An event horizon involving Nakaya / Platinum gravitational pull

[Jon Szanto]

I hope the Nakaya purists won't be upset, but... My only Nakaya was one I got from CFP at the LA 2013 show. It was one of their pens that shares a body with Platinum (you can see one here (http://www.engeika.com/data/engeika/product/20130311_998a54.jpg)), a briarwood snap-cap model. John did the most fabulous 0.7mm italic on it, and it was my intention to have it as my go-to correspondence pen. Just one problem:

It constantly dried out.

Because the snap-cap didn't seal well and the nib would dry out, I would always prime the pen, but even then the converters would dry out. I was going nuts. Finally, in a bit of good fortune, I found someone who was looking to trade for a pen that I really never took to (a Namiki Falcon), and agreed on a trade for a Platinum 3776 Pur (I already had a Nice, so thanks to Mr. Tibbetts for the trade). I looked at it, and looked at it, and...

Sure enough: exact same feeds, identical to the Nakaya branded body. And not even hard to pull. In seconds I had the great Nakaya nib housed in a pen with the "slip-and-seal" inner cap that *never* dries out. I am so thrilled to pick this pen up at ANY time and have it write. I worry not about any manner of tradition when faced with this gleeful solution. And it looks thusly:

http://i.imgur.com/sE48iTI.jpg

[earthdawn]

LOL... I did the same thing.

Though when I went to the DC show I put the medium Platinum nib back in and had Deb Kinney put a wicked cursive italic on it. So it now has the original nib with a fantastic grind.

[Jon Szanto]

LOL... I did the same thing.

Though when I went to the DC show I put the medium Platinum nib back in and had Deb Kinney put a wicked cursive italic on it. So it now has the original nib with a fantastic grind.

Haha! I got familiar with the 3776 by buying the Nice and having Mike Masuyama grind an italic at the SF Pen Show in 2014. Immediately became one of my favorite pens, which started the long train of thought. Now I need to know what to do with the briarwood body, if only to host the displaced Platinum nib... But I'm happy for now, that's for certain.

[rpsyed]

I suspected this was possible but was never 100% sure. For a long time now, I've wanted to buy some Platinum 3776 Century pens and swap the nibs into my Piccolo so I could have some more variety. Exchanging the Nakaya nib is possible but it's hassle since you have to send it to CFP ... and it's expensive. This is fantastic! Thanks so much for posting this.

[Jon Szanto]

I suspected this was possible but was never 100% sure. For a long time now, I've wanted to buy some Platinum 3776 Century pens and swap the nibs into my Piccolo so I could have some more variety. Exchanging the Nakaya nib is possible but it's hassle since you have to send it to CFP ... and it's expensive. This is fantastic! Thanks so much for posting this.

But wait!!!

Bear in mind the Nakaya I had was not made "in-house", but has the same body as the Platinum, with only the Nakaya engraving on the cap band. This is all new to me, not aware when I bought it. I suppose I could *assume* that all the Nakaya nibs have the same dimensions as the one in my pen, and therefore would perfectly fit on the Platinum feed. I mean, seriously, both the feeds were identical. OTOH, I always thought there was some special juju about matching the Nakaya nib and feed, as done by CFP or in-house at Nakaya.

Just offering that up for thought. Hopefully someone could share a 3776 with you to check out the feed.

[KBeezie]

I hope the Nakaya purists won't be upset, but... My only Nakaya was one I got from CFP at the LA 2013 show. It was one of their pens that shares a body with Platinum (you can see one here (http://www.engeika.com/data/engeika/product/20130311_998a54.jpg)), a briarwood snap-cap model. John did the most fabulous 0.7mm italic on it, and it was my intention to have it as my go-to correspondence pen. Just one problem:

It constantly dried out.

Because the snap-cap didn't seal well and the nib would dry out, I would always prime the pen, but even then the converters would dry out. I was going nuts. Finally, in a bit of good fortune, I found someone who was looking to trade for a pen that I really never took to (a Namiki Falcon), and agreed on a trade for a Platinum 3776 Pur (I already had a Nice, so thanks to Mr. Tibbetts for the trade). I looked at it, and looked at it, and...

