Glossary: Fountain Pen Bits, Pieces, and Other Stuff
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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 May 16, 2007)
The glossary is organized alphabetically. For numbers, look under the spelled-out form; e.g., for 14K, look under fourteen.
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U
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Ultra Giant
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A huge BHR cone-cap eyedropper-filling pen made by Parker, larger than the Red or Black Giant, fitted with a Nº 12 nib and a compartment in the barrel within which is space for a small pen; known examples have a tiny RHR pen in this compartment. The Ultra Giant is literally too large to use and may have been produced as a salesman’s sample. In 1998, Bexley produced an Ultra Giant limited edition of 25 sets complete with a small pen inside the larger one. See also cone cap, giant.
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underfeed
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See feed.
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untipped
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Describes a nib made without the addition of a hard alloy at the tips of the tines to reduce wear. See also nib, tipped, tipping material.
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uppercase
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See majuscule.
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urushi
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(pronounced oo-roo-shee; also known as Chinese Lacquer) A remarkably durable and very glossy natural lacquer coating made from the sap of the urushi tree (native to Japan, China, and Korea). The principal ingredient is urushiol, an oily substance that hardens by absorbing moisture from the air. Urushi can be colored with pigments or dyes, as illustrated below on an ebonite pen, and it is also used as the substrate and binder for decorative techniques such as maki-e. The reddish color on the pen shown here is intentionally uneven, and it will fade with age to become redder. See also lacquer, maki-e.
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The information in this glossary is as accurate as possible, but you should not take it as absolutely authoritative.
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