Gate City Belmont - a pleasant surprise.

[Murfie]

Last weekend I was perusing Teri Morris's second hand pen offerings on the Peyton Street Pens web site when I spotted this very nice gray swirl Gate City Belmont pen, which are made by Bexley. It had only been dipped, never filled and came with two nibs, a steel EF and a steel M. The price was very reasonable so I was unable to resist (know the feeling?).

It was delivered in 6 days arriving yesterday. I am quite impressed with this pen. The EF nib that came with the pen is a very smooth and wet writer which I like, but I swapped it out for a Pendleton Brown F stub that had been ground for my Bexley Corona. The nib units on the Corona and Belmont are identical. PB's nib is a delight to write with being extremely smooth and wet and having around 15° of left obliqueness which really goes well with my writing style.

In short I have found the pen very comfortable in the hand, with nice weight and balance (unposted), perfect section size, and a very handsome pen to look at. The filling system is something really special, being a "syringe filler". Undo the blind cap, press the rod down, insert pen into ink then pull the rod up, and replace the blind cap. Not only is it simple, the ink reservoir is huge, taking up nearly half of the barrel, unlike most piston fillers where the mechanism uses about two thirds of the barrel leaving a relatively small reservoir. And to flush the pen, it just cannot get much easier. Push on the rod and the pen is emptied. Nib units screw in like a Pelikan or Esterbrook which also helps to achieve a complete flush of any ink residue.

I am most impressed and am now tempted to buy the Galapagos tortoise version. My left and right brain hemispheres can argue about that purchase over the next week until one wins out. Here are three photos of this pen for you to view - taken with my Fujifilm X10 at ISO 200 and F11 aperture.

[mhosea]

My left and right brain debated that precise question for several months, in fact. Long story short, I have a gray one like the above (bought in 2011) and also a Galapagos one (bought last month). The one suggestion I would make is that if carrying it in the shirt pocket, be sure that you have wicked the excess ink out of the feed after filling it. If the feed is saturated and it heats up in your pocket, it can burp, but I've found that just draining the fins of the feed after filling prevents it.

The cap, BTW, is safe to clean if you want to get that blue ink out of there. There's no place for the water to stay and corrode anything if you get it wet.

[Bogon07]

Wonderful photographs.
A great looking pen. Nice material.
The overall shape is reminiscent of my RM Stipula.

I suspect the Galapagos tortoise version will be joining it soon in your collection.

[Murfie]

Wonderful photographs.

Not that hard when you have a decent camera.

I suspect the Galapagos tortoise version will be joining it soon in your collection.

Ha, you know me better than I know myself! I'm sure you will be proven correct.

[mhosea]

Ah, one more Gate City Belmont owner tip. Don't get too energetic when flushing out with the nib immersed in flushing solution. It's probably best to flush out with the section not immersed. The reason is that if you push hard enough with the section immersed you may be able to force a little of the thin flushing liquid between the two seals of the piston. There's no practical implication to that, I don't think, but it may annoy you to see some liquid there. Does me.

[Murfie]

Don't get too energetic when flushing out with the nib immersed in flushing solution.

I make it a rule never to immerse pens in flushing solution unless they have dried up residue, which doesn't happen to my pens due to the frequency of use. Occasionally a purchased second hand one will turn up that needs attention but piston seals would be kept far away from harm. But I have known of other members immersing an entire pen with unfortunate results.

[hari317]

Murfie, how much is the ink capacity in ml? can be determined if you weigh the pen dry and after filling with water. The difference in grams is the practical ink capacity in ml. Thanks! Hari

[mhosea]

Don't get too energetic when flushing out with the nib immersed in flushing solution.

I make it a rule never to immerse pens in flushing solution unless they have dried up residue, which doesn't happen to my pens due to the frequency of use. Occasionally a purchased second hand one will turn up that needs attention but piston seals would be kept far away from harm. But I have known of other members immersing an entire pen with unfortunate results.

I'm not talking about immersing the entire pen. Actually you could immerse the Belmont without ill effects. Some water would get in behind the piston, but it would expel when you draw the piston back, and if you leave the blind cap off, it will dry out normally. Obviously there's no reason to do this. Even if you had dried up ink, there would be no advantage to doing that versus just filling the pen with the liquid, as there should be nothing to clean out behind the piston, anyway. The nib can be unscrewed and soaked if the need were ever to arise.

I'm talking, rather, about something you already do and must do, except for one small point. You must immerse the nib up to the grip section in ink to fill the pen and to flush it. This is normal operating procedure for any self-filling fountain pen (except for Sheaffer Tip-Dip and Snorkels). With the Belmont you may be tempted to actuate the post to both draw in and expel the flushing solution (or plain water, whatever) with the nib immersed up to the grip section as if filling the pen. Obviously you have to immerse the nib up to the grip section to draw the solution in, and you can easily press down on the post to push it back out again. It is easy to "breath" the flushing solution in and out like this, and if you are in a hurry, you might do it fairly energetically. The pen can take it, but I'm suggesting that you might not want to do it like that, rather immerse up to the grip section to draw in the flushing solution and then draw the pen out a little before expelling the liquid so that it flows out freely. The reason is that while air offers no resistance to speak of, expelling the liquid with the section in the same position that you would use to draw the ink in may give enough hydraulic resistance on a down stroke for water to be forced backwards into places it would not normally go, especially if the liquid has very low surface tension and viscosity.

[Murfie]

Murfie, how much is the ink capacity in ml?

Hi Hari,

Long time no chat. Hope you have been well and life is treating you kindly. The ink capacity is 1.8ml.

[Murfie]

I'm not talking about immersing the entire pen.

I know you weren't. I said "But I have known of other members immersing an entire pen with unfortunate results."

[kaisnowbird]

Great to see your new acquisition Mr Murfie. In addition to being a pretty cool demonstrator, it looks like a very comfy pen to hold too. 1.8 ml ink capacity is impressive and not excessive. Hearty congratulations.

Like Mr Bogon, I'd encourage you to get the tortoise if it's a good deal. After all, the Aussie dollar is doing quite alright at the moment. Take advantage.

[hari317]

Murfie, how much is the ink capacity in ml?

Hi Hari,

Long time no chat. Hope you have been well and life is treating you kindly. The ink capacity is 1.8ml.

All is wonderful here. Thanks!

[Murfie]

I've just realised I had it all wrong. If you read the cap inscription carefully, it's not the pen that is unbreakable, it's the U.S. of A.

[mhosea]

I've just realised I had it all wrong. If you read the cap inscription carefully, it's not the pen that is unbreakable, it's the U.S. of A.

I never thought of it that way, but yeah, guess so. OTOH, I once dropped my gray Belmont at the bathroom sink while preparing to flush it (or shortly afterwards, can't remember), literally bouncing it off a tile floor. It was not capped, but the blind cap was on, and it landed on that. I moved my shoe to provide a cushioned secondary landing to protect the nib from harm, but even the energetic first impact resulted in no damage. YMMV. It's made of acrylic, I think, and so can be broken, of course, but it seems pretty tough.