Glass nib.....

[Bryan]

First thing: NEVER examine a nib without a loupe. Found much dried ink deposits and, after a night soaking in Windex......

I believe I heard somewhere that Windex wasn't a good thing for fountain pens. Something about leaving a film that can cause problems. Though, I'm not 100% on this.

 

I've always used 2 parts water to 1 part Amonia.

 

Congrats on getting it to write!

 

Bryan

[toothy]

I believe I heard somewhere that Windex wasn't a good thing for fountain pens. Something about leaving a film that can cause problems. Though, I'm not 100% on this.

 

I've always used 2 parts water to 1 part Amonia.

 

Congrats on getting it to write!

 

Bryan

I also thought that windex would mess up a pen's feed, but glass pens aren't really fountain pens in the strict sense since they don't have a feed. They're probably much more durable (chemically) than fountain pens.

[Psyktek]

I would never use Windex as a soak/rinsing solution on a traditional nib/feed; like 409, there's just too much other stuff in there. But it did do a nice job on the glass.

 

I was looking at Frank's book today and he mentions glass nibs can be tuned/sharpened/etc. just like metal nibs. Wonder if a pen repair shop would take a shot at it.....

[ushat]

I've wanted try a glass-nibbed pen since I first saw one and this thread jolted me into doing something about it. This is the Bastings Pneumatic pen:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/ushat/Bastings.jpg

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v331/ushat/glassnib.jpg

 

As you can see, it lays down a medium/ broad unbroken line. It writes at the normal angle and is just like any other pen in use. Surprisingly, given the exposure of the ink to the air, it doesn't dry out any quicker than any other pen.

 

It says on the barrel "Made in Germany" but the "Germany" has been almost obliterated by scratching out. Anti-German feeling during WW2? At least it was a practical and useful enough pen to make the effort to hide its origin rather than just throwing it away.

 

Whatever it is that's "pneumatic" about it isn't obvious. The filling system is very rudimentary. There's a hole in the end of the barrel which I assume would allow one to poke in something to depress the sac.

[Dillo]

Hi,

 

I think that is a blow filler. Blow into the back to compress the sac.

 

Dillon

[ushat]

Oh, thanks! That makes sense.

[ElaineB]

Wow, that is a cool pen! Would you consider it a practical writer? Is it something someone could use freely for correspondence and note-taking?

 

ElaineB

[ushat]

I'll be able to tell you better once I've written a letter with it. I've been note-taking with it today and it's fine for that purpose. Peculiar ink delivery until you think about why it happens - write slowly, thick line, write fast, extra fine. At my normal speed of writing it's a fine but it manages to keep up. The writing I photographed this morning was just after I'd filled it and the flutes of the nib were full of ink. It's normally drier than that.

[Psyktek]

Thanks for that photo! Unfortunately, it makes me think that the nib I have won't be repairable without a total regrind. I'll have to post a pic on Monday so folks can compare the two points.

[Ann Finley]

Thanks Psyktek and Gordon for your pics and info. I've wondered for quite awhile if the glass nibbed fountain pens laid down a line that wasn't as thick as my glass dip pen.

 

The Bastings Pneumatic looks like it renders a line of acceptable width. Gordon, were there more where you found this one?

 

Psyktek, let us know if you find out that the glass nib can be reground to provide a line that is more of "average" width, and to write holding the barrel at a normal angle. If I know this can be done, I'd be more likely to take the plunge and get one!

 

Thanks again,

Ann

[ushat]

I found this one on ebay, Ann. It cost a king's ransom - £5.99! I did a google on the name of the pen but didn't come up with anything. I not infrequently see glass-nibbed pens on ebay - one a month or so, at a guess. They're usually Czechoslovakian or made by Burnham. As Burnham made some of the very best nibs, both flex and rigid, I'd think their quality control on glass nibs would be good too.

[Titivillus]

I found this one on ebay, Ann.  It cost a king's ransom - £5.99!  I did a google on the name of the pen but didn't come up with anything.  I not infrequently see glass-nibbed pens on ebay - one a month or so, at a guess.  They're usually Czechoslovakian or made by Burnham.  As Burnham made some of the very best nibs, both flex and rigid, I'd think their quality control on glass nibs would be good too.

