Mystery solved. Dip pen steel.

[AAAndrew]

Over the years I've seen various folks talking about why we don't make pens as flexible as they used to, or the quality isn't the same. I've gotten into a few discussions with folks insisting that the old steel dip pen nibs used some kind of special alloy we just can't make anymore. 

 

Well, I've been doing a lot of research over the last year on how dip pens were made, and it's now coming out in my next article or two in the Pennant. (Pen Collectors of America's magazine. Join and you can get a copy)  In that research I have identified the material that pretty much all pre-WWII dip pens were made of, and, for the most part, all pens in the US, UK and France all used the same material. (don't know about Germany, but assume they used their own form of the same kind of steel)

 

The pens were made from what was known as cast steel or crucible steel from Sheffield, made from Swedish iron. This was the highest grade of steel and also prized by tool makers. This was a very labor-intensive form of steel whose process was first invented in 1740. Despite being more costly than steel made by the Bessemer process (widely introduced in the 1860s) the quality was so good, it continued to be preferred by anyone who made edged tools (think knives, axes, plane blades, chisels) and steel pen makers until the 1950s when the last crucible steel foundry closed. 

 

So, it wasn't some mysterious alloy, but an exact match is also not easily reproduced today. I'm sure metallurgists could find an equivalent in today's array of exotic metals, but what we can't reproduce is the extreme amount of handwork to make the pens. That level of care and quality is just not reproducible by machines. 

[mizgeorge]

That explains a lot, and makes perfect sense. 

 

Thank you for the research - I look forward to seeing the article.

[A Smug Dill]

First of all, thank you for your research and for sharing it.

 

8 hours ago, AAAndrew said:

but what we can't reproduce is the extreme amount of handwork to make the pens. That level of care and quality is just not reproducible by machines. 

 

Surely we can still do it uneconomically, thus leaving perhaps only true die-hard fans prepared to pay the exorbitant asking prices of a few master smiths with long work queues and waiting lists, to pursue what hasn't been completely snuffed out? Or is the skill and capability required completely lost to us, and no amount of love or money can bring it back just to forge the one nib to rule them all?

[txomsy]

Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet ?

 

Anyway, getting the steel is only a first step, you would need them to design a production process to get the nibs.

[Bo Bo Olson]

There was a great article on the com, of how much machinery and hand work was used....not at all stamp, bend and go.

I was impressed how much industry and large workforce was needed to make steel nibs for the masses.

Then in the late 19th century they were sold for 16-19 cents dempending on the company for a 1/4 of a gross.

 

Even factoring in inflation of not having gold money, beat the cost of cartridges of today and yesteryear.

[Daosus]

There are a lot of things that are economical to make if you make 100,000 of them.  The problem is that tooling and R&D cost is actually a substantial portion of the cost of the final product.  If you make lots of them, you can spread the cost out.  I think the lack of super high quality dip pens comes from the same factors for the lack of flexible FP nibs: lack of demand.  The stuff we have is "good enough."  How many people do you know that would pay $10 for a slightly better dip pen?  There are alternatives now, and there weren't then.

[CS388]

Thanks, AAAndrew. Mystery solved, indeed.

 

Very interesting.

[AAAndrew]

16 hours ago, Daosus said:

There are a lot of things that are economical to make if you make 100,000 of them.  The problem is that tooling and R&D cost is actually a substantial portion of the cost of the final product.  If you make lots of them, you can spread the cost out.  I think the lack of super high quality dip pens comes from the same factors for the lack of flexible FP nibs: lack of demand.  The stuff we have is "good enough."  How many people do you know that would pay $10 for a slightly better dip pen?  There are alternatives now, and there weren't then.

 

They made 100,000+ every week in every one of the larger factories.

 

The cost will not be high enough to justify the amount of quality really needed while there are still so many vintage pens still around. The ones with the greatest demand, though, also happen to have the smallest supply (especially as they've been the best for calligraphy from the beginning, so they've been hoarded from the beginning).  There has been some effort in recent years to increase the amount of quality control around a few of these models that are still being made, with mixed results. Eventually, as all of the vintage ones get used up, they will have to improve, or they will just have to do.  Right now the vintage steel pens desired by calligraphers demand high prices. Eventually, as supply decreases even more, it may be high enough to convince one of the current makers to invest more in quality control because they can charge premium prices for a premium product. We'll see.