valve avoiding any risks for leakage during air travel and/or temperature variations.

I hope you all understand that I can't show pictures showing the details before the patents are pending, but I'll surely keep you all posted !

As always, your comments, critique and suggestions are most welcome!

Best regards, Francis

 

http://i62.photobuck...lkfiller003.jpg

Edited by fountainbel
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 62
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • fountainbel

    11

  • RMN

    5

  • mandarintje

    5

  • watch_art

    5

Top Posters In This Topic

Posted Images

That's a nice looking pen, and that kind of ink capacity would be excellent! I'm eager to see further details.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you have a price estimate? I don't need it down to the penny, but are we talking about a $200 pen or a $1000 pen?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fabulous looking pen, but an indication of the price would be very useful.

Iechyd da pob Cymro

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some more pictures will be helpful. What is the price bracket at which you'd be selling the pen?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks all for your comments.

As what concerns the price, we just started making a pre-series 20 demonstrator pens which will give a fabrication cost base.

So it is quite early to determine the effective cost in this stage;

Lets say we aim for a selling price lower as 600 €. for the demonstrator.

The celluloid and hard rubber versions would be more expensive.

Be aware this pen is not made with injection mould parts, all parts are machined from solid barstock.

As stated in my initiaI posting, we will not post more pictures nor reveal the design details before the patent US/EU request are filed and the patent is pending.

As for risks for leakage at low level, a few prototypes which are under evalution do not reveal any problems in this sense.

Remember also the pen features a 100% thight shut-off valve which closes the barrel/ section ink supply when fully closing the filling knob.

So for long writing sessions one should open the filling kob one millimeter restoring the ink transfert.

By opening the filling knob as such one creates a controlled ink flow restriction which aims to cope with blotting risks.

Francis

Edited by fountainbel
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you have a price estimate? I don't need it down to the penny, but are we talking about a $200 pen or a $1000 pen?

 

Looks like the $800 ballpark.

this year, or this month, or, more likely, this very day, we have failed to practice ourselves the kind of behavior we expect from other people.

~ C.S. Lewis

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am one of the testers =) and I have to say: it's absurd how amazing this pen is! the design is revolutionary and yet few in parts. Solid and trustworthy, intuitive and foolproof, it's everything a pen should be. Just wait, you will be amazed. The engineering is second to NONE. It makes Montblanc and Pelikan look like cheap replicas. Francis has ruined all other pens for me! I'm not kidding.

 

No issues with this amount of ink behind the feed.

 

That sterling silver clip on the Tibaldi blue was incredible too =))) but I like the demonstrator because it shows the genius design inside.

 

Much applause to you Mr. Fountainbel.

you can never get it wrong, because you can never get it done!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sign me up.

"If we faked going to the Moon, why did we fake it nine times?" -- Apollo 16 astronaut Charlie Duke

 

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4009/4447835438_d7314170bf_o.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Fountainbel,

 

There is of course only so much one can tell from the photo, but your description and Mandarintje's post here and her other review of one of your pens on these pages, have made me very curious.

 

If you are looking for another independent review (Mandarintje is starting to sound like a sycophant ;-) and some honest input, I am certainly willing to sign a non-disclosure contract and give a guarantee while one of the pens is my keeping.

 

Since I live in Belgium too, coming by should not be too difficult.

 

Do not hesitate to PM me if interested.

 

Best regards,

 

Mathieu

Respectfully disagreeing since 1978.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dear Mathieu,

Reading Mandarintjes comments, it may sound Mandarintje acts like a sycophant, but he surely is not;

Mandarintje already tested several pen design for me and his comments and suggestions enabled me to optimise the designs in many aspects;

And - being a real fountain pen freak - he does this for free.

Mandarintje was initially impressed by the features my "bulk filler" offers, and now - after a week of intensive writing tests - he starts to enjoy the ergonomic and writing behaviour inherent to the design.

I'm a technical freak and perfectionist, never satisfied, always looking for improvements, surely not the kind of guy who wants to be given credit unrightfully.

So please in the future don't judge to fast over people which are enthousiastic on their experiences.

