Rare Higgins Artist Fountain Pen-Need Information

[InkDog]

I found this on Ebay almost a year ago, pretty exciting find for someone mostly interested in fountain pens manufactured strictly for artists. Its an eye dropper fill, you just twist and push it a little bit to extrude the nib and seal it into the rubber ring, there is no screw mechanism. It comes with a 14KT calligraphy nib, and 3 other feeds designed for dip pen nibs. Something no other company I know of, ever manufactured. It has 3 different Esterbrook nibs mounted on the extra feeds. The cool thing is that the feed collars come off and you just replace whatever nib will fit. Why no one has ever done this since then, I dunno, there are many artists interested in this idea, thats for SURE. Some are selling these cheap Chinese pens with G-pen nibs in them, but they really don't work hardly at all.

 

If anyone knows when this was manufactured, I would love to know ANY information there is. I searched the internet and the only thing that comes up anywhere is a Pinterest photo of this exact set from Ebay. Its in mint condition, and have not yet tried using it because of its rarity.

[Lunoxmos]

I have never seen this before but the idea seems AMAZING like yes I've chucked a dip pen nib in my Noodler's Konrad and while I love it it has its imperfections, and also the fact that this thing was made for artists, and that it can use waterproof drawing inks and you can customise it the giant rabbit hole that dip pens are like it seems like they are not made anymore, which is a shame, as there have been multiple other attempts by other craftspeople to create pens that can use dip pens, or use calligraphy or drawing inks, and though I would like to think that there is a demand for these sorts of things as evidenced by other attempts to create pens for artists, but apparently not as these pens appear to have gone out of production.

 

Wow I wrote all that with only (1) full stop

[SoulSamurai]

Interesting. I didn't quite understand how it works; you say you twist it to extrude the nib, does that mean it's a safety pen? Can we see photos with the cap off etc? Or even better, how about some video?

[InkDog]

I have never seen this before but the idea seems AMAZING like yes I've chucked a dip pen nib in my Noodler's Konrad and while I love it it has its imperfections, and also the fact that this thing was made for artists, and that it can use waterproof drawing inks and you can customise it the giant rabbit hole that dip pens are like it seems like they are not made anymore, which is a shame, as there have been multiple other attempts by other craftspeople to create pens that can use dip pens, or use calligraphy or drawing inks, and though I would like to think that there is a demand for these sorts of things as evidenced by other attempts to create pens for artists, but apparently not as these pens appear to have gone out of production.

 

Wow I wrote all that with only (1) full stop

 

If you look at the interest in truly waterproof fountain pen inks, these are mostly the same people who would snap up a fountain pen actually made for doing artwork. I also have the German Ultraflex fountain pen, made for using India ink for artists, but it has a typical tipped gold nib. As much as I love fountain pens, there isn't a single one of them that can do copperplate lettering. Only a crowquill dip pen can do that. And these are what a zillon comic book inkers use, the Hunt 102, If a fountain pen designed to use crowquill nibs came into being, it would be popular for sure. The inability to get a hairline out of fountain pen nibs, is what keeps them out of the hands of cartoonists who rely on flexible fine pointed nibs to ink comic books and published artwork, without the need for constant dipping etc., plus the flexibility that Noodlers can't equal. You may think there is no demand, but these pens haven't been made since the 60's, and this is actually the only pen I ever saw designed to use dip pen nibs. The recent atempts to turn Jinaho heavy steel fountain pens into using dip pen nibs, is a joke. Yeah it works right up until that huge blob on ink ruins your artwork, or the 2 days later when the pen won't start at all. Not to mention that G pen nibs are really stiff, and don't like watery inks.

 

I have never seen this before but the idea seems AMAZING like yes I've chucked a dip pen nib in my Noodler's Konrad and while I love it it has its imperfections, and also the fact that this thing was made for artists, and that it can use waterproof drawing inks and you can customise it the giant rabbit hole that dip pens are like it seems like they are not made anymore, which is a shame, as there have been multiple other attempts by other craftspeople to create pens that can use dip pens, or use calligraphy or drawing inks, and though I would like to think that there is a demand for these sorts of things as evidenced by other attempts to create pens for artists, but apparently not as these pens appear to have gone out of production.

 

Wow I wrote all that with only (1) full stop

[InkDog]

Interesting. I didn't quite understand how it works; you say you twist it to extrude the nib, does that mean it's a safety pen? Can we see photos with the cap off etc? Or even better, how about some video?

You're basically just pushing the nib and feed up, and twisting it tight into a rubber sleeve. When you're done, you retract it back into the barrel and put the sealing cap back on. Simple.

