Gehrig auto'd pic on Craigslist MKE

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

Actually, they don't. If one pressed hard enough with a fountain pen to make the impression above, it would have split the nib. Anyone who is used to a fountain pen--as Gehrig certainly was, since he died before ballpoints were introduced--knows not to press hard.

Actually, they do. Since it is pressure on the nib that causes the flow of ink, you would need to press down to get any ink flow. Hold a fountain pen by the thumb and forefinger at the top and try to write. You may get some ink flow, but not consistently. This is the same with any writing instrument, whether a pencil, ballpoint or even sharpie. Other points to consider are whether the person is left handed, how are they holding the pen and is the nib damaged.

A person writing crook left handed draws the pen across the writing surface differently from a right handed person.

You do not need both halves of the nib ball to be touching the surface for it to write. The flow would be affected, but it would still work.

The nib end is flexible. That flexibility, though barely negligible, is what allows for a smooth flow of ink no matter the hand pressure of the writer. The nibs are designed to work for all people and not customized. Also, the two halves of the nib can be separated by less than ½ of a millimeter and still work. This could also cause the scratching of the emulsion of a photo. Have you ever heard the expression ‘scratch out a sentence’? Think of the sound a fountain pen makes on good paper - scratching.

I have attached several images. The first is a flatbed scan of the signature of 1928 Olympic gold medalist Ray Barbuti signed around 1928. Clearly a fountain pen signature. The next few show the same signature at an angle where I have purposely added lamp glare. You can see glare off of the ink which makes it look like ballpoint pen ink, but is clearly not. You can also see the indentation into the photo and the separation of the nib on the bottom of the ‘y’. At the top of the ‘R’ in Ray and the ‘B’ in Barbuti there is also consistent separation of the nib. I have attached an enhanced image of those two letters to show this. I believe this refutes your contention.

Cheers,
Michael