John Heath’s Telephone Pen, manufactured in Birmingham about a century ago, has a turned up point which gives it a smoother action than the Perry nib that I was using the other day.
As I had filmed myself adding watercolour, this YouTube video ran to a couple of minutes so, as a commentary would have been superfluous and the sounds of the pen scratching and my Winsor & Newton Bijou watercolour box rattling off camera weren’t very inspiring, I searched a music track on YouTube.
The search terms ‘Pen & Paper’ brought up the perfect track; Pen & Paper by Evelution. I like the way the music builds as sketch takes shape and introduces some colourful chords as I start on the watercolour. After the intro it kicks off with a scratchy sound just at the moment when I put pen to paper.
Lovely video. I like how much ink seems to be held by the Heath’s. Unfortunately for me they appear to be totally unavailable anywhere these days.
Sadly John Heath’s closed c. 2001, so you’d be lucky now to track down any nibs.
I have one such nib that I found in an old pencil case
I just opened a very old box of jumbled up, messy nibs given to my 92 years old mom by a longtime friend years ago. I came across two of these Telephone pen nibs (possibly more once I sort the mess out). They’ll need some care and cleaning. Then, I’ll give them a go. I chanched on your post when making a Search for the name of the manufacturer. / May you thrive.
It’s got to be worth a try. Hopefully they haven’t been maltreated like the first dip pens we were given at junior school, which got used – not by me, I must emphasise – as darts with a makeshift darts board drawn on the vinyl tiles of the classroom floor.