15, The Name "Stylograph"

[rhr]

And here are a couple of stylo patents that dare to call the pen by its rightful name. Frank Dubiel and a few others strained to draw a distinction between the early stylographs and the later drafting pens such as the "Rapidograph". They always went to great pains to try to force a difference on them when there really wasn't one. Well, here are two later patents, 2,136,967 and 3,938,899, that aren't ashamed or shy to use the correct name for them.

 

They're all "stylographs".

 

George Kovalenko.

 

:ph34r:

Edited March 21, 2007 by rhr

[Johnny Appleseed]

I think the reason that some try to make a distinction is because Stylo's have gotten a reputation for being technical pens like the Rapidograph that are not always suitable for writing. Vintage Stylo's were, of course, made to write and could be as smooth as any fountain pen.

 

A much more usefull way of putting it is that not all Stylographic pens are technical drafting pens like Rapidographs.

 

John

[rhr]

I think the reason that some try to make a distinction is because Stylo's have gotten a reputation for being technical pens like the Rapidograph that are not always suitable for writing. Vintage Stylo's were, of course, made to write and could be as smooth as any fountain pen.

John, I take your point, but in my experience they are both equally easy, or difficult to write with. Your distinction is like saying that a Waterman's #7 Ripple with a Yellow rounded point that writes on any paper in any direction is different from a Waterman's #7 Ripple with a Blue blunt point that makes thick and thin italic strokes. They're both still Waterman's #7 Ripples. Actually, here's a better way of putting it. Your distinction is like saying that a Waterman's #7 Ripple with a Yellow nib is different from a Waterman's 100 Year Pen with a Blue nib. They're both still lever-filling pens. In your distinction between a stylo and a technical pen, you're trying to differentiate between writing points, but they are still the same basic type of writing instrument underneath.

 

As for the technical pens not always being suitable for general writing, why would you want to use a race horse to pull a plough, or enter a work horse in the Kentucky Derby? Even though technical pens have their specific uses, they can be adapted to other purposes, if you slow down the writing. You can't race either type of stylo point across the page the way you can a Yellow nib, or even a Blue nib.

 

George Kovalenko.

 

:ph34r:

Edited August 1, 2006 by rhr

[Johnny Appleseed]

George,

 

I agree that both the rounded-tip stylos and the technical stylos are both stylographic pens, which is why I suggested -

 

A much more usefull way of putting it is that not all Stylographic pens are technical drafting pens like Rapidographs.

 

For many modern users, the only type of stylo they have encountered is a technical pen, and they get the impression stylographic = Rapidograph. To use your horse metaphor, a lot of people have only seen plow-horses. The point is that there are race horses and quarter horses too - you can't judge all horses by a plow-horse.

 

To make an analogy similar to your Waterman Yellow vs Blue, if the only fountain pens widely available today were Sheaffer Calligraphy pens, we would want to let people know there are a lot more nib choices out there than the nibs on Sheaffer Calligraphy pens. Yes, they may both be fountain pens, and the difference is only in the tip, but there is a world of difference from a sharp edged steel calligraphy nib and a buttery-smooth Parker 51, or a flexible Waterman NY nib, or even a well-tuned and smoothed Sheaffer non-nonsense round nib. Same basic pen, in the case of the latter, but a world of difference in the writing experience.

 

And alas I don't have any of the Waterman color nibs to compare it too, but I have a hard-rubber Inkograph that can race across the page almost as fast as a Parker 51, or anything else I have. It is a slight bit more finicky, and needs a slightly different angle than most fountain pens, but only slightly (I have had many nibs more finicky).

 

John

[rhr]

I have a hard-rubber Inkograph that can race across the page almost as fast as a Parker 51, or anything else I have. It is a slight bit more finicky, and needs a slightly different angle than most fountain pens, but only slightly...

Ah ha, I think we're in agreement, John.

 

Take care,

 

George.

 

:ph34r: