Ebonite - Vintage and Modern

[Deb]

Some of the pens on this thread are really beautiful. However, many of the vintage ebonite pens I've seen available on ebay.co.uk have poor nibs with barely any tipping left. That assumes they had tipping to start with, which they surely must have done if they are gold nibs?

If it was anyone else I would say they were mistaken but I know that you know very well what you're dealing with. I think you must just have been unlucky. I buy a lot of hard rubber pens from the first couple of decades of the 20th century. Finding one that has tipping completely worn away is very rare. Bear in mind that 1 mm of tipping material will last for many years – especially now that we no longer only have one pen that we use all the time.

Of course, prior to World War II, manufacturers were much more careful about how much tipping material they applied compared with what we see on many modern pens. I have the practically unused Blackbird that I wrote about here recently, before me. It has only a tiny spot of tipping material, nothing like the huge blobs that we see on some pens today.

[amk]

Two US makers worth thinking about - Edison and Bexley.

I have one Edison in ebonite, a custom job. Really nice. There's also an ebonite version of the Nouveau Premier up for grabs at the moment, if it hasn't gone - very nice little pen. Worth looking at the second hand market for Edisons. Bexley made some nice ebonites but I don't usually see them in an affordable price range, though I have a Bexley ebonite reworking of a Parker 51 which is absolutely gorgeous.

I've had good luck finding ebonite pens 'in the wild' in the UK and France. Black pens often don't look like much particularly if the nib is encrusted with ink, and end up in a mug with a few worthless ballpoints. Red ripples cost a bit more, but here again, if the ebonite has gone dull with age, they don't look cute, and often get a markdown.

BTW Penwash is being modest. That mottled ebonite Pelikan? Home made custom binde. One of the few unique pens in the world that I really, really covet.

[sgphoto]

Some of the pens on this thread are really beautiful. However, many of the vintage ebonite pens I've seen available on ebay.co.uk have poor nibs with barely any tipping left. That assumes they had tipping to start with, which they surely must have done if they are gold nibs?

Are such nibs repairable or is the cost prohibitive? Seems I'd do better buying as perfect a pen (and of course, nib) as possible than a less than perfect pen that needs work. While the price would be higher, it also seems that the resale would be better and the long term increase in value would be better.

Of course with the current world conditions, I expect pen prices to decrease dramatically as the need for cash rises. I'm already seeing retail pen vendors selling at discounted prices and private sellers dropping asking prices almost daily.

It's the same in the antiquarian book market. Books, where the asking price was $1000 a month ago, are now asking $750.00 and not getting any hits, not even a low-ball bid.

Pen prices will level out I'm estimating at about 50-60% of current prices at best and that's a year from now at the earliest. Those with money will be able to pick up bargains while those who are "pen poor" will be taking heavy losses.

The best advice I can give is not to sell your pens. The second best advice is if you need to sell your pens do it as soon as possible.

I'm hoping I'm wrong but there's nothing I see to support such hope.

Thanks for the advice about nibs, Chrissy.

Sg

[catbert]

Two US makers worth thinking about - Edison and Bexley.

I have one Edison in ebonite, a custom job. Really nice. There's also an ebonite version of the Nouveau Premier up for grabs at the moment, if it hasn't gone - very nice little pen. Worth looking at the second hand market for Edisons. Bexley made some nice ebonites but I don't usually see them in an affordable price range, though I have a Bexley ebonite reworking of a Parker 51 which is absolutely gorgeous.

I've had good luck finding ebonite pens 'in the wild' in the UK and France. Black pens often don't look like much particularly if the nib is encrusted with ink, and end up in a mug with a few worthless ballpoints. Red ripples cost a bit more, but here again, if the ebonite has gone dull with age, they don't look cute, and often get a markdown.

BTW Penwash is being modest. That mottled ebonite Pelikan? Home made custom binde. One of the few unique pens in the world that I really, really covet.

Shari Zeck on YouTube recently posted an overview of some Bexley ebonite pens.



@sgphoto: Maybe another one for that list of reviewers?

[sgphoto]

catbert -"@sgphoto: Maybe another one for that list of reviewers?"

Done.
Thanks.

[penwash]

BTW Penwash is being modest. That mottled ebonite Pelikan? Home made custom binde. One of the few unique pens in the world that I really, really covet.

You have excellent memory!

I can't believe you recognize that pen

[Jon Szanto]

Bexley: just as an aside, Bexley is no longer in business in the U.S. nor producing the many pens he (it was Howard Levy, primarily) used to make. The company name has been purchased by The Family group of pens that make the Arco Simonyi and other pens. I've seen one Bexley model recently, quite high end with expensive materials. Any Bexley ebonite pens will likely be used pens at this point.

[Cyril]

These pens on this thread are wonderful. I have some vintage pens and they are ebonite. Most of the pens I got them was due to the Vintage nibs that hold the pens.
Ultimately they are both important to each other as quality writing instruments, the nib and the body that provides the mechanism to the flow of writing are equally important and ebonite is a great material well resistive to last long.
But by most of the evidence, it shows ebonite must be kept away from water and UV light and have to pay more care and attention to maintain their longevity.

[Chrissy]

I have to get some of that "Grant Street Weathered Brick" ink. Maybe the next time I am allowed into the US and can come to Florida for a holiday?

I don't know a lot about the fellow who runs the business and there is some story behind how the inks get made up. All I know is that they were changing 'formulas' and as such were just letting current stock run out. I would look at their site (google Birmingham Pen Co.) and see if they have any. I've used very little of mine and you would be welcome to the entire bottle if it doesn't become available from them.

I bought a bottle of ink from Birmingham Pen Co. a while ago and I noticed then that there were many out of stock colours. Now I see there are even fewer colours available together with a notice saying that they are working hard to reproduce their original ink colours with a completely new formula 100% manufactured at their Penn workshop. They don't currently have Grant Street Weathered Brick available and I don't know if it's one of their "original ink colours." It does appear on their ink production queue page, but I'm not sure what that means. It's starting to look like our next trip across the pond will take place next year.
Thank you for your kind offer. I might take you up on that the next time I'm in Florida.

[Bold2013]

671B8091-F59B-4E42-880D-DC093CD32861.jpg73996813-84EE-4307-971B-AAE5F5F88633.jpgsgphoto I share your love of ebonite. 6/7 daily users are modern ebonites fitted with nibs I like. Ranga pens are great but lotus are one step higher (at least regarding their Nikko ebonite stock which eboya uses).

Pens left to right:
Ranga 4cs with waterman #4 semiflex installed by John Mottishaw (www.nibs.com), newton Indian ebonite pen threaded for m800/Jowo, lotus bamboo with bock titanium (they can do Jowo or bock), old style noodlers neponset with bock titanium nib, new style neponset with stub grind and flex mod from style suite, and an opus 88 with ebonite section threaded for m800 units by Shawn newton.

[Bold2013]

And pen wash I too envy your ebonite Pelikan...

[penwash]

And pen wash I too envy your ebonite Pelikan...

Bold, when I have the luxury to get a new lathe or have mine adjusted, I can make more of those ebonite binde.

[penwash]

Here's one of my favorites.



A Wahl with the "tulip" clip that is commonly found in the pocket size (with the clip broken off).

But this one was identified by Cliff Harrington as "size 4" at 5 inches capped, which makes it rather difficult to find especially with the clip intact and in woodgrain ebonite. I don't know if that's the size of the pen or the nib (the nib is quite large also).

And the woodgrain ebonite is just so pretty.

EDIT: Clarification.

[Jon Szanto]

Aw, Will, you got me all weepy-eyed over early woodgrain ebonite. It looks fine even on my little Endura ringtop...

[penwash]

That's exactly the thing, Jon.

Woodgrain ebonite looks good on pens of any size.

From the smallest baby ringtop (or safety) to the big flattops, if it has this material, you got my attention

[Ray-VIgo]

Ebonite and celluloid are two materials for which there really hasn't been a perfect substitute. Modern plastics can make really nice pens, but if you're into vintage pens, you eventually find ebonite and celluloid are kind of their own thing.

Ebonite has a kind of "warm" feel to it and it can actually have a little bit of a smell to it when warmed or polished. When you have something like black chased hard rubber, the chasing can have a certain crispness that reminds me of how an old 78rpm record looks. The downside is that the colors can fade and hard rubber can actually become brittle over time. I've also seen pens where the hard rubber has deformed or shrunk over the years. These problems seem worse in celluloid though. Some ebonite formulations are very colorful - the old colored ripple Watermans come to mind. But there's no substitute for a crisp, classic black chased hard rubber pen with a soft or or semi-soft nib. I love my Ideal No. 52 Watermans for that reason.

[FredRydr]

Ebonite...I've also seen pens where the hard rubber has deformed or shrunk over the years....

Heat it up; usually it will return to its original form.

[sgphoto]

Ebonite...I've also seen pens where the hard rubber has deformed or shrunk over the years....

Heat it up; usually it will return to its original form.

I've heard/read the same thing. Is that with a heat gun at low temperature?

What do you suggest?

Thanks.

[FredRydr]

Use a heat gun and position the object at a distance so that it does not overheat. Hard rubber withstands more heat than celluloid.

[amk]

BTW Penwash is being modest. That mottled ebonite Pelikan? Home made custom binde. One of the few unique pens in the world that I really, really covet.

You have excellent memory!

I can't believe you recognize that pen

I drooled over it when you showed the photos, Penwash. Pens like that stick in the mind!