My other( now "main") hobby

Hi all !

Our friend Hog asked me if I could post something about my other hobby , and here it is.

Although  I'm a member of this forum since last year , I've only posted a few times on the forum, mainly because my other hobby is taken much of my time. This hobby is collecting and repairing vintage fountain pens. Initially only repairing for myself, I gradually started also doing repairs for other collectors Being a fountain pen user since my childhood  , I started collecting and repairing vintage FP approx. 12 years ago. A few years ago I also started designing and making my own fountain pens, and I'm happy to say I've just invented a new fountain pen filling system.

• Fountain pens did not change much since their "golden decades" being the period between 1930 and 1950.

• The initial fountain pens were “eyedroppers” which started in the late 19th century ( 1890)

• Then came the “lever filler” pens - invented by Sheaffer - featuring an internal rubber sac which was compressed with the lever and released - nib immersed under ink level- so the sac expanded to its original shape, pulling the ink in the sac.

• Then the so called "vacuum fillers" came around

• And in the thirties the “screw piston fillers” were invented.

• Since then no new filling systems came on the market.
• Drawback on most of these filling systems is the fact the ink intake as rather small, the actual maximum ink intake being 1.5ml ink.

• This problem is caused by the fact the filling mechanism itself takes to much length.

• Frequent travelers like a large ink volume so they don’t have to take an ink pot with them when traveling for  week

• The new filling system I designed is very short and allows ink intakes of 3.1 ml, while on all piston fillers - having the same diameter and length - the ink intake is restricted to 1.5ml

Attached a Photo showing my "bulk filler" flat-top prototype , made in blue marbled Tibaldi celluloid.

I've made already several transparent demonstrators, of which a few are actually undergoing intensive writing and evaluation tests.

The fountainbel bulk filler" system" is a real break trough, allowing a 3.1 ml ink intake for a pen the size of a Pelikan 800 ( which holds only 1.47 ml)

The pen will be made in two length sizes, the shorter version ( not shown) will hold 2.4 ml.
The clip is made from 2mm thick silver sheet, featuring a black delrin pinching notch

All parts- except for the golden nib -are made in my shop
Being a mechanical design engineer, I did not want to take any compromise on the mechanical reliability of the design.
The pen is rigid as a rock, maintenance friendly , and I'm convinced it will last for decades.

I've already registered the system and the EU/US patent requests will go out next week; We will start selling the pens as soon as the patent requests are accepted, hence the patents become "pending"

I have an arrangement with an industrial fountain pen maker which will start making series of the pen, after the 6 months test period is positively ended.

Is first instance we will make demonstrators, although I've just finished the first celluloid prototype version in "Tibaldi marbled bleu"

The pen can be disassembled completely in 10 minutes, nothing is glued nor shellacked all screw parts are sealed with O rings.

All pens are equipped with large 18K gold Bock screw-in nib units, alternatively Titanium or stainless nibs are possible.

The pen also features a shut-off valve avoiding any risks for leakage during air travel and/or temperature variations.

I hope you all understand that I can't show pictures showing the details before the patents are pending.

Hope you all learned a little from the fountain pen world !

The attached pictures show some of my homemade pens

Best regards, Francis

PS :I promise to become more active on this nice board, give me another few months !