October 2008

…or rather, their nibs. This is why I love vintage pens – invariably, their gold nibs have the spring, bounce, and/or flex that give a range of line variation depending on the pressure you exert. The less pressure, the thinner the line.

I seem to be hiyang to Sheaffers. I do have vintage Parkers, one a 1940s Vacumatic, but I haven’t yet come across a lot of Parkers with this amount of flex. (I’m still hoping, though.)

Here’s a Jet-Black Balance from Leigh Reyes, inked with Caran d’Ache Sunset also from Leigh. You can see the line variation in the “J” and “y”.

These next two pens, from Butch Palma’s stash, are also Balances with spring and joie de vivre.

But the flexiest, sexiest nib in my collection comes from Professor Butch Dalisay. A black hard rubber (ebonite) ringtop that dates back to the Roaring Twenties, it’s a veritable grandma in terms of age.

Yet leaning just a little bit on the nib yields gloriously voluptuous lines, easing up grants you fine strokes – perfect for calligraphic flourishes for wedding invitations and signing peace treaties. Or just doodling.

Contemporary pens are mostly “nails”, stiff nibs made for hands that grew up on the unyielding balls of ballpoints. They’re fine for quick note-taking, but once you’ve used flexible nibs, there’s no going back.

Here’s my Holy Grail: the Nakaya Piccolo Aka-Tamenuri (reddish-red urushi lacquer finish) with a Fine Flexible nib. Much thanks to Leigh for allowing me to try out her Nakayas so I could discover which nib I really wanted.

This is what the pen looks like (image from nakaya.org).

Until I can actually afford a Nakaya, I’m content with my vintage, flexible Sheaffers. Together we shall write the Great Filipino Novel, one worthy of a Palanca Award!

Or we can just doodle.

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Good morning! What are you having for breakfast? I’m having a latte and cinnamon bun. My latte is actually a blend of Starbucks Kape Vinta brewed in a french press, with half a cup of water and a tumblerful of this creamy milk.

With the melamine-in-Chinese-milk scandal still very much in the headlines, my children and I were at first apprehensive about the safety of our favorite brand of milk. We drink liters of this stuff, and I figure if there were melamine in it we’d have keeled over long ago. We use skim with cereal and for cooking, but for drinking from a glass, nothing beats the taste of full cream.

No affiliation or anything like that, it’s just one of my favorite things. Along with the cinnamon bun.

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…with their lovely tapered design, unusual colors and pattern, and best of all, semi-flexible nibs that offer a range of line variation.

From balikbayan businessman Butch Palma’s mahiwagang baul comes this gorgeous boxed Petite fountain pen-and-refillable pencil set in Carmine Striated. Sheaffer used this particular color from 1939 to 1945.

This pen also comes from Butch’s large collection. It’s a Standard Balance Lifetime in Pearl and Black (1929 to 1934), and is heavily amberized (discolored) from the rubber sac within it that contains the ink. It is engraved with a name, probably the first owner’s.

The top of the cap, beside the white dot, still bears its true color. The image below shows what the pen would have looked like when new.

A pen in condition this excellent would cost hundreds of dollars. (Image from rickconner.net)

The Jet Black Junior (1929-1945) from Leigh Reyes (second from the top), and the Petite Ebonized Pearl (1934 to 1939) at the bottom (also from Butch), are good examples of those particular colors.

Gold was the preferred material for nibs as it withstood corrosion from iron gall inks that were in use into the twentieth century, until synthetic dyes were developed. And gold, being softer than many other metals, molds itself to the user’s own handwriting pressure, angle, and other individual characteristics. That’s why many FP owners don’t let other people use their pens, as this might throw their nibs off. So don’t be offended if you borrow an FP user’s Wahl or Esterbrook and he hands you a ballpoint instead.

Sheaffer nibs are mostly semi-flexible, though I do have a nail or two. The Carmine is stiff, but that might be due to years of disuse. It’s the one in the center, above. It’s visulator window is clear, with no discolorations.

Read penmeister Richard Binder’s article on the Balance, as well as Rick Conner’s. Find more about iron gall ink at the Ink Corrosion website.

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