[Russ]

These have been mentioned before, and a quick search for "Ackerman" in the sketch forum turned up six threads with discussion on the Ackerman pump pen.

For those who don't know what an Ackerman Pump Pen is, here is the link to the web site:
http://www.ackermanpens.com/index.htm

I have been promising to write a review about these pens, so here it is. Please feel free to post a reply with your own observations etc.



These pump pens are similar to fountain pens, but I would not consider them fountain pens. They are in their own category somewhere between fountain pens and dip pens. They carry their own ink supply, and can take even those waterproof India inks which would be the death of a normal fountain pen. But you can't just uncap, draw, and then cap again without thinking -- as you could with a regular fountain pen. These pump pens take a bit of care and maintenance, such as wiping the nib often, and paying constant attention to the amount of ink on the nib. As you use the pen, the ink supply to the nib can go dry periodically, just like a dip pen. When this happens, you can turn the pen upside down so the concave side of the nib faces up like a spoon, and press the pump until a bead of ink appears on that concave surface of the nib. In this respect it is similar to dipping, but without a bottle. You may want to hold a rag or tissue paper under the nib when doing this to catch any drips.

Perhaps the biggest selling point is the fact that you can use super flexible dip nibs in these including manga G-pen nibs and Spencerian/Copperplate nibs. Some of these dip nibs are more flexible than the most flexible fountain pen nib.

I have both the old version of the pump pen from several years ago, and the recent model. The current model is a great improvement in many areas. The only issue I had with this model (and the old model as well) is the high probability of getting ink on your fingers when you first uncap the pen. I played with mine and discovered it was apparently due to the fact that an amount of ink stays in the nib/pump section of the pen after use instead of returning to the clear ink reservoir in the barrel. When you pull off the cap, the vaccuum action plus the slight depressing of the pump forces this ink out of the pen, covering the nib section and inside of the cap.

So the solution is to get that ink to return to the ink reservoir. The pump section is basically a hollow tube with a rubber section in the wall that increases the pressure inside the tube when pressed. It forces the ink inside to go one way or the other with the help of gravity. What works well for me is to first wipe the ink off the nib since that ink is beyond the control of the pump -- wiping is an inescapable necessity with both dip pens and pump pens -- then simply hold the pen vertically, nib end up, and press the pump a few times, forcing the ink to go back down into the reservoir with the help of gravity. You may want to wrap some tissue paper around the nib at this time to catch any ink that decides to escape upwards. This has worked well for me, and I no longer have inky surprises when uncapping the pen.

It goes without saying that you should always store and carry these pens vertically with the nib end up. This common sense rule applies to fountain pens as well.

Some pump pens are apparently difficult to uncap, as if an inner vaccuum is holding them in place. I found a combination of twisting and pulling helps to get the cap off. Also, don't forget to expose the air vent hole in the cap or you will be fighting a losing battle!

I have both the brush pump pen and the standard nib pump pen.

The brush pump pen has what looks like a natural hair bristle brush similar to Chinese or Japanese calligraphy brushes. It made very nice brush line just like a calligraphy brush -- a very versatile tool! Since bristles hold a large amount of ink without dripping, these take less attention than the nib pump pen, and are as easy to use as any brush or brush pen out there. You still have to clean the bristles after use just like any traditional brush.

My standard nib pump pen came with a very flexible dip nib. I later inserted a G-pen nib which also fit perfectly. These really do allow you to use a dip nib without carrying a separate ink bottle. You really can use waterproof India ink or other drawing inks, but you must keep in mid the inherent problems with these inks, namely, the way they harden and cake when the dry. Fortunately the pump pen is a very simple tool with a few simple parts which can be taken apart and cleaned -- even scrubbed -- as needed. Try taking apart a regular fountain pen for cleaning!



If you are looking for a portable super flex drawing pen or calligraphy or brush pen, then the Ackerman pump pen is a great tool which doesn't cost much, and is definitely worth a try if you don't mind the care and maintenance required to keep it working properly. It's practically indestructible and very simple, so it should last forever, making it a good investment.

[MarcV]

I recently acquired a replica of the Cowan pen which Thomas Jefferson used. A Stylophiles review is available here: http://www.wndpens.com/review2.htm

I wonder if the Ackerman pen would benefit from some 18th century technology -- the use of surface tension in the ink itself to prevent burps and sprays. The simple tube seems to work because the size of the release orifice is small, as small as the screw centered in the nib cap. No ink is released unless you deliberately choose to make it happen.

The Cowan pen must be shaken or tapped to release more ink onto the back of the nib; there is no pump button. In fact, there are no moving parts at all. It's just a tube with a large machine screw in one end and a small machine screw in the center of the end with the nib slot. Ink viscosity is a factor in how much ink is released when called for.

On the other hand, maybe this is the pen that inspired Ackerman in the first place. If he posts on Web forums, maybe he could comment directly.

[DeAnander]

but this looks like a nifty DIY project, no?

the tricky part is the bit that captures the dip nib... the rest looks like just tube, plug, tap and die, appropriate machine screw... stainless steel would probably be the ticket.

[MarcV]

Well, if you had a tube tapped at one end and plugged with a cylinder with a small tap at the other end, then you'd just have to use duct tape to hold the nib. For a more delicate looking instrument, maybe children's bandage tape -- the kind with clowns or polka dots -- could be used.

Seriously, I guess the plug could be long enough to capture a significant part of the tongue of the nib with enough length left to swell out to the inside diameter of the tube.

You could be right; any machine shop with sufficiently small tooling could probably make one of these.

The TJ model is sterling silver, but that may be a disadvantage. Silver is a good conductor and would contribute to expansion of air trapped in the tube, thus making ink release spontaneously. Stainless steel is a poorer conductor and would help insulate air (and ink) from a warm hand.

Of course you should wear gloves while handling silver anyway...

[Russ]

I'd love to see close up shots of the Jefferson pen, especially the nib feed or whatever is there in place of a nib feed.

[MarcV]

I am a klutz with pictures, Russ, but I'll look into that. (I don't know how to shrink them to reasonable dimensions.)

I'm holding the pen, uncapped, right now and the nib end has a brass cylinder pressed into a, possibly steel, cylinder which in turn is inside the sterling shell. The brass cylinder is tapped, obviously all the way through, with a hole that looks to be about 1/16" diameter. The brass cylinder itself is about 3/16" in diameter and the outside diameter of the pen is about 5/16". As I suspected when I posted earlier, the brass cylinder insert has a cutout occupying a little more than 1/4 of the circumference; in that cutout is the nib tongue.

The cap is simply an extension of the sterling shell and the brass insert with it's steel collar extends 3/32" past the barrel. This makes the cap fit nicely. The cap, as described in the Stylophiles review, has a screw dead center inside; it's that screw which forms the solid attachment to the barrel. In so attaching, it plugs the ink release hole, keeping ink in the barrel and away from the nib no matter which way the closed pen is oriented.

You're a pen guy; you'd recognize the nib right away. "IRIDIUM POINT GERMANY" Sound familiar? The good news is that it's gold plated. The bad news is that it's gold, not silver like the sterling barrel. If I can figure out how to wrest the nib from it's little nest, I'll substitute a flexible chrome plated or silver colored nib.

When capped, by the way, it looks very much like a large nail with the point ground off. Very simple lines, but the 'nail head' is oval, not round. That means this thing will not roll on a reasonably level surface.

I'd say it's well thought out. If they hadn't cost so much money (mine was orginally $150+) maybe they would have sold more.

Sadly, the manufacturer no longer answers the phone (disconnected) and e-mail bounces. Van Cort seems to be no more.

[gobidharma]

Hello,

I have two of these pens, the Manga G-Nib pen and the Brush pen. I have had these for nearly a year or so, and have replaced the nibs/brushes in each of these once already.

In general, this is a very rugged pen system. I like that you can replace the parts that get worn out. Mr. Ackerman has been very useful with advice to keep these inking smoothly.

I did have trouble with both of my pens at one point, because of the ink I was using. I will no longer use waterproof inks in these, the maintenance is ridiculously time consuming. I like knowing that if they should clog due to neglect, I can merely soak them to get them working again.

That being said, I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner, which may speed things. The ink in question was a bottle of Koh-i-Nor Rapidograph black ink. This clogged far too quickly. Lately I've been using Non-waterproof Higgins black ink.

In general, I use these pens once or twice a week, so they will be sitting unused, sometimes for as long as two weeks. I don't like to have to strip them down and clean them every time.

I would recommend that you occasionally re-seat the ink resevoir, so that the ink build up around it does not lock it into place. This happened to me once, and I had to tear the plastic resevoir off using a set of pliers, which ruined the resevoir. I find that I get ink on my fingers all the time when I use these, and now no longer carry them in my field drawing kit. Ruined one too many pair of jeans doing this.

If you have to replace the brush tips, I recommend wrapping the ferrule in a cloth swatch or alcohol swab, to prevent marring the chrome bit. You will need to use pliers to pry this straight out in the direction of the tip of the brush. The new brush tip is fed in from behind this piece. The fit is necessarily tight, so it will take some strength, a slow-steady pull. I would also soak that part of the pen before attempting this, to break up the residue that may bind there.

Overall, these make excellent pens for inking comics, where you are going over pencils for the final black & white artwork before scanning to color. The G-pen in particular is good for outlines, but also for hatching and textured mark making. For gestural sketching, however, I find that I still go back to my Rotring Extra Fine Artpen, which has a much more consistent flow, though not nearly the range of expression.

[Studio-1-f]

Few pix of Cowan pen:
-- http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/images/vc31.jpg
"Thomas Jefferson's monogrammed silver pen: Thomas Jefferson ordered this small cylindrical silver fountain pen with a gold nib from his agent in Richmond, Virginia. It was probably made by William Cowan (1779-1831), a Richmond watchmaker. An elliptical cap that screws into the end of the cylinder and caps the ink reservoir is engraved "TJ". " (http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/jefferson/jeffdec.html)

-- http://www.loringpage.com/pens/cat02a_files/image118.jpg (Context: http://www.loringpage.com/pens/cat02a.htm)

-- And this is neat! --> http://wiki.monticello.org/mediawiki/index.php/Writing_Instruments_and_Ink

Jan

[Russ]

Fascinating! I would love to see photos of the original handwritten correspondence.