Materials Used to Make Fountain Pens

November 13, 2024

What are the differences among the materials used for fountain pens? I’ll add my views on the most commonly used materials, but first I’ll list the materials for an overview

Acrylic
ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene)
Celluloid
Polycarbonate
Resin blends
PETG (Polyethylene Teraphtalate Glycol)
Ebonite
Metals

What distinguishes the quality of materials used for making a fountain pen? Well, durability, aesthetic, chemical resistance to inks, detergents and other liquids, weight, and feeling to hold the fountain pen are also important factors which contribute to the overall quality. This is probably well known to most FPN-members but I thought that it could be useful for newcomers.

Materials are listed under each heading in an descending order from the highest quality to the lowest. I had thoughts about making several headings but it's clear that the overview would be affected.

Durability

Durability concerns impact and scratch resistance, but also exposure to heat (from the sun) and chemicals in inks.

Two of the most durable fountain pens made of plastic materials are the Lamy 2000 Makrolon and Visconti Homo Sapiens Carbon Moiré. Makrolon is a polycarbonate composite that typical offers the best durability, as polycarbonate is superior in this aspect among other plastic materials. It is worth noting that adding carbon fibres into the resin that makes up the plastic body of the other model makes it extremely durable, as it adds to the structural integrity of it.

Pelikan, Sailor and Mountblanc fountain pens are often regarded as some of the most durable fountain pens. Sailor and Pelikan are made of poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA) an acrylic resin, but Pelikan Souverän also contains a proprietary resin blend. Sailor uses an ebonite to create a warmth feeling and lightness when holding the pen. From the perspective of durability alone is the proprietary blends found in Souverän series, Mountblanc and Visconti pens superior. They are customised to withstand impact, scratches and discolouration in order to maintain an aesthetically pleasing look that is not compromised by daily wear and tear.

Proprietary resin blends of Mountblanc and Pelikan are strongly guarded secrets, whereas Visconti have been said to use an Polycarbonate-acrylic (acryliod) blend. Aurora among others could be added to this for making use of a proprietary resin blend, but the benchmark quality of Mountblanc and Pelikan that is uncontested as well as the chemical properties of acryloid are not questionable facts. Custom made resins use of metal powders, fibres etc to achieve the desired results.

Polycarbonate is very impact resistance and less prone to crack. It’s closely similar to PMMA and proprietary blends in this regard, yet a lot less scratch resistant. This material is found in Lamy Safari, TWSBI eco, Pilot Kakuno and Platinum preppy. Indeed coating may increase resistance to scratching.

Acrylic and Celluloid are more scratch resistant than polycarbonate but less impact resistant. Acrylic has an advantage to Celluloid in terms of durability overall, but especially with respect to exposure to sun. TWSBI 580 diamond uses a high quality acrylic that can withstand almost as much as proprietary blends and PMMA with exception to impacts, but similar to a makrolon polycarbonate, as it incorporates that material on the demonstrator and other parts; however the structural integrity is weaker as it’s not entirely made of polycarbonate. Pilot 92 custom heritage makes use of this material, and in addition uses a resin blend and coating that makes it more durable than polycarbonate standard materials mentioned above.

Ebonite is difficult to place as it is impact resistant, less so than polycarbonate, but prone to scratching, more so than ABS resin. It’s worth nothing that it’s chemical resistance is on par with PMMA and proprietary blends. Coatings such as urushi, maki-e and other lacquers adds to its structural integrity and scratch resistance. Exposure to sun can affect the material to dry up, but it’s a weak material with respect to exposure to sunlight but stronger than celluloid. ABS resin is more resistant to such exposure.

ABS resin is typically an entry level material. The properties of ABS are such that it is more prone to cracking and scratching in comparison to above. Interestingly it’s lighter than proprietary blends found in premium European pens, but not that different from Sailor and couple of Japanese brands. The fact that Sailor is a relatively light weight, insofar it could be mistaken for ABS, can add another point of view on weight as desired or not.

