Pelikan Souveran Barrel Material

[ek-hornbeck]

I can't figure out from the Pelikan website what material they use for the barrels of their Souveran pens. Is it celluloid, or is it acrylic, excuse me, I meant "precious resin?" (Or am I on the wrong manufacturer's sub-forum?)

 

It's important for me to know, since celluloid is more delicate than acrylic, so it would have a big effect on how I maintained the pen -- e.g., what chemicals I used to clean it.

 

Thanks.

 

-EKH

[sargetalon]

The Souveräns of today have barrels made of cellulose acetate. Shouldn't require harsh chemicals to clean in general. Water or a dilute ammonia solutions work well in tough cases.

[ek-hornbeck]

Thank you, Sarge!

 

-EKH

[James TPC]

Hello,

 

This is a question I asked Pelikan myself on behalf of a customer (I was pretty sure of the answer but thought I'd double check!). The response from Germany was:

 

"The striped bandage material is made of cellulose acetate, the other parts (cap and handle) from high quality resin."

 

As Sarge has already said you shouldn't really need any thing much more than water to clean a fountain pen.

[aeba]

Soo. Are the black pens are entirely resin then? Not that I care that much.

[tinta]

Is that striped cellulose acetate part of the Souverans called the binde?

[mitto]

Is that striped cellulose acetate part of the Souverans called the binde?

 

I would say yes, that is called binde.

[Bo Bo Olson]

Pelikan makes rather sturdy stuff....I have them from the '40's and more of the '50's. Looks and functions as good as the '90's or modern.

OK the 140/120 and the 200 are not quite so high classed, one can feel the difference. The binde of the 140 is not so good as the 400 if you have them to compare.

 

The nibs of the 140 and '50-65 400-400n-400nn are better, being semi-flex. Stubbish, and have a very nice clean line.

The '80's-97 400 and the 200's nibs are also better than modern being @ 1/2 a size narrower and write a cleaner line than the fatter and blobbier post '98 modern nib.

[ek-hornbeck]

Hello,

 

This is a question I asked Pelikan myself on behalf of a customer (I was pretty sure of the answer but thought I'd double check!). The response from Germany was:

 

"The striped bandage material is made of cellulose acetate, the other parts (cap and handle) from high quality resin."

 

As Sarge has already said you shouldn't really need any thing much more than water to clean a fountain pen.

 

Just to be perfectly clear about this: what is the barrel material that the ink contacts? The interior of the barrel, that is. The stuff that would be stained or attacked by aggressive inks, or affected by ammonia or bleach, if one was flushing out the interior of the pen with such things?

 

-EKH

[a m a r g o]

 

Just to be perfectly clear about this: what is the barrel material that the ink contacts? The interior of the barrel, that is. The stuff that would be stained or attacked by aggressive inks, or affected by ammonia or bleach, if one was flushing out the interior of the pen with such things?

 

-EKH

The interior or the barrel is made of acrylic, the bind/cover of the barrel is from cellulose:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWhEytzwVmA

[Bo Bo Olson]

Red ink is not good for piston windows.................. purple neither...so clean you pen often when using purple.....a cartridge pen does well enough for red.

 

IG inks even back in '50 needed the pen cleaned only every 3 months....so every month to 6 weeks if you would actually use the same IG ink that much today, would be more than safe.

 

In we live in The Golden Age of Inks....we change inks all the time.

 

You need two rubber baby ear syringes, one to clean out the barrel after screwing out the nib....is so much faster and less wearing on the piston to do it that way....less than a minute.

The second rubber syringe end should be cut off so it's fatter and fits around the nib section....then that can be cleaned easily and quickly.

[PAKMAN]

Another point, if you too aggressively clean out the inside of these piston fillers you will need to reapply a tiny bit of silicon grease to make sure they remain lubricated.

[ek-hornbeck]

Thanks, everyone. That's exactly what I wanted to know (and it was also the answer for which I was hoping).

 

The collective wisdom of FPN rides to the rescue!

 

EKH