Hi Nathan Thanks for another informative video about the Boston Safety Pen. When I got mine about ten days ago from Pen Chalet US, the first thing I did was to take it to bits to look at the mechanism and to see how it had been made, its an impressive piece of engineering. Watching this video a couple of times I now understand why some pen manufacturers include some really basic common sense instructions regarding the pen, such as how to screw the cap on etc, it doesn't surprise me at all when I hear of some Bic brained dunce borrowing someone else's Boston and breaking it,,, "oops sorry I've broken your pen". , "oh, well $55 please,,, you owe me for the replacement.".. Stops them grabbing your stuff without due respect and consideration. The Boston isn't a fountain pen as such it's an artisans tool for the application it was bought for personally.,,to be able to fix it or customise it yourself is brilliant, but for goodness sake don't let anybody use it or any similar specialist application tools without strict supervision because they will break it. There are quite a few borrowers out their in the world that are capable of breaking a ball bearing,. They need to bear the consequences of their clumsy borrowing ways; they bug me big time. Thanks Nathan for the passion you've got for pens and ink. Your ACE. Best wishes to all pen people. LeZc @@
I can hear the frustration 3000 miles away on the left coast... Thanks for the video. I'm always amazed at how you design your pens, allowing people to repair them by scavenging parts from other pens using the simplest of tools. You learned a lot in those early years repairing safety pens and it shows in this pen. Years ago I hoped you would produce a Safety Pen and tomorrow it arrives in the mail. I can't wait to use it. The hardest part is deciding what ink to use first. Thanks for the inks, pens, and videos.
I opened my pen for the first time to find a broken feed. This video is very much appreciated, I can now repair and use the pen I was fortunate enough to obtain in the first place. :)
You make a meal out of these videos, but I love watching them. You're a wizard. And I really should get a few of these the next time I refresh my trusty Konrads. I just wish you tuned the nibs the way I like, I have to grind the things for hours before I get enough line variation!
Your ink and pens mean so much more to me than than the sum of their parts. I will keep, use, and cherish the Charlie pen I got the other day with the Lexington Gray. God bless.
Nathan, the pen is brilliant! I have one of these safety pens, and I love it! I have a few of your pens, and several inks too. I have been a very pleased customer. So far I've just used fountain pen ink with my safety pen. I would like to get some of that special ink for these pens, with the eyedropper, as well as spare feeds. My pen wrote well from the beginning. I did clean the nib and feed, and lube the o-rings...just to make sure. This is a great design and I applaud your work.
What did you do to clean the nib and feed? Did you disassemble them or just soak them? I'm trying to figure out the best way to flush out any manufacturing oils on mine before using the pen -- and I'm a bit leery of doing that after borking the nib on one of my Konrads.... :-( Other than that I'm very excited to have gotten my hands on one of these; guy in my pen club had one that I got to play with last month -- had I but known he decided to sell the pen this month (it's a bit too long a pen for him to fit in a shirt pocket was his reason) I could have saved a little money -- but mine was already en route when I found out....[insert "head banging" .gif here]. Oh well, it's still a great price. Although I wouldn't mind seeing one in a different color of ebonite besides black: maybe blue -- blue is a nice color for ebonite.... ;-) In the meantime, I'm trying to decide what ink to put in it first. Wondering how Kung Te Cheng would do....
I wondered about Kung Te Cheng too. I bet it would work well in there since the nib retracts and stays wet when you aren't using the pen. I don't have that ink, but have thought about trying it in the future. I just used soap and water for the nib and feed. I did take the pen apart to clean it first, before filling with ink. I didn't soak the nib and feed. I just washed them in soapy water with my hands. Using a toothbrush to scrub the feed might be a good idea.
All three of my Boston Safety have now arrived to me safely. It is a perfect improvement to a timeless classic safety design. My only slight suggestion and to be honest it doesn't bother me in the slightest, would be the cap interior is left extremely rough and if a customer posts his pen it will mar the finish at the rear of the pen. For me, as I said it is no biggie as mine are workhorses and not "Show Queens". It is more of a heads up in case you start hearing complaints. Thank you once again Nathan, now I can slow down on what I expect my 110-120 yr old pens to accomplish or trusting those to do the repairs I am not capable any longer of doing, I and my collection are in your debt.
This looks to be a fascinating pen. I'm the furthest from being an artist. I enjoy writing with fountain pens. I plan on getting one, for that purpose, writing and using a simple, common ink. It want to enjoy the emotion of writing with an instrument of history, even if it is a remake of the historical item.
Can't help but wonder when there will be new videos on the new Noodler's red ink and the new Mueller ink? I just love your pens and inks. I now have two grandchildren who love the Ahab pens we bought for them last Christmas! And we have fifteen other grandchildren!!
Nathan, I have been having a little bit of trouble with ink leaking when capped. After tightening the cap firmly and shaking the pen around I find that ink finds its way onto the threads and even inside the cap getting all over the grip section. Should I just put some silicone grease on the threads?
Hi Nathan, I've pulled out the feed for this pen a few times. How can anyone crush that feed? It's solid. I too need to twist and push-up on the sleeve to raise the pen when I use it. I don't see this stick-tion as a problem. There is one customization I do to the feed. I knife away part of the bottom of the radius of the feed where the flat milled portion is. I connect the flat surface where the steel post in the cap pushes the feed down to the underside groove in the feed. As I was pushing up the nib on a fully filled pen, there was a pocket of ink in this counter bore that could only lead to no good. It was blob of ink isolated from the tines and the paper. I can send pictures to you if you want. With this tiny area removed, I don't get the pool of ink, as this volume drools down the feed as I push it up out of the reservoir. It's a great pen.
Nathan, mine when the mechanism stops for a while, it's a difficult to move it, as much as removing the nib as to keep it, if it's not more than a few minutes without moving it it's as smooth as silk. Any idea what it is? I put a little more silicone grease. The first time was quite hard too, then it was smooth. It's a really good, amazing pen. I do not speak English well, some parts of the video I can not understand them well. some videos come with a translation option and this one does not. edit: I left the nib halfway out for a few minutes and the same thing happened, I have disarmed and the O-rings have a hard time moving when they are standing a little while. Is there any special way to put the silicone?
ok, after disarming and assembling for a while (and breaking a thread), I removed an O-ring that seems to be narrower and I left the other. Now it's going smooth. I know that if there are two O-rings it is because they have to be, is there a problem in leaving only one O-ring?
You can leave one o-ring, but I suspect you should have tried to TURN the rear clockwise BEFORE moving it forward....I have been able to use that as a final test for each and every one that leaves for the wider world and all have moved smoothly after first turning clockwise at the rear and giving it a steady push forward while turning clockwise. Turning it clockwise breaks the o-rings grip on the rod - the grip is part of the design, though...because that is what holds it in place so well when the nib is being flexed vigorously and perhaps over a few hours of drawing or writing. However, if you prefer a more relaxed grip and would rather not have the nib held as firmly in place once writing - you can actually replace the o-rings entirely by simply wrapping plumber's teflon tape (usually sold in small rolls in the plumber's section at the local hardware store) until it builds up enough to equate about 30% more than the outside diameter of the o-ring....then screw the retainer back into the barrel over the "band" of teflon tape until firm....and it will be a very slippery seal.
Thanks Nathan. Yes, I also did the turning of the clock, but when it was the turn to keep the nib it is too hard, so much so that I had to close it with the rod on the lid. It's a wonderful pen, I have a Waterman Flex and it's great.
The very fact that you disassembled it and put it back together had me smiling. Sometimes I get the impression that nobody even changes the oil in their own car anymore....so things like that are always smile worthy! Adding silicone grease and removing one of the two o-rings will reduce the grip, as you found - switching to teflon reduces the grip even more (perhaps too much for some of the more vigorous use of a flex nib, though). Glad you are enjoying it!
If I need some advice for some small issues I have with the pen where do I need to address these? First - I need a lot of force to move the nib out, the O rings are not smooth at all - this is for the chestnut model; the black ebonite model doesn't have this issue; what can I do ? I can't disassembly the whole nib unit because the threaded small section or cap on the main barrel is shut tight and I am not able to unscrew it and I don't want to force it; I also saw some ink drops on the ebonite rod at the end of the barrel - is ink supposed to enter that area? Thank you so much!
Has anyone heard anything about the inks? I know Mr. Tardiff was experiencing product flow issues with some components, but I haven't heard anything at all.
Hey Nathan, is it possible to create a bulletproof black ink that, when dry, doesn’t have any noticeable smear when brushed over with watercolors? Right now there aren’t black inks that perform this well unless they are pigmented or iron gall. I have seen water tests online of Polar Brown being the closest thing to what I want, but I am a bit hesitant on buying because I’ve heard there have been reformulations... and although brown is the next best color, black would still be ideal. I understand if it is too much to ask for without pigment or iron gall, though.
I've seen replacement feeds available, but I was wondering if there were replacement nibs available? I'd like to keep a couple on hand as I'm using homemade iron gall ink and homemade black walnut ink with this pen. I haven't noticed any pitting on the nib yet, but I thought it'd be a good idea to keep some nibs on hand. Thanks.
Nib creeper nib should work since it's a size 2 flex like the Safety. I've seen it at Goulet pens, pen chalet. Usually under the nib creeper name but sometimes safety
Any idea when the replaceable feeds(Safety Pen)will be available? I would like to have a couple just in case. And I love my pen! I’ve already modified it to take my favorite quill nib.
No more than 2 weeks (for a decent supply) and other parts in the months to follow (note that the safety feed IS based upon the nib creaper feed - just slightly shorter and with a rod hollow in the front as shown in the video)....unlike the vintage safety pens that began in the millions and gradually shrank in number to thousands over the last 120 years due to various accidents and no replacement parts - I'm working on getting a reserve of parts built up so that even if the worst were to happen (say, I got hit by a meteor or one of those notorious speed demon Massachusetts drivers who fail to use turn signals and pass in the breakdown lane!) there would be a decent supply of parts for a few decades. We won't have as many to supply, so the duration of the parts supply will possibly be far longer.
Maybe 10 years ago or so you made a special nib for an Admiral for me that was designed for writing in the Arabic alphabet. Funny finding you on youtube so many years later.
Just got my Boston Safety Pen a few days ago. I of course immediately disassembled it to make it wetter (personal preference) and noticed the specialized feed. Thanks for letting me know what to do if I f*ck up my ebonite carving :)
Hi Nathan, I was wondering, what ink do you recommend for a pen with a Flex nib that can go from a Hairline to 5 mm. The Iron gall from Rohrer & Klingner doesn't really work that well. So the question I want to ask is, What is the best ink you have made, for flexing?
www.gouletpens.com/products/noodlers-x-feather-3oz-bottled-ink I know I'm not Nathan but among the Noodler's inks X-Feather has the absolute best ability to hold a bead. Regular "Noodler's Black" also has amazing surface tension, you can place a large drop onto copy paper and it'll still dry in a clean circle, but X-Feather takes that attribute to the extreme.
+InkNeedLastForever 1st comment, again! Lucky me! Also, Mr. Tardif, I got the Jade Ebonite neponset, Noodler's Blue Ghost (4.5oz), Noodler's Baystate Blue (4.5oz), and Noodler's Eternal Polar Blue (4.5oz) for Christmas, as I was hoping for! I love all of the ink and pens! They all work great, and I have no idea how anybody has any problems with them. The ink works perfectly, and the pens are all joys to write with! Thanks for your time and dedication! By the way, I love the 4k format! It looks marvelous!
I forgot to add, that I got a 3oz bottle of 54th Massachusetts and an inexpensive Jinhao pen for my history teacher, a 4.5oz bottle of Heart of Darkness (with Charlie) for my art teacher , a 3oz bottle of Dark Matter for my science teacher with a Platinum Preppy, and a 3oz bottle of American Aristocracy and an inexpensive Jinhao pen for my friend, Gary, who's a left-handed writer. Everyone loves their ink and pens! Thanks for making great products!
4k needed a generator backup twice due to power outages...it takes a LONG time to render and process regardless of system capability...(reminded me of 386 processors and the age of dial up). 18 gigs for a half hour during a blizzard was a challenge...then to upload it??? The blizzard was over by the time it finally went live online, but at least I don't have to tend the generator in these negative temperatures. Frostbite in less than 20 minutes exposure right now...what good is polar ink in my safety pen if my hands freeze? Write wearing gloves... ;-)
That sounds really tough! Your perseverance continues to impress me, as you go to lengths like that to get a video out! Thanks for your hard work! Videos like these are very helpful and enjoyable to watch!
If it didn’t happen sooner, I’m sure it would have happened at some point down the road 😅 Thank you for this video. Unfortunately I don’t own one of your safety’s yet, but I am very much looking forward to it. During the interim i will content myself to fiddling with a Swan safety (based on information from your earlier video, it’s the New York style) 🖋
I think the Swan safety is more like a Parker "jack knife" safety, where it is the use of an inner cap that "seals" the nib/feed from being able to leak/or dry out (a Noodler's Charlie also has this kind of inner cap). The New York safety is a reference to the Waterman design, that was developed in order to bypass the Moore company lawyers defending the Boston design at the time and the denial by the Moore Company to Waterman for a licencing arrangement. The New York design (which includes almost all - exceptions would be Caw and Wirt - later spiral safeties, such as the Melbi and Mont Blanc and every "continental safety"), like the Boston, does not have any inner cap at all. It uses a plug (like a cork for a bottle) in the cap to seal directly against the barrel itself while the nib is completely withdrawn into the barrel/ink chamber. That is why if one flies in a plane at high altitude or experiences vigorous shakes of the pen and/or dramatic atmospheric pressure changes...the Boston and New York "plugged" cap safety designs will not/can not leak when sealed well, but the inner cap Parker/Swan style "safety" will fill the inner cap with ink waiting to fall out once the pen is uncapped. The inner cap "safety" also permits india ink and bonded inks to dry while on the nib and feed within the air filled inner cap - whereas when surrounded by liquid ink in the ink chamber the nib/feed can only dry when there is no liquid ink left to bath them and keep them wet. Apologies if this is perhaps too much info??
InkNeedLastForever yes, I do have a couple of those Swan “safeties”; however, it does extend and retract the nib and feed by turning a small step at the distal end of the barrel and is printed with “Swan self propelling pen” on the barrel, which is a bit more to type. And does seem to be in the “continental” design
Ah! The one that is not in their marketing as much! I was more concerned with the numerous advertisements Swan had (similar to Parker) about their inner cap being "safe"/ a "safety". You are quite right, they did have a genuine model before they marketed the other.
InkNeedLastForever it was just something that I had stumbled across, regrettably not having the original nib, but with a decent warranted replacement. Also has an out of place waterman clip (that grabs hold of the cap, so perhaps an “accommodation” clip?) on what as far as I can tell is the original cap (chasing and fading match).
Dear Sir, thanks for making this, like all of your pens, truly user friendly, meaning reparable by someone who is an average craftsperson, using readily available things. In that vein, I ask what glue one could use to repair a crack to the pen body? Is it ebonite, or celluloid derivative, like the Ahabs? I ask because I carry my fountain pens in my police vest pocket, and just the other day, I was assaulted by a very large, strong and insane sovereign citizen recruit, and when we crashed down, my two hundred pounds, his four hundred (yeah, really) pounds, and the momentum of fall, hit on the vest and pen. I feared the worst, but my Cardinal Darkness Ahab was uncracked (I went to the ER and the other fellow to the mental ward, but we were fine, too.) If it had of been cracked, could I have used cyanoacrylate, or would the out-gassing, like in fingerprint fuming, have damaged the pen material? I figure the safety pen would have taken the shaking without leaking, by the way, but prefer your method of testing by handshake, trust me. (My Ahab leaked only a drop or two. I consider them action ready pens, vested and tested for law enforcement use!)
I don't even think this is an art pen, it's genuinely a great fountain pen (I bought two) My only complaint is the feel of the cap when it meets the threads, but I've gotten used to it enough to not actually mind anymore - with the nib retracted, trying to screw the cap on, there don't seem to be many engagement points for the cap, so you have to twist it a little more than you'd expect to get the threads to make that initial mating. Other than that, I love this pen. It's obviously not a pilot e95s when it comes to taking quick notes, but the act of pulling the pen out, holding it upright to uncap, and sliding the nib out is such a satisfying tactile experience, I find myself using this pen ALL the time in class. I wish the included #5 nibs on this and the creaper had a finer point though. If they were a real EF point, I'd probably use them, but as they sit, I really prefer a superfine nib, so I just swapped the first one with a vintage waterman flex nib and it's phenomenal (the feed keeps up no problem) Like I said on the other video, I really hope you release the committee of safety inks in the larger bottles with eyedroppers - I want to buy the whole set, but I hate 1oz bottles. This is my first safety pen, and I really, really enjoy it. I've been using it with Platinum Classic iron gall ink, but I trust you when you told me it should be okay! That said, I did buy a second pen just in case this one died for whatever reason, it's just that awesome.
Sometimes slipping the polishing paper between the tines and moving it up against the burr can remove it in a few gentle movements. Under a microscope this will result in removing the sharp perpendicular edge of the inside of the tip, but more often than not you will find it also will result in far smoother writing than a needle fine is supposed to be capable of delivering. I know there are self-proclaimed "nibmeisters" out there who deride any "baby's bottom" effect, as they call it....but a needle fine you formed yourself that writes smoothly at multiple angles AND can deliver flex shading...is well worth disappointing such "authorities". Personalized nibs, once they please you, will always please you more than any other nib can...
Colin, To get rid of inside edges I use 0.001in thick 0.1 Micron lapping film. It only takes one or two passes and the edges are fixed. Splay out the tines using a Teflon zip baggie folded over and placed between the tine and the feed. The trick is to find the lapping film that is one one thousandths of an inch thick. It will smooth out ANY nib.
Hi Nathan :) as much as i love your company and your vids, i have to cheat on you and buy ultradraw universal ink :( I've found it to be the best black ink for artists out there.(though we use mostly, dip pens, brushes and brushpens) i've been illustrating full time for 11 years, my wife's an inker in comics, for 15 years, we used to work at a large studio and we've tried several dozen inks over the years. the most important things for artist in order are absolute blackness, quick drying, no lightening after erasing the pencils underneath (this is the absolute killer, on a 10 hour comic page, we sometimes have to spend another hour or more re-filling in blacks that have lightened, re-inking things :( , waterproof, and no feathering/bleeding. ultradraw is the standard unfortunately for us and a lot of our peers, but i'll keep buying your black inks in the hopes that one day you dethrone it :) Love 54th mass btw!
"...just a Charlie Pen." No creo yo. I don't think so. He is the most important of all your pen children. Important for what he does AND what he stads for. More so than the elegant Dixie. More so than the sophisticated Konrad, and more so than the stately Neponset. Keep the faith, Mr. Tardiff. Come back soon. Not only is your voice missed, it is missing. Bon Chane Charlot!
4k became very affordable, though broadband has still not yet caught up with its massive size. NOBODY can affordably or practically use 8K yet, so I'm not going to try that one until the plumbing of the internet improves.
Too bad the Boston Saftey will never be. We got lead on, hopefully not intended, just manufacturing is unable to produce. Such a shame American manufacturing is now basically non-existent and what is can't produce what it could just 50 years ago (Sheaffer, Parker, ...).
I’m a artist and I love my safety pens. So obviously I can’t wait to get my hands on this pen. Thanks for all the great videos.
Hi Nathan
Thanks for another informative video about the Boston Safety Pen. When I got mine about ten days ago from Pen Chalet US, the first thing I did was to take it to bits to look at the mechanism and to see how it had been made, its an impressive piece of engineering.
Watching this video a couple of times I now understand why some pen manufacturers include some really basic common sense instructions regarding the pen, such as how to screw the cap on etc, it doesn't surprise me at all when I hear of some Bic brained dunce borrowing someone else's Boston and breaking it,,, "oops sorry I've broken your pen". , "oh, well $55 please,,, you owe me for the replacement.".. Stops them grabbing your stuff without due respect and consideration.
The Boston isn't a fountain pen as such it's an artisans tool for the application it was bought for personally.,,to be able to fix it or customise it yourself is brilliant, but for goodness sake don't let anybody use it or any similar specialist application tools without strict supervision because they will break it. There are quite a few borrowers out their in the world that are capable of breaking a ball bearing,.
They need to bear the consequences of their clumsy borrowing ways; they bug me big time.
Thanks Nathan for the passion you've got for pens and ink.
Your ACE.
Best wishes to all pen people.
LeZc
@@
I can hear the frustration 3000 miles away on the left coast... Thanks for the video. I'm always amazed at how you design your pens, allowing people to repair them by scavenging parts from other pens using the simplest of tools. You learned a lot in those early years repairing safety pens and it shows in this pen. Years ago I hoped you would produce a Safety Pen and tomorrow it arrives in the mail. I can't wait to use it. The hardest part is deciding what ink to use first. Thanks for the inks, pens, and videos.
I opened my pen for the first time to find a broken feed. This video is very much appreciated, I can now repair and use the pen I was fortunate enough to obtain in the first place. :)
You make a meal out of these videos, but I love watching them. You're a wizard. And I really should get a few of these the next time I refresh my trusty Konrads.
I just wish you tuned the nibs the way I like, I have to grind the things for hours before I get enough line variation!
Your ink and pens mean so much more to me than than the sum of their parts. I will keep, use, and cherish the Charlie pen I got the other day with the Lexington Gray.
God bless.
Nathan, the pen is brilliant! I have one of these safety pens, and I love it! I have a few of your pens, and several inks too. I have been a very pleased customer. So far I've just used fountain pen ink with my safety pen. I would like to get some of that special ink for these pens, with the eyedropper, as well as spare feeds. My pen wrote well from the beginning. I did clean the nib and feed, and lube the o-rings...just to make sure. This is a great design and I applaud your work.
What did you do to clean the nib and feed? Did you disassemble them or just soak them? I'm trying to figure out the best way to flush out any manufacturing oils on mine before using the pen -- and I'm a bit leery of doing that after borking the nib on one of my Konrads.... :-( Other than that I'm very excited to have gotten my hands on one of these; guy in my pen club had one that I got to play with last month -- had I but known he decided to sell the pen this month (it's a bit too long a pen for him to fit in a shirt pocket was his reason) I could have saved a little money -- but mine was already en route when I found out....[insert "head banging" .gif here]. Oh well, it's still a great price. Although I wouldn't mind seeing one in a different color of ebonite besides black: maybe blue -- blue is a nice color for ebonite.... ;-) In the meantime, I'm trying to decide what ink to put in it first. Wondering how Kung Te Cheng would do....
I wondered about Kung Te Cheng too. I bet it would work well in there since the nib retracts and stays wet when you aren't using the pen. I don't have that ink, but have thought about trying it in the future.
I just used soap and water for the nib and feed. I did take the pen apart to clean it first, before filling with ink. I didn't soak the nib and feed. I just washed them in soapy water with my hands. Using a toothbrush to scrub the feed might be a good idea.
All three of my Boston Safety have now arrived to me safely. It is a perfect improvement to a timeless classic safety design. My only slight suggestion and to be honest it doesn't bother me in the slightest, would be the cap interior is left extremely rough and if a customer posts his pen it will mar the finish at the rear of the pen. For me, as I said it is no biggie as mine are workhorses and not "Show Queens". It is more of a heads up in case you start hearing complaints. Thank you once again Nathan, now I can slow down on what I expect my 110-120 yr old pens to accomplish or trusting those to do the repairs I am not capable any longer of doing, I and my collection are in your debt.
This looks to be a fascinating pen. I'm the furthest from being an artist. I enjoy writing with fountain pens. I plan on getting one, for that purpose, writing and using a simple, common ink. It want to enjoy the emotion of writing with an instrument of history, even if it is a remake of the historical item.
Can't help but wonder when there will be new videos on the new Noodler's red ink and the new Mueller ink? I just love your pens and inks. I now have two grandchildren who love the Ahab pens we bought for them last Christmas! And we have fifteen other grandchildren!!
Nathan, I have been having a little bit of trouble with ink leaking when capped. After tightening the cap firmly and shaking the pen around I find that ink finds its way onto the threads and even inside the cap getting all over the grip section. Should I just put some silicone grease on the threads?
I'm going to get one! I wonder if I can put Golden's fluid airbrush acrylic in it. I am thinking yes
Hi Nathan, I've pulled out the feed for this pen a few times. How can anyone crush that feed? It's solid. I too need to twist and push-up on the sleeve to raise the pen when I use it. I don't see this stick-tion as a problem. There is one customization I do to the feed. I knife away part of the bottom of the radius of the feed where the flat milled portion is. I connect the flat surface where the steel post in the cap pushes the feed down to the underside groove in the feed. As I was pushing up the nib on a fully filled pen, there was a pocket of ink in this counter bore that could only lead to no good. It was blob of ink isolated from the tines and the paper. I can send pictures to you if you want. With this tiny area removed, I don't get the pool of ink, as this volume drools down the feed as I push it up out of the reservoir. It's a great pen.
Nathan, mine when the mechanism stops for a while, it's a difficult to move it, as much as removing the nib as to keep it, if it's not more than a few minutes without moving it it's as smooth as silk. Any idea what it is? I put a little more silicone grease. The first time was quite hard too, then it was smooth. It's a really good, amazing pen. I do not speak English well, some parts of the video I can not understand them well. some videos come with a translation option and this one does not.
edit: I left the nib halfway out for a few minutes and the same thing happened, I have disarmed and the O-rings have a hard time moving when they are standing a little while. Is there any special way to put the silicone?
ok, after disarming and assembling for a while (and breaking a thread), I removed an O-ring that seems to be narrower and I left the other. Now it's going smooth. I know that if there are two O-rings it is because they have to be, is there a problem in leaving only one O-ring?
You can leave one o-ring, but I suspect you should have tried to TURN the rear clockwise BEFORE moving it forward....I have been able to use that as a final test for each and every one that leaves for the wider world and all have moved smoothly after first turning clockwise at the rear and giving it a steady push forward while turning clockwise. Turning it clockwise breaks the o-rings grip on the rod - the grip is part of the design, though...because that is what holds it in place so well when the nib is being flexed vigorously and perhaps over a few hours of drawing or writing. However, if you prefer a more relaxed grip and would rather not have the nib held as firmly in place once writing - you can actually replace the o-rings entirely by simply wrapping plumber's teflon tape (usually sold in small rolls in the plumber's section at the local hardware store) until it builds up enough to equate about 30% more than the outside diameter of the o-ring....then screw the retainer back into the barrel over the "band" of teflon tape until firm....and it will be a very slippery seal.
Thanks Nathan. Yes, I also did the turning of the clock, but when it was the turn to keep the nib it is too hard, so much so that I had to close it with the rod on the lid. It's a wonderful pen, I have a Waterman Flex and it's great.
The very fact that you disassembled it and put it back together had me smiling. Sometimes I get the impression that nobody even changes the oil in their own car anymore....so things like that are always smile worthy! Adding silicone grease and removing one of the two o-rings will reduce the grip, as you found - switching to teflon reduces the grip even more (perhaps too much for some of the more vigorous use of a flex nib, though). Glad you are enjoying it!
Is it possible to buy a replacement feed anywhere?
If I need some advice for some small issues I have with the pen where do I need to address these? First - I need a lot of force to move the nib out, the O rings are not smooth at all - this is for the chestnut model; the black ebonite model doesn't have this issue; what can I do ? I can't disassembly the whole nib unit because the threaded small section or cap on the main barrel is shut tight and I am not able to unscrew it and I don't want to force it; I also saw some ink drops on the ebonite rod at the end of the barrel - is ink supposed to enter that area? Thank you so much!
Has anyone heard anything about the inks? I know Mr. Tardiff was experiencing product flow issues with some components, but I haven't heard anything at all.
Hey Nathan, is it possible to create a bulletproof black ink that, when dry, doesn’t have any noticeable smear when brushed over with watercolors? Right now there aren’t black inks that perform this well unless they are pigmented or iron gall. I have seen water tests online of Polar Brown being the closest thing to what I want, but I am a bit hesitant on buying because I’ve heard there have been reformulations... and although brown is the next best color, black would still be ideal. I understand if it is too much to ask for without pigment or iron gall, though.
I've seen replacement feeds available, but I was wondering if there were replacement nibs available? I'd like to keep a couple on hand as I'm using homemade iron gall ink and homemade black walnut ink with this pen. I haven't noticed any pitting on the nib yet, but I thought it'd be a good idea to keep some nibs on hand. Thanks.
Nib creeper nib should work since it's a size 2 flex like the Safety. I've seen it at Goulet pens, pen chalet. Usually under the nib creeper name but sometimes safety
@@gunsmokeandghouls Thank you!
Any idea when the replaceable feeds(Safety Pen)will be available? I would like to have a couple just in case. And I love my pen! I’ve already modified it to take my favorite quill nib.
No more than 2 weeks (for a decent supply) and other parts in the months to follow (note that the safety feed IS based upon the nib creaper feed - just slightly shorter and with a rod hollow in the front as shown in the video)....unlike the vintage safety pens that began in the millions and gradually shrank in number to thousands over the last 120 years due to various accidents and no replacement parts - I'm working on getting a reserve of parts built up so that even if the worst were to happen (say, I got hit by a meteor or one of those notorious speed demon Massachusetts drivers who fail to use turn signals and pass in the breakdown lane!) there would be a decent supply of parts for a few decades. We won't have as many to supply, so the duration of the parts supply will possibly be far longer.
Maybe 10 years ago or so you made a special nib for an Admiral for me that was designed for writing in the Arabic alphabet. Funny finding you on youtube so many years later.
Just got my Boston Safety Pen a few days ago. I of course immediately disassembled it to make it wetter (personal preference) and noticed the specialized feed. Thanks for letting me know what to do if I f*ck up my ebonite carving :)
Hi Nathan, I was wondering, what ink do you recommend for a pen with a Flex nib that can go from a Hairline to 5 mm.
The Iron gall from Rohrer & Klingner doesn't really work that well.
So the question I want to ask is,
What is the best ink you have made, for flexing?
www.gouletpens.com/products/noodlers-x-feather-3oz-bottled-ink
I know I'm not Nathan but among the Noodler's inks X-Feather has the absolute best ability to hold a bead.
Regular "Noodler's Black" also has amazing surface tension, you can place a large drop onto copy paper and it'll still dry in a clean circle, but X-Feather takes that attribute to the extreme.
"Boot Size IQ" is great. I've always used "room temperature."
Boob sized IQ?
Boob size IQ?
+InkNeedLastForever 1st comment, again! Lucky me! Also, Mr. Tardif, I got the Jade Ebonite neponset, Noodler's Blue Ghost (4.5oz), Noodler's Baystate Blue (4.5oz), and Noodler's Eternal Polar Blue (4.5oz) for Christmas, as I was hoping for! I love all of the ink and pens! They all work great, and I have no idea how anybody has any problems with them. The ink works perfectly, and the pens are all joys to write with! Thanks for your time and dedication! By the way, I love the 4k format! It looks marvelous!
...becoming a habit...first reply too ;-)
Yeah, I guess so!
I forgot to add, that I got a 3oz bottle of 54th Massachusetts and an inexpensive Jinhao pen for my history teacher, a 4.5oz bottle of Heart of Darkness (with Charlie) for my art teacher , a 3oz bottle of Dark Matter for my science teacher with a Platinum Preppy, and a 3oz bottle of American Aristocracy and an inexpensive Jinhao pen for my friend, Gary, who's a left-handed writer. Everyone loves their ink and pens! Thanks for making great products!
4k needed a generator backup twice due to power outages...it takes a LONG time to render and process regardless of system capability...(reminded me of 386 processors and the age of dial up). 18 gigs for a half hour during a blizzard was a challenge...then to upload it??? The blizzard was over by the time it finally went live online, but at least I don't have to tend the generator in these negative temperatures. Frostbite in less than 20 minutes exposure right now...what good is polar ink in my safety pen if my hands freeze? Write wearing gloves... ;-)
That sounds really tough! Your perseverance continues to impress me, as you go to lengths like that to get a video out! Thanks for your hard work! Videos like these are very helpful and enjoyable to watch!
If it didn’t happen sooner, I’m sure it would have happened at some point down the road 😅 Thank you for this video.
Unfortunately I don’t own one of your safety’s yet, but I am very much looking forward to it. During the interim i will content myself to fiddling with a Swan safety (based on information from your earlier video, it’s the New York style) 🖋
I think the Swan safety is more like a Parker "jack knife" safety, where it is the use of an inner cap that "seals" the nib/feed from being able to leak/or dry out (a Noodler's Charlie also has this kind of inner cap). The New York safety is a reference to the Waterman design, that was developed in order to bypass the Moore company lawyers defending the Boston design at the time and the denial by the Moore Company to Waterman for a licencing arrangement. The New York design (which includes almost all - exceptions would be Caw and Wirt - later spiral safeties, such as the Melbi and Mont Blanc and every "continental safety"), like the Boston, does not have any inner cap at all. It uses a plug (like a cork for a bottle) in the cap to seal directly against the barrel itself while the nib is completely withdrawn into the barrel/ink chamber. That is why if one flies in a plane at high altitude or experiences vigorous shakes of the pen and/or dramatic atmospheric pressure changes...the Boston and New York "plugged" cap safety designs will not/can not leak when sealed well, but the inner cap Parker/Swan style "safety" will fill the inner cap with ink waiting to fall out once the pen is uncapped. The inner cap "safety" also permits india ink and bonded inks to dry while on the nib and feed within the air filled inner cap - whereas when surrounded by liquid ink in the ink chamber the nib/feed can only dry when there is no liquid ink left to bath them and keep them wet. Apologies if this is perhaps too much info??
InkNeedLastForever yes, I do have a couple of those Swan “safeties”; however, it does extend and retract the nib and feed by turning a small step at the distal end of the barrel and is printed with “Swan self propelling pen” on the barrel, which is a bit more to type. And does seem to be in the “continental” design
Ah! The one that is not in their marketing as much! I was more concerned with the numerous advertisements Swan had (similar to Parker) about their inner cap being "safe"/ a "safety". You are quite right, they did have a genuine model before they marketed the other.
InkNeedLastForever it was just something that I had stumbled across, regrettably not having the original nib, but with a decent warranted replacement. Also has an out of place waterman clip (that grabs hold of the cap, so perhaps an “accommodation” clip?) on what as far as I can tell is the original cap (chasing and fading match).
Dear Sir, thanks for making this, like all of your pens, truly user friendly, meaning reparable by someone who is an average craftsperson, using readily available things. In that vein, I ask what glue one could use to repair a crack to the pen body? Is it ebonite, or celluloid derivative, like the Ahabs?
I ask because I carry my fountain pens in my police vest pocket, and just the other day, I was assaulted by a very large, strong and insane sovereign citizen recruit, and when we crashed down, my two hundred pounds, his four hundred (yeah, really) pounds, and the momentum of fall, hit on the vest and pen. I feared the worst, but my Cardinal Darkness Ahab was uncracked (I went to the ER and the other fellow to the mental ward, but we were fine, too.)
If it had of been cracked, could I have used cyanoacrylate, or would the out-gassing, like in fingerprint fuming, have damaged the pen material? I figure the safety pen would have taken the shaking without leaking, by the way, but prefer your method of testing by handshake, trust me. (My Ahab leaked only a drop or two. I consider them action ready pens, vested and tested for law enforcement use!)
I don't even think this is an art pen, it's genuinely a great fountain pen (I bought two)
My only complaint is the feel of the cap when it meets the threads, but I've gotten used to it enough to not actually mind anymore - with the nib retracted, trying to screw the cap on, there don't seem to be many engagement points for the cap, so you have to twist it a little more than you'd expect to get the threads to make that initial mating.
Other than that, I love this pen. It's obviously not a pilot e95s when it comes to taking quick notes, but the act of pulling the pen out, holding it upright to uncap, and sliding the nib out is such a satisfying tactile experience, I find myself using this pen ALL the time in class.
I wish the included #5 nibs on this and the creaper had a finer point though. If they were a real EF point, I'd probably use them, but as they sit, I really prefer a superfine nib, so I just swapped the first one with a vintage waterman flex nib and it's phenomenal (the feed keeps up no problem)
Like I said on the other video, I really hope you release the committee of safety inks in the larger bottles with eyedroppers - I want to buy the whole set, but I hate 1oz bottles.
This is my first safety pen, and I really, really enjoy it. I've been using it with Platinum Classic iron gall ink, but I trust you when you told me it should be okay! That said, I did buy a second pen just in case this one died for whatever reason, it's just that awesome.
Sometimes slipping the polishing paper between the tines and moving it up against the burr can remove it in a few gentle movements. Under a microscope this will result in removing the sharp perpendicular edge of the inside of the tip, but more often than not you will find it also will result in far smoother writing than a needle fine is supposed to be capable of delivering. I know there are self-proclaimed "nibmeisters" out there who deride any "baby's bottom" effect, as they call it....but a needle fine you formed yourself that writes smoothly at multiple angles AND can deliver flex shading...is well worth disappointing such "authorities". Personalized nibs, once they please you, will always please you more than any other nib can...
Thanks for all the info, Nathan!
Here's a quick video I made of your pen with a waterman flex nib!
ua-cam.com/video/UNorUSZvbSU/v-deo.html
I just commented on it - as I always envy such nice handwriting (mine was destroyed by lyme a while ago). That is extremely nice!
Colin, To get rid of inside edges I use 0.001in thick 0.1 Micron lapping film. It only takes one or two passes and the edges are fixed. Splay out the tines using a Teflon zip baggie folded over and placed between the tine and the feed. The trick is to find the lapping film that is one one thousandths of an inch thick. It will smooth out ANY nib.
@@davidalangordon l
Thank hyou, Nathan. I am very interesterd in using this pen.
Hi Nathan :) as much as i love your company and your vids, i have to cheat on you and buy ultradraw universal ink :( I've found it to be the best black ink for artists out there.(though we use mostly, dip pens, brushes and brushpens) i've been illustrating full time for 11 years, my wife's an inker in comics, for 15 years, we used to work at a large studio and we've tried several dozen inks over the years. the most important things for artist in order are absolute blackness, quick drying, no lightening after erasing the pencils underneath (this is the absolute killer, on a 10 hour comic page, we sometimes have to spend another hour or more re-filling in blacks that have lightened, re-inking things :( , waterproof, and no feathering/bleeding. ultradraw is the standard unfortunately for us and a lot of our peers, but i'll keep buying your black inks in the hopes that one day you dethrone it :) Love 54th mass btw!
"...just a Charlie Pen." No creo yo. I don't think so. He is the most important of all your pen children. Important for what he does AND what he stads for. More so than the elegant Dixie. More so than the sophisticated Konrad, and more so than the stately Neponset. Keep the faith, Mr. Tardiff. Come back soon. Not only is your voice missed, it is missing. Bon Chane Charlot!
im noticing a major increase in video quality
4k became very affordable, though broadband has still not yet caught up with its massive size. NOBODY can affordably or practically use 8K yet, so I'm not going to try that one until the plumbing of the internet improves.
Too bad the Boston Saftey will never be. We got lead on, hopefully not intended, just manufacturing is unable to produce. Such a shame American manufacturing is now basically non-existent and what is can't produce what it could just 50 years ago (Sheaffer, Parker, ...).
"boot size IQ" ;)
Boob sized I. Q.