A Double-Ended Pen? Why Not?

[trhall]

Tiffany - Haha. Why not? It is "required" for you to do your job, right?

 

Jadie - it isn't unbalanced to me when one side is out of ink and the other isn't. I haven't weighed it with ink yet, sorry. Will try to do that for my review.

[Mags]

I am thinking more about buying one Brian. If I order by Halloween will I enjoy for Christmas?

[bgray]

I am thinking more about buying one Brian. If I order by Halloween will I enjoy for Christmas?

 

Sure thing. Currently we are back-ordered only 2-3 weeks.

 

Thanks!

[Runnin_Ute]

very cool.

[bgray]

 

Below is an update addressing concerns that some people had regarding the possibility of a downward facing nib leaking..... At the time of announcing this pen, some people had concerns regarding whether having an extra ink reservoir could lead to ink leaking out the nib, since one nib could be pointing down.  This concern is legitimate, and as a result, at the time of announcing this pen, I was recommending that this pen remains a desk pen, and not an "on-the-go" pen.

 

Well since then, we've sold plenty of these pens, and we've also been running our own tests.

I'm happy to share that there's no reason to be concerned with this issue anymore than you would any other pen.  I haven't had one owner report back to me with any leaks, spurts, or problems.  I've found the same results with my own personal double ended pen that's been residing on my desk for the last couple of months as a daily user.  I'll attach a photo below showing how I've been storing the pen among my daily users.

 

 

 

http://edisonpen.com/userfiles/image/DailyUsers.jpg

 

(I realize that a lot of you might want to know what my dailys are.  Left to Right....Beaumont Pneumatic, Encore Bulb Filler, Pearl Double Ended, Menlo Pump Filler, Encore 2012 LE AP, Parker Vacumatic, Chilton) 

So the Double Ended Pen has been stored with the nib down for a couple of months now, and has been used extensively with no problem.  When I test for nib weeping, I'll pay attention to whether or not a feed fin is saturated.  If 2-3 fins become saturated, then no big deal, that's what they are designed to do....contain ink burps.  However, this pen has not shown a single fin saturated.  I have also ran a twisted paper towel inside inside the caps, looking for any traces of ink.  No traces.  I also have customers reporting the same results.  And then I also have customers who are taking the pens to and from work, also with no problems.

So my initial speculation is showing to be true.  The ink reserviors are simply not large enough to have a significant effect on pushing ink out the nib when the nibs are facing down under normal conditions.

Now obviously, I wouldn't recommend putting one of these pens in your shirt pocket and then going for a jog, but I'm not sure that I'd recommend that with any Edison Pen!

I will keep running these tests, and I'll keep asking for owner feedback.  But for now, my recommendation is to use these pens on your desk confidently with the pen laying on it's side, or with a nib down.  If you want to take the pen with you on-the-go, then just use the same common sense that you would with any other fountain pen.  If this recommendation changes over time as we keep getting feedback and doing our own tests, I'll update my recommendation.

As a side note, we have been playing around with other designs as Double Ended Pens.  We successfully made a Morgan double ended, and we are currently playing around with a Beaumont, so if you have interest in a Double Ended pen, it looks like most of our models can be made this way.

If anyone has any questions, please reach out!

Brian at Edison

 

 

[mhosea]

I'm not surprised at these results. For that matter, I never saw ink leak into the holder of my 1949 "fat" Touchdown desk pen, nor even the Frankenpen made from a 1949 "fat" Touchdown barrel and a Namiki Falcon S-F nib section (doesn't screw into the holder because the diameter of the section is just a tad too large, but it seals nicely in the "trumpet" due to its shape). Where you need to be concerned about this is large ink capacity, especially when coupled to a small feed capacity. You also wouldn't want to do it with a silicone sac, I think. Apart from that, should work great. As you suggest, agitating the pen with the nib down is not a good idea with any fountain pen unless you want some ink to come out.

[mongrelnomad]

Brian - what materials can this pen be made out of? I too like the stealth-demonstrator idea... Do you have any more photos of ones you made earlier?

[bgray]

Brian - what materials can this pen be made out of? I too like the stealth-demonstrator idea... Do you have any more photos of ones you made earlier?

 

The pen can be made of any material that we can dream up. The Stealth demonstrator is a good idea. Actually, at the beginning of the year, we'll be working on one a lot like this. The entire pen will be made from a dark tinted solid transparent material.

 

I haven't updated our galleries with all photos of all double ended pens yet. If you want to send me an email, I can get some to you if you don't want to wait until we can update the galleries. brian@edisonpen.com

 

Thanks!