[Sailor Kenshin]

You're basically just pushing the nib and feed up, and twisting it tight into a rubber sleeve. When you're done, you retract it back into the barrel and put the sealing cap back on. Simple.

 

Noodler's makes a pen with that filling and nib system, I believe? The term is on the tip of my tongue, but...

 

Safety pen?

[sidthecat]

I’ve put old gold dip nibs into fountain pens and achieved flex beyond my wildest dreams.

That said, they’re still fountain pens and I use fountain pen ink to write with them. For a drawing project I’d probably revert to the unimproved dip pen and immemorial India ink.

[inkstainedruth]

Never seen that pen before, but yes, it sound a lot like the Noodler's Boston Safety pen. It is also bringing to mind (although not a safety pen) the Osmiroid India ink Pen I found at an estate sale a while back (the former owner apparently had been an artist, and while the sale listing didn't mention fountain pens specifically, it did list "art supplies" so I checked it out, since it was 3 blocks from my house).

Interesting find. I think of Higgins as only an ink company (India ink for dip pen use only, and what I was required to use in the calligraphy class I took in college, with Speedball pens, and also IIRC, with a ruling pen for the "Graphic Deliniation" class, doing isometric projections).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Bo Bo Olson]

With permission of Penboard.de....they make much better pictures than me. Mine has a slight different gillochiert pastern. A '30's Fendomatic, a German Fend pen, made in Milan.

It is a Safety Pen.

 

Boy was I dumb, when I first opened the pen up at a live auction....I grumbled, not only did they steal the gold nib, they took the feed too...... ..... .....until someone twisted the nib out....duh I knew that...duh. Right.

Is a first stage superflex nib; Easy Full Flex......close to, but not quite a wet noodle.

[SoulSamurai]

 

As much as I love fountain pens, there isn't a single one of them that can do copperplate lettering. Only a crowquill dip pen can do that. And these are what a zillon comic book inkers use, the Hunt 102, If a fountain pen designed to use crowquill nibs came into being, it would be popular for sure.

 

There is one, it's called the Ackerman pen:

 

 

I don't think it's very popular. I'm not sure why.

[Lunoxmos]

There is one, it's called the Ackerman pen:

 

 

I don't think it's very popular. I'm not sure why.

A lot of the reviews complain about the ink feeding system: you have to squeeze-pump the barrel to get ink to flow down to the nib.

[Honeybadgers]

The ackerman pen is garbage. Don't waste your time.

[McBaneG]

 

Interesting find. I think of Higgins as only an ink company (India ink for dip pen use only, and what I was required to use in the calligraphy class I took in college, with Speedball pens, and also IIRC, with a ruling pen for the "Graphic Deliniation" class, doing isometric projections).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

Higgins also makes (made?) an ink called "Fountain Pen India". I bought two bottles of it at Blick several years ago. It's a grayish black - not even as saturated as Waterman black - and has only modest lubricant qualities. I found it to flow decently, and have used it in several not-too-expensive pens (mostly Safaris and a Metro) without problems. It's very cheap. It's certainly not my favorite black, but I have been slowly working my way through my stock of it.

 

-George.

[inkstainedruth]

Interesting. I have a bottle of Pelikan Fount India (but haven't tried it) but wasn't aware that Higgins made something similar.

I'd be curious as to how water and UV resistant the Higgins ink is (if nothing else, I could see how the Osmiroid pen does with it, since that is designed to have the nib (and I guess feed) removed for thorough cleaning (there's this nifty little gadget for just that purpose that came in the case with the pen -- which I think I paid a buck for at that estate sale where I found it). I've had the pen for a while, but just never got around to see about flushing it out. And I guess I might be wandering over to the local Dick Black store in Pittsburgh. Which is conveniently just up the block from a place that carries some Sheaffer inks and now seems to also stock Iroshizuku inks -- and which in turn is around the corner from a place that sometimes carries Kaweco and some (higher end) Pelikan pens and sometimes carries the Kaweco and Edelstein inks, as well as some Herbin inks (mostly the 1670 line).

All of those places were at the other end of the shopping district where the Birmingham Pens location was when they had the B&M store.

You don't have enough posts under your belt yet, but when you cross that threshold and can upload photos I'd be very interesting in seeing what that Fount India is like, and even a side by side with the standard Higgins ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

​ETA: Hmmm. I just looked at the Dick Black website, and the Higgins Fount India is labeled on the bottle as being "not waterproof". OTOH, it's cheap enough that it might be worth picking up a bottle just to play around with it....

