The Fpn 2015 Le Blue Pearl Celebration - Last Chance For Pre-Christmas Delivery

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Looks like your bed will have withdrawal symptoms this week.....

 

Even more than usual...

 

 

D.ick

 

<ROFL>

 

I actually did a lot of work today, at CONID .

 

Werner gave me a place to sit at a table, with my tools, and basically I worked some magic on a nib, it got mounted, and on to the next nib, so far for 9 nibs anyway .

 

Warm regards, Wim

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I'm looking forward to getting mine!!

 

 

I held yours in my (rubber gloved) hands today .

 

Warm regards, Wim

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Well, the Finnish postal workers are striking and things are not getting any better at the moment... Other transport unions will start supporting strikes on Monday 30 November unless the Finnish Post thing gets settled by then.

 

So it seems that some politicians, the Finnish Post leaders and some union leaders will be determining when I finally get my pen...

 

I'll check what the possibilities are. I'll contact you b/c tomorrow. Just way too tired right now, it has been a loooooooooooong day .

 

Warm regards, Wim

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Will work for bulkfiller. We need that as an emoji.

 

<ROFL>

 

Which do we need? A "bulkfiller" emoji, or a "will work for a bulk filler" emoji .

 

Warm regards, Wim

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Well, as may be clear by now, I am back from my visit to CONID, and we finished a total of 15 FPN LE Pens, including smoothing, tuning and/or nib remodelling.

Two of these were delivered already now, as these were delivered (fairly) locally, returning home from CONID.

 

The remainder will be finished and sent out hopefully before the end of this week, and the plan is to visit CONID next week again, for the second part of the current batch. We're still waiting for the nibs to arrive, which have been ordered well over 3 weeks ago - it takes 2 to 3 weeks normally for these to arrive, but it looks like delivery is delayed by a week, likely due to year end production fluctuations (i.e., everybody orders quickly before year end to try and get something before the year runs out ).

 

Anyway, the photographs I posted above are really a good representation of the colours, and the pens look even better in real life. Absolutely stunning.

I'll see if I can post a few more pictures over the next few days.

 

The feeds are made from real ebonite, so it just doesn't get any better than that.

All in all, these pens are made to last, with a passion and perfection one rarely sees these days.

 

It is really great to watch everybody involved doing their thing, and truly an honour to be part of the production chain, and of the team creating these pens.

 

Warm regards, Wim

[da vinci]

Thank you both.

 

I was just having a discussion with someone on nibs, and quickly created the following picture, a close-up of the nib I mounted to the pen before taking its picture above:

 

 

Essentially, if you look carefully, you'll notice that the tipping of this nib has two slightly flattened surfaces, at the bottom, but also at the top, at an angle to the nib surfaces, in the shiny part of the tipping. The bottom part has rather sharp edges, and is close to a crisp italic, the top is a little more rounded, and is between a round italic (stub if you like) and a "normal" italic.

 

The way this is done is typical for the school of thought followed by nib enhancers like Nathan Tardiff, John Sorowka, and myself, where we prefer to remove as little tipping as possible to create italics and other nib enhancement or nib grinds. This makes the tipping last much longer than with grinds where most of the tipping is removed.

 

Anyway, this is a duo-point nib, made to write the normal way, as a fairly sharp 0.9 italic, and as a 0.6 rounded to medium italic in reverse .

The ink flow has been adjusted on both sides to make this possible, too.

 

Warm regards, Wim

That is a very interesting nib modification, I didn't realise something like this was possible.

 

Is it only possible with a particular nib - this one looks like the gold nib?

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Hi da vinci,

 

That is a very interesting nib modification, I didn't realise something like this was possible.

Is it only possible with a particular nib - this one looks like the gold nib?

 

It may look like this is only possible with a gold nib, because for aesthetic reasons, these nibs often come with wholly or partly gold-coated tipping.

 

However, this is actually possible with any nib which has enough tipping left to play with, so generally speaking, a non-modified nib with a generous amount of tipping for its designated size, or if the nib has been modified already, it must be a nib that has been modified in a similar way, i.e., as non-destructive as possible.

 

Personally, I always make nib modifications only this way, with as little loss of nib tipping as possible. In fact, I created another 9 like this today .

 

You still get calligraphic sharp nib possibilities like nibs from the school of nibmeisters/nib modifiers/nib enhancers, who completely or almost completely remove the tipping to achieve crisp or sharp calligraphy nibs. A "normal" (sharp) calligraphy nib should have a width/height ratio of 5:1, and that is easy to achieve without removing almost all tipping, while lasting just as long, and obviously more options to "resharpen".

As a matter of fact, I currently have a 1.3 mm 7 : 1 crisp italic right here on my desk, with a 0.6 cursive italic in reverse, and another mounted on one of the finished FPN LE pens . This duo-point option is only possible with a nib that has been treated in this way .

 

As mentioned, this type of treatment is possible with any nib with enough tipping. It takes a bit longer to do than a "standard" calligraphic treatment, but is worth it IMO .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[da vinci]

Hi da vinci,

 

 

 

It may look like this is only possible with a gold nib, because for aesthetic reasons, these nibs often come with wholly or partly gold-coated tipping.

 

However, this is actually possible with any nib which has enough tipping left to play with, so generally speaking, a non-modified nib with a generous amount of tipping for its designated size, or if the nib has been modified already, it must be a nib that has been modified in a similar way, i.e., as non-destructive as possible.

