Vintage 1930S Onoto Magna Fountain Pen Review

[grandmia]

Hi Everyone...

It seems i have posted my review in the wrong location.As i would like to share it with all the members here it is.Enjoy.

[Malcy]

Nice review. I would love a Magna but they go for far too much on ebay.

[pelicanachic]

what a stunning pen. It is a shame that I couldnt see its magnifixent performances

[drgoretex]

Beautiful! Sure would love to compare it head-to-head with my ('new Onoto') Magna 261!

 

Ken

[framebaer]

Hi,

 

Just a slight but important correction to information in your Video. Onoto did make 2 filling systems: the lever as your pen has and also a Plunger-Fil system. This is different from and should not be confused with a Piston system as mentioned in your video.

 

Plunger fil systems work by creating a vacuum as the plunger is pushed down, releasing when the plunger hits its full stop. The barrel diameter is wider at that point releasing the vacuum and in rushes the ink. Onoto actually Patented this system.

 

Piston work by screwing down the barrel and pulling ink in via capillary action as the piston is screwed back up the barrel. Very different.

 

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

[hari317]

Hi,

 

Just a slight but important correction to information in your Video. Onoto did make 2 filling systems: the lever as your pen has and also a Plunger-Fil system. This is different from and should not be confused with a Piston system as mentioned in your video.

 

Plunger fil systems work by creating a vacuum as the plunger is pushed down, releasing when the plunger hits its full stop. The barrel diameter is wider at that point releasing the vacuum and in rushes the ink. Onoto actually Patented this system.

 

Piston work by screwing down the barrel and pulling ink in via capillary action as the piston is screwed back up the barrel. Very different.

 

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

 

Can you pls elaborate on the highlighted part?

[framebaer]

Hi,

 

Just a slight but important correction to information in your Video. Onoto did make 2 filling systems: the lever as your pen has and also a Plunger-Fil system. This is different from and should not be confused with a Piston system as mentioned in your video.

 

Plunger fil systems work by creating a vacuum as the plunger is pushed down, releasing when the plunger hits its full stop. The barrel diameter is wider at that point releasing the vacuum and in rushes the ink. Onoto actually Patented this system.

 

Piston work by screwing down the barrel and pulling ink in via capillary action as the piston is screwed back up the barrel. Very different.

 

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

 

Can you pls elaborate on the highlighted part?

 

sure, there is a partial vacuum created when the piston is extended down to the nib ( air expelled) as the piston is retracted the effect is air/ink is drawn up the walls of the converter. Ink being mostly water has a strong attraction to itself ( capillary action) and the molecules will "follow" each other so to speak. There is a slight vacuum action involved but not with the force of plunger fillers which fill very rapidly once the vacuum is released.

 

Not being a physics expert/ buff I know not the exact properties at work.

 

I know a properly functioning fountain pen will write nib up and assume it's the power of capillary action overcoming gravity.

[hari317]

Hi,

 

Just a slight but important correction to information in your Video. Onoto did make 2 filling systems: the lever as your pen has and also a Plunger-Fil system. This is different from and should not be confused with a Piston system as mentioned in your video.

 

Plunger fil systems work by creating a vacuum as the plunger is pushed down, releasing when the plunger hits its full stop. The barrel diameter is wider at that point releasing the vacuum and in rushes the ink. Onoto actually Patented this system.

 

Piston work by screwing down the barrel and pulling ink in via capillary action as the piston is screwed back up the barrel. Very different.

 

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

 

Can you pls elaborate on the highlighted part?

 

sure, there is a partial vacuum created when the piston is extended down to the nib ( air expelled) as the piston is retracted the effect is air/ink is drawn up the walls of the converter. Ink being mostly water has a strong attraction to itself ( capillary action) and the molecules will "follow" each other so to speak. There is a slight vacuum action involved but not with the force of plunger fillers which fill very rapidly once the vacuum is released.

 

Not being a physics expert/ buff I know not the exact properties at work.

 

I know a properly functioning fountain pen will write nib up and assume it's the power of capillary action overcoming gravity.

 

Hello Jim,

 

In a piston filler, the volume behind the piston is vented. so as the piston is extended towards the nib, there is very little, if at all, negative pressure built behind the piston seal. As the piston seal is withdrawn a vacuum is formed ahead of the piston between the nib and the piston seal. This vacuum will be rapidly equalised if the nib is in air. when the nib is under water/ink as the piston is withdrawn, ink rushes in to equalise the negative pressure. Now there is limit to how fast you can withdraw the screw operated piston seal hence the apparently *non violent* ingress of ink. The mechanism of ink filling of a screw operated piston is identical to the syringe filler. Capilliary action has an very less significant role to play here.

