In olden days we used Iron gall ink in fountain pens. Iron salts and tannic acids from vegetable sources are used in the making of the blue-black ink. Iron gall ink was often homemade. But the iron gall inks are not suitable for the fountain pen, because it causes a phenomenon called flash corrosion which destroy the metal parts of the fountain pen. The normal Indian ink was also not so suitable because of the presence shellac as a binder which clog the fountain pens very easily. The fountain ink is mainly made of water, the solvent of the ink.
The solute that we are using inside the fountain pen is normally a water-soluble aniline dye composed of a Nitrate group bound to a phenyl group forming a basic amine, phenylamine. Rather than these there are some other solutes which are, surfactants to increase the flow of ink, such as biocide compounds for the prevention of fungal growth in ink and glycerine to increase the viscosity of ink.
In the case of polar covalent solutes, addition of the solutes that dissolve into multiple ions or ring-based covalent hydrocarbons for the making of the inks with lowered freezing point. Also, by the addition of the solutes that bond with the cellulose of the paper the paper permanence is achieved which ensured the ink remains permanently on the paper. Decreased drying times are created by the addition of higher surfactant levels than usual and the by increasing the flow.
This let the ink to seep into the fibres of the paper in quick and stay wet and smudge-prone for a shorter period of time. The filling of ink into the pen is like a task for the day for the user. There are different kinds of fillings mechanisms. During the olden days the reservoirs of the fountain pens were mostly filled by using eye dropper. It was messy and a time-consuming process. As the time passed there were modifications introduced in the filling mechanism.
The modern capillary filling mechanism is introduced by Parker in the year of Vacuum fillers used by the Pilot pen company is also very famous and most easy one. In this method, the nib is submerged in ink, a plunger is pushed down the empty chamber which created vacuum in the behind space.
The end of the chamber has aa section wider than the rest, and when the plunger passes this point, the difference in air pressure in the area behind the plunger and the area ahead of it is suddenly evened out and ink rushes in behind the plunger to fill the chamber. Back close. Fountain Pen : Science and History 1, October 22, - Do you think fountain pens are outdated? Figure 2. Figure 3. Parts of a fountain pen The working principle of fountain pen is simpler than what we can imagine.
A typical fountain pen consists of mainly three parts: NIB Nib is considered as the most iconic and recognizable part of the fountain pen. It is a metal piece which transfer the ink from the pen to the paper. The working of the nib is by drawing ink through a small slit using the capillary action. Whilst a lot of dipping is required, it offers a diverse range of mark making and can produce an extremely fine point.
Some illustrators still use it. So this is where we get serious, the arrival of the fountain pen as we know it. The key was creating a pen with reservoir of ink that reliably supplied the nib without leaking, scratching….
The Romanian inventor Petrache Poenaru received a French patent on May 25, , for the first fountain pen. Whilst studying in France, he was so busy scribbling notes he needed an instrument that would save him time. More than half the steel-nib pens manufactured in the world were made in Birmingham by the s. To start with fountain pens were messy and leaked!
They were filled by inserting ink into the barrel wit. Sheaffer added a deflatable rubber sac to hold the ink instead of using an eyedropper. A seminal moment in filling pens. The Waterman safety pen incorporated a screw-on cap, with an inner cap that sealed around the nib. This solved the leakage problem. Introduced by Waterman pens. Officially the ballpoint pen was invented in by a Hungarian newspaper editor called Laszlo Biro.
It can be credited to Alonzo T. Cross of Cross Pens. Nowadays it is used for drafting and technical drawing. John J Loud came upon the invention when he was trying to make a pen that wrote on uneven surfaces such as wood.
It was too coarse for standard paper, and the discovery went unexploited. Laszlo Biro used his expertise in newspaper ink to realise inks used in newspaper printing dried quickly, leaving the paper dry and smudge free. The patent was thus granted. The completely changed the way we think about pen design, heralding an era of modernity. Three subsequent advances, however, paved the way for the fountain pen's widespread acceptance: the invention of hard rubber a naturally-derived plastic, resistant to chemicals, easily machined, and relatively cheap ; the availability of iridium-tipped gold nibs; and improved inks, not laden with clogging sediment.
All three factors fell into place around the middle of the century; it was in the later s and s, however, that fountain pen production took off in earnest. Notable players of the era included Mabie Todd, John Holland, Wirt, and Waterman; New York City was the main center of activity, having long been the center of the gold nib trade.
The battle for market dominance was fierce, and was ultimately won as much by aggressive marketing as by technical innovation. Lewis Edson Waterman's first pens were conventional in design, and while his original patented feed was undoubtedly effective, it was by no means the first designed to harness the principle of capillary attraction.
The popularity of the instruments produced by Waterman's precursors is evidence enough that they were eminently practical, even if they weren't the equal of instruments to come, and it is surely no accident that the Waterman company's claim of having made the first practical fountain pen was not trumpeted until well after its founder's death -- indeed, after virtually all the pioneers of the s and s were safely off the scene.
The slipperiness of the term "practical" is a big reason why the Waterman claim has endured so long.
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