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Tuesday, October 02, 2007
Fountain Pen Terms you may not know
Pen Terms:

Ink supply:
Reservoir: area within the pen which holds the ink.
Built-in-piston: installed device to draw the ink into the
reservoir.
Converter: removable piston attached to the feed.
Cartridges: disposable, pre-filled ink containers
which attach to the feed.

Fountain Pen Body:

Nib: actual writing tip of the fountain pen; usually has two equal sides
[tines] separated by a slit.
-sizes: fine, medium, broad/wide
-tip is usually rounded and made of gold flexible,
softer]or of iridium [more durable, harder].
-nib may have an angle [oblique nib and reverse oblique];
good for left-handed people if you “push”, use the oblique
nib and if you “pull” your pen, use the reverse oblique.

Feed Unit: located underneath the nib.
-regulates the flow of ink from the reservoir.
-usually made of hard rubber [vulcanized] and usually has
multiple grooves to increase the surface area and
decreasing the chance that ink would flood the pen.

Barrel: the largest part of the body and it will hold the reservoir
and does connect to the nib.