[Simius]

 

The pen can be made of any material that we can dream up. The Stealth demonstrator is a good idea. Actually, at the beginning of the year, we'll be working on one a lot like this. The entire pen will be made from a dark tinted solid transparent material.

 

I haven't updated our galleries with all photos of all double ended pens yet. If you want to send me an email, I can get some to you if you don't want to wait until we can update the galleries. brian@edisonpen.com

 

Thanks!

 

Looks interesting. Is this pen a candidate for a prospective 2014 FPN LE?

[bgray]

 

Looks interesting. Is this pen a candidate for a prospective 2014 FPN LE?

 

In all honesty, probably not. It's not an easy pen to manufacture, so it doesn't lend itself to large-scale production. We certainly couldn't get the price into a range that would be attractive for a group buy.

 

Thanks!

[trhall]

Thanks for the update, Brian.

 

I haven't had any problems either. My double ended Pearl is taken to work every day and I've never had a drop of ink in the cap or any fins filled with ink. It's working well.

[inkstainedruth]

Looks like a great idea made into a great pen. Forgive me but I can't help thinking of the FP and pencil combos and thought that would be a neat idea in this style.

+1 on that.

Especially since I picked up an Arnold combo pen a couple of weeks ago on Ebay (still trying to figure out the right way to go about repairing it, since there were, um, issues with the sac apparently turning to goo and leaking out through the barrel around the lever...).

When I first saw this thread, I also thought of some high-end marker pens that are like this, with one end being a wide tip and one a fine tip (can't remember the brand, but used them in Graphic Design classes back in college -- I think they might even have been made by Pantone, so that you could do marker renderings and get the Pantone colors).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[captain nib]

I have not, until now, seen such a fascinating creature as the twin-nib feature. Do you have a fountain pen or fountain pens...Mmm.

 

Simplicity, elegance & practicality are presented in this unique design. Compliments to those involved. I'll have to get my head around it.

 

(Same reaction when saw the Colorado by Omas (circa 1945)..a twin barrelled, twin nibbed F/pen which allowed the pen to open like scissors).

 

A few names come to mind....Deuce, Twain, Twinz, 2Nibz.

 

Perhaps , further refinements to come. Marry the old & new...a stylus tip on the cap, for those hurried texts...my gold plated nib just doesn't quite get the tablet screen. The intial costs may be a bit out of reach for some. For them, like me, necessity is the mother of invention. So for now, I'll tape 2 F/pens , nibs facing away from each other....yes, a rather poor cousin. No doubt, someone will then say, hey a great idea, but I'll have to confess..'.Edison's already done it', 'What, Thomas?'...' No, silly...Brian !!'.

[ALPrasetio]

Wow...I'm glad captain nib bumped this thread up. Definitely adding this pen to my list.

 

I do have a couple of questions for Brian though:

 

-Can we add a clip to one end of the cap?

-With regards to the nib, are we allowed to choose the two-tone option? And are we allowed to request cursive italics with the nib that we choose?

[Lyander0012]

This is amazing! I'm fantasizing about having a flex pen and a really broad formal italic (well, okay, cursive italic since I'm still a newbie XD) all in one pen! I personally think that you've outdone yourself, Mr. Brian. Haha, I'm picking one up as soon as I come into some cash, methinks.

 

.... Bah, the FPN is not good for my wallet XD

 

 

Cheers!

 

Kevin

[bgray]

Wow...I'm glad captain nib bumped this thread up. Definitely adding this pen to my list.

 

I do have a couple of questions for Brian though:

 

-Can we add a clip to one end of the cap?

-With regards to the nib, are we allowed to choose the two-tone option? And are we allowed to request cursive italics with the nib that we choose?

 

Yep, no problem with a clip on one end.

 

Any nib can go on either end. Any custom grind are fine as well. Since the pen is custom, If we can dream it up, we can probably do it!

 

Thanks!

Edited January 10, 2014 by bgray

[dr saleem ali]

Great innovation ! ,we in Pakistan(or Arab countries), write both Urdu or Arabic and English , and two different nibs make writing easier and wonderful !

[Ted A]

Great innovation ! ,we in Pakistan(or Arab countries), write both Urdu or Arabic and English , and two different nibs make writing easier and wonderful !

Now THAT makes this a nice, sensible pen.

[Dr.Slackware]

Cool! I have never had an Edison pen, but I like the eyedropper idea, so I am sure to get this at one point!

[trhall]

Brian posted pics of another double ended Pearl on Twitter that looks even better than mine.

 

https://twitter.com/edisonpenco/status/426768756837076992

Edited January 25, 2014 by trhall