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Why All The Love For Celluloid?

jcm499

By jcm499
in Fountain & Dip Pens - First Stop

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Xand3 Near Mint

Xand3

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Personally I would never purchase a celluloid pen... too many flaws with the material for me to feel comfortable using it.

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FriendAmos Extremely Rare

FriendAmos

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Personally I would never purchase a celluloid pen... too many flaws with the material for me to feel comfortable using it.

Just curious: what exactly are those?

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jar Ancient Artifact

jar

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I'm thinking the top and bottom ones are celluloid and the middle one is pearlescent resin...

 

 

Yup. Quite different isn't it?

 

My Website

 

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FriendAmos Extremely Rare

FriendAmos

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An example of beautiful celluloid, the Delta Citta Reale. The photo does not even begin to capture the real beauty of this pen ... That's why all the love.

post-16863-0-45215600-1404145511.jpg

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Xand3 Near Mint

Xand3

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Just curious: what exactly are those?

 

As taken from the OP:

 

It tends to shrink, warp, and discolor with age.

 

He also mentioned that they burst into flames with fairly little provocation, but this would really be a non issue as I don't plan on taking my pens near fire... Mostly, I would feel the need to be extra careful with any celluloid pen, and that's just something I can't have in a daily writer.

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Inkysloth Vintage

Inkysloth

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I have celluloid pens that are 70+ years old, and show no signs of shrinking or warping, and are very serviceable as daily writers.

I have come across plastic pens that are younger, and are seriously warped and discoloured - I'm thinking of Platignum and Osmiroid pens from the 1960s and early 1970s in particular. I'd like to see how my TWSBI Mini has held up in 50 years. Given it's already had a replacement barrel, and feed, and there's a small crack in the cap I'm not expecting to pass it on to any heirs I end up with!

 

In terms of vintage pens, I'll choose cellulose over older plastics any day of the week. For a modern pen I'm perfectly happy with acrylic / ABS / poly-whatnot. However, I'll choose vintage over modern pens 75% of the time for most writing that I do.

Instagram @inkysloth

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kazoolaw Collectors Item

kazoolaw

Posted
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As taken from the OP:

 

It tends to shrink, warp, and discolor with age.[/size]

 

He also mentioned that they burst into flames with fairly little provocation, but this would really be a non issue as I don't plan on taking my pens near fire... Mostly, I would feel the need to be extra careful with any celluloid pen, and that's just something I can't have in a daily writer.

But for flammability you are describing my own aging process!

 

Flammability is a non-issue unless you expose them to open flame. The remaining items are common to most things 60-100 years old.

 

gary

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Blade Runner Donor Pen

Blade Runner

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I have celluloid pens that are 70+ years old, and show no signs of shrinking or warping, and are very serviceable as daily writers.

 

I have come across plastic pens that are younger, and are seriously warped and discoloured - I'm thinking of Platignum and Osmiroid pens from the 1960s and early 1970s in particular. I'd like to see how my TWSBI Mini has held up in 50 years. Given it's already had a replacement barrel, and feed, and there's a small crack in the cap I'm not expecting to pass it on to any heirs I end up with!

 

In terms of vintage pens, I'll choose cellulose over older plastics any day of the week. For a modern pen I'm perfectly happy with acrylic / ABS / poly-whatnot. However, I'll choose vintage over modern pens 75% of the time for most writing that I do.

Sure, and there are many examples of celluloid shrinking and warping. And generally speaking, won't the repair/replacement of vintage celluloid will be more expensive and difficult than replacing a modern plastic part? Also I don't think generalizations of modern plastic based on TWSBI are accurate.

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Inkysloth Vintage

Inkysloth

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Sure, and there are many examples of celluloid shrinking and warping. And generally speaking, won't the repair/replacement of vintage celluloid will be more expensive and difficult than replacing a modern plastic part? Also I don't think generalizations of modern plastic based on TWSBI are accurate.

 

You're right - I suspect my Lamy Safaris will be still functioning happily come the apocolypse!

Instagram @inkysloth

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Pentode Rare

Pentode

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I like the look of celluloid pens and many patterns are not replicable with other plastics.

 

Aside from that, I don't have a very strong preference for or against celluloid. I have Parker 45s from the 70s with sections that shrank and warped and celluloid pens from the 40s that have not. I also have injection-molded pens that are doing just fine and celluloid pens that have shrunk. Seems like a tie game to me.

 

As far as the feel in my hand goes, the shape of the section has a much larger impact than the pen material - for me, at least.

 

I will point out that of my many celluloid pens, not a single one has spontaneously burst into flame - even when I was writing extremely fast! ;)

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Sasha Royale Museum Piece

Sasha Royale

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Posted (edited)

It's like a 1966 Buick Riviera. Not explanation, except the heart wants what the heart wants.

Edited by Sasha Royale

Auf freiem Grund mit freiem Volke stehn.
Zum Augenblicke dürft ich sagen:
Verweile doch, du bist so schön !

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Pentode Rare

Pentode

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Richard Binder has an interesting article about this in his reference pages. I tried to attach a link, but my phone is possessed by gremlins.

Edited by Pentode
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PaulS Collectors Item

PaulS

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when I'm cleaning and polishing celluloid, I just love that smell - in fact I think I'm addicted. Reminds me of table tennis balls when we were young ......... if one received a dent, you popped it into a cup of warm water, and hey presto the dent disappeared. B)

Edited by PaulS
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Pentode Rare

Pentode

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when I'm cleaning and polishing celluloid, I just love that smell - in fact I think I'm addicted.

It all started so innocently; maybe polish a pen or two... next thing you know you're living in an alley and huffing celluloid. So sad....

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inkstainedruth Ancient Artifact

inkstainedruth

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It all started so innocently; maybe polish a pen or two... next thing you know you're living in an alley and huffing celluloid. So sad....

 

:lticaptd:

Seriously, though -- I have a lot of vintage pens, and some of the celluloid designs are just beautiful. People go "ooh, aah" over the Esterbrook icicles, but I prefer the mackerel celluloids -- I just think they're prettier. And I have some Parker Vacumatics that are drop-dead gorgeous -- especially the Shadow Wave Vacs (and I think it's ironic that those were generally the "lower tier" models).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

"It's very nice, but frankly, when I signed that list for a P-51, what I had in mind was a fountain pen."

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