The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1893-06-23
HOW PENS ARE MADE.
Part of the Method Observed in Eng.
land Kept a Secret.

Faft OF the MeJ0OO ODSeTVeu Eng
land Kept a Secret
A celebrated poet tells us that moth
ing is new The assertion seems true
of metallic pens. 1t appears as certain
as anything of the sort can well be that
they were known as far back as the |
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries,
and that they were made in large mum
bers in Birmingham more than hundred |
years ago. 1t was, however, 1928 or
1924 before steel pens began to be
made by cheap process and to take
the place of the old fashioned quill. If
that process had not been invented |
what Aocks of geese we should require
now For it is said that 5000, 900
pens are made in Birmingham every
week and that fifteen tons of steel are
used in their making. To watch how
pens are turned out is very interesting.
First of all, sheets Of steel have to lie |
rolled, and as pens are weighed and
not counted-a gross being considered |
to weigh so muCh-it is clear that those |
sheets must be of an even thinness
For this reason every part of the steel
is measured with very great care and
faulty pieces are rejected. The steel,
which is all right, is cut into strips as
broad as two pens, put together, are
long. These strips are given to women
and girls called "cutters, who sit be-
fore presses. The steel is placed over
a little hole, and at the swing of
handle down comes a punch, passing
clean through the metal, falling into
hole, and pushing the pen blank
through The pieces of steel thus
made are taken to another room and
there the hole at the nib is cut out
with a second press, just like the first.
The third process, called "anneal.
ing" is for the purpose of making the
steel soft, so that it will not crack or
break. 1t is very simple. The pens
are put into furnace until they be-
come a dull red, and are then taken
out and allowed to cool gradually.
Women afterward take these pens,
and with wonderful quickness put them
under a heavy steel stamp worked by
foot This is the stage when the pen
receives the name of the maker and all
other particulars which may appear on
it. Next the pens are bent by yet an
other press to the shape in which they
reach the user, and after that they are
again put in furnace and heated to a
dull red On being taken out they are
thrown into oil, and this sudden cool
ing has the effect of making them sc
brittle that they may be snapped in
two as easily as piece of glass. As
this process makes the pens very greasy
and dirty, the next thing done is tt
boil them in soda and water, afte
which they are white and clean. The,
are then placed in an iron Cylinde
which goes round and round over
number of gas jets. In this the pen
are kept until they turn a dark blu
from the effects of the heat, and thel
they are removed Now the pens arr
still hard, but they can be bent withou
breaking They are in fact what i
called tempered" Another cleaning
follows. The pens are mixed with we
cinders or something that looks lik
that and churned by machinery in al
iron barrel until they become white
When they have been treated in tn,
same way with a fine dry substance
they are as bright as silver. Yet an
other trihing process comes next, IanC
then we reach what used to be thu
great secret of pen making. 1t wa
done in locked and darkened rooms
The work people were bound by oatl
not to. tell, No visitor, not ever
royalty itself, was allowed to see it
And what is this carefully bidder
secret3 Merely Sitting the pen from
the hole (made at the second stage G
its journey through the works. to tn
point
Simply speaking, the tool which doe
this consists of pair of scissors NIGEL
fixed in a press. Each pen is held be
tween two square blades of stee
These coming together cut the pc
exactly in the middle of the poin
Now the pens are finished ready fC
use. But some undergo two or tire
further processes to make them loo
bright and smart, or to color them be
tween brown and blue, or to max
them plated with copper or gilt VIII
would think that pen passl d throug
so many hands and took so much car
and skill to make2 Yet pens are mad
with such quickness that they can b
sold at very low prices In Birminl
ham some kinds have been bought a
as little as u pence gross. Tha
means that about fifty have been sol'
for halfpenny. Only about fifty year
ago steel pens not so good as thes'
cost one shilling each. fhe chang
has been brought about by improved
machinery and by the number of pen
which can now be made. Figure
prove that more steel is used up TO
making pens than for swords and guns
all over the world London Chatter
boz.