 

Personally, I always make nib modifications only this way, with as little loss of nib tipping as possible. In fact, I created another 9 like this today .

 

You still get calligraphic sharp nib possibilities like nibs from the school of nibmeisters/nib modifiers/nib enhancers, who completely or almost completely remove the tipping to achieve crisp or sharp calligraphy nibs. A "normal" (sharp) calligraphy nib should have a width/height ratio of 5:1, and that is easy to achieve without removing almost all tipping, while lasting just as long, and obviously more options to "resharpen".

As a matter of fact, I currently have a 1.3 mm 7 : 1 crisp italic right here on my desk, with a 0.6 cursive italic in reverse, and another mounted on one of the finished FPN LE pens . This duo-point option is only possible with a nib that has been treated in this way .

 

As mentioned, this type of treatment is possible with any nib with enough tipping. It takes a bit longer to do than a "standard" calligraphic treatment, but is worth it IMO .

 

Warm regards, Wim

Thank you for the explanation Wim, most helpful Edited November 25, 2015 by da vinci

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it is ony a pleasure, da vinci.

 

Warm regards, Wim

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FYI, we have been working all day on a last quality inspection of the 13 pens remaining from yesterday's first final assembly run and, and QC, tuning and modification of the remaining nibs.

I say 13 pens, because one pen was hand delivered yesterday already, and one was picked up today.

 

10 more will hopefully be sent out before the weekend or on Saturday, after wrapping and packaging, 2 are waiting for a nib, and 1 will actually stay right where it is .

 

We also sold another pen, bringing the total to 27 now!

 

The next assembly run is taking place as we speak, but we are waiting for additional nibs to arrive from Bock. Although the nibs have been ordered 4 weeks ago, and should have arrived two weeks ago, it looks like the busy season is causing a delay here. Expected arrival is late this week or early next week however, so let's keep our fingers crossed.

 

Seeing these pens being assembled and polished to perfection is quite the sight to behold, BTW, so I do hope I will be able to see at least one more to be assembled while visiting to collect the set from the assembly run upcoming week, or maybe this week still .

 

CONID has mentioned they will create a few extra beyond the ordered pens this time around, so if you would still like to receive one of these beauties before Christmas, you better get ordering .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[Adamseto]

Dear Wim

 

thanks for advise, i need see some picture pen have ink window "Shiny yellow" . Pls kindly help me.

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Hi Adamseto,

 

The ink window now actually is transparent, see the picture in post 17 here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/298710-the-fpn-2015-le-blue-pearl-celebration-last-chance-for-pre-christmas-delivery/?p=3497097

 

When I get a chance I will post some more pictures, just running wildly behind with some other FPN stuff which needs some attention as well.

 

I did hand deliver one of the pens today, BTW . But then, I didn't have to drive far .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[vkevt]

Being a newbie I have a naive question about the pens: Will the recommended initial flush to remove oils/debris from the manufacturing process have to be performed or has this been done and we can just do a fill without worry? (I said it was naive)

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Hi vkevt,

 

There is no need to do that with this pen, as it has been taken care of already .

 

CONID clean all the parts very carefully to start with, the feed is an ebonite one which has less problems for starters, and as part of the QC carried out by undersigned, the pens workings are checked and tested, including the bulkfiller mechanism, and that essentially means that as part of this process, the pen is flushed a few times, and ready to be used when it arrives at your doorstep .

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[RMN]

Even so, the filling mechanism is unique, and I would advise to try it a few times with water before trying with ink.

 

D.ick

[alc3261]

Even so, the filling mechanism is unique, and I would advise to try it a few times with water before trying with ink.

 

D.ick

If you don't already have a Conid that is highly recommended - I got a Diamine Marine face on the first fill!!

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Yes well, this is absolutely a replacement for an old fashioned Snorkel for ink fights in a classroom, with an even more powerful squirting mechanism . <ROFL>

 

Warm regards, Wim

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Another picture, of a gaggle of FPN Blue Pearl LEs .

 

 

And now better on to packaging almost all of them .

 

It looks like the nibs order will arrive on Tuesday, and for now we have agreed to have another session like past this past Tuesday on next Friday, December 4, to finalize the current production run . Another day in Antwerp IOW .

 

Warm regards, Wim

[mr2txaggie]

Wim,

 

Thanks again for more photos. I like it that this is a really different view. I know that I was one of the folks begging for more pictures, but I am truly getting weak to purchasing one.

 

BTW, did I read in a post that Conid produced a few extra in this run?

 

aggie

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Hi Aggie,

 

Yes, correct, they did promise they would produce a few extra. I don't know how many exactly yet; I'll hear next week, probably on Friday, when I am at the factory to check and inspect the remainder of our orders, and do some more nib magic.

 

They still had to assemble and polish the parts of the rest of the ordered pens .

I reckon they'll finish 35 or 40 or thereabouts.

 

I just finished packaging all the pens in the picture, bar 3, 2 of which I am waiting for a nib collar and feed, and regarding the other one I still had a question on the nib modification, even though I already did finish the nib. All ready for packaging, however, even the boxes are ready .

So, tomorrow, or rather, later today, it is off to the post office, to deliver the finished packages.

 

Warm regards, Wim