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 March 8, 2008)
The glossary is organized alphabetically. For numbers, look under the spelled-out form; e.g., for 14K, look under fourteen.
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Wahl-Eversharp
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A pen manufacturing company located in Illinois. Founded as the Wahl Adding Machine Company in 1905 by John C. Wahl, the company in 1913 purchased a controlling interest in the Japanese company founded a year earlier by Tojuki Hayakawa to manufacture the Ever-Sharp propelling pencil that he had invented. In 1917 Wahl purchased the Boston Fountain 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. Eversharp 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 first tier.
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Wahl-Oxford
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See Oxford.
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WARRANTED
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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.
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washer clip
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 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.
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WASP
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(also Wasp) A Sheaffer sub-brand (1930s-early 1940s), named using the initials of the W. A. Sheaffer Pen Company. WASP produced several models, including some that were principally testbeds for new design features such as the Vacuum-Fil system. 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). See also Addipoint.
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Waterman. A. A.
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A pen manufacturing company located in New York City. Founded in 1897 by Arthur A. Waterman, who was forced out in 1907. Known for its invention of the twist filler, 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 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.
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Waterman. L. E.
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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 popularized 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 first tier, JiF, lever box, safety, Waterman, A.A.
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Watermelon
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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.
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Waverley nib
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(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, introduced by the Waverley Pen Company (British), 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). See also ball point.
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web
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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.’) 2 Synonym for shoulder; see shoulder.
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wet noodle
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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.
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wetting agent
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See surfactant.
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wet writer
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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.
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White Dot
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A trademarked identification device applied to certain Sheaffer’s pens beginning in 1923. 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 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.
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white feed
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 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.
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white gold
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An alloy of gold with platinum or nickel; has a silver-white color. Used decoratively for pen bodies or furniture; also occasionally used instead of rhodium- or palladium-plated yellow gold to make nibs for pens with silver-colored bodies or furniture. See also gold.
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Window Pane
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(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.)
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Wing-flow
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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.
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wire band
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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.
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woodgrain
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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 as Mottled, making no distinction for its woodlike appearance. The Wahl pen shown here has a “Rosewood” grain. See also hard rubber, mottled, rosewood.
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Word Gauge
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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.
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wringer
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Another name for a twist filler. View a description and filling instructions here.
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Writefine
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A Parker sub-brand (late 1930s-early 1940s). Writefine pens are well made Parektte-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.
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writeout
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(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.
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writing pad
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The portion of the nib tip’s surface that actually contacts the paper when the pen is writing.
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The information in this glossary is as accurate as possible, but you should not take it as absolutely authoritative.