 

Best

Hari

[Malcy]

Hi,

 

Just a slight but important correction to information in your Video. Onoto did make 2 filling systems: the lever as your pen has and also a Plunger-Fil system. This is different from and should not be confused with a Piston system as mentioned in your video.

 

Plunger fil systems work by creating a vacuum as the plunger is pushed down, releasing when the plunger hits its full stop. The barrel diameter is wider at that point releasing the vacuum and in rushes the ink. Onoto actually Patented this system.

 

Piston work by screwing down the barrel and pulling ink in via capillary action as the piston is screwed back up the barrel. Very different.

 

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

 

Can you pls elaborate on the highlighted part?

 

sure, there is a partial vacuum created when the piston is extended down to the nib ( air expelled) as the piston is retracted the effect is air/ink is drawn up the walls of the converter. Ink being mostly water has a strong attraction to itself ( capillary action) and the molecules will "follow" each other so to speak. There is a slight vacuum action involved but not with the force of plunger fillers which fill very rapidly once the vacuum is released.

 

Not being a physics expert/ buff I know not the exact properties at work.

 

I know a properly functioning fountain pen will write nib up and assume it's the power of capillary action overcoming gravity.

 

Your ideas about the physics involved are a bit confused.

 

When a piston filler is used, the piston is first screwed to the bottom of the chamber. The area above the piston is not sealed in these fillers so the pressure above the piston remains at atmospheric level. As the piston is raised with the nib in ink, an area of reduced pressure forms in the chamber below the piston (not really a partial vacuum). Because the pressure in the chamber is below atmospheric, the air outside pushes ink up into the chamber until the internal and external pressure equalises. As the piston is usually moved through the length of the chamber, this results in the chamber being filled with ink plus a little bit of air that was present in the feed at the start of the process.

 

Capillary action is not involved in the filling of the piston filler type pen but it is what makes most fountain pens write. If you examine a feed, the most common feature is the narrow channels that run the length of it. Capillary action acts to pull ink from the ink chamber to the nib. Once at the nib, capillary action pulls the ink between the nib and the feed and ultimately between the tines to the paper at the tip of the nib.

[welch]

Hi,

 

<snip>

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

 

Yes, Onoto made piston-fillers. The last UK-made Onotos were plastic, mostly-hooded, piston-fillers called the "K series". There were four K's, one of which might not have been hooded. A great basic idea, but they could not save Onoto...closed about 1956.

[georges zaslavsky]

very nice pen, thanks for the review

[grandmia]

Glad you like it.Unfortunately my writing is terrible therefore any writing sample would not do the pen justice.The review is really to try and show the pen and for members to enjoy (hopefully)...

[grandmia]

what a stunning pen. It is a shame that I couldnt see its magnifixent performances

Hi...Sorry still trying to find my way around here.Reply above.

Edited March 25, 2012 by grandmia

[red52ripple]

 

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

 

Check out the Onoto K-Series.

 

Regards,

[grandmia]

Hi,

 

Just a slight but important correction to information in your Video. Onoto did make 2 filling systems: the lever as your pen has and also a Plunger-Fil system. This is different from and should not be confused with a Piston system as mentioned in your video.

 

Plunger fil systems work by creating a vacuum as the plunger is pushed down, releasing when the plunger hits its full stop. The barrel diameter is wider at that point releasing the vacuum and in rushes the ink. Onoto actually Patented this system.

 

Piston work by screwing down the barrel and pulling ink in via capillary action as the piston is screwed back up the barrel. Very different.

 

To my knowledge Onoto never made a piston filler.

Hello...Thank you for your reply.It appears that different people use different terminology,hopefully most people will understand the point i am trying to make.Take a look at my Onoto 3000 review,i have tried to give more details regarding the filling system.I just hope you and other viewers enjoy the reviews.

[praxim]

As stated in the video, the pen reviewed here is a model 1703 Magna. According to the Onoto book, this model was not introduced until the post-war series, in 1948 in this case (model deleted 1955). The 1703 is the only lever-fill Magna. The 18xx models (pre- and post-war) were all plunge-fill. None were made through the war, the pre-war series being manufactured 1937-1940. Thus, the reviewer's references to 1937 are misleading.

 

All data from Steve Hull's book of great usefulness.