Sure enough: exact same feeds, identical to the Nakaya branded body. And not even hard to pull. In seconds I had the great Nakaya nib housed in a pen with the "slip-and-seal" inner cap that *never* dries out. I am so thrilled to pick this pen up at ANY time and have it write. I worry not about any manner of tradition when faced with this gleeful solution. And it looks thusly:

http://i.imgur.com/sE48iTI.jpg


So that's where my Pur ended up going (it was traded for a Pelikan M600 which I ended up selling later after I tweaked the nib for flow).

http://pens.kbeezie.com/post/platinum-century-3776-nice-pur/

http://pens.kbeezie.com/content/public/upload/purcap_0_o.jpg

so what became of that FM nib?

[Jon Szanto]

So that's where my Pur ended up going (it was traded for a Pelikan M600 which I ended up selling later after I tweaked the nib for flow).

I think it's fairly common knowledge that you don't keep pens for much more than 72 hours. It was bound to happen.


so what became of that FM nib?


http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4120/4798365173_50bd6961a2.jpg

[KBeezie]

I think it's fairly common knowledge that you don't keep pens for much more than 72 hours. It was bound to happen.


Hey now ...

I had this one since March of 2014.

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/montblanc225/uncapped.jpg

And this one for almost as long

http://static.karlblessing.com/pens/murex/full.jpg


:D And all three of my Pelikans since Jan~Mar of this year.

[Jon Szanto]

Careful, you'll turn into a regular old fart like some of us... ;)

[earthdawn]

You need a more modern version of Nakaya nib for the Platinum.

The nib and feed on the left is the more modern version and matches that of the Platinum.

[KBeezie]

You need a more modern version of Nakaya nib for the Platinum.

The nib and feed on the left is the more modern version and matches that of the Platinum.

Looks like the Feed (left) I have in my Nakaya Piccolo, least from the front portion of it with broad looking grey-ish plastic.

Though I understand that the Nakayas are more tightly fitted to the section, and may need a knock out block or some other procedure to remove and reinstall.

[earthdawn]

You need a more modern version of Nakaya nib for the Platinum.

The nib and feed on the left is the more modern version and matches that of the Platinum.

Looks like the Feed (left) I have in my Nakaya Piccolo, least from the front portion of it with broad looking grey-ish plastic.

Though I understand that the Nakayas are more tightly fitted to the section, and may need a knock out block or some other procedure to remove and reinstall.

I tried pulling mine and all my Nakaya nibs/feeds come out. They were bought from Nibs.com if it matters on how they heat set compared to Nakaya themselves.

[jar]

There seems to be at least two entirely different families of pens that are called #3776 with almost no characteristics unchanged and a very wide range of lengths.

[rpsyed]

OK, awesome. It makes sense now. When Platinum redesigned their feed for the Century 3776 update, the Nakaya feeds changed too. I got my Nakaya just about a year ago and it has the new, broader feed.

[Jon Szanto]

It's funny: I'm sitting here, looking at that photo of the two feeds, and thinking "Isn't capillary action amazing?"

[KBeezie]

There seems to be at least two entirely different families of pens that are called #3776 with almost no characteristics unchanged and a very wide range of lengths.

Century 3776 and just 3776, which is older. The Century has a thin ring above the cap band, a friction fit nib (and different style/shape of nib), and the slip-n-seal cap.

[zchen]

I'd say the two parts of the 3776 family using Platinum's own terminology over the years is 3776 Standard shape(flat top Snap cap family that includes the now out of production Standard resin and ebonite models, the Gathered, and the Briar pens), and the 3776 Balance shape(round torpedo screw cap family that includes the current production ebonite and celluloid models; the century is an evolution of the 3776 balance)

Pictured below, 3776 Gathered from 1978 (note early narrow shoulder nib), 3776 Standard 80s model(haven't pulled nib to check exact date yet), 3776 Balance from 1989. All with ebonite feeds.
http://i.imgur.com/jV0UXGT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/6AyEWtB.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/5DpTrxt.jpg

[mhosea]

It's funny: I'm sitting here, looking at that photo of the two feeds, and thinking "Isn't capillary action amazing?"

It is, but that's just half of it. Next time you have a modern plastic feed in hand, take a moment to trace the path that air would take to reach the main ink channel(s) in order to bubble back into the ink chamber when the nib has no breather hole. Most modern feeds are designed so that the breather hole is optional. There is a way.

