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]

At the Museum (V)

(As seen at the Kanagawa Prefectural Museum of Modern Literature).

The pens I am showing today belonged to HOTTA Yoshie (堀田善衛, 1918-1998). His name might click on some science-fiction aficionados’ minds by nothing that he, together with FUKUNAGA Takehiko (福永武彦, 1918-1979) and NAKAMURA Shinichiro (中村真一郎, 1918-1997), authored the seminal novel of the character Mothra (Mosura, モスラ) in 1961: The Luminous Fairies and Mothra (発光妖精とモスラ, Hakko Yosei to Mosura, originally published as a serial novel in Asahi Weekly in 1961, republished in 1994).

An Onoto with a size 5 nib.

Hotta was also an Akutagawa Prize winner in 1951 for his novel Loneliness in the Square (広場の孤独, Hiroba-no kodoku). In 1977, he received the Osaragi Jirô Award for his comprehensive biography of Spanish painter Francisco de Goya (ゴヤ, Goya, 1974-1977).

A Pelikan 500.

The Kugel extra fine nib.

The B nib of Pelikan 400.

His better known work, however, is Judgment (審判, Shinpan, 1963), a novel on the atomic bomb of Hiroshima.

A Pilot Custom in Sterling silver, and a Pilot Elite.

Regarding his pens, we see both European and Japanese units. An Onoto with a size 5 nib; three Pelikan, a Faber Castell, and two Pilot. On the Pelikan, an extra fine Kugel (KEF) and a B points.

(Sailor Profit Realo – Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Brown)

Bruno Taut
April 3rd, 2012
[labels: Faber-Castell, Pilot, Pelikan, Japón, evento, estilofilia, Onoto]

Literature

In some few weeks –from the 13th to the 15 of November—the 2010 Madrid Pen Show will take place. This will be the seventh edition of an increasingly interesting and important event. There will be, the organizers say, more than 40 traders from France, Germany, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, UK, US, and, of course, Spain.

They also announce the presence of authors Jonathan Steinberg, and Andreas Lambrou. The latter, well known as the creator of Fountain Pens of the World (1995), is in the process of publishing the long awaited Fountain Pens of Japan (2010) in collaboration with Masamichi Sunami. A brief preview of the book is currently online.

The book Fountain Pens of the World is certainly a reference for most stylophiles. It aims at being comprehensive and if we could only have a book, this one could be it. But the more I use it, the higher my disappointment is.

Cover of Lambrou's Fountain Pens of the World (1995).

This book has the virtue of including a large number of pictures of pens, but there are many very significant pens that are not depicted at all. At the same time, pens from some periods are almost absent. Such is the case of Japanese pens between 1930 and 1960.

Picture of page 372 of Lambrou's Fountain Pens of the World together with one of the pens depicted on it--a Pilot Custom 74. On that picture, there are three Pilot Custom 74, and five Custom 67, just in case one single picture were not enough to identify any of those pens.

The inclusion of pictures of pen prototypes is also, in my opinion, a mistake. Those pictures belong to monographies on brands or on specific models, but not to reference books stylophiles check in search of basic information.

Another problem is the general lack of details –either pictures or technical information— on pen nibs. The technical notes are mostly limited to filling systems and construction materials.

More disappointing is the lack of consistency among the different chapters. What seems important on some of them is almost unnoticed on the rest. The book seems to be written by several hands with little coordination among them.

Little can be said about the new book, the long awaited Fountain Pens of Japan. Long awaited because, first, its publication had been announced for quite some time, and, second, because there is very little information in English about Japanese pens.

Table of contents of the book Fountain Pens of Japan (2010), by Lambrou and Sunami.

However, the preview showed some negative details. A most significant one is the inclusion of pictures of one-of-a-kind pens made for one of the authors. Beautiful as they might be, those pens hardly offer any relevant information for the collector as he will never be able to put his hands on any of those.

Picture taken from page 128 of Lambrou and Sunami's book. These eyedropper pens are customizations made for Masa Sunami: "Masa customized Onoto style pens in attractive colors, made from 1950s old stock material, ED, 1985."

It is my contention that general books should be informative for the collector. That means they should contain relevant information. Prototypes, one-on-a-kind customizations could, at most, become footnotes to the general text. The author, most likely a collector as well, should refrain his craving to show his collection, no matter how impressive it might be.

In conclusion, Lambrou’s Fountain Pens of the World in interesting, but disappointing. Too much information of little interest is included on it while some other is sadly missing.

(Pilot Elite Isaac Newton – Pilot Blue Black)

Bruno Taut
(Tokyo, October 20th, 2010)
[labels: libro, Japón, evento]