Pelikan 100 Collector

[WestLothian]

I would like to ask Pelikan 100 users if they have noticed that the collectors stay damp. It never drips or misbehaves in any way and guarantees an instant start even after a few days. I made a copy of the feed from my 100 (made around 1937) to fit an older 1930 nib into a 400 collar and pen. This also has the wet look. It could be the design?

 

 

[tacitus]

Hello @WestLothian.

The feed of my Pelikan fountain pen is still wet even after six month, as long as the cap is closed. It writes immediately without skipping or dripping ink. I think this is due to the design of the feed and the airtightness of the cap.

 

[WestLothian]

59 minutes ago, tacitus said:

Hello @WestLothian.

The feed of my Pelikan fountain pen is still wet even after six month, as long as the cap is closed. It writes immediately without skipping or dripping ink. I think this is due to the design of the feed and the airtightness of the cap.

 

Thanks Tacitus. It is good to know that this is a common characteristic to these 100 design pens.

 

Your site is a wonderful source of information for the early Pelikans. My 100 has a cap top with the 2-chick logo, but it has no vent holes and is completely airtight if you suck on the open end. The pen could be an assembly of parts from donors of different generations, with the filling system not matching the cap etc...

 

The 400 that I have has an OB nib with the Left Foot and it is printed at the top with OB. I prefer Right Foot oblique to suit roundhand rather than italic handwriting. This swap to a nice 100 extra-fine nib feels like a good upgrade, but I will certainly keep the original safe in its collar for keeping the original assembly. 

 

 

[stoen]

Hello,

 

I have a Pelikan 100 with OBB nib, which I haven’t used for few months.

It stayed inked, and the feed is still wet and the pen is writing as if used yesterday.

Here’s the photo - one can clearly see all the parts, including the section part of the airtight capping mechanism:

There’s a special capilary quality of ebonite which makes it particularly suitable for ink feeds.

[WestLothian]

13 hours ago, stoen said:

Hello,

 

I have a Pelikan 100 with OBB nib, which I haven’t used for few months.

It stayed inked, and the feed is still wet and the pen is writing as if used yesterday.

Here’s the photo - one can clearly see all the parts, including the section part of the airtight capping mechanism:

There’s a special capilary quality of ebonite which makes it particularly suitable for ink feeds.

 

That is an impressive feed performance. It is always a pity to see the damaged longitudinal collector fins. I know that they are very vulnerable to snapping when unscrewing a tight nib.

 

The interesting thing about the legend of ebonite is that when shiny it is a terrible water-hating surface. I show a Waterman's spoon feed next to a PLA copy. The PLA when treated by a glass-fibre scratch pen has a much improved finish that is very water-loving.

 

I also show a PLA version to replace the badly damaged Pelikan 100 feed on its right. To protect the collector fins, I now use the little printed grips that click into the longitudinal grooves to reduce bending moments during maintenance. 

 

[stoen]

1 hour ago, WestLothian said:

I know that they are very vulnerable to snapping when unscrewing a tight nib.

I dare say, there must have been several factors to that:

 

- user accident

- ebonite tending to become more brittle with aging

- inexpert and impatient attempts of unscrewing nib units which stood there for 80+ years: insufficient soaking, not enough ultrasound cleaning, incorrect heating, heavy handed rotation without proper protective gripping.

 

One of the infamous “feed fin snappers” were so-called original Pelikan combed nib unit pliers, because they gave a false sense of confidence. They were ok for 5-10 year old feeds, unfortunately not for 80+ year ones…

 

I’ve opened dozens of 100/100N without having snapped a single fin, so far.

🙂

[Bo Bo Olson]

I've had good luck, with after soaking, putting a folded paper towel in my left hand, at the forefinger joint, with the thumb on top of the nib, and turning the pen body. to me, I believe.

I'm not going to dig out my 100 or 100n to see exactly , but I used the same way for my early 400s&140&120.

How ever all my feeds are and were perfect.

[Bo Bo Olson]

On 3/20/2023 at 7:44 PM, stoen said:

There’s a special capilary quality of ebonite which makes it particularly suitable for ink feeds.

It is sawn, so is rough, and the ink fills the roughness; so ink flows 'over' ink.

 

Both Pelikan and Lamy use dry inks....If that has anything to do with it.

 

Penengineer (sp) a poster here, once was a development engineer at Lamy, and developed an acid bath for Lamy, that mimic's that sawn ebonite roughness on their plastic feeds. Notice the feeds of the Persona and the Safari at least on the outside are 'smooth' too the eye, with no combs.

In they have always worked fine, I've never had a reason to look at the inside of those two nibs so I don't know what ehe channels are like.