Edited September 5, 2019 by inkstainedruth

[InkDog]

Interesting. I didn't quite understand how it works; you say you twist it to extrude the nib, does that mean it's a safety pen? Can we see photos with the cap off etc? Or even better, how about some video?

I might actually do a video of it, maybe someone on youtube might know something about this.

[InkDog]

I’ve put old gold dip nibs into fountain pens and achieved flex beyond my wildest dreams.

That said, they’re still fountain pens and I use fountain pen ink to write with them. For a drawing project I’d probably revert to the unimproved dip pen and immemorial India ink.

Try DeAtramentis Document Black fountain pen ink. COMPLETELY WATERPROOF. Won't clog your pen up to 3 weeks or more, and easy to clean out if it dries in the pens. A couple years ago, I tried to get the old classic FW India ink reproduced from the 60's-90's. It was without a doubt the most fantastic ink ever invented. It never clogged Rapidographs, or fountain pens. I have bottles of it I've collected that are pushing 60 years old, yet still perform like new. Every graphic designer of the past used it and it was sold in every art store. The inventors were the Steig Brothers, William Steig was a famous children's book cartoonist. The thread from that effort is still here on FPN. In the end, Daler Rowney failed for reasons they would not share.

[InkDog]

 

There is one, it's called the Ackerman pen:

 

 

I don't think it's very popular. I'm not sure why.

I know the guy who makes those. I showed him the HIggins pen and he was fascinated by it. He wants to find one himself. I sent him detailed photos of the feeds, hoping it might help him with ideas. I got one of his early pens, I think he has improved them alot since then. They are "pump" pens, meaning you draw and when the ink stops you pump it a little bit to get more ink to the nib. There is another man making similar pens , Very high quality but they only use G pen nibs, which I'm not a fan of.

https://www.desideratapens.com/

[InkDog]

 

Higgins also makes (made?) an ink called "Fountain Pen India". I bought two bottles of it at Blick several years ago. It's a grayish black - not even as saturated as Waterman black - and has only modest lubricant qualities. I found it to flow decently, and have used it in several not-too-expensive pens (mostly Safaris and a Metro) without problems. It's very cheap. It's certainly not my favorite black, but I have been slowly working my way through my stock of it.

 

-George.

Its still made but is a very weak black and I don't think its waterproof.

[InkDog]

Interesting. I have a bottle of Pelikan Fount India (but haven't tried it) but wasn't aware that Higgins made something similar.

I'd be curious as to how water and UV resistant the Higgins ink is (if nothing else, I could see how the Osmiroid pen does with it, since that is designed to have the nib (and I guess feed) removed for thorough cleaning (there's this nifty little gadget for just that purpose that came in the case with the pen -- which I think I paid a buck for at that estate sale where I found it). I've had the pen for a while, but just never got around to see about flushing it out. And I guess I might be wandering over to the local Dick Black store in Pittsburgh. Which is conveniently just up the block from a place that carries some Sheaffer inks and now seems to also stock Iroshizuku inks -- and which in turn is around the corner from a place that sometimes carries Kaweco and some (higher end) Pelikan pens and sometimes carries the Kaweco and Edelstein inks, as well as some Herbin inks (mostly the 1670 line).

All of those places were at the other end of the shopping district where the Birmingham Pens location was when they had the B&M store.

You don't have enough posts under your belt yet, but when you cross that threshold and can upload photos I'd be very interesting in seeing what that Fount India is like, and even a side by side with the standard Higgins ink.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

​ETA: Hmmm. I just looked at the Dick Black website, and the Higgins Fount India is labeled on the bottle as being "not waterproof". OTOH, it's cheap enough that it might be worth picking up a bottle just to play around with it....

Again, DeAtramentis Document Black (NOT their regular black) is a fountain pen ink completely waterproof. You need to flush the pen out after about 3 weeks, but even if it gets clogged, some ammonia and water cleans it out completely. Its the best of the waterproof fountain pen inks and beats the Carbon and Platinum inks hands down. There's another waterproof ink from Australia thats good but is thicker and should be flushed out often.

[inkstainedruth]

Again, DeAtramentis Document Black (NOT their regular black) is a fountain pen ink completely waterproof. You need to flush the pen out after about 3 weeks, but even if it gets clogged, some ammonia and water cleans it out completely. Its the best of the waterproof fountain pen inks and beats the Carbon and Platinum inks hands down. There's another waterproof ink from Australia thats good but is thicker and should be flushed out often.

 

Haven't tried that one, but I tried D'A Archive Black and it was very dry. I've tried some of the other Document colors, and they invariably had spread and bleedthrough issues.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth