734 



PENS. 



state ; in making the slit shorter, and in carefully 

 attending to the finish and temper of the metal. 

 These improvements have been attended with such 

 a reduction in price, that a gross is now sold for 

 very little more than was formerly charged for one 

 of Wise's pens. 



The common " Three slit Pen" has long been, 

 and still is, a favourite with steel pen writers. Its 

 peculiarity consists in having a slit on each side of 

 the central slit, the elasticity being thereby much 

 increased. 



The nibs of all pens increase in breadth by use, 

 so that steel, as well as quill pens, require mend- 

 ing, or rejecting for a new one. The difference is 

 a question of time, for while a quill pen will in- 

 crease in breadth in an hour, the steel pen may be 

 used for many days without the necessity of mend- 

 ing or rejection. But steel pens may be mended 

 by means of a fine file or an oil stone, by which 

 the nibs can be brought, to points sufficiently acute 

 for the purposes of the writer ; but the present 

 low price of steel pens renders it very questionable, 

 whether the time employed in mending them would 

 not be thrown away. 



Mr Gillott has taken out a patent for an improved 

 pen, the object of which is to remedy the defect 

 complained of, that the nibs increase in breadth by 

 use. In the new pen, the nibs are made parallel- 

 sided for about one- eighth of an inch long, the re- 

 maining portion being cut in the usual curved man- 

 ner, so that one-eighth of an inch may be worn 

 away without increasing the breadth of the nibs. 

 We have not used any of these pens, but it occurs 

 to us, that by the above means the equable open- 

 ing and closing of the nib during writing cannot be 

 insured, that the ink would not flow down in suffi- 

 cient quantity, and that unless the pen were held 

 in one particular direction, the equal wearing away 

 of the nibs would not occur. We should rather 

 fear that the pen would often act the part of a 

 chisel, and dig into the paper instead of moving 

 over its surface ; but these objections are offered 

 without ever having used the pen which suggests 

 them. 



The oblique position in which the pen is held 

 induced Messrs Mordan and Brockeden, in 1831, 

 to make their oblique pens, in order that the two 

 sides of the nib should bear equally on the paper. 

 The form of this pen is that of a bird's head and 

 bill ; the slit, or mouth of the bird, is the part em- 

 ployed in writing, and this slit is inclined, at an 

 angle of 35, to the general direction of the pen. 

 They hold a great deal of ink, and their use is 

 pleasant to the writer. 



Other pens, called Lunar Pens, have been adopt- 

 ed. Their under surface being large and concave, 

 a great portion of ink is taken up by them, and 

 thus the writer's time is economized. 



Mr Gowland has invented a pen with an ad- 

 ditional nib, called the " Three-nibbed Slit Pen." 

 The additional nib is formed by cutting it out of 

 the shank, and turning it back over the nibs. This 

 pen is manufactured by Mordan, as also " Mordan's 

 Counter-oblique Pen." Both these pens hold much 

 ink, and the awkward appearance of obliquity in 

 the bird's-head pen is removed, while, at the same 

 time, the oblique effects are preserved. 



There are many other forms of steel pens, which 

 we need not stop to describe, since the examples 

 already given will afford to the reader a sufficiently 

 accurate idea of their forms and uses. We proceed, 

 therefore, to perhaps the most interesting portion 



of this article, viz., the processes by which steel 

 pens are manufactured. 



The steel with which the pens are made is rol- 

 led into very thin plates; it is then cut into slips, 

 about four inches broad and three feet long, then 

 annealed for fourteen hours, and again submitted to 

 the roller ; the thickness of these bands is not more 

 than ^5. of an inch. The bands are then passed 

 under a stamping-press, and pieces of the proper 

 size for the pens are cut out with great rapidity. 

 These pieces are called blanks, or fiats, and are so 

 cut out, that the fibres of the steel shall run in the 

 direction of the length of the pen. The blanks 

 are now submitted to the action of a hardened 

 steel punch and matrix, of the exact size and shape 

 of the pen, and which are attached to a powerful 

 fly press. The pens are then softened by being 

 put into an iron box containing tallow; this box is 

 placed in a furnace and equally heated. When the 

 box is withdrawn, the pens are emptied upon hot 

 ashes and covered with the same, and so allowed 

 to cool gradually ; by this means they are suffi- 

 ciently soft for the subsequent processes. They 

 are then marked for the slits ; this is done by means 

 of an extremely fine-edged chisel, brought down 

 separately upon each pen, and so admirably ad- 

 justed that two-thirds only of the substance of 

 the pen is cut through. The edge of this chisel is 

 finer than any razor, but much harder, because it 

 will perform its office for a whole day without re- 

 newing its edge; this superior quality is given to 

 the steel by hammering it for several hours. This 

 is an important fact, and seems to have been dis- 

 covered by the pen-makers. When the other slits 

 and openings have been made, and the maker's 

 name stamped, the next operation is called dishing, 

 by which the proper shape is given to the pens by 

 means of a metallic punch and die, accurately fit- 

 ting each other, the two being the exact form of 

 the pen. 



The pens are now hardened by being heated to 

 redness, and being then plunged into cold oil, 

 which must be at least three feet deep. The oil 

 in a few weeks loses its properties and becomes 

 charred. The next operation is cleaning and pol- 

 ishing ; this is effected by a very curious machine. 

 It consists of a tin cylinder, eight or nine inches in 

 diameter, and three feet long, with a hole in the 

 middle of its length, for putting in and taking out 

 the pens, which hole is covered by a lid. This 

 cylinder is hung on joints at each end to cranks, 

 formed one on each of two axles furnished with a 

 fly-wheel, and one of them with a handle. As 

 this latter is turned, the cylinder is thrown up and 

 down and backwards and forwards, and the pens 

 are agitated in a manner similar to materials shaken 

 in a bag. This motion is continued for eight hours, 

 when many thousands of pens, by rubbing against 

 each other, are found to be entirely deprived of 

 any roughness which might have otherwise existed 

 on them, and which, though invisible to the eye, 

 might offer serious impediments to free writing. 

 They are now tempered by being placed on a fur- 

 nace-plate, and as soon as they have acquired a 

 bright blue colour they are removed; this colour 

 indicates the best temper for the pens, and is due 

 to a thin film of oxide formed on the surface ; 

 were they heated in vacuo, or in any medium 

 containing no oxygen, the blue colour would not 

 appear. The last operation consists in crack- 

 ing the slits, which is done by pressing the nibs 

 suddenly with a pair of pincers; the slit, which 



