[  Reference Info Index  ]

Like any other specialized item, the fountain pen has amassed a lexicon of terms that are unique. And like other jargon languages, fountain pen jargon can be cryptic or confusing. This glossary presents brief definitions for many of the most common pen terms. It is not complete (an impossible goal); but it is a work in progress, and I welcome suggestions for terms to add. (Revised August 2, 2010)

The glossary is organized alphabetically. For numbers, look under the spelled-out form; e.g., for 14K, look under fourteen.

If there is a magnifying-glass symbol () next to an image, click the magnifying glass to view a zoomed version for more detail.

W
Wahl-Eversharp	(Wahl-Eversharp Company) A pen manufacturing company located in Illinois. Founded as the Wahl Adding Machine Company in 1905 by John C. Wahl, the company in 1915 purchased a controlling interest in Keeran & Company, maker of the Eversharp propelling pencil invented in 1913 by Charles R. Keeran (U.S. Patent Nº 1,130,741). In 1916, Wahl completely absorbed Keeran’s company, acquiring the rights to the Eversharp name and gaining also the angular Eversharp logo that remained in use into the 1940s. In 1917 Wahl-Eversharp purchased most of the assets of the Boston Safety Pen Company and moved its operations to Chicago. By about 1927, Wahl-Eversharp had risen to become a premier pen maker and displaced Conklin as a member of the “Big Four” American makers. Perhaps the best known of the company’s pens is the 1940s Skyline (shown below), a streamlined pen designed by noted industrial designer Henry Dreyfuss. During World War II, the Eversharp company (having by then dropped Wahl from its name) purchased the rights to László Bíró’s ballpoint patent and in 1945 introduced the CA, which was a catastrophic failure. In 1957 Parker purchased Eversharp’s writing instruments division. See also Boston, first tier, Wahl Pen.
Wahl-Oxford	See Oxford.
Wahl Pen	Wahl-Eversharp’s omnibus model name for its pens produced c. 1921 to c. 1928, supplanting the Tempoint. The Wahl Pen appeared in hard rubber and in sterling silver, silver-pated, gold, and gold-filled versions. There were clip-style pens and ringtops, in sizes using Nos 2, 3, 4, and 5 nibs. Shown below are a 652C, in sterling silver, and a gold-filled 656A. See also Tempoint, Wahl-Eversharp.
WARRANTED	A mark included in the imprint on nibs made by anonymous makers; indicates that the nib’s gold content is warranted to be as described, usually 14K (below, at left). Used to combat fraudulent marking of plated steel or brass nibs in such a fashion that the term 14KT or 14KT GOLD was visible while the word PLATED or PLATE was concealed within the section (below, at right, a plated brass nib). See also 14K, karat, nib.
washer clip	A clip that is attached to the pen’s cap by means of a ring, or washer, through which a bushing or jewel is screwed or riveted into the cap. The washer-clip design was patented in 1916 by Parker (U.S. Patent Nº 1,197,224) and was first used on the company’s Jack-Knife Safety pens. Shown at right is a clip from a 1920s Parker Duofold Senior (“Big Red”). See also clip.
WASP	(also Wasp) A Sheaffer sub-brand (1930s-early 1940s), named using the initials of the W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company. Sheaffer produced several WASP models, including some that were principally testbeds for new design features such as the Vacuum-Fil system. At various times, these pens were imprinted as products of the Wasp Pen Company or as WASP pens made by Sheaffer. The line “shook out” eventually to two primary models: the Addipoint, which featured a user-replaceable steel nib unit; and the Clipper (below, an Oversize Clipper Deluxe). Read a profile of the WASP Clipper here. See also Addipoint.
Waterman, A. A.	(A. A. Waterman & Co.) A pen manufacturing company located in New York City. Founded in 1897 by Arthur A. Waterman, who was forced out in 1907. Known primarily for its 1903 introduction of pens using a twist filler invented by Harry W. Stone (U.S. Patent Nº 744,642), A. A. Waterman produced pens of very high quality, in some cases better than that of comparable pens made by L. E. Waterman. In 1912, L. E. Waterman sued A. A. Waterman (dba Modern Pen Company) over “devious” advertising tactics implying that the two companies were affiliated; after that time, A. A. Waterman pens were required to bear an imprint stating that there was no such connection. Shown here is a mottled twist filler made before the resolution of that lawsuit. See also Waterman, L. E.
Waterman, L. E.	(L. E. Waterman Company) A pen manufacturing company located in New York City. Founded in the early 1880s by Lewis E. Waterman, an insurance salesman, who discovered the channeled feed. Waterman introduced its riveted CLIP-CAP in 1905, opularized the screw-action safety pen beginning in 1907, and in 1915 introduced a lever filler using a boxed lever to circumvent Sheaffer’s lever-filler patent. Waterman was one of the “Big Four” but was slow to adopt celluloid in the 1920s and modern styling in the 1930s, thus entering a decline, and the U.S. company survived only until 1957. JiF Waterman of France now owns the Waterman name and remains in business, producing a broad variety of pens. Shown here is a Waterman’s Ideal Nº 52, perhaps the most widely collected vintage Waterman pen. See also CLIP-CAP, Day, first tier, JiF, lever box, safety, Waterman, A.A.
