A fountain pen is a nib pen that, unlike its predecessor the dip pen, contains an internal reservoir of water-based liquid ink. The pen draws ink from the reservoir through a feed to the nib and deposits it on paper via a combination of gravity and capillary action.
Filling the reservoir with ink may be achieved manually (via the use of a Pasteur pipette or syringe), or via an internal filling mechanism which creates suction (for example, through a piston mechanism) to transfer ink directly through the nib into the reservoir. Some pens employ removable reservoirs in the form of pre-filled ink cartridges. A fountain pen needs little or no pressure to write.
Read more about Fountain Pen: History, Nibs, Filling Mechanisms, Inks, Cartridges, Today
Famous quotes containing the words fountain and/or pen:
“Reason is natural revelation, whereby the eternal father of light, and fountain of all knowledge, communicates to mankind that portion of truth which he has laid within the reach of their natural facilities: Revelation is natural reason enlarged by a new set of discoveries communicated by God immediately, which reason vouches the truth of, by the testimony and proofs it gives, that they come from God.”
—John Locke (1632–1704)
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He ‘s killed this may and he ‘s laid her by,
For to bear the red rose company.”
—Unknown. Babylon; or, The Bonnie Banks o’ Fordie (l. 9–14)