Aesthetics

That celluloid stand out in stark contrast to other materials should not surprise too many readers. There are good reasons for the depth and complexity of patterns that can be made with celluloid, as it dries for several months and can be manipulated. Health and environmental issues have restricted the aesthetic versatility of the material, thus making vintage fountain pens such as Tibaldi Imperio exceptionally beautiful with rich depth. Most noteworthy are Italian brands with unrivalled experience and craftsmanship. Montegrappa 1930 extra comes to mind.

Acrylic is often seen as a substitute to celluloid, even blends of acrylic and celluloid to match the aesthetic versatility of the material. Other mixtures such as carbonite or resin blends adds to the durability. Nylon and polyester blends increases resistance to impact and scratches respectively. Yet from an aesthetic point of view, is it only resin and acryl with the latter being superior, that maintains the aesthetic versatility and depth of celluloid.

Aesthetically each material has its own properties and versatilities, so there’s no need to elaborate on other materials. Whether glossy or matte finishes are preferred is a matter of taste. Colorisation and intensity equally so. But here does celluloid provide the potential for most vivid colours and depth.

Chemical resistance

If using home made inks or any other ink which is corrosive it’s worth to take several facts into consideration. I’ll simplify this for the sake of clarity.

Ebonite, PMMA and proprietary resins, as well as Makrolon (polycarbonate) have excellent resistance to all inks that are sold. Resins have the best general resistance to all chemicals, cleaning agents and harsh chemicals included. Polycarbonates in general are extremely resistant to staining and therefore often used in demonstrators.

PETG is more resistant to most inks than acrylic but less durable in aspects mentioned above. E.g. it’s more scratch prone than polycarbonate but less than ABS.

Acryllic is resistant to most water-based inks, not as good as the above. Coatings may be used. Certain bought inks should be handled carefully, especially cleaning agents. That said it’s similar to PETG in this aspect.

Celluloid is sensitive and may be subject to discolouration. Coatings may be used. The same can be said of celluloid as acrylic materials, but it’s even more sensitive, not the integrity in particular but discolouration.

ABS is resistant to most water-based inks, but not all speciality inks, such as iron gall inks with pigments. It may get Discolouration from such inks. Yet cleaning agents it handles better than celluloid.

Feel

Warmth of the material and weight may be considered briefly. From my experience is ebonite warm and nice to hold, celluloid is not far away off. Brass and wood can be mentioned.

Acrylic can be neutral. Whereas other materials except metals are considerably cooler save special blends. None of the plastic materials comes close to ebonite or celluloid; metals are the coolest (except brass) materials. They are also weightier and may add a sense of quality to that end, especially in view of European and American appreciations of quality.

There’s not much to say with respect to weight as the weight of the pens is often described and can easily be found in description. Not everyone has a problem with the weight of Lamy 2000 Steel which is weighty.

What are your views on different materials used by manufacturers in fountain pens?

What do you think of the functionality with respect to beauty, in consideration of the various models that incorporates any of the materials’ properties?

Bauhaus design of Lamy finds a delicate balance between functionality and aesthetics, notably in Lamy 2000, where functionality and material properties are met in aesthetic standards. Other approaches and design choices that makes use of the creative versatility of material properties available for fountain pens are found in Italian brands that push the limits of celluloid. Much can be said of design and aesthetics, so I'll leave that to you.

Durability and any other quality of the materials used by manufacturers may be short of expectations or potential. What's your experience of various models with respect to materials?

November 15, 2024

I'm not sure where you sourced the information above, but there are some problems with it. I hope AI did not play a part in its generation. I think some more research is needed.

It's tedious to try to address some of the problems because this is a very long post, but I can already say that the Lamy Safari is NOT made from polycarbonate. It is made from ABS. ABS is generally quite impact resistant and very tough, but a lot of times it does not have great UV resistance. The TWSBI Diamond 580 is NOT made of acrylic at all. It's polycarbonate.

The other issue is that many materials have chemical additives in them that can change the properties very significantly to make them more moldable or more durable. This changes the feel significantly. There is significant variance in all sorts of things said to be made of acrylic as well.

Ultimate strength and durability is not completely dictated by the material and also depends on the actual design and construction of the pen. Poor designs can have stress risers and other spots that are very vulnerable to stress. I've seen a lot of pens split at seams where metal barrel stops and transitions to the plastic material.

