Unknown Fountain Pen

February 11, 2019

Long time ago I've got a fountain pen from my grandfather. I think it is from after the second world war. The nib is from Bock. Does anybody know who the vendor is of this pen and what the value might be?

February 11, 2019

Does look right after WW2, but there were very many pen 'makers', some of which got their parts from the big boys.

Bock then and now is a good nib.

Could be semi-flex............is it a stub nib? (Flat or flattish on the bottom.)

That was very normal that era.

Does it work? Suck ink and write?

February 12, 2019

What do you mean by a stub nib? I've attached some extra photo's of the back of the nib.

I don't know if the pen is working. The plunger is moving ok.

February 12, 2019

What do you mean by a stub nib? I've attached some extra photo's of the back of the nib.
I don't know if the pen is working. The plunger is moving ok.

Stub nibs are known to create a narrow side stroke and a wider downstroke. These nibs can bring in beautiful line variations, adding character to your handwriting. A perfect italic nib has straight, sharp edges at the side and a flat point. A stub nib is similar to an italic nib however, it has rounded edges. Therefore, it’s far easier to write with a stub nib. Most of the fountain pen users prefer to write with stub nibs rather than a true italic nib.

Stub nibs tend to glide easily on paper and are therefore perfect for regular writing purposes. True italic nibs on the other hand often feel scratchy even on the best quality papers. It, therefore, needs much practice to write with this nib and is used mostly by professional calligraphy artists for the fine strokes it creates.

February 12, 2019

I have mostly '50-70 semi-flex stub German pens....so don't want to wander where I know less on German '30's nibs.

In the '50-70 era, Soennecken, MB, Pelikan, Kaweco, Geha, or the very many pen manufacturers or pen makers from parts ordered from the big boys.....(Outside the stiffer American Bump Under nibs of Lamy, Herlitz.) Had nibs with out the big bump under the tip. The bottom was flat or flattish...still a bit of 'irididum'.

GMC was correct about needing a calligrapher book for Italic.......helps to read. (It's not all that scratchy.....just has to be held differently, and one draws the letters....a good smooth paper helps.........warning....requires 'Work'!!! Practice...... ...........but there is so many beautiful italic scripts out there. Keep in mind as ....someday.

............These are all stubbed German pens, from the '50-70 era. I have 28 semi-flex, 16 maxi-semi-flex and a mix of those two flexes in 16 stubbed Obliques...........and my Chicken Scratch....is vastly improved to Rooster Scratch!!! .....

A Stub or Cursive Italic nib gives slightly different patterns of line variation...100% of the time. Semi-flex stubbed nibs are line variation On Demand.

One must develop a lighter Hand, so one can Demand....rather than have a maxed out nib all the time.

OK...nib flexs are, nail, semi-nail, regular flex, (Springy), semi-flex, maxi-semi-flex, ~~then comes superflex with Easy Full Flex, Wet Noodles and Weak Kneed Wet Noodles.~~

If you have a regular flex nib....the so called Japanese 'soft' nib, a Pelikan 200 or some of the '50's US pens.............when mashed the nib goes 3X a light down stroke in tine split..........no one can not write maxed out with a regular flex.

Semi-flex = 3 X tine spread with half that pressure..........one can be Ham Fisted and max the nib all the time and write..................took me some three months to develop a lighter Hand, so I wasn't maxing the nib all the time.

Semi-Flex adds that old fashioned fountain pen flair with out you having to do anything. The first letter of a word, is thicker or partially so, from the normal pressure one puts on it, lines become thinner with less pressure in the following letters. A T can be crossed fancy or not, up to you...and how much time you have.....................they are not slow writing nibs unless you are drawing letters.....a normal fast scribble can be had just as easy.

One has to work 'hard' to get fancy strokes out of it.....can be done, think it best as a decender at the end of a paragraph.

Maxi-semi-flex needs half of semi's pressure to reach 3X or 1/4th that of a well mashed regular flex.

I was lucky to get my semi-flex just before I got my first maxi so my Hand was light enough.....didn't even know it was a maxi until years later. The term maxi-semi-flex hadn't been developed yet. Outside of Osmia, maxi&semi-flex are not 'marked' on the nib, and are luck of the draw. My WOG is one in 5 is maxi.

Is easier to do fancy work....but is not a superflex. Do buy a book on how to draw letters, if you want to have fancy letters.... I got a book....should open it.

Go to Richard Binder's site, he has the info you need to find out about italic, cursive italic, stub and regular roundish bottomed nibs.

IMO, many fat and blobby modern nail/semi-nail nibs, improve drastically when stubbed. CI should be done a bit later, suggested by a professional, who can work from your script and a picture of how/what angle you hold a fountain pen, to grind the nib to the perfect angle. One needs that in the pattern is sharper than a Stub....but not paper tearing sharp as Italic.......which should be held differently as is.

Edited February 12, 2019 by Bo Bo Olson