[jar]

It's funny: I'm sitting here, looking at that photo of the two feeds, and thinking "Isn't capillary action amazing?"

It is, but that's just half of it. Next time you have a modern plastic feed in hand, take a moment to trace the path that air would take to reach the main ink channel(s) in order to bubble back into the ink chamber when the nib has no breather hole. Most modern feeds are designed so that the breather hole is optional. There is a way.

Lots of ways.

The so called "Breather Hole" was really there to stop stress fractures at the end of the nib slit.

[mhosea]

It's funny: I'm sitting here, looking at that photo of the two feeds, and thinking "Isn't capillary action amazing?"

It is, but that's just half of it. Next time you have a modern plastic feed in hand, take a moment to trace the path that air would take to reach the main ink channel(s) in order to bubble back into the ink chamber when the nib has no breather hole. Most modern feeds are designed so that the breather hole is optional. There is a way.

Lots of ways.

The so called "Breather Hole" was really there to stop stress fractures at the end of the nib slit.

Yes, but that's not actually relevant. The reason I mentioned the breather hole is that if it is present, air-ink interchange may occur there, as can be readily observed with a clear feed like the VS. Modern plastic feeds are designed with particular paths for the air to follow. Perhaps you were unaware of this?

[jar]

It's funny: I'm sitting here, looking at that photo of the two feeds, and thinking "Isn't capillary action amazing?"

It is, but that's just half of it. Next time you have a modern plastic feed in hand, take a moment to trace the path that air would take to reach the main ink channel(s) in order to bubble back into the ink chamber when the nib has no breather hole. Most modern feeds are designed so that the breather hole is optional. There is a way.

Lots of ways.

The so called "Breather Hole" was really there to stop stress fractures at the end of the nib slit.

Yes, but that's not actually relevant. The reason I mentioned the breather hole is that if it is present, air-ink interchange may occur there, as can be readily observed with a clear feed like the VS. Modern plastic feeds are designed with particular paths for the air to follow. Perhaps you were unaware of this?

Aware of it and also aware that air can enter through many ways. A great example is the tiny pin hole in an ink sac or converter or section, too small to allow ink to escape through but big enough to allow air in and thus ink to leak out through the feeder system.

The so called "Breather Hole" was necessary to reduce stress cracks at the split for the tines and so it also made sense to route air channels in the feed there as well, but the purpose of the so called "Breather Hole" was still to reduce stress. Acting as an air inlet was simply incidental.

A great example is this item.


http://www.fototime.com/1B0DFC5D264C3BC/standard.jpg


Sure I could use it to trim my nails but that is not what it was made for. Its purpose is as a fisherman's tool to cut line, open shot and remove hooks.


http://www.fototime.com/1E739C861F13F40/standard.jpg

[KBeezie]

It's funny: I'm sitting here, looking at that photo of the two feeds, and thinking "Isn't capillary action amazing?"

It is, but that's just half of it. Next time you have a modern plastic feed in hand, take a moment to trace the path that air would take to reach the main ink channel(s) in order to bubble back into the ink chamber when the nib has no breather hole. Most modern feeds are designed so that the breather hole is optional. There is a way.

Lots of ways.

The so called "Breather Hole" was really there to stop stress fractures at the end of the nib slit.

Yes, but that's not actually relevant. The reason I mentioned the breather hole is that if it is present, air-ink interchange may occur there, as can be readily observed with a clear feed like the VS. Modern plastic feeds are designed with particular paths for the air to follow. Perhaps you were unaware of this?

Kind of like some of the modern plastic ones that seem to have a hole out the bottom of the feed (as I've wondered why some of the breather-hole-less nibs didn't have flow issues, though my 70s era Montblanc 225 has no hole on top, but does have a big intake hole under the feed).

[mhosea]

Kind of like some of the modern plastic ones that seem to have a hole out the bottom of the feed (as I've wondered why some of the breather-hole-less nibs didn't have flow issues, though my 70s era Montblanc 225 has no hole on top, but does have a big intake hole under the feed).

So when you have such a feed out of the pen, look at that path closely. It will intersect the main ink channel somewhere. That's really all I was suggesting. It's interesting, I think.