Where are all those useless Engineers

[exit here]

I enjoy the threads where qualification is 'believed' to be final when a member announces that he or she is an Engineer.

 

So why have none of you provided data to support your voices.

 

Why can I not purchase a FP with proper technical specification.

 

Terms such as Soft ..Flex ..Elastic ...Vintage flex ..Semi Flex ...Moderate Flex ..Flex with a twist of lemon ..stiff ..nail are relative terms..

 

And why are there no material grades ...Steel Nib "...Pah"!! .....What kind of Steel??

 

WHERE ARE THE GRAPHS ??

 

WHERE IS MY MODULUS OF E

 

 

And my favourites ...

 

WHAT IS THE YIELD POINT

 

 

...hmmmmmmmm..mmm..m

 

 

 

 

[Titivillus]

I enjoy the threads where qualification is 'believed' to be final when a member announces that he or she is an Engineer.

 

So why have none of you provided data to support your voices.

 

Why can I not purchase a FP with proper technical specification.

 

Terms such as Soft ..Flex ..Elastic ...Vintage flex ..Semi Flex ...Moderate Flex ..Flex with a twist of lemon ..stiff ..nail are relative terms..

 

And why are there no material grades ...Steel Nib "...Pah"!! .....What kind of Steel??

 

WHERE ARE THE GRAPHS ??

 

WHERE IS MY MODULUS OF E

 

 

And my favourites ...

 

WHAT IS THE YIELD POINT

 

 

...hmmmmmmmm..mmm..m

 

I will let Antonios answer your questions..

 

[garyc]

Buttery? Toothy?

 

We need to know the mu!

[NeoTiger]

Because the majority of people aren't engineers....

 

Because engineers don't have enough money to make an impact on manufacturers.....

 

Because engineers wouldn't be able to agree on a set standard for those terms either....

[Taki]

Don't you know that MT recruits all the competent engineers and chain them to the dungeon provide luxurious accommodation to work on MT projects. No time to play with pens for them :roflmho:

[Elaine]

oooooooh, you in trouuuuuuble. Wait till Antonios gets home. You gonna get graphs, you gonna get charts, you gonna get an analysis of flex nibs, and don't forget about the electron microscopic images of nibs.

[sheafferkid]

Yea, Antonios! We want to see some electron micrographs of ALL the different types of nibs! Which ones are scratchy, buttery, flexy, stiff as a nail...all of them! :roflmho:

 

Evan

[jpolaski]

WAIT...PANDORA...NOOOOOOOooooooo

 

 

You opened the box.... now it's on.

[captnemo]

Indeed, I'm an engineer, and my first posts on FPN taught me that the answer to my technical questions was mostly "there is no answer". "Iridium" tipped means it contains no iridium, or some iridium, or pure iridium, or maybe rhodium, platinum, or pure steel. In top quality pens it means that the tip material is pure unobtainium. But in fact, "iridium" these days means that the tip has been finished to a higher degree of quality. Higher than what? What is the degree of polish? Well, it doesn't matter, it's polished until it "feels right".

 

Much of the problem stems from the fact that each person's hand and writing style is different. Most people on FPN seem to prefer fine nibs or even finer. I prefer a wet medium that never, ever, ever, ever, skips. A nib that is scratchy for one person might not be scratchy for another due to different writing pressure, different hand position, different ink, different paper, different position of Jupiter. I've decided that there is no hard data, there are no hard numbers, because all of the parameters are dimensionless and depend on 26 other variables that cannot be controlled by the manufacturer, and in the end, one out of three users won't like it no matter what you do.

 

But I learned the common terminology used by my fellow FPNers and, if nothing else, I consider this experience to be good practice if I ever become a professional wine taster.

 

:roflmho:

 

[Nihontochicken]

If I might piggyback here (okay, hijack!!! ), I have a related contention, why are pens so delicate, even so as to be prone to self-destruction on disassembly? Because they're not designed by engineers! Some are close, such as the Rotring 600, Kaweco AL Sport and Parker 51, but each of these has its weak points. A decent pen should come apart intuitively, and do so hundreds of times without damage, each part being easily and quickly replaceable, and in use be bomb proof, save perhaps a drop of the nib onto a hard surface. Such a pen can well be aesthetically attractive as well. How about a 51 Flighter with thicker (or plastic sleeved) cap and barrel, maybe a metal hood, plus a multi-lead screw-on type cap? Long live the engineers, kill the marketers and cost-cutters!!! :lol:

[Shelley]

Don't they call that pen the Lamy 2000?

[halljer]

As one with two engineering credentials, I can honestly say blahblahblahblahblahblahblah. And I'm absolutely positive about that!!!!!!!!

[jonro]

I believe the issue is us, not the engineers. It wouldn't be very difficult to select standard descriptions for line widths and nib flexibility. The manufacturers don't seem to have a reason or an industry mechanism in place to agree on standards. If a major manufacturer published a standard, used it, and invited other FP manufacturers to use it, it would probably catch on fairly quickly. If we, the consumers, write to fountain pen manufacturers and ask them to institute a standard, we might get some action. Without demand there will be no action.

[NeoTiger]

Yeah, I think the Lamy 2000 is an engineer's dream-come-true.

 

Nice styling, interesting materials, durable piston mechanism.

[PAKMAN]

As one of those Dang engineers, I'd have to say that the "Engineers Pen" would have to be the Rotring 600. What a tough tool! Mine has the gray "Lava" finish. It wouldn't slip out of your hand if you tried to drop it, it is multifaceted so it can't roll off of a desk. You could use it as a Dart if needed or a weapon to defend yourself when the marketing folks come around!

[æon]

As the qualified son of an engineer, I can safely say that all them fancy graphs and charts just cover up the REAL reason pens work: astrology! Think about it, why does your precious pen bring you joy one day and then spit ink on you the next? Obviously, if the Moon is on the ascendant with Mars and Venus, the Sun in the twelfth house, Saturn in opposition or square aspect to the ascendant, this will make for a leaky ink seal, but only if all influence of Jupiter is lacking.

 

Hey I'll be going into advertising, soon I'll be able to make all sorts of fun filled unprovable promises about fountain pen technology!

[FLZapped]

The marketing department keeps us locked in the closet.....

 

:ltcapd: :roflmho:

 

 

-Bruce

Edited May 12, 2007 by FLZapped

[JimStrutton]

In reading this thread I am reminded of this quote from A E Housman:

Statistics in the hands of an engineer are like a lamppost to a drunk -- they're used more for support than illumination.

 

Jim

[FLZapped]

In reading this thread I am reminded of this quote from A E Housman:

Statistics in the hands of an engineer are like a lamppost to a drunk -- they're used more for support than illumination.

 

Jim

 

Glad he wasn't a sports writer . . . .

 

-Bruce

[jd50ae]

I enjoy the threads where qualification is 'believed' to be final when a member announces that he or she is an Engineer.

 

So why have none of you provided data to support your voices.

 

Why can I not purchase a FP with proper technical specification.

 

Terms such as Soft ..Flex ..Elastic ...Vintage flex ..Semi Flex ...Moderate Flex ..Flex with a twist of lemon ..stiff ..nail are relative terms..

 

And why are there no material grades ...Steel Nib "...Pah"!! .....What kind of Steel??

 

WHERE ARE THE GRAPHS ??

 

WHERE IS MY MODULUS OF E

 

 

And my favourites ...

 

WHAT IS THE YIELD POINT

 

 

...hmmmmmmmm..mmm..m

 

All the engineers are on a ship heading out to sea so they can prove once and for all that the Earth is flat.