A comparison of three 1950 fountain pens and a Pelikan 400

[Bo Bo Olson]

A comparison of four fountain pens; an Osmia-Farber–Castell 540, Pelikan 400, Pelikan 140, and an Artus-Ballit(an early type of plastic, German spelling) (the pre-Lamy..Lamy).

 

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The 3 meg camera was used only for snap shots and was three years "old" when I found out it takes lousy close ups.

 

The Osmia-Farber-Castell 540 has two shades of gray in it's mottling gray and black, and some of the gray splotches turn pearl when turned in the light, and is much prettier than the photo. The Pelikan 140 is green stripped, and the Pelikan 400 is Tortoise.

 

I now have three late ‘40’s or early ‘50’s German piston fillers. The Osmia-Farber-Castell, the 140 Pelikan with an OB nib and the Artus…pre-Lamy.

I hope that the 84-96 Pelikan 400 is a very close match for the older model 400’s. If not, I hope that some one can do a closer comparison of the various 400s.

 

With the help of a paper bag, the Artus..pre-Lamy was made to work.

 

Size done in inches…mm would have been easier with all the 1/8s and 1/16ths, but a foot ruler was at hand.

The Pelikans are not blind cap, the other two are. With blind cap you have to remove the end cap, to twist the guts.

The numbers once lined up under the names.

Osmia-Farber Castell 540, 140 Pelikan, 400 Pelikan, Artus-Ballit (pre-Lamy)

Closed

4 7/8", 4 15/16", 5", 5 3/8"

 

Un-posted

4 5/8", 4 ½", 4 ½", 4 ¾"

Posted

5 7/8", 5 11/16", 5 13/16", 6"

Cap size

2 3/8", 2 3/8", 2 9/16", 2 1/2"

Nib material, writing width and length.

Steel B 9/16", 14 K OB ¾”, 14 K M ¾”, Steel M/F ¾”

 

All feeling are subjunctive. I have a nine inch span…yet as a man, my hand is thin. My “hand” (span of palm) is 3 1-2, to make a “hand” I count my thumb to come up to the “hands” 4 inches. A “hand” is the measurement of a horse, in that a “hand” is four inches. Bigger, shorter or thicker, or a woman’s thinner hand will give a different impression, along with experience. I am noobie still.

 

All the pens weigh about 14 1/2 grams. I used a Back in the Day fancy blue velvet lined box with it’s balance pans.

In all cases, the body of the pens, barrels and caps weighed close to each other that the pans were near even.

 

I ended up brown paper bag smoothing all four pens. Keep your eye open for stores that have or sell old fashioned brown paper bags. Stay away from stones, nibs are not hard steel like a knife. It cost me a nib lightly done, to find that out. Luckily it was mox nix, or nothing special.

 

The Artus (pre-Lamy) shows the Schaffer “New Balance” influence, as far as I can tell.

 

Un-posted it sat well, it is of course by design with a piston filler top heavy. It does make the point light. Perhaps it is as it should be, a light point. I had not noticed this before doing the comparison. I ran it across the brown paper bag a while and it smoothed up, is not now toothy or to me slightly scratchy.

 

The Pelikan 140 is from the same time. It is too small un-posted. It of course feels heavier posted; solid, more balanced than the Artus.

Checking the 400 ….I had been surprised the Artus, wrote smoother. A few passes over the brown paper bag, caught the 400 up to the Artus.

Un-posted the 400 is nearly the same size as the Artus.(so it felt to hand and eye…which in my case was wrong, after measuring.) It sits well. For me it is unusual to write with any pen not posted. (I can see that I will be writing with my new Cross Townsend un-posted. My Silver Parker 75 sits well posted.)

The Artus feels lighter in the hand. The 400 feels a tad heavier, but not as top heavy or light nibbed as the Artus.

3/8ths of an inch makes a difference when posted. The 400 is a Pelikan M, the Artus is M/F in comparison.

 

Posted both pens write very close to even. The 400 wins the balance test. Feeling is so subjunctive, the then “cheaper” pen comes very close to the more expensive 400.

 

The Osmia-Farber-Castell is my only wet writer, and smoothed up well on a brown paper bag. It writes very nicely….well balanced. Posted or un-posted.

(It will not be in rotation until after it is repaired. It needs to be re-corked. And while I will screw around down the road with the no names, a pen that is worth $250 is going to a pro.)

It is very close to the 140 in size.

 

The 140 is too short un-posted in my thin medium hand. The Osmia-Farber-Castell seems to sit better un-posted. It is odd that 1-8th an inch can make a difference.

Posted, the 140 sits a tad lighter in the hand.

What is oddest is that the 140 and the 400, are the exact same size un-posted, one is the 400 is acceptable and the other the 140 is not. The mechanisms are not the same, the newer 400 has a slightly different design. The end cap is the same size, how ever the 140 is more streamlined, there for a smidgen lighter even by design of the end cap.

 

The last scribble test…

Un-posted

Tie for first…Osmia-Farber Castell and the 400. Then the Artus is a nose behind. I would be quite comfortable writing un posted with any of these three pens. The 140 does not feel good to my hand un-posted. I would never write with it un-posted.

 

Posted is a completely different question.

The 140 wins, second and third by a nose, was a tie between the Osmia-Farber-Castell and the 400. The Artus (pre-Lamy) is last by a step.

 

The Artus, the cheaper pen, is a very good pen, but because of the longer cap from copying the New Balance, and it’s piston filler at the end of the pen, makes it just a tad top heavy. If I were to write with it, I would not post it. (I would have, with out a thought, before doing this comparison.)

The 140 also has a long nose cap tip, how ever is 7/16s inch shorter than the Artus (Lamy) New Balance.

Posted the 140 is shorter, and with the mechanism in the rear of the pen; that makes the difference. It is the better pen for me.

The 140 has a gold broad Oblique…and my hand writing with it is readable, and looks like it was done by some one who knew how to write. I’m up to P in a Calligraphy book, two or three letters a day and soon I’ll be able to write…well… print like a champ.

 

This is going to take longer than that. Once one has learned the letter, it only takes me 5 to 10 letters before it looks good, not the 50 to 75 it takes to learn it. This is but the beginning for there are many styles in Calligraphy.

I just skipped to the end of the book, and cursive writing is not included.

 

 

Yep, I had to take it easy on my liver; why I was gulping down a bottle of 16 to 21 year old Single malt in only three years, or so. There comes a time when a man just has to slow down on his drinking.

The only way to get rid of one habit is to replace it with another. Sin with a bible, booze with meetings talking about it, women chasing by getting caught.

The only known cure for fountain pens, is to steal two times in Saudi Arabia.

Edited November 18, 2009 by Bo Bo Olson

[HDoug]

The only known cure for fountain pens, is to steal two times in Saudi Arabia.

 

Funny! Thanks for your comparison review, and the best to you on your new handwriting and new life!

 

Doug

[alvarez57]

What a pity your camera can't take better close ups for I would have loved to see the pens closer!

Thanks for the comparisons.... and I will agree with you this pen thing is an addiction.