Ebonite

[Kulprit]

Ebonite absorbs water which might aid in the aid capillary action. Plastic repels water so it is probably not as good with capillary action.

Ebonite is hydroscopic, but it doesn’t truly absorb water in the common sense of the word. While I’m no expert, I’d describe it as adsorption rather than absorption. Even when polished, ebonite is highly textured, creating more surface area and thus capillary attraction.


Plastic can work just as well as ebonite provided the surface is sufficiently textured to attract water. There’s a very informative site written by a retired pen designer/engineer in which he goes into great detail about various aspects of fountain pen design, including the early difficulties they experienced developing injection molded plastic feeds that can could perform as well as ebonite.

https://fountainpendesign.wordpress....vation-design/

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[KBeezie]

What I've seen from a practical standpoint, of ebonite (mainly in relations to vintage)

- The older black ebonite pens losing it's black color as it is exposed to light, some people leave it, some people get it reblackened.

- Ebonite will swell up if left to soak in water [important to know for trying to self restore], and definitely don't want to do so in warm+ water.

- It is often more durable than celluloid body pens, but is much harder to repair if cracked than if celluloid cracked or broke in half. (The red/black mixture seems the strongest)

- I prefer ebonite feeds as they seem to promote flow better, especially a day after it has been inked. Especially with FP Friendly iron gall inks. (why I like knowing my Pelikan 400NN has not only an ebonite feed, but also an ebonite collar that holds the 14k gold nib), two of my modern pens, an Aurora Afrika LE, and a Danitrio Mae West, both have ebonite feeds (The latter with hand-carved Japanese ebonite) and I find that they handle flow much better.

Also ebonite depending on where it's made has a certain 'feel' and weight to it for me. It's why when I was holding this Swan 205/60 that something seemed a little "off" :



the /60 denotes black chased celluloid, as opposed to /61 for hard rubber.

The other swan I have is the only hard rubber bodied pen I currently have. But am keeping my eye out for more as I'm lacking in that department.



Edit: Final note, I never store hard rubber bodied/capped pens with the rest of my pens. The Swan above that is all hard rubber, stays in it's own case away from the rest of the pens. The off-gasing of hard rubber as it ages can damage celluloid if cased with celluloid bodied pens.

[SchaumburgSwan]

...
Also ebonite depending on where it's made has a certain 'feel' and weight to it for me. It's why when I was holding this Swan 205/60 that something seemed a little "off" :



the /60 denotes black chased celluloid, as opposed to /61 for hard rubber.

Hi Karl,

that's a wonderful Swan 205/60! :-)
As you know, even the SM 205/60 has section and lever made of Ebonite, so they are often found faded...

Best
Jens

[Sosiska]

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