Perry & Co Self filling Fountain Pen

[Armo]

As this site is a resource as much as a forum I thought I'd post this as I could find nothing about this pen on the net. Plenty of nibs but no pens.

 

and a dismantled pic should anyone find one and wish to renovate.

 

It seems quite fragile and I don't think it would survive sitting on otherwise pretty usual of its type. The rubber washers are of course not original.

[mhguda]

Interesting. So, how does the self-filling work? and the self-cleaning? Starting with how you're supposed to do it, but I'd also be interested in knowing the why of it...

Is it nice to write with?

[Armo]

I wouldn't call it self filling, that was their marketing take. You still have to pull or push the plunger. The Parker 61 may be self filling but even that isn't self cleaning. The nib is a little scratchy and needs tuning. It's quite broad as seems to have been the fashion at the time. It certainly isn't going to be my go to pen! Picked it up for £16 which I thought was a steal.

[mhguda]

Oh, I see. Thanks for showing the instructions, that makes it clear...

While not actually self-filling, it does seem one of the simpler piston fillers, with the possibility to leave the rod extended when the barrel is full... and protected against accidentally pushing it down by putting that "shield" over it. Nicer than the lever fillers that also are called self-filling!

[PAKMAN]

Very cool! Don't see very many Perry pens. 

[Z man]

9 minutes ago, mhguda said:

Oh, I see. Thanks for showing the instructions, that makes it clear...

While not actually self-filling, it does seem one of the simpler piston fillers, with the possibility to leave the rod extended when the barrel is full... and protected against accidentally pushing it down by putting that "shield" over it. Nicer than the lever fillers that also are called self-filling!

If I'm not mistaken, these early FPs were considered self-filling because they could be filled directly from the bottle without an eye dropper.

[mhguda]

I guess that makes sense. Thanks for clearing that last mystery up.

[Paul-in-SF]

I'm still hoping for a real modern automated self-filling pen, that will notify me when it's empty and will fill itself once the nib is inserted into the bottle (well, if it were fully automated it would stick itself in the ink bottle; I've heard some guy in England named Wallace is working on that part). 

 

Should we add this to the "design your fantasy pen" thread?

 

(note: only intended as feeble humor, which is the only kind I know)

[andyr7]

Syringe filler, made for Perry's by George Shand in London, c1912. Nice to have a boxed example with papers!

[northlodge]

Late to the party... I would support Andy's comment as to the maker. 

 

You will see these pens appear on ebay periodically eg "WH Smith pen made by Conway Stewart" etc. It is accepted that George Shand supplied CS, and probably a number of others, in the pre-WW1 period. 

 

There are other Perry pens worth seeking out, the Vidura 555 comes to mind - a monster of a pen probably dating to the mid 1920's