Shut-off Valve

Eyedropper pens with shut-off valve are a very Japanese idea, we all know by now. This idea is, in essence, a simplification of the plunger filler implemented by Onoto on the fountain pens arriving in Japan around 1900. The plunger filler is no longer there, and the tail knob now operated the axis moving the cone that opens and closes the connection between the ink deposit and the section.

Mostly all Japanese companies used this mechanism at some point. Some examples have been shown on these chronicles: Asahi-Tsubasa, Ban-ei, The Eiko, New Clip, Pilot-Namiki, Platinum, Platon, SSS, (Japanese) Swan,… As of today, Pilot-Namiki, Nebotek and Danitrio still make this type of shut-off valve.

SSS in black ebonite. The sealing cone is visible inside the barrel.

Swan (Japan) number 5. The section is disassembled from the barrel. The sealing cone and its axis are visible.

However, my experience using these pens is very limited. Their weakest point is the seal between the axis and the top end of the ink deposit. This thin rod must slip up and down through this seal to allow the ink to pass through the valve to the section and the feed. Traditionally, this seal was made of cork and lack of use and the passing of time are good arguments for ink leaks. In such case, these pens become very messy—ink would leak through the tail knob when turning it to open the valve.

The tail knob of the Danitrio Ban-ei.

After trying with some vintage pens –a SSS made of ebonite, with stained results—I decided to ink a Danitrio Ban-ei. Being modern, it is in good shape and there are no leaks. Then, how does it perform?

Its nib is a very smooth unit made by Kabutogi Ginjiro. It is nicely wet—as long as the there were ink actually flowing through the feed. So, in principle, this pen performs well—open the valve, uncap the pen, write. However, sealing the ink deposit when not in use has some side effect—the nib quickly becomes dry. My contention is that the lack of connection between nib and deposit deprives the first of a permanent supply of ink. Then, the natural evaporation simply dries the nib up and this space cannot be refilled with more ink from the deposit. If stored with the valve open, the nib does not become dry.

I wonder if that was the case with other eyedropper pens with shut-off valve.

(Danitrio 挽栄, Ban-ei – Sailor Jentle 土用, Doyô)

Bruno Taut

April 17th, 2012

[labels: Danitrio, soluciones técnicas, nibmeister Kabutogi]

Ban-ei, 挽栄

The discussion is out there: does Danitrio make Japanese pens? Regardless of the answer right now, Danitrio did make some Japanese pens some years ago. This is part of the story, following the very limited information available.

Ban-ei (挽栄) was the working name of Sakai Eisuke (酒井栄助) and of the brand of a number of pens manufactured mostly around 1980. Behind this operation there was a team of four people:

Kabutogi Ginjirô (兜木銀次郎), nibmeister.
Sakai Eisuke (酒井栄助), lathe master.
Takahashi Kichitaro (高橋吉太郎), urushi master.
Tsuchida Shuichi (土田修一), in charge of the ebonite feed and the final assembly of the pen.

On a footnote, Kabutogi Ginjirô has already shown up on these chronicles as the nibmeister who created a fake Pelikan nib certified by the Ministry of Industry of Japan.

Group picture of some Ban-ei pens. Those on the right, in black and in red, would be later replicated on limited releases. Courtesy of Mr. Nikos Syrigonakis.

Interestingly enough, most of these pens were not signed and nowadays are often called Tsuchida pens. Some of the models can be seen on the picture by fellow stylophile Nikos Syrigonakis.

A Danitrio-era Ban-ei pen.

Some time later, in 1997, California-based Danitrio company approached the Ban-ei team and commissioned them the production of some of its models: among them, the torpedo-shaped pens in black and red urushi. But this time the pens were limited releases –200 for the black, and 150 for the red— and would be engraved with the original name of the brand both in Chinese characters (Kanji) and in alphabet (Romaji). And with no sign of the commissioning company Danitrio, although these might be the most Japanese pens this company might have ever produced. That was indeed a very respectful and elegant detail.

The Kanji engraved on the cap ring. It says Ban-ei.

By then, mid 1990s, the team had changed. Kabutogi’s son Toshiya (兜木利弥) had replaced his father as nibmeister, and the urushi master Kitamura Zenichi had substituted Takahashi Kichitaro. None of them was young –Tsuchida, born in 1917, was apparently the youngest of them all, and passed away in 2009—, and those changes were perfectly logical.

(NOTE added on June of 2017: Although this information is suggested by Danitrio founder Bernard Lyn, there are some grounds to doubt about whether Kabutogi Toshiya was really in charge of the nibs of the Danitrio-commissioned Ban-ei series of pens. More information on the following text: On Ban-ei Nibs.)

The nib on this Danitrio-era Ban-ei. The looks are exactly the same as those on pens from the 1980s by the Ban-ei team.

