- Messages
- 2,369
- Location
- Silly Suffolk
Will do.Let's see some pictures of the pen and how it performs...
There certainly is. It writes well enough with the standard plastic feed, if you go slowly, but will railroad if I push it a little. That's not difficult, with a nib as soft as this, and tines that spread easily. The problem then is that the feed can't get enough ink out to "fill the gap". However, the FNF ebonite feed, specific to the 912, takes care of any ink starvation. It's available with either two or three grooves, and some people have found the latter to be too much. However, I chose that one, as I'm happier to refill more often, as against poor performance. This pen uses the new model of the Pilot button-push CON-70 converter (as do the Justus and the Falcon semi-flexes), which is the very devil to fill completely, and I tend to fill it right up with a syringe or eyedropper.Quite a bit of variation...
As I understand it, the answer is "Both".So, do you think it'sthe material or design of the new feed that makes the difference (or a combination of both)?
I understand how the design can improve the flow, but I never really understood why ebonite is considered better .
As I understand it, the answer is "Both".
Ebonite is more "wettable", which distributes the ink more widely between the feed and nib, before it is channelled to the writing tip. This characteristic is there because of the nature of the material (essentially a form of rubber) and the rougher surface finish which occurs in the manufacture of the feeds. By contrast, thermoplastic feeds are usually smoother and therefore the ink pools less and flows less freely. However, some more recent plastic feeds can provide a good performance, close to ebonite. An example that I have are the polymer feeds that are an option for The Good Blue flex pens, which offer a good flow, are white to start with, but have the curious attribute of changing colour to whatever ink is in the pen.
In design terms, the more room for ink to get to the business end, the wetter the pen will be. This can be achieved on some plastic feeds, with tinkering (like putting a Zebra nib on a Chinese Jinhao fountain pen plastic feed), but to my mind, it's never as good as ebonite with decent channels. The fins on the feed also play a part, but I don't think they're quite as important on ebonite, and some of my vintage pens either have miniscule fins on ebonite, or no visible ones.
Ebonite also has the ability to allow the nib and feed to be "heat set" with hot water, which improves the contact between the two. However, this is why ebonite feed pens should be kept well away from hot or even warm water when cleaning them. Apparently the best quality ebonite comes from Japan, from the Nikko Ebonite Manufacturing Company, and I believe it's mainly their products that are used by pen and nib makers throughout the world.
Whilst a gold nib and ebonite feed are perhaps the best combination, ebonite feeds can also make a big difference to steel-nibbed pens. Fountain Pen Revolution in the USA have made a business out of matching Indian pens to various feeds and nibs, both gold and steel, and including flex types. I have in the past improved some Indian pens (ASA, Wality and Varuna), the bodies made of beautiful swirled and coloured ebonite but with Schmidt plastic feeds and nibs, with ebonite feeds.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?