Glossary Text D to O

	Deco Band	collector term for Wahl-Eversharp oversized Gold Seal flat-top pen, after its Greek key pattern cap band; also applied rather indifferently to the same pens when furnished with rhomboid pattern bands
	Demi	shorter model of Parker 51 or late English Aerometric Duofold
	demonstrator	a pen or pencil that has cutouts, or that is made of transparent materials
	doctor's pen	either a pen in white, sometimes found with a matching thermometer holder, or an ED pen with a compartment in the barrel holding a thermometer
	doughnut	collector slang for a Conklin crescent-filler lock nut
	drop action	pencil which extends and retracts by gravity, with a manual release catch; sometimes also called a dropper
	ebonite	another name for hard rubber
	ED	eyedropper; the simplest fountain pen, filled with an eyedropper
	FDW	initials of Frank D. Waterman, head of Waterman 1901-1938; found on English-hallmarked Watermans as a maker's mark