Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1883-10-31
The Making of Steel Pens.

The Making of Steel Pens.
The steel pen is modern invention.
not fifty years having elaped since it
was introduced, and like many other
inventions it met with much opposi-
ton and had number of rivals. Of
these the quill pen was the most for
midable, and to this day the quills of
geese are used by some old stagers.
Pens OF silver and gold, the latter es-
pecially, have been great favorites with
those who admire much fexibility in
pen, and the handy selffeeders, as the
stylograpic, have plenty of users. But,
after all, the steel pen is the most gem
eraally used, and unlike most inven-
tions, the method of it's manufacture
has hot been essentially changed or
improved.
The steel from which pens are made
Is the finest crucible steel rolled into
sheets 1900 of an inch thick. From
this the blanks are cut by means of
punch and die in presses worked By
hand or foot, the operators being girls.
The side slits in the pen, the central
oval or semiclrcular hole, the corruga-
tlons or embossings, the curved or
semlclrcular form to the original fat
blank, and the stamp of the pen or the
maker, are all formed and produced by
similar means-the screw hand press
or the lever foot press-by the use of
punches and dies, each pen being
handled separately.
These corrugations and slits and
central cuts are not merely fanciful or
naments. but are intended to adapt the
pen to the user. Some want resist
ing pen, very stiff and allowing con.
siderable pressure without opening the
nlbs wide enough to make 9 heavy
mark; others a yielding pen that re-
qulres but a touch to open the nibs.
There are many degrees of these quail
tiles required, as well as differences in
sizes; so that single establishment
makes no less than forty-six styles of
steel pens
Of course, cast steel of such extreme
tenuity becomes hardened by these
successive DRESSINGS and punchings,
and must be annealed. This is done
by placing the blanks, or unfinished
pens, in a cast iron box leaving q
space all around of half an inch or
more, which is filled with ashes or fine
charcoal. The whole is then subjected
to glowing red heat for about two
hours, and allowed to cool When an
nealed, these blanks may oe rolled up
by the fingers just like so many bits of
tea lead, which they much resemble in
| softness.
In heating for hardening the same
method is used-packing in double
boxes six or eight inches square--and
when the pens are red hot, they are
poured into tank of animal oil. When
taken out from the bath they must be
handled carefully, as they are not only
stiff and brittle, but crumbly; they
can be squeezed to minute fragments
between thumb and finger. They are
then placed within a cone-shaped
sheet iron receptacle open at the large
end and mounted on spindle, and are
rotated over glowing fire until they
turn to full or Glow" blue. They
are then chilled in oil, and when cool
are ratified in saw dust until they are
quite clean and bright. The next pro-
cess is the grinding of the nibs on mi
mute wheel of fine emery and corun-
dun, and lastly comes the essential pro-
cess that completes the pen and makes
it pen-the Sitting of the nibs. This
is done by pair OF shears acting the
same as the presses ard punches.
This splits the steel from point to GEN.
tral hole without removing particle
of material. The pens are then lac
quered, straw or brown, blued or black
ed, or left bright as the style demands,
and packed for the market