A most peculiar feed... Part II

August 8, 2022

Some of you may remember a thread I started a couple of weeks ago about a feed we discovered repairing a woodgrain lever pen:

Well, I'm still none the wiser about the origins of the pen or the feed, but here is Part II of the story... After cleaning the rust and the remnants of the old coil, I attempted to replace with a new coil. However, the top lug of the feed snapped, revealing a rusted metal core (about a 10mm long) running through the feed.

You can see the core on the feed side:

This is the other half on the lug that snapped off:

So this is the question that puzzles me: Is that metal core supposed to be there? If so, there is no explanation for the tubular channel in the middle of the feed, and the hole in the lug at the top:

On the other hand, if it is not supposed to be there, how did it come to be? And should I attempt to remove it and create a flow through the core of the feed, before re-attaching the top lug?

Any suggestions to solve the mystery, gratefully appreciated!

Thanks

George

August 16, 2022

Delving into the musty vaults of an ancient library revealed this fragile document .....

The main text of the document is missing, so we can only guess at what the original inventor was trying to achieve.

My thought are that this could be an effective ink feed and air breather, designed to be suitable for manufacture with primitive hand tools and a simple lathe.

It has all the necessary features of a modern feed. However, instead of cutting complicated ink channels and fin slits, or drilling miniscule air breather holes, an easier approach is taken.

All the drilled holes are fairly large. (The only tricky cutting job is the long straight ink fissure that runs under the nib.)

A length of soft wire is then added to the plain chunky ebonite piece. One end of the wire is inside the air breather hole, creating a constriction in that region. The other end of the wire wraps around the outside of the feed. All the little crevices around that helix of wire create an ink path and flow buffer of a complexity that rivals the most elaborate of modern injection moulded plastic feeds.

Tune the wetness and flow stability? Easy! Just use a slightly smaller or larger diameter wire. Or wind the helix tighter or looser. Or scrunch up / straighten the 10mm of wire that is inside the feed.

August 22, 2022

On 8/16/2022 at 4:04 PM, dipper said:

the musty vaults of an ancient library

@dipper Thank you so much! This is exactly the setup of this feed. Obviously much later than 1725, but it follows the design very accurately. This also explains the (now rusty) piece of wire that is permanently wedged in the centre.

Great starting point for more research!

Regards

George

August 25, 2022

I think we should now reveal how much of this topic is serious design work and which parts are jokes. (Some readers may be thinking this is all entirely genuine.)

The analysis of how the feed might work is 100% genuine, and is based on the excellent photographic record of the step-by-step disassembly of the feed by @parapadakis.

The ancient drawing dated "1725" was actually drawn by @dipper in August 2022. So all blame for any deception should be directed at @dipper!

The design, and my analysis of why such a feed could be invented is genuine. (I actually plan to try making one of these and testing it in a Noodlers Ahab pen.)

Placing the "ancient document" in The Grand Academy, Lagado, Balnibarbi, is a joking reference to the satirical novel "Gulliver's Travels" published in 1726. In that tale the author Jonathan Swift makes fun of scientist and inventors who are trying to do all sorts of crazy new things.

Google "Lagado" or "Balnibarbi" for more details, or read the original book - it is one of my favorites.

https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65473

September 4, 2022

On 8/25/2022 at 10:45 AM, dipper said:

was actually drawn by @dipper

Well, the website adress on a patent was a bit of a giveaway 😉 Nevertheless, I'm still impressed by your drawing prowess. The drawing made perfect sense! I'd love to hear your experience if you ever manage to make one.

Just to complete the cycle, here is the "before-and-after" one, despite the fact that I never managed to remove the rusted central core. I'm told by its owner that it's working fine.