Fp Technologies That You Want To Return

[wastelanded]

I find it interesting that people buy the modern Duofolds with, to my mind, inferior nibs and their itty bitty, teeny tiny little converters when, for the same amount of money, they could buy three vintage Senior Duofolds in very good condition.

Amen to that: the logic escapes me. Same with Pelikans, and even most vintage Montblancs are a fraction of the price of a new one. Also, the nibs on these old Parkers, Pelikans and MBs are infinitely more interesting.

 

My favourite old-timey filling system is the button filler. Easy to service, and no pesky lever to catch on a shirt pocket.

[ISW_Kaputnik]

Filling systems make up a sub-category in my collection, and I find different types interesting, as a feature of vintage pens. But for modern pens, I really don't want anything better than a good built in piston filling system.

 

A number of people have mentioned older nibs. That's what I'd most like to see available. A new nib in something like a Pilot Custom series, with the flex of my Waterman's 12-PSF, but built for the Pilot. And sure, make it with an ebonite feed.

 

And although flammability might be a problem, it would be nice to see some of the beautiful old celluloids available again.

[ParkerDuofold]

...A number of people have mentioned older nibs. That's what I'd most like to see available. A new nib in something like a Pilot Custom series, with the flex of my Waterman's 12-PSF, but built for the Pilot. And sure, make it with an ebonite feed...

Yes!

 

 

Hi all,

 

I have to say this thread has been a bit of a shock to me... this obsession with mundane filling systems... when to me, the biggest lost art... or "technology" of the old fountain pens is... the nib.

 

Not only the prolific use of solid gold in the old pens, (and I realize gold wasn't selling for $1,200 an oz. back then),... but also the nibsmithing skills that used to exist that gave us such a wide range of nib tip options... check out Esterbrook's huge catalog of nib options... check out the old Mont Blanc and Pelikan catalogs and count the wide array of nib options... all long gone. Today, we're lucky to get EF, F, M & B... and that's considered "full-range" in most cases; often times, we only have M or F to pick from.

 

I think the ability to make and offer such a prolific and personalized range of nib options is the greatest loss of "technology" we've suffered... not button or lever fillers...

 

 

Just my two cents. Be well.

 

 

- Anthony

 

 

EDITED to add quote & clarify text.

Edited January 21, 2018 by ParkerDuofold

[Water Ouzel]

 

Restoring a snorkel with a reference to Rube Goldberg:

https://munsonpens.wordpress.com/2007/12/21/rube-goldberg-ink-delivery-machine/

 

I assume most readers of this blog have no knowledge of Rube Goldberg:

http://www.spotonline.co.za/rubesguidetoprocessing

 

NB: a fountain pen may be substituted for the cigar and the customer signs the order.

 

I'd like to see a Heath Robinson take on the same process.

[Baalberithim]

I think those nib options, moreso than filling systems, suffers from the vintage market. If I want some springy OBBB Pelikan gold nib from the days of yore, I can, with sufficient patience, get one on a 140 or old 400 for hundreds of dollars less than a comparable nib on their modern offerings. There are just a huge variety of nibs of excellent quality available on the vintage market for a fraction of what they would go for in a modern production pen, and there seems to be more than enough to go around for people into those nib options, at the moment.

[ParkerDuofold]

I think those nib options, moreso than filling systems, suffers from the vintage market. If I want some springy OBBB Pelikan gold nib from the days of yore, I can, with sufficient patience, get one on a 140 or old 400 for hundreds of dollars less than a comparable nib on their modern offerings. There are just a huge variety of nibs of excellent quality available on the vintage market for a fraction of what they would go for in a modern production pen, and there seems to be more than enough to go around for people into those nib options, at the moment.

Hi Baalberithim, et al,

 

The same argument can be made for vintage filling systems... if one pines away for a lever filler... there is an abundance of old Esties and Sheaffers available on the secondary market... as there are also plenty of old Parkers around if one wants a button filler or an aerometric... and an almost equal abundance of aftermarket spare parts to restore/maintain them... which would basically render this entire thread moot.

 

But, no. It doesn't, because the question was, "what technologies would you like to see return?"

 

Well, for me; that would be nibsmithing... I pine for the nib options my grandfather had when he bought a new pen.

 

Be well.

 

 

- Anthony

[aeba]

Amen to that: the logic escapes me. Same with Pelikans, and even most vintage Montblancs are a fraction of the price of a new one. Also, the nibs on these old Parkers, Pelikans and MBs are infinitely more interesting.

 

My favourite old-timey filling system is the button filler. Easy to service, and no pesky lever to catch on a shirt pocket.

Maybe those people are actually not interested in flex, aesthetics of vintage pens, or what ever other people are defining as "interesting"?

 

Example: I have a '46 Parker Vacumatic. The nib is less interesting to me than '90s Parker Sonnet or 2000's Parker Frontier, both nibs being springy. I also have mostly busted Waterman Patrician, nothing too exiting in that nib either. Yes, the Waterman is more flexy than Bock Titanium, but so what? I don't care for flex for various reasons.

