THE MAKING OF A PARKER DUOFOLD. *
«It must be understood that to try to describe the many detailed and intricate operations necessary in making a Parker Duofold in a few paragraphs is a Herculean task. Many operations must be left out completely and many more can only be touched very briefly. We must of necessity confine ourselves to the most important or most interesting operations —hitting the “high spots” only in an effort to get a general view.
A battery of Automatic Screw machines operates various tools on crude Permanite stock—finishing barrels, caps, etc., with absolute precision.
Some of the milling machines, lathes, diamond grinding machines, etc. used in making the tools required.
The rough material used in making barrel and caps is called Permanite which is practically non-breakable, unfading in color, light in weight, and unaffected by most acids.
This Permanite comes in solid rods or tubing according to what part of the pen it is to be used for. It is carefully inspected when received and all of it which does not meet the exacting Parker requirements, such as stock with pores in it or of a color that does not agree with the master color sample, is shipped back to the manufacturer.
After the inspection, the stock is placed in a huge storage room until its turn comes to be “ground.” This grinding is done to ensure absolute uniformity of the stock when it goes through the various machining operations, thereby ensuring accuracy undreamed of in the olden days of “hand-turning».
ACCURACY OF .0001 OF AN INCH.
Although these “grinding” machines weigh approximately four ton they are capable of being set to such exactness that a variation of 1/10,000 of an inch from the size wanted, is exceptional. After grinding, the rods or tubes are cut to the lengths required for the various parts, and these lengths go through several drilling operations and then to the curing room for “seasoning”.
In this curing room, a very high temperature, controlled by automatic thermostats, is maintained so that these lengths will have the exact amount of seasoning to be able to make them stand the hardest kind of use or abuse.
This curing, drilling, counterboring, etc. is repeated several times, each time bringing the parts more nearly to the correct final size. These little and extra precautions of not trying to hurry an operation or to see with what speed a batch of parts can be “run through” add materially to the time-required to finish the parts, but the higher standard of quality in the finished Parker Pen or Pencil is the invaluable reward.
Automatic screw machine’s complete the operations on the barrels and caps, such as threading, final boring, tapering, etc., and then each part is given a high polish, by a long buffing on wool disc wheels driven at a very high rate of speed. After the polishing, skilled opera tors mount the gold bands that beautify and strengthen the caps and the complete holder has actually the resemblance of a fountain pen, with the blind cap, outer and inner cap and barrel completely assembled for another inspection.
Applying the acetylene flame to the ball of iridium on the tip of the gold point.
View showing gold pen grinders at work.
THE GOLD NIB.
If you were to take an inspection trip through the Parker Pen factory, the department in which you would probably want to spend the most time, would be the gold point or gold nib department.
Here, one could linger for hours and not get tired of watching the many, intricate operations. One marvels at the “craft” which converts a brick of raw bullion (gold 999.8% pure) into a gold nib which must be absolutely perfect in every respect. The slightest error in making a nib is almost immediately detected by one of the many inspectors so that it is impossible for an imperfect one to be sent out.
The raw bullion of 24k fineness is secured from the U. S. Assay Office in the form of small bricks which range in value from $300 to $700. The pure gold is alloyed to 14k in a special furnace and poured into molds to form ingots. These ingots are rolled and annealed to various thicknesses depending upon the size of nib they are made into. The nib for the Senior Duofold pen, for instance, must be larger and heavier than the one for the Lady size pen.
After rolling and annealing these strips are about 6 ft. long and as mentioned before, the thickness de pends on the size of the finished nib. The first rough blanks are then die cut from these long strips to have a shape illustrated in the diagram. Here again, the size of the nib (i.e., Lady, Junior or Senior) determines the size of the die cut blank. The tip of the nib is then grooved or notched and flattened to allow space for the iridium tip.
IRIDIUM USED ON THE TIP.
The iridium used is native and comes from Tasmania, Australia. It is the hardest known metal that can be practically used. The iridium is bought in very fine pellets about the size of a small pin head. About four dozen of the die cut blanks are placed in a row and a piece of the iridium is picked up by means of fine camel hairbrush soaked in borax flux. The pellet is placed in the small notch on the tip of the blank. The next operation is to turn a fine acetylene flame on these tips. The flame immediately softens the gold but does not appreciably affect the iridium, so that the gold “flows” evenly over the entire pellet of iridium.
The butt-end of the blank is then rolled and tempered to the shape shown in the illustration. The iridium, however, is not touched but remains as a small solid ball at the tip.
A punch press then die cuts the blank to the exact size desired and here the blank shows the first real evidence of being part of a fountain pen. A small hole is pierced in the nib and the name and size are stamped on it. So far, the nib has been flat, and the metal has been dulled.
The next process curves the blank to its proper shape and then it is given its first rough polish, then polished on a hard felt wheel and finally on a cotton buffing wheel.
The Assembly Department where the final fitting of the feed, gold nib, sack, barrel, etc. is done.
This man’s word is law. The slightest imperfection in any part of the pen, means that pen will never leave the factory.
GRINDING. ASSEMBLING AND INSPECTING.
One of the most delicate operations, and the one that requires the most precision, accuracy, steady hand, and deal- eye, is the slitting operation. The nib is held against a copper slitting wheel about 4I/2″ in diameter and which revolves at a speed of about 2500 revolutions per minute. A very fine grade of carborundum and oil is used as a lubricant while the slit is made in the exact center of the ball of iridium, straight through the pen to the small, pierced hole. If this slit is not exactly in the center, or is slightly irregular, the nib cannot be used.
After this slitting operation the nib passes to the pen grinders who clean the slit, grind the gold off the iridium, smooth all rough spots and grind, the nib to one of the degrees of points —extra fine, fine, medium, broad, stub, oblique, and needle point.
It is understood, of course, that the nib is carefully inspected after every operation so as to be sure that an imperfect one will not be issued.
The final polish or “rouging” is then done, and the nib is then tested by writing on paper. If the nib is not perfect in every respect, if it cannot pass every possible inspection and test, it is reground, repolished, until it can, or if that is impossible it is rejected for use.
The perfect nibs are then boiled in water and alkali, dried and weighed (so as to account for all the gold) and sent to the assembly department where they are mounted. Before the pen is finally shipped, however, it is written with again by six people to make absolutely certain that it is in perfect condition.
THE FINAL ASSEMBLY.
In this department the gold nib, feed, ink sac pressure bar and button are fitted and adjusted in the holders. The fitting of the feed and gold nib is one of the most particular operations for the accuracy and care taken here have much to do with the proper working of the pen.
INSPECTION.
It has been noted that at the completion of almost every operation, the various parts have been rigidly inspected to make absolutely certain that they were all up to the standard of quality demanded in Parker products.
The final inspections are made when the pen is completely assembled. Each point is tested with ink on paper by several inspectors. Each ink sac is checked to make sure it is working properly. Each cap is screwed on and off to ensure perfect fit and then each barrel is given another high polish to bring out the full luster and to make doubly sure that no finger marks or sediment of any kind which may have accumulated will be on the pen which the merchant receives.»
(*) From a c. 1928 Parker brochure.