Leroy Fairchild

The exhibited Gold Pens case is a vintage storage / display case for Fairchild Gold Pen nibs.

The depicted Fairchild pen holders are equipped with Fairchild No. 7 & No. 8 Gold Pen nibs.

The patent continues discussion of an “Improvement in Manufacture of Pens”, describing his invention background as “To produce a pen of the class to which this invention relates, that will have all the elasticity of nib possessed by & pen made entirely of gold, is the object of this invention, and it consists in first rolling the combined metal strip in the direction of its seam, to a thickness some two or three times greater than that of the finished pen, and in then cutting from such combined metal strip blanks of a similar form to the blanks used for making pens entirely of gold, but with a "burr" at the extreme ends of the seam, between the two metals, whereby such blanks, with the point previously soldered thereon, can then be rolled across their seam to the thinness required for the pen, without being split or broken along the same, and without injury to the point, after which the blanks are to be raised into the form of a pen, as heretofore.”

Mr. Wiley depicted an efficient layout of gold and silver strips as a pattern for reducing waste.

His description and novelty claim are as follows:

“Figure 1 is a view of a strip of gold, showing it as marked off for being cut into blanks for the nibs to

the pens.

Figure 2, a vier of the strip of silver, showing it as marked off for being out into blanks for the heel part

to the pens.

Figure 3, a view showing a nib and heel blank united edge to edge.

Figure 4, a view of a pen completed.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

A, in the drawings, represents a strip of gold, rolled to the proper thickness, and cut clean along both edges. This strip, from end to end, is shown as marked off into proper-shaped blanks, B, for forming the nibs.

C, the strip of silver, rolled to the proper thickness, and then marked off into blanks, D, of a quadrangular shape, with the broad end, E, somewhat wider than the triangular nib-piece B that is shown in fig. 3, as joined to it by the use of solder for the purpose of preventing the silver (which is the softer of the two metals, gold and silver,) from being rolled thinner than the gold, as the combined metal blank is rolled to the thinness required for the pen, and to cable the blank to be rolled in a dircetion across its seam without danger of splitting the blank.

Previous to rolling the blank, as abovo stated, the point is fused on the same, which is allowable, as by the accumulation of the solder at the ends of the seam, the blank can be rolled in a direction across the seam, as before stated.

In lieu of accumulating the solder upon the blank at the extreme ends of the scam, between

the two metals, if the two strips from which the blanks are cut are joined or soldered together before being cut, and then the blanks cut from the combined strips, the samo result can be effected if in the cutting of the blanks a "burr" is formed from the metal at the tivo ends of the seam, it being here meant by a "burr" leaving the metal "thrown up" at the two ends to its seam.

By my improvement, herein described, @ pen can be produced, as is obvious, having all the elasticity and

durability of a pen when made entirely of gold, and at a greatly-reduced expense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is—

In the manufacture of

pens composed of both gold and silver, and known as the Union Pen, giving the seam between the two metals an extra thickness by means of solder, or otherwise, substantially as and for the pose described.

Wiley’s

Wiley’s

Wiley’s Stylographic Pen Patent of 1880 was filed just as the Stylographic pen war between McKinnon and  Cross was heating up. 

EDWIN WILEY, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

PROCESS OF POINTING PENS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 228,427, dated June 1, 1880.

Application filed April 26, 1880.

Be it known that I, EDWIN WILEY, of the city of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in the Manufacture of Pens; and I do hereby declare that the follow. ing is a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

This invention is in the nature of an improvement in the process or method of pointing the ends of gold and other pens; and the invention consists in the process or method of pointing pens with iridium alloyed with plati-num, substantially as hereinafter described.

Gold pens have heretofore been pointed with iridium as it is found in the market, and the difficulties experienced in pointing pens with commercial iridium are that but a small proportion of the iridium is adapted to the purpose of pointing pens, much of it being in the shape of grains too small to be used for that purpose, and all of it being more or less impure, and, besides, the commercial iridium is extremely brittle, and the very greatest care is nevessary in grinding it to form a perfectly smooth and rounded point, so that it may slide over the paper when in use without undue friction.

As a matter of fact, for the points of some kinds of pens, such as the stylographic pens now in use, where the iridium is ixed to the point of a small gold wire, it is almost impossible to fix the commercial iridium to these points, a very large proportion of the efforts to do so proving ineffectual.

By my process, however, all these diffieul-ties are overcome, and the iridium is rendered pure, and every portion of the commercial iridium rendered available for the purpose of pointing pens, and it is fixed with certainty to the pen-points in every instance, and when fixed it is readily ground to a smooth round point.

To accomplish these results I add to the commercial iridium, by way of an alloy, a small proportion of platinum-say one per centum and by means of an electric lamp I fuse the two metals together into globules of the desired size, and afterward slit the globules into little strips and cut the strips to sizes adapted to the purpose ot pointing the pens, the iridium being sweated or otherwise secured to the pens for that purpose, and ground down and finished in the ordinary way.

The iridium may be fused without the admixture of the platinum and cut up for pen points; but the fused pure iridium is spongy, being filled with minute holes throughout its substance.

For this reason it is almost impossible to grind it down to a smooth round point; on the contrary, it will have a rough and scratchy surface notwithstanding the utmost care in grinding and smoothing. Still, for some kinds of pens, the fused iridium may be employed; but by the admixture of a small percentage of platinum with the iridium a dense and non-porous result is obtained in every way suited for pointing pens, and particularly well suited for pointing the point of the writing-wire of the Cross and the point of the Mackinnon stylographie pens.

The addition of the platinum to the iridium not only renders the iridium dense, but it also renders it, to some extent, tougher, so that it will not splinter when being ground.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The improved process of pointing pens herein described, consisting in fusing iridium with platinum into globules, dividing such globules, and subdividing such divided portions, attaching them to the pens, and finishing the same, substantially as specified.

EDWIN WILEY.