One of this limited-released pens I recently found at the Madrid Pen Show. It is the number 33 out of the 200 units made in black urushi. It is an eyedropper with shut-off valve and implements a rigid F point made of 14 k gold. These are its dimensions:

Diameter: 16 mm.
Length closed: 145 mm.
Length open: 130 mm.
Dry weight: 25.9 g.
Ink deposit: 3 ml.

The beautiful hard rubber feed.

Its construction quality is very good. The seam between barrel and culotte is almost unnoticeable. The ebonite feed is nicely finished and elaborated.

Finally, the overall condition of the pen is very good despite having been used.

My deep appreciation and thanks to Mr. Nikos Syrigonakis and to モンゴルさん.

(Pilot Prera Demonstrator, eyedropper – Senator Regent Royal Blue)

Bruno Taut
November 18th, 2011
[labels: Ban-ei, Danitrio, nibmeister Kabutogi]

Origins

Some weeks ago there was a somehow bitter discussion on the Fountain Pen Network (FPN) about the American company Danitrio.

It all started with what I thought was an innocent question: why do people think Danitrio is a Japanese company when it is based in California and uses German nibs, save the 24K gold Yokozuna nib made in Japan? The only real Japanese element on those pens seems to be the envelope, the art on the barrel and cap. That is truly made in Japan by Japanese craftsmen.

Many different opinions were expressed: Some followers of the thread were honestly surprised by this revelation. One of them even spoke of a possible “willful sin of omission”. Another group argued that looking Japanese and having Japanese-made ornament was enough to consider this brand Japanese, or that being American or Japanese was irrelevant. A third group noted that outsourcing was a general phenomenon and, therefore, the German origin of the nibs is not powerful enough argument to claim Danitrio was not Japanese.

Some unpleasant comments and ad-hominem (non-)arguments were also shared on the thread, proving how passionate some people might be when touching sensitive spots.

I never thought this was a sensitive topic, though. In fact, my question was based on my surprise. People on the FPN spoke of Danitrio as a Japanese pen company, but I had never seen such a brand in Japan. Not in shops, not owned by anyone. Actually, I saw my first Danitrio at the Madrid Pen Show in 2009. After that, I have only seen those pens at the Itoya Maki-e Fair celebrated in Tokyo last May, as it was already reported on these Chronicles. And on this occasion I learned about their California origin and about the main source of their nibs.

Danitrio urushi pens at the Itoya Maki-e Fair in Tokyo last May. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

All those responses to the thread I initiated pose, however, some interesting questions:

The first is fairly obvious: How do we ascribe one company to one country? Is Parker American, English, French? Is Waterman American or French?

Is the origin of the nibs a faithful indicator of the origin of the pen? Is the location of the headquarters or the origin of the investment the final argument?

The case of pens, for a pen enthusiast, is different from other products. Some claim that there are specific characteristics associated to certain countries of origin. If that were true, the question is relevant.

A second question is about why an American-based pen company disguises itself as Japanese. Some claim Danitrio never hided its Californian origin, but the overall perception among pen enthusiasts is that Danitrio was Japanese.

On my criticism to Danitrio on the FPN, I also added that it was hard to consider seriously a pen company that chooses not to say anything about its nibs when describing the pen. Most companies describe the size and materials of them as well as their type of writing—fine, medium, stub, oblique, etc. Danitrio does not say anything on this matter on its corporate website (as of June 2010).

So, my final reflection on Danitrio is that this company is more interested in creating a symbol of status than a fountain pen; a jewel over a tool. And I like tools.

(Nakaya Aka-tamenuri – Platinum Brown)

Bruno Taut
(Inagi, June 15th, 2010)
[labels: Danitrio, FPN, estilofilia, Japón]

PS: On June 12 (2010), the partisan moderator and active discussant “winedoc” closed the thread. Therefore, no more opinions on the matter could be added. In doing this, the thread will slowly sink into the sea of other active discussions. This was the final point to make me write this text. I do hope not to write about this company in a long while.

Gold Fever

Some days ago I wrote about Danitrio and the utter absurdity of using 24 K gold (pure gold within a 1% error) for their nibs. That made me think about the actual gold content of nibs.

The purpose of using gold lies in its properties as a noble metal, i.e. its great resistance to corrosion. And the rest of properties are second to that. In fact, as Prof. Antonios Zavaliangos (Drexel University, Philadelphia, USA) says, flexible nibs can be made out of almost any material usually employed in the fabrication of nibs.

Japanese pocket pens from the 1970s with differnt nib materials. From top to bottom, left to right, Platinum with fine steel nib, Pilot Myu 701 with fine steel, Morison with fine 14 K, Platinum with medium 14 K, Pilot Telescopic with medium 14 K, Platinum with medium white gold (WG) 18 K, Sailor with fine WG 18 K, Pilot Elite with fine 18 K, Sailor 21 with fine 21 K, and Sailor 23 with 23 K gold nib.

