Torion Nib, by Kubo Kohei

Many different elements already mentioned on these Chronicles come together today by the hand of a very interesting nib.

At some point I spoke of the brand Push, owned by the company Tanaka Daigen Do, from Osaka. This company is still active today, but its pen production was stopped by the late 1960s.

A Push pen, by Tanaka Daigen Do, in celluloid.

On another text, I described the nib of the Pilot Justus, now well known after the release of the Justus 95 model. These nibs –old and new— can be adjusted in their flexibility by means of a sliding plate moving up and dawn on their backs. Fellow blogger KMPN provided additional information on the actual patent of these nibs (US patent US4347011), invented by Yanagita Shikichi (柳田清吉). This invention connected the Pilot Justus with the much older adjustable nib of the Wahl-Eversharp pen. On this case, the flexibility was limited by a zipper-like plate that kept the tines more or less together. This mechanism was patented in the US in 1932.

New and old Justus, side by side.

The Wahl-Eversharp nib patented in 1932.

Finally, on a third text, the protagonist was nibmeister Kubo Kohei, an old master still active in Tokyo. In the past, Mr. Kubo had worked for a number of pen companies –Elliott, Nobel— and ended up owning the later of them.

A music nib by nibmeister Kubo.

So, what do we have for today that combined all these elements?

The following is an adjustable nib in the fashion of the old Wahl-Eversharp unit. It was made by Mr. Kubo Kohei for the brand Push, as can be read on the nib. Its material is stainless steel, and was manufactured in the late 1930s.

The back of the nib shows that the feed had to be very special in order to allow the zipper to limit the flexibility of the nib.

The inscription on the nib: "PUSH" / TORION / PEN / 4".

Needless to say, this is a copy of the Wahl-Eversharp nib for the Japanese market. It is questionable whether the American company ever got to know about its existence.

My thanks to Mr. Sunami.

Kato Seisakusho 800F – Sailor Yama-dori

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, January 10th, 2014
etiquetas: Push, Pilot, plumín, Nibmeister Kubo, Wahl-Eversharp, Elliott, Nobel

Family Portrait (VI)

I will be a bit narcissistic today and will show my collection of music nibs. All of them are Japanese.

Clock-wise from the top, these are the pens:

At 12 o’clock: Pilot Super 200 made in 1962. Hose filling (quarter-switch) system. 14 K gold nib.

Pilot Super 250, E model, made in 1967. Hose filling (quarter switch) system. 14 K gold nib.

Pilot Custom Grandee made in 1982. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

Pilot Custom 74 made in 2010. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

Twsbi Diamond 530, red, with a Kubo Kohei’s nib in size 2. Piston filler. Steel nib. This is a “frankenpen”. Twsbi does not sell music nibs for its pens. The best we can get are italic nibs.

Platinum P-300 made in 1969. Cartridge-converter. 18 K gold nib.

Platinum pocket with wingflow nib, made in 1978. Cartridge. 14 K gold nib.

Platinum 3776 in celluloid (calico pattern) made in 2009. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

Platinum 3776 Century, made in 2012. Cartridge-converter. 14 K gold nib.

For this list, I have purposely ignored the music nibs currently made by Sailor in 14 K gold and steel. Those have failed in attracting my attention and their writing was never very pleasant. But Sailor, nonetheless, had manufactured three-tined music nibs in the past. The current Cross-music nib, by nibmeister Nagahara, is a totally different animal.

All these nibs, save for those currently on production, are rare finds in the second hand market. Rare, however, only means that it takes longer to find. Collecting has a lot to do with being patient.

Parker 51, octanium nib – Pilot Blue

Bruno Taut
In flight over Europe, November 13th, 2013
etiquetas: Pilot, Platinum, nibmeister Kubo Kohei, plumín, plumín musical, Sailor, estilofilia, Twsbi

The Good Frankenpen

More often than not, frankenpens are plainly rejected by the pen collector. Once writing is no longer the primary purpose of the pen –and I do wonder what the main purpose of collecting was— the originality of each and every single element of the pen is a very important factor in the actual value of any tool. Some replacements, however, are tolerated when the pen value lies on its rarity, and that non-original, say, nib simply illustrated how the original condition was in the absence of better examples. Some such cases were described on these chronicles: the Double Flow pen and the Capless Kogyosho.

In some distant past, the need to write was more important and fountain pens were not cheap at all. So, a nib replacement was an obvious option to keep the tool working.

Is this argument valid nowadays? Can we exchange the nib –that is often the part we replace— while keeping the value of the pen?

The answer is yes, and in fact the new nib could increase the value of the pen. We know by now that some nibmeisters create wonderful nibs whose value is often higher than that of many a pen.

This is NOT the pen whose nib was replaced. This is only an example of a jumbo pen similar to the Crystal pen actually modified. The pen on the picture is labeled as "New Clip" and had been reviewed previously on these Chronicles.

Here we have an example. The original pen is a jumbo pen whose only identification is the brand “Crystal” engraved on the clip. It is a jumbo pen similar to many others produced in Japan in the 1930s and 1940s, and even later. A similar pen –although labeled as New Clip— has been presented here: 8-bun (about 24 mm in diameter) eyedropper with a shut-off valve. On that case, the nib was made of gold-plated steel.

On today’s pen, the nib is totally new—a replacement. It was made and adjusted by nibmeister Kubo Kohei (久保幸平), an old and well respected master still active in Tokyo. His long life –he was born in 1929 and started as apprentice in 1948— has been devoted to pens and nibs in pen companies and brands such as Elliott and, especially, Nobel.

Nibmeister Kubo's nib.

The ebonite feed.

Nibmeister Kubo’s nib is made of 18 K gold and shows a remarkable flexibility. The feed is made of ebonite. The final result is that the nib alone is worth the whole pen, and a lot more expensive. The original jumbo pen had been purchased on an online auction.

These are its dimensions:

• Length closed: 166 mm
• Length open: 144 mm
• Length posted: 206 mm
• Diameter: 24 mm
• Weight: about 75 g
• Ink deposit: about 9 ml

When writing this sample I did not open the shut-off valve enough to provide all the ink needed by the nib when flexing. However, the picture shows the actual line variation this nib could provide.

The happy owner uses this pen as a daily writer. Jumbo pens are indeed comfortable in the hand.

My thanks to Mr. Tsukahara and to Mr. Shimizu.

Frankenpen Twsbi Diamond 530 with Kubo’s NK music nib – Gary’s red black iron-gall ink

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, September 28th, 2013
etiquetas: plumín, nibmeister Kubo Kohei, Crystal

Music Metaphysics

The NK nib by Kubo Kohei I showed some weeks ago raises some metaphysical questions on the essence of music nibs. What is indeed a music nib?

Kubo Kohei´s music nib in steel.

This Japanese nib, let us remember now, barely shows any line variation unless was pushed down against the paper. And at the same time, the second slit does provide the extra ink flow this wider line demands.

Modern three-tined music nibs: one by Platinum (on top) and two by Pilot.

Music shiro nib by Platinum (mid 1950s).

On the other hand, I voluntarily ignored Sailor´s approach to music nibs when I compared those by Pilot and by Platinum a year ago. “Sailor´s”, I said, “lacks the visual appeal and the extra flow of the second slit. Sailor´s is more of a smooth stub than a real music nib.” But it really shows some line variation.

Modern two-tined music nib by Sailor in steel.

So, what is the essence of a music nib? Is it on the line variation? If so, mostly any stub or italic nib —broad vertical stroke and thin horizontal one— could qualify for such.

What about the three tines? Should this be the standard, what do we do with three-tined nibs showing barely any line variation, like that by Kubo Kohei?

Pilot pen from 1970s with a three-tined music nib in 14 K gold.

Some stylophiles claim that a true music nib must show some flexibility, thus dismissing all those modern Japan-made music nibs. But then, does any flexible or semi-flexible nib qualify for this category? Again, the case of Kubo Kohei´s nib comes in handy—it is not really very different from a semi-flex nib in its performance, but regular nibs showing some flexibility are not considered music nibs.

One more note on this regard. One of those wonderful specialty nibs by Sailor´s master Nagahara is named Cross Music. It has not just three tines but four by means of overlapping two nibs. The result is a very juicy point with a wonderful line variation opposite to that of a standard music nib and closer to an Arabic or fude nibs: thin vertical strokes and wide, very wide, horizontal lines.

The Cross Music nib by Sailor´s nibmeister Nagahara.

Reverse view of the Cross Music nib. The four tines are now visible.

At the end, we might conclude that a music nib is any nib the maker wanted to label as such. Just like a novel is any text under whose title the author added the word “novel.”

(Sailor Young Profit with music nib – Sailor Blue)

Bruno Taut
Yokohama, September-October, 2011
[labels: Pilot, Platinum, Sailor, Kubo Kohei, plumín, plumín musical]

Kubo Kohei

To my friend Noritoshi.

Music nibs are a favorite of mine, as could easily be understood from these Chronicles. So, it is not difficult to imagine how delighted I became when this friend gave me this present.

The imprint on the nib is as follows: "STANDARD / NK / JIS logo / IRIDIUM / -<2>- / NPK".

This music nib is engraved with the Japanese Industrial Standards logo and, besides some other information, the initials NK. They stand for Nobel Kubo. Nobel was a pen brand owned by pen master Kubo Kohei (久保幸平) —my friend´s mentor— about which not much information can be found. Kubo Kohei was also involved in the better known brand Elliott, active between 1930s and 1950s, and based in the Kita ward of Tokyo.

A Nobel pen, model Super Gold. A cartridge/converter pen from, probably, early 1960s.

An Elliott in celluloid. This pen´s filling system is a blow-filler or nakaoshi-shiki in Japanese.

This size 2 music nib is made of steel and is slightly flexible. Its point is, surprisingly, quite symmetric and barely shows any line variation unless some pressure was applied. This nib could easily pass as a medium-fine or medium point.

The Twsbi Diamond 530 with the steel music nib.

The nib point is very thin despite the three tines.

This text was written with the NK music nib attached to the Diamond 530. Barely any line variation unless some pressure was applied, as ca be seen at the bottom. Then, the ink flow increases and so does the drying time.

I have attached it to a Twsbi Diamond 530 —remember, the box had already been open— and the results are very pleasant. This nib matches quite well with the Twsbi feed and the resulting ink flow is quite generous, which is very convenient for the demands associated to two slits and to the limited flexibility. Limited, I said, but needed to create any line variation with this nib. At the same time, this ink flow contributes to the overall smoothness of the well made and attractive nib.

(Twsbi Diamond 530 with NK music nib – Diamine Evergreen)

Bruno Taut
September 13th, 2011
[labels: Twsbi, Nobel, Elliott, plumín]