 

And yes, I do have a 2015 Pelikan M600.

 

--

I would like to see Parker Vacumatic style celluloid re-introduced to under $200 pens.

[ParkerDuofold]

Hi all,

 

Just to follow-up... here is a small sampling of what I mean when I discuss nib options:

 

http://www.snyderfamily.com/current/estienibs.htm

 

To his credit, Mr. Pen/Italix Pens probably comes the closest to offering a full range of nibs in the current market.

 

 

- Anthony

[Runnin_Ute]

Nib variety is a big one for me. Sure there were some more interesting filling systems too, but there are reasons most of them, if not all are not being used anymore. Although a aerometric was a terrific system.

[JakobS]

Hi all,

 

Just to follow-up... here is a small sampling of what I mean when I discuss nib options:

 

http://www.snyderfamily.com/current/estienibs.htm

 

To his credit, Mr. Pen/Italix Pens probably comes the closest to offering a full range of nibs in the current market.

 

 

- Anthony

 

To be fair, Esterbrook was in a league of its own even back in the 30's-60's when it came to providing such nib variety. They provided around sixty nine different types of nibs while renew points were manufactured, no other fountain pen company back then provided more than ~14% (10 different types of nibs) of that comparable variety.

Edited January 23, 2018 by JakobS

[wastelanded]

Maybe those people are actually not interested in flex, aesthetics of vintage pens, or what ever other people are defining as "interesting"?

 

Example: I have a '46 Parker Vacumatic. The nib is less interesting to me than '90s Parker Sonnet or 2000's Parker Frontier, both nibs being springy. I also have mostly busted Waterman Patrician, nothing too exiting in that nib either. Yes, the Waterman is more flexy than Bock Titanium, but so what? I don't care for flex for various reasons.

 

And yes, I do have a 2015 Pelikan M600.

 

--

I would like to see Parker Vacumatic style celluloid re-introduced to under $200 pens.

I also have no need for flex. My point is simply economics.

 

There's no reason that Parker couldn't do that: if Wing Sung can bring out a Vac (*with* an ink window!) for less than $20, there's no reason except the tooling wouldn't pay for itself.

[ParkerDuofold]

To be fair, Esterbrook was in a league of its own even back in the 30's-60's when it came to providing such nib variety. They provided around sixty nine different types of nibs while renew points were manufactured, no other fountain pen company back than provided more than ~14% (10 different types of nibs) of that comparable variety.

 

Hi Jakob,

 

I'll grant you that. Esterbrook's catalog is probably a little too much to expect from anybody.

 

However, I'd like to be able to expect more than F, M, B & perhaps S. I think Peter Ford does a great job for nib options at Italix... and that's what I'd like to see more of from other manufacturers.

 

That said, I suppose the comptrollers and bean counters at the larger operations would only approve such offerings if they could justify it on their ledgers... which is the same reason all the old filling systems went by the wayside... too expensive to produce/offer in relation to demand.

 

Alas, the question was, "what would you like to see come back?"; not "what would you like to see come back that would be economically viable?"

 

 

- Anthony

[Dickkooty2]

Just a thought ...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IidLprsak1o

 

 

... but very little flex.

[ParkerDuofold]

 

- A.C.

[pjford]

 

Hi Jakob,

 

I'll grant you that. Esterbrook's catalog is probably a little too much to expect from anybody.

 

However, I'd like to be able to expect more than F, M, B & perhaps S. I think Peter Ford does a great job for nib options at Italix... and that's what I'd like to see more of from other manufacturers.

 

That said, I suppose the comptrollers and bean counters at the larger operations would only approve such offerings if they could justify it on their ledgers... which is the same reason all the old filling systems went by the wayside... too expensive to produce/offer in relation to demand.

 

Alas, the question was, "what would you like to see come back?"; not "what would you like to see come back that would be economically viable?"

 

 

- Anthony

The key is in the realisation that retail shops present an obstacle, they require huge margins and to stock a whole range of nib options would be impossible. We sell direct.

[ParkerDuofold]

The key is in the realisation that retail shops present an obstacle, they require huge margins and to stock a whole range of nib options would be impossible. We sell direct.

Hello Mr. Ford,

 

My thanks to you for offering the range of nibs that you do.

 

I understand the significant profit incentives for the "direct to public" sales model you use and have no problem with it.

 

However, for other pen manufacturers that prefer to work through the traditional wholesale/retail channels; more nib options could still be offered.

 

Larger pen retail outlets with sufficient sales space and capital could carry their respective full ranges, (i.e., "if Macy's does not have it; it's not in existence" ); while the smaller pen outlets could "special order" the lesser in demand nib options... much like it has always been done in the past.

 

At least the consumer would have more options and the pen manufacturers would have more sales... at least theoretically.

 

Be well.

 

 

- Anthony