The actual gold content in nibs, we all know, is very variable. Some early nibs, on dip pens many of them, had as little as 9 K (37.5%). Sheaffer itself made a 9 K gold nib in 1955 for the British market. However, some legislation forced this content up in order to being allowed the use of the term "gold" to describe those nibs. Italy and France are very clear: 75% of gold content (18 K) is the minimum in anything called gold. Marketing and the old “more is better” were successful and even nowadays people speak of the “added value” of 18 K over 14 K gold on their nibs.

A relatively inexpensive Fit de Bayard with a 18 K (ct, in french) gold nib. Very nicely springy.

During the early 1970s, the big three Japanese pen companies competed for the market by increasing the gold content in their nibs. Platinum and Pilot reached 22 K (91.7%); Sailor topped them with a 23 K (95.8%) nib, as can be seen on the picture. The trend was a dead end and in three years the companies went back to the usual 14 K and 18 K gold contents. The exception was Sailor, still using 21 K gold in many of its luxury pens together with 14 K gold for cheaper ones. Their argument is still the same—higher corrosion resistance with higher gold content.

California-based Danitrio seems to be the only brand still suffering the gold fever. Only that could explain their interest in producing –or implementing, as they do not manufacture theirs— 100% gold nibs. But that much gold makes the nib quite soft and prone to plastic deformation. The option to avoid that risk is to make them very rigid. However, there is always the concern of whether those Danitrios were pens or mere decorative jewels.

Already mentioned Prof. Antonios Zavaliangos also wrote a very interesting analysis on the materials usually employed to manufacture nibs. The summary of all that is that 14 K gold shows a nice balance between resistance to corrosion, elasticity, ease of manufacturing, etc. It is no coincidence that most of the flexible nibs out there are made of this alloy with 58.5% of gold.

Now the question lies in whether we want or appreciate a flexible nib or not. But that topic is a long one, and almost philosophic.

(Soennecken 110 – Noodler’s Old Dutch)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, June 2, 2010)
[labels: Danitrio, plumín, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Bayard, Morison]

Frills

Itoya’s Maki-e Fair 2010

(This event was celebrated in a shop, and unfortunately the management did not authorized pictures. However, this being Japan, too often these decisions are enforced or not depending on the staff in charge. Fellow Fountain Pen Network subscriber Moskva (http://dondellinger.com/mipiace/index.php?) was allowed to take some pictures and I thank him for his permission to include them in this post. They are also published in this entry of the above-linked blog: http://dondellinger.com/mipiace/index.php?post/2010/05/18/Exposition-Maki-e-chez-Ito-ya).

These days –from May 12 to 24— stationery Itoya in Ginza (shop no. 15 in this link) in Tokyo organized what they called a Maki-e Fair. Five were the exhibitors invited to it: The three leading Japanese companies –Pilot-Namiki, Platinum-Nakaya, and Sailor—, the California-based Danitrio, and a fifth one dealing with Aurora, Caran d’Ache, Parker, Pelikan, and Waterman. All those brands showed their creations in maki-e and urushi (lacquer).

Pilot introduced a 10-unit limited edition of a black urushi finished exclusively for the Fair for JPY 52500. It only came with M nib. The whole line of maki-e by Pilot and all the Namiki branded pens were on display.

The lower pen is urushi finished; the upper one, the regular black pen with golden accents. The difference, JPN 36750, and the nibs are exactly the same. Picture taken at the May meeting of the Wagner association (May 23, 2010).

Some pens by Nakaya together with matching business card holders. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Platinum presented their first maki-e pen after a long time (I cannot find how long…), but their main selling point were those marketed under the Nakaya brand. However, the Nakaya craftsmen only attended the event on the last four days.

Two more Nakaya pens. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Danitrio made the big news being invited to attend the fair by Itoya. And from now on, this shop will carry their line of products. Urushi and maki-e –with examples of good and unbelievable bad taste— were present on display. All the art on these pens is made in Japan; all the nibs –with one Japanese exception— are made in Germany by Peter Bock. They also displayed their 24 K gold nib.

Danitrio urushi pens. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Sailor showed their urushi King of Pen line.

Sailor's King of Pens in urushi finish. Picture courtesy of Moskva.

Finally, the Western companies showed their very limited set of products. Among them, two M1000-based Pelikan limited editions –Maiko in Kyoto and Fireworks—, and the Sérenité based Waterman models were the more interesting products.

There was also a maki-e workshop for those interested in learning the basics of the technique. It costed JPY 2100 and was quickly sold out.

Certainly, I am not enticed by these pens, Actually, I wonder if they really were pens ready to write. For sure, some of them were, as I had the chance to test some of the pieces. However, the writing experience was not in accordance with the price tag. And that is what finally counts.

(Pilot Telescopic – Waterman Florida Blue)

Bruno Taut
(Shibuya, May 22, 2010)
[labels: Tokyo, Pilot, Sailor, Platinum, Danitrio, evento, FPN]