That's all I will say in this post for now (no more replies on this particular post from me). I have spoken on material properties and problems in many other replies on FPN, and those can be searched up. In my view there are some significant factual problems here, but it's too hard to address them all.

November 15, 2024

Material properties are correct and the most relevant in this topic concerning materials used by manufacturers. Often is it possible to find what materials have used in a fountain pen by searching the net.

I made some mistakes as you mention. This happens when you draw from memory and not double check after extensive research about which materials that are available for making fountain pens.

The pens that were used to exemplify the usage of materials were faulty. But other things concerning materials properties stand true until corrected.

Updated list of fountain pens to correct my mistakes:

Polycarbonate based fountain pens

TWSBI diamond 580 with acrylic coating to improve scratch resistance (source: most major vendors).

TWSBI Eco.

Platinum preppy (source: cult pens and other vendors).

Acrylic

Pilot custom 92 (source: gentlemen stationary, Jet Pens, gourmetpens) with additives (i.e blend) as it’s noted as high-quality acrylic. E.g penchalet states it as resin and in a thread on FPN is the exact composition undetermined (Pilot Custom Series Acrylic / Resin ? By Stephen Lee Ogden, January 15, 2017 in Japan - Asia).

ABS

Lamy Safari (logically as it’s an entry pen, given ABS is a material suited for entry pens).

Pilot Kakuno.

3 hours ago, Dillo said:

The other issue is that many materials have chemical additives in them that can change the properties very significantly to make them more moldable or more durable. This changes the feel significantly. There is significant variance in all sorts of things said to be made of acrylic as well.

Ultimate strength and durability is not completely dictated by the material and also depends on the actual design and construction of the pen. Poor designs can have stress risers and other spots that are very vulnerable to stress. I've seen a lot of pens split at seams where metal barrel stops and transitions to the plastic material.

Indeed most fountain pens use a blend. What material is used as basis and its thickness will matter. Don’t tell me that the chemical additives will make ABS stronger than polycarbonate to withstand impacts. There’s inherent limits to the plastic materials, properties which can only be modified so much.

Indeed the construction and interaction of materials within the pen will matter. You learn that in elements school. Needless to say thickness of the material and its solidness will increase the durability of the pen. If any two different materials interact, e.g. plastic and sharp steel, or a point of the pen thinner, then you’ll end up with a compromised structural integrity of the pen. Yet the purpose of this post was not to discuss the actual construction of fountain pens, rather to present an overview of materials.

3 hours ago, Dillo said:

It's tedious to try to address some of the problems because this is a very long post, but I can already say … The TWSBI Diamond 580 is NOT made of acrylic at all. It's polycarbonate.

Please don’t nitpick the two most obvious examples, although they were sloppy, but there is acrylic in TWSBI 580 which you claim is not - sources supports that, just to assert a claim that there’s several factual mistakes. What mistakes are you referring to?

I was sloppy to drop examples of fountain pens to exemplify usages of materials. Withstanding aforementioned mistakes I fail to see your point on what the factual mistakes have been made with respect to the description of materials and their properties.

I’m glad that you noted where mistakes were made. After that I’ve googled to confirm my examples concerning the constituting materials used. This is listed under bold headings.

Thank you for the feedback.

November 29

I hope this thread isn't too old for a question. Is the demonstrator Pilot Kakuno made of polycarbonate, or from a polypropylene of some kind?

December 3

On 11/30/2025 at 5:47 AM, HymnSinger said:

I hope this thread isn't too old for a question. Is the demonstrator Pilot Kakuno made of polycarbonate, or from a polypropylene of some kind?

On Japanese Pilot's Web Catalog, the product page states in its product description that Kaküno is a Green Purchasing Law compliant product, with its materials listed in red text.

Barrel, cap: Recycled PC (polycarbonate.)

Section: Recycled AS (acrylonitrile styrene.)

I looked at one item from each similar group in this catalog, though not everything in it, and they seem to be made of the same material. ( including Madoromi Series.)

😅