Don't forget Spor for glass nibs as well! They made crescent fillers. There's one at a local antique store but it's $45 and I'm not really sure about the filler's working

 

 

 

kurt h

Edited June 18, 2005 by Tytyvyllus

[Kaweco]

Hello Psyktek, hello pen- friends

I´ll try to add some thoughts to the first questions.

The glass nib was invented by Hans Roggenbuck. He had a FP factory since 1926 in Frankenstein, a village in Schlesien, which was a mining and manufacturing province in Germany before WW2. After the war Schlesien came to Poland, the village is now named Zabkowice. Hans Roggenbucks factory "HARO" produced since the early 30th only FP with glass nibs. The world economy crisis and the extraordinary high gold price forced the nib producers to change to other materials. They tried to use exotic metals like Tantal or Ruthenium or alloys like German Silver or Toledo. But only the alloys Chrome/ Nickel and Palladium/ Silver were used. "CN"- nibs by Pelikan and "Palliag"- nibs by Kaweco. 1934 the bicolor nib was invented and patented by Kaweco and MB, the economy reduction of gold was 75%. The problem was, that the inks were high corrosive fluids and corrosion near the nib breath hole could immediately block the ink flow.

Glass nibs had been inert against corrosion, but they had naturally no flex, which was nessecary for a good writing style. The advantage was, that one could make several coal paper copies with these stiff glass nibs. After the war HARO went to Regensburg, Germany.

I think FP with glass nibs are no oddity, they have a small but important part in the history of writing, so they are collectable. But it should be prooved, if the glass nib is really a native part of the FP. During war times a lot of pre- war gold nibs were removed and sold by the owner to buy food. Some dealers of today complete the torso with a cheap glass nib.

Kind Regards

Thomas

[Psyktek]

Of course I can't be sure, but I think I may have one of the nibs Thomas is talking about. It leaks horribly, writes poorly, and really doesn't look like it belongs on a vintage Wahl/Oxford in green marbled pattern.

 

I think someone may have pulled the Wahl-Eversharp nib and feed at some point and substituted this. Regardless, I'm still sending it off to Richard for his expert opinion, as it has now become a puzzle to me and I want an answer!!!

 

 

 

 

So there!! :blink:

[Cataleya]

I found some additional info about the glass nib fountain pens!

On penexchange.com they write they were made for use with carbon paper to make copies:

 

"To produce carbon copies a nib must be very hard in order to convey the necessary pressure when writing on paper. Under such pressure the tip of a standard nib would be forced apart so widely that the ink flow would be cut off.

The first pens which were designed for this purpose possessed a particularly hard "nib", whereby we cannot really speak of a nib in the ordinary sense, they were actually pen points. For example, around 1912 Kaweco offered a pen with an agate point. Later pen points of this kind were manufactured from glass and were fairly common."

 

 

Link: http://www.penexchange.de/english/sites/klassiker/durchschreib.html

[Dupontdelamare]

I have a glass nibbed crescent filler myself and this thread makes me wonder whether it would be a good candidate for IG inks, as theres is no metal present, and no feed to clog, that is if a rubber ink sac is not endangered by the IG chemicals? In this case it could be an excellent pen for addressing envelopes and so forth.

 

I have recently seen Brause and Cie glass nibs for sale, and I wonder whether they could replace the feed and steel nib in any fountain pen? I note there are two shapes for Brause nibs: one is pointed at both the nib end and the rear end; the other is truncated at the rear end. I wonder whether both would be equally good steel nib and feed replacements, or whether only the rear pointed one works for FP nib replacement? Unless they both work but the flow might be more gushing with the rear pointed one (showing little obstacle to flow)?

[sidthecat]

I got my hands on a couple of Spors ringtops but I did not love them. They’re glass, so they don’t flex and it’s difficult to control the line thickness. It’s metal nibs for me.

[kl005]

When I read the topic title, I thought it was going to be a nib in the modern metal nib design, but made out of glass. Given the advancement in the technology of glass fabrication these days, I wonder if it would be possible to do that, and even make flex nibs out of ultra-thin glass?

 

I've got a J Herbin glass dip pen which I use for testing inks. Much easier to clean out than a regular fountain pen!