We will examine here only the materials traditionally used in the construction of the pen [[body]] (and [[cap]]), leaving out those used for other parts, such as decorations or nibs. Regarding the nibs we need only to say that if at fountain pens dawn they were made out of gold for technical reasons (the resistance to corrosion from inks, particularly aggressive in that era), in the mid '30s the choice of this material was only for commercial reasons, given that the use of stainless steel would have allowed (and in many cases did, as for the [[Esterbrook]] and Japanese ''[[shiro nib]]s'') a gold substitution without any technical problem. | We will examine here only the materials traditionally used in the construction of the pen [[body]] (and [[cap]]), leaving out those used for other parts, such as decorations or nibs. Regarding the nibs we need only to say that if at fountain pens dawn they were made out of gold for technical reasons (the resistance to corrosion from inks, particularly aggressive in that era), in the mid '30s the choice of this material was only for commercial reasons, given that the use of stainless steel would have allowed (and in many cases did, as for the [[Esterbrook]] and Japanese ''[[shiro nib]]s'') a gold substitution without any technical problem. |