Notes on old ink, paper and lines

Evan Lindquist

Stylus to rule indented lines

Ruled stationery for people who write with pen-and-ink

Two page sizes to choose from:

Most recent fountain pens are cartridge-fillers. Ink cartridges are convenient, but they offer very limited choices of colors and types of ink. People who want more choices prefer to use ink converters that are available for most, but not all, pens. A converter allows the user to fill the pen from a bottle of ink. At left is a pen with a home-made converter. Air is expelled from the pen by twisting the rubber sac. When the sac is released (with the pen point submerged in ink) it untwists itself and fills with ink. Converters currently available are too large to insert in the pen illustrated here, a Jean Pierre Lepine "Churchill" model; so any converter used in it must be specially made. One advantage of home-made converters is that they often hold more ink than commercial ink converters.

The photo at left shows (1) the fountain pen with a home-made converter, (2) a new cartridge, (3) an empty cartridge with end sliced off, and (4) a rubber ink sac.

To make this type of ink converter, cut off (and discard) the end of a used ink cartridge. Let it extend about 6 or 7 mm. when installed in the gripping section. Measure and cut a rubber pen sac to a maximum length that will fit into the pen barrel. Attach the sac to the cut-off ink cartridge, and seal the joint with shellac or rubber cement. Sacs are available in several diameters from many pen retailers and pen repair shops.

Zanerian oblique penholder flange with wire stabilizer

Right: Zanerian Oblique penholder made about 1920-1950 by Zaner-Bloser Company. This type was well designed, and many from that era may be found today. Excellent new ones are also produced by Del Tysdal and other makers who follow this and other designs.

Left: The steel flange holding the nib is inserted into a sawkerf slot. In this original Zanerian version, a tiny wood dowel in the center of the handle stabilizes the flange and nib. Old dowels were often inadvertently immersed and saturated with ink. Dried ink can leave the flange permanently affixed inside the wood handle. In other cases, the dowel has fallen out or is loose, leaving the flange unstable. Sometimes the lost dowel was replaced with a toothpick or other sliver of wood. A suitable fix recommended by Dr. Joe Vitolo is to use a piece of Stimu-Dent, the modern softwood version of a toothpick. See it at Zanerian.com.

Below is an alternative method of stabilizing the flange. The advantages are: (1) The flange may be removed and replaced easily and often. (2) Nibs that are held in the flange by hardened ink are easily loosened by removing and soaking the flange. (3) Minimal stress against the rosewood handle protects it against splits. (4) Minimal pressure while inserting and removing the flange is not likely to cause worn and gouged sides of the sawkerf in the rosewood handle.

Right: The flange is shown half removed from the handle. The wood stabilizer dowel has been replaced by a piece of brass wire (partly removed here for demonstration). The micrometer is shown only to illustrate that this piece of wire has a diameter of 1.31 mm. The center hole in the rosewood handle is slightly (just barely) larger, assuring that the wire has an "easy" fit when sliding in and out. The wire could almost fall out by its own weight, but a very slight curve in the wire adds some spring to hold it in. The flange's "runners" slide out easily along the brass.

This method of stabilizing the flange will not be applicable to some oblique penholders -- there are many vaieties. Original vintage Zanerian oblique penholders may or may not have center holes of the size shown. Modern versions of this classic design often have other methods of stabilizing the flange.

Recommended Links for related information

Dr. Joe Vitolo's Zanerian.com	History of Zaner-Bloser Company, home of the Zanerian College of Penmanship. History of pens and penmanship, oblique penholders, pointed pen work styles and methods, Ornamental Penmanship, Copperplate, Spencerian. Biographies of masters of the pen, including GA Gaskell, DT Ames, CP Zaner, Louis Madarasz, WE Dennis, WA Baird, EA Lupfer, HW Flickinger, AN Palmer, FB Courtney, CC Canan, the Spencer family, and many others. Online tutorial manuals of penmanship, calligraphy, pen flourishing. Refereed links to reputable suppliers, pen artists, organizations.
IAMPETH	International Association of Master Penmen, Engrossers, and Teachers of Handwriting. A leader in calligraphic education, and dedicated to helping novices and experts alike improve their lettering and artistic skills. Archives of the works of past masters is the richest and most comprehensive collection of American Penmanship in the world. Refereed links to reputable suppliers, pen artists, organizations.
Hans Presto's Vintage Pen Nibs	A web site about Steel pen nibs and related items. BLAM design supplies new and vintage steel pen nibs (pen points for dip pens) to Scandinavian Calligraphers, Cartoonists and Collectors. The most comprehensive links to information about pen nibs, fountain pens, calligraphy, penmanship.