Pens With Unique Feeds? Transparent, Colored, Material Matches The Body, Etc

[egglorru]

Lately I've been looking for pens with interesting feeds. What I've found so far:

 

Transparent feeds:

Platinum Cool

Pilot Petit1

Wingsung 698

 

Matching feeds:

Vintage Waterman Red Ripple with red ebonite feed (apparently very rare to find intact because the red ebonite was more brittle than black?)

Aurora Sigaro with brown ebonite feed

 

 

 

And...that's it. That's the whole list of everything I've discovered thus far. The feed is an under-advertised feature of fountain pens, so it can be difficult to search for them. For instance, if I hadn't picked up and turned over a Sigaro in Dromgoole's a few weeks ago I wouldn't even know the feed matched, because I can't find a picture of the feed ANYWHERE online.

 

Any help adding to this list?

 

[FarmBoy]

Parker Red Giant has a matching red feed.

Parker 45s could be had with a clear feed.

Sheaffer Skyboy can be found with a white feed.

 

There are many others.

[chromantic]

The Sailor High Ace Neo demonstrator has a clear barrel, a grey translucent section and a clear feed, creating a magical effect of color that stretches from the cartridge up through the section and the feed. The shiny silver steel of the nib reflects light back through the layer of ink between the nib and the feed.

[catbert]

Wing Sung 659 has a transparent feed.

[frankb3]

Pilot Plumix copy made by Penton with clear feed.

 

fine:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Unique-Design-High-Quality-Transparent-Fountain-Pen-0-5mm-Meduim-Fine-Nib-Students-Office-PVC-Plastic/32779944259.html

 

extra fine:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Unique-Design-High-Quality-Transparent-Fountain-Pen-0-38mm-Meduim-Fine-Nib-Students-Office-PVC-Plastic/32781859816.html

[NinthSphere]

Lingmo Lorelei demos also have a clear feed, although iirc, it's the same as the Wing Sung.

[tgoto]

The Sailor High Ace Neo demonstrator has a clear barrel, a grey translucent section and a clear feed, creating a magical effect of color that stretches from the cartridge up through the section and the feed. The shiny silver steel of the nib reflects light back through the layer of ink between the nib and the feed.

Just an image of High Ace

[egglorru]

Just an image of High Ace

 

Ooh, nice! It looks like it might be eyedropper-able too, is that the case?

[sciumbasci]

Wahl-Eversharp Decoband

 

[tgoto]

Ooh, nice! It looks like it might be eyedropper-able too, is that the case?

Actually there is a hole at the end of barrel...so no eyedropper... (unless there is a way to plug it)

[basterma]

I have an unknown model R. Pirre Paul with a transparent feed.

[Miaxina]

Some Jinhao 599 demonstrators have transparent feeds. And then there's that "transparent fountain pen" on Aliexpress with the transparent feed. No idea what brand.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Parker VS had, for part of its production, a clear acrylic feed. Wearever had clear plastic ones, marketed as C-Flow, which were not notably good.

[stacybean]

Marlen Aleph has a clear feed with a heart shaped cut out on the nib so that the ink is visible.

[Kelly G]

Namiki Emperor Vermilion Urushi. It has a lacquered feed that matches the pen body.

[sharonspens]

Parker VS had, for part of its production, a clear acrylic feed. Wearever had clear plastic ones, marketed as C-Flow, which were not notably good.

 

I have one of the Wherever clear feed pens. A bit understated, not a "showy" pen at all. Found it in an antique shop.

 

Sharon in Indiana

[Orpilorp]

Actually there is a hole at the end of barrel...so no eyedropper... (unless there is a way to plug it)

Locktite marine epoxy is available at Lowes and many other places. I used it to hack a Lamy Vista by swapping the Vista fountain pen section onto a Vista rollerball body (a perfect fit), then filling the hole at the end of the rollerball body with marine epoxy. The epoxy was painted with fingernail paint, and boink! I had a Lamy Vista eye dropper.

[MercianScribe]

 

I have one of the Wherever clear feed pens. A bit understated, not a "showy" pen at all. Found it in an antique shop.

 

Sharon in Indiana

 

Wearever are everywhere, and if ever a brand were deserving of the tag 'third tier' that is it. Having said that, I had a Zenith that I picked up in a junk pen batch, which was very well kept and a lovely writer. It had quite a small sweet spot, but it sure was sweet when you hit it! Soft and smooth and with enough line variation to make it a bit more interesting. I heard that the Zenith predecessor and successor, whose names escape me... were they 'Deluxe' and 'Pacemaker'? - are also worth picking up if in good condition.

 

Oh yeah... no thread drift here! The Zenith usually had a transparent feed, which as Ernst Bitterman notes above, were not particularly good, but on the other hand, they seem perfectly serviceable and not particularly prone to breakage either. I think the Pacemaker sometimes had a similar feed, but I'm not sure about the Deluxe (or if that's even its name...!).

 

Talking about 'interesting' feeds, there are a whole load of underfeeds and overfeeds and faux-feed contraptions that might fit your description...! Or would that be another thread?!

[egglorru]

Talking about 'interesting' feeds, there are a whole load of underfeeds and overfeeds and faux-feed contraptions that might fit your description...! Or would that be another thread?!

 

I wouldn't mind learning more about those as well (they seem to fall firmly into the "etc" category in the post title!) Any unique feeds have my interest.

 

I do have an old old Swan with an over-under ebonite feed that is quite enjoyable, and I once stumbled across an Eversharp desk pen with a sliding mechanism on the nib to adjust the amount of flex. I rather regret letting that one get away, but it didn't have a base or a cap so I'd have to have one made to match.

 

What is a faux-feed?

[MercianScribe]

 

What is a faux-feed?

 

I have an old eye-dropper that has a thin strip of metal flush to the centre of the top of the nib. I just assumed it was a feed, but technically, apparently, according to a very sensibly explained site I didn't bookmark (!), its technical function is not to help supply ink to the nib, but to prevent ink from drying up in the standard feed below the nib. Therefore, it is not a feed, but a gizmo that looks like a feed. I just stuck 'faux' in front of it, as it sounds less false than 'false' or 'fake'!