Does anyone know exactly what THIS weird looking thing is ... ???

[nickap]

I stopped by a local antique / junk shop this afternoon, and while they had a few fountain pens for sale, none were especially interesting - except for this one. And I don't honestly know if this can even be called a fountain pen, though it seems to have a number of features in common with fountain pens in general. It seems to have a variation on a lever fill on the side of the barrel, but instead of pulling out like a lever does, it is an arc or ring of metal that pushes IN - presumably to compress a sac inside, though I haven't yet managed to take it apart to look inside. There is a plastic ring around the barrel that passes underneath the arc of metal and prevents it from being pushed in accidentally - the ring has a gap and when you want to fill the pen you rotate the ring so the gap is under the arc so that it can be pressed in. The weirdest thing of all though to me is what seems to pass for a nib - it is a symmetrical finned piece of plastic that narrows to a point at the tip. I assume the fins guide the ink to the tip somehow. I have no idea whether it works, or what condition the inside is - it's very cheaply made, but I couldn't resist picking it up; the guys at the store was willing to take $8 for it so I thought it was worth it just for the curiosity value. Has anyone seen a pen like this before?

 

 

[Paul-in-SF]

The filling system was popular with Conklin fountain pens back in the day (the current version of Conklin also has them). It's called a crescent filler. 

 

The nib looks like a glass nib, which has occasionally been used in place of a metal nib in some pens like this. I would bet, if you find a name on it, it would be Spors, they seem to be known for cheap editions of this type of pen. 

[amberleadavis]

It is a glass nib on a crescent filler pen.

[amberleadavis]

OOPS, Paul was first and more helpful.  . I was looking on ebay to show you one. You can find new chinese pens with glass nibs under $10.

[nickap]

Thanks to both of you - that's really interesting. I'd love to see how it works; I'm not sure I'm going to be able to get it open to replace the sac though. It seems like the section and barrel may be glued together, but I'll try applying a little heat later to see if I can get them apart. I may just try getting one of the cheapo chinese ones though, just to try one out. 

[dipper]

From recent episodes of the fascinating podcast "Tokyo Inklings" some more snippets of information:

 

Glass dip pens have been used a fair amount in Japan in the past, but their popularity exploded in 2021 linked to the growth of Inku-numa (Roughly translated as Ink swamp / ink fever / ink obsession). Demand exceeded supply such that the podcast presenter Jacob considered buying a cheaper plastic version of the traditional hand-made glass pen.

( @nickap  the finned pointy part of your pen does look to be a plastic version of the traditional glass pen)

 

Similar dip-pens in metal have also been released recently. First the "Drillog" and more recently the "Kakimori". Scroll down to the heading METAL GEAR in this page from Jacob's website, to see the family resemblance with your pen....

https://www.fudefan.com/2021/12/2021-in-review/

 

All of these types of pen, in glass or metal or plastic, that I have ever heard of or used myself have been dip pens. No ink reservoir in the barrel.

Your pen does appear to have some filling mechanism, and in your photograph the ink channels in the pointy part do appear to extend up into the grip section. That would be remarkable if you can get it to work.

The page linked below shows the mechanism of, and instuctions for use of, a Crescent Filler. From Richard Binder's website....

http://www.richardspens.com/ref/fillers/fillers.htm

[nickap]

Thanks for the info! I haven't found any kind of branding on this pen so far, but I followed Paul's lead and looked up Spors pens, and there is one on eBay that looks virtually identical: https://www.ebay.com/itm/115249649853

I'm definitely going to try to get it working, it seems like an interesting pen and I'd love to be able to try it out ...

[nickap]

2 hours ago, dipper said:

( @nickap  the finned pointy part of your pen does look to be a plastic version of the traditional glass pen)

I honestly can't tell if the nib is plastic or glass ... I originally thought it was black though, which is why I assumed it was plastic, but when I look closely I see that it is translucent, so maybe it is glass after all. Is there any way to tell what it is made of? The similar one on eBay is listed as having a glass nib, but of course eBay descriptions are often inaccurate ...

[nickap]

An update on this- I was looking more closely at the pen and saw that where there are signs of wear, like around the bottom of the cap, the material looked like it was wearing more like wood than plastic. On a hunch I did a search for "Spors bamboo" and found the identical pen here: https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/bamboo-craft-japan-fountain-pen-spors-171082551

So if the description there is correct, it's actually made of bamboo and the nib is indeed glass.

[mhguda]

I have a cheap Chinese pen that came with both a glass nib and a more traditional nib, that you could fit on the same barrel. The glass dip nib is supposed to be used without an ink reservoir, as others above have said; however, since I discovered that many pens can be converted to eyedropper-filled pens,  I tried to do that with the glass-nib pen and have, I think succeeded, up to a point. You do want to use silicone grease or some other sealant for the threads, and make sure the glass nib is tight and secure, but I've managed to also use ink from the barrel of the pen. I don't think that would work with your pen though, given that it's a crescent filler and so would have a sac inside... but at least if you get that to work the pen could possibly be used as a fountain pen...

[nickap]

I'm going to bite the bullet and take a shot at restoring this pen, but I know that the section is glued in, and while heat is usually recommended, I'm not sure how well that will work with a bamboo barrel. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[sansenri]

glass nibs and glass pens altogether are popular in the area of Venice, where they are mostly produced in the glass furnaces of Murano.

[sansenri]

also to be mentioned that Visconti made a fountain pen which had the option to fit a glass nib (so not a dip pen), I think in the late 80s. I'm not 100% sure, I think it was their Classic model or the D'Essai, many versions of which were in laminated celluloid.

[sansenri]

ah yes, it was the Visconti Classic model.

An image just to show what I'm talking about, borrowed from Tenpen, I hope Letizia doesn't mind...

[nickap]

That is a beautiful pen!

[essayfaire]

I recently saw a glass nib fountain pen for sale but I can't find it listed now at either of the sites I habitually watch.  I did find this other one, however:

 

https://www.mercari.com/us/item/m67394870252/?gclsrc=aw.ds&adlclid=23f3c14c10881c6b808da364182012c0&msclkid=23f3c14c10881c6b808da364182012c0&utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=[ADL] Shopping Retract&utm_term=4576785875365362&utm_content=ADL Shopping

 

The one you found looks much nicer!

[nickap]

Sadly the glass nibs seem to often have lost their tips on these pens - there is another one on eBay currently for around $20 but it also has a damaged tip. Mine seems to be in good shape still - but that won't help if I can't get it apart to replace the sac ...

[nickap]

Well, I got lucky - I managed to separate the section from the barrel after only about 10 minutes of gently applying heat & tugging/wiggling the parts. Makes me think that perhaps it was only the later plastic-barreled models that were glued together - perhaps this one was a friction fit. In any case, I don't think I'll need any adhesive when it's time to put it back together - the parts are a very tight fit. 

Now all I need to do is figure out what size sac to install - the third picture below shows what was left of the old sac - and to clean out the section and nib as best I can. Then hopefully I will have a nice working glass nib pen to add to my collection ...

 

 

[essayfaire]

11 hours ago, nickap said:

the third picture below shows what was left of the old sac

👀Oh my!

[sansenri]

looks quite neat,

yes unfortunately when a glass nib is chipped there is not much you can do to recover it...