Waterman Nº 2	(also Waterman #2) See nib number.
Watermelon	Term for a rare striped Parker “51” cap, made of yellow and rose gold in the same pattern as the Rainbow cap used on the Parker 61. See also Rainbow.
Waverley nib	(Also T. U. nib, turned up nib) An open nib whose tip is curved upward slightly so that the nib presents to the paper at what appears to be a lower angle of elevation. This design, invented in 1864 by Duncan Cameron and used by the Macniven and Cameron Pen Company (British) for steel pens and on the company’s Waverley-branded line, results in smoother performance. It also offers more usable surface toward the end of the tip so that the nib works better for users who hold the pen at a high angle of elevation, and it is consequently well adapted to many left-handed writers. Shown below are an original 1920s Waverley nib (left) and Sheaffer’s 1930s/1940s version of the design (right). Note that Sheaffer never used the Waverley name in reference to its products; the name was a trademark of Macniven and Cameron. See also ball point.
web	1  A pattern with an irregular network of colored lines, used by Parker for barrel visulation on black Vacumatic Juniors (shown near right), or the much more regular rectangular-block pattern used on the “Golden Web” Vacumatic Junior. (Shown far right; Parker referred to this color simply as “Brown.’) See also Golden Web.   2  Synonym for shoulder; see shoulder.
wet noodle	Colloquialism describing a superflexible nib. Commonly used in reference to the extremely flexible nibs on some vintage Waterman’s pens; hence, “a Waterman wet noodle.” See also nib.
wettability	The degree to which a solid can be wetted by a liquid; a higher wettability indicates that the liquid (e.g., ink) will flow over the solid’s surface more readily than it will flow over a less wettable solid. Palladium-plated nibs are more wettable than plain gold ones, and this difference produces better flow in plated nibs; but it also makes the plated nibs more prone to nib creep. Materials that wet easily, e.g., hard rubber, are sometimes referred to as being hydrophilic; materials that do not wet easily, e.g., polystyrene, are hydrophobic. See also capillary action, nib creep.
wetting agent	See surfactant.
wet writer	A pen whose nib is adjusted to produce a heavy flow of ink (but not necessarily a broad line) that dries very slowly. Extremely wet writers are prone to produce feathering or bleeding; and because of copious lubrication from the ink flow, they characteristically write more smoothly than pens adjusted for less flow. Contrast with dry writer.
White Dot	A trademarked identification device applied to certain Sheaffer’s pens beginning in September 1924. The White Dot indicated a lifetime warranty until the U.S. Federal Trade Commission prohibited the offering of a warranty if a fee was charged unless the fee was decribed in type the same size as, and in close proximity to, the warranty statement itself.[1] The White Dot has been applied at various times on the end of the cap (shown below), the side of the cap above the clip, the side of the cap below the clip, the side of the barrel, the back end of the barrel or blind cap, and on the clip.
white feed	A feed variant (illustrated to the right on a Rose Glow Sovereign and also above, on a Marine Green Striated Valiant, at Waverley nib) used c. 1939-1940 by Sheaffer, fashioned to Sheaffer’s standard comb-feed design of that period, but made of a white material instead of the usual black hard rubber. See also feed.
white gold	An alloy of gold with at least one white (silvery) metal; has a silver-white color similar to that of platinum. 18K white gold is used decoratively for pen bodies or furniture, and occasionally instead of rhodium- or palladium-plated yellow gold to make nibs for pens with silver-colored bodies or furniture. The most economical white gold contains nickel along with smaller amounts of copper and zinc; but nickel has been linked to allergic dermatitis, and nickel-safe white gold alloys generally use palladium with a smaller amount of silver. See also gold.
White Rubber Company	Located in Ravenna, Ohio, the White Rubber Company was from 1919 to 1985 the principal U.S. manufacturer of pen sacs. In that year, White put its pen sac machinery (built in 1926) and remaining sac inventory up for sale. In 1986, Peter Amis and Bob Tefft purchased the equipment and sacs. In 1987 they set up the Pen Sac Company, which has since been the principal U.S. sac manufacturer. See also sac.
Window Pane	(also Windowpane) Collectors’ term for a design consisting of a rectangular grid that resembles the panes of a window, used as decoration on metal pen bodies and caps. Shown below is a Window Pane cap from a Vacumatic-filling Parker “51”. (Parker referred to this design as Heritage.)