Francis

 

PS: I might give you the chance to test one of the pens which are being manufactured now, were do you live?

Just send me an E-mail

 

 

 

 

Dear Fountainbel,

 

There is of course only so much one can tell from the photo, but your description and Mandarintje's post here and her other review of one of your pens on these pages, have made me very curious.

 

If you are looking for another independent review (Mandarintje is starting to sound like a sycophant ;-) and some honest input, I am certainly willing to sign a non-disclosure contract and give a guarantee while one of the pens is my keeping.

 

Since I live in Belgium too, coming by should not be too difficult.

 

Do not hesitate to PM me if interested.

 

Best regards,

 

Mathieu

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds fantastic, though there are a few pens I would probably want to buy first at that price.

 

If you want to have some completely inexperienced advice from someone who could buy one, but not without saving for a bit, these are my concerns (please feel free to discard without any taken offence):

 

1. Would you run into problems with Visconti's dual chamber power filler?

 

2. Could offering the pen without a nib/feed prove more enticing for buyers if it significantly reduces the price of entry and other manufacturers options are freely available?

 

3. If the above does not greatly reduce the price you can offer (e.g. $200 maximum), maybe once you have the patent, you could partner with an established maker (Italian? Edison?) to lower prices, increase volume and marry your ingenious design with the 'heritage' of the other company?

 

All the best,

 

David

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey, that's great Francis.

 

At last you are going to sell the fruit of your labor.

 

I stated before I am interested, so please keep me posted.

 

As to nibs: will that be a Conid nib?

 

And will you do special sizes? I am still very fond of the oblique italic you made me....

 

 

D.ick

~

KEEP SAFE, WEAR A MASK, KEEP A DISTANCE.

Freedom exists by virtue of self limitation.

~

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1. Would you run into problems with Visconti's dual chamber power filler?

 

 

 

Knowing how this filler system works, he doesn't have anything to worry about from Visconti. If it was the same, he wouldn't have bothered, I'm sure, to try to patent it.

Edited by watch_art
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


  • Most Contributions

    1. amberleadavis
      amberleadavis
      43844
    2. PAKMAN
      PAKMAN
      33501
    3. Ghost Plane
      Ghost Plane
      28220
    4. inkstainedruth
      inkstainedruth
      26627
    5. jar
      jar
      26101
  • Upcoming Events

  • Blog Comments

    • Shanghai Knife Dude
      I have the Sailor Naginata and some fancy blade nibs coming after 2022 by a number of new workshop from China.  With all my respect, IMHO, they are all (bleep) in doing chinese characters.  Go use a bush, or at least a bush pen. 
    • A Smug Dill
      It is the reason why I'm so keen on the idea of a personal library — of pens, nibs, inks, paper products, etc. — and spent so much money, as well as time and effort, to “build” it for myself (because I can't simply remember everything, especially as I'm getting older fast) and my wife, so that we can “know”; and, instead of just disposing of what displeased us, or even just not good enough to be “given the time of day” against competition from >500 other pens and >500 other inks for our at
    • adamselene
      Agreed.  And I think it’s good to be aware of this early on and think about at the point of buying rather than rationalizing a purchase..
    • A Smug Dill
      Alas, one cannot know “good” without some idea of “bad” against which to contrast; and, as one of my former bosses (back when I was in my twenties) used to say, “on the scale of good to bad…”, it's a spectrum, not a dichotomy. Whereas subjectively acceptable (or tolerable) and unacceptable may well be a dichotomy to someone, and finding whether the threshold or cusp between them lies takes experiencing many degrees of less-than-ideal, especially if the decision is somehow influenced by factors o
    • adamselene
      I got my first real fountain pen on my 60th birthday and many hundreds of pens later I’ve often thought of what I should’ve known in the beginning. I have many pens, the majority of which have some objectionable feature. If they are too delicate, or can’t be posted, or they are too precious to face losing , still they are users, but only in very limited environments..  I have a big disliking for pens that have the cap jump into the air and fly off. I object to Pens that dry out, or leave blobs o
  • Chatbox

    You don't have permission to chat.
    Load More
  • Files






×
×
  • Create New...