Wing-flow	A pen model introduced by Chilton in 1935. The name refers to two tabs, or “wings,” on the sides of the nib; these tabs wrap around to the underside of the feed to keep the nib and feed in perfect alignment (shown in animation below). Made in plain dark colors such as Tuscan and black, most Wing-flow pens are ornamented with inlaid gold-filled or sterling silver bars in attractive Art Deco arrangements, as shown here. The winged nib design is brilliant engineering, and Chilton also used it on the Wing-Flow’s successor, the Golden Quill. It is still in use on pens such as the Namiki/Pilot Vanishing Point and the Parker Sonnet.
wire band	Collectors’ term for a very narrow cap band, circular in cross-section (hence “wire”), placed at the cap lip; introduced by Sheaffer at the end of World War II and used on mid-line pen models such as the Sovereign II (illustrated below) and the Craftsman. Caution: Do not be misled by the common but erroneous 1:1 association of the Craftsman name with wire-band pens. See also Craftsman.
“wire” pen	A name for Sheaffer’s Vacuum-Fil plunger-filling pens, used internally by Sheaffer employees (notably the repair department); derives from the plunger shaft, which was made of 0.081" wire (primarily stainless steel, but also celluloid-coated mild steel at times). The pen illustrated below has its plunger pulled out all the way to expose the wire. See also Vacuum-Fil.
Wirt	(Paul E. Wirt Fountain Pen Company) A pen manufacturing company located in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in the early 1880s, Wirt was for a time probably the largest U.S. pen producer. Early production comprised primarily overfeed pens in black and mottled hard rubber, with a selection of overlay pens that included gold filled and solid gold as well as abalone and mother-of-pearl. When the company began making underfeed pens, its nibs still resembled those of dip pens in that they lacked breather holes. (Feeds were vented to the underside.) Shown below is a typical late-model mottled eyedropper. Paul Wirt himself was a prolific inventor, with many patents for pens and other items — including a massaging device and a design for a body for stringed musical instruments. ¶ Wirt sold pens both to the trade and at retail; the largest single retailer of Wirt pens was Sears, Roebuck & Company, which retained Wirt pens in its catalog until about 1910. ¶ Wirt had self-filling pens in its catalog as early as 1903, and it eventually settled on lever fillers. Paul Wirt sold the company in 1925, and production later migrated to celluloid. The company ceased production during the Great Depression but remained in business doing repairs and assembling job-shopped components for some time thereafter.
woodgrain	A mixture of red or brown material with black, usually hard rubber, blended so as to resemble the pronounced grain of a wood such as oak. Waterman usually referred to this material (shown below) as Mottled, making no distinction for its woodlike appearance. See also hard rubber, mottled, rosewood.
Word Gauge	Conklin’s name for a transparent window running the length of the reservoir space in the barrel of the company’s Nozac pen. The window was calibrated in 1000-word increments (1M, 2M,…), purportedly to indicate how much longer the user could continue writing before the pen needed to be refilled. See also Nozac.
World’s Smallest Pen	(also Doll Pen) A tiny slip-cap eyedropper-filling fountain pen made c. 1910 by Waterman. Measuring 11/2" long capped, the pens are fully functional. They were made primarily in black hard rubber; however, a few red hard rubber specimens are known to exist, and there was also supposedly a safety version. The term “Doll Pen” may derive from the fact that one of these pens, in black, is on the King’s Library table in the exquisite Dolls’ House built between 1921 and 1924 for England’s Queen Mary.
w.r.	“with ring”: Waterman’s standard designation for a ringtop pen. See also ringtop. Read an explanation of Waterman’s Standard Numbering System here.
wringer	See twist (definition 1).
Writefine	A Parker sub-brand (late 1930s-early 1940s). Writefine pens are well made Parkette-style lever fillers fitted with iridium-tipped steel nibs bearing a WRITEFINE imprint and a Parker date code. (The dark green pen shown here has a nib dated 1Q1940.) The WRITEFINE-imprinted clip resembles that on a Striped Duofold and is secured with a threaded metal tassie similar to that on a Thrift-Time. See also Thrift-Time.
writeout	(also write-out) The distance a pen will write, beginning with a full ink supply, until it runs dry. Pen companies use mechanical writing machines to test writeout.
writing pad	See sweet spot.

The information in this glossary is as accurate as possible, but you should not take it as absolutely authoritative. If you have additions or corrections to this page, please consider sharing them with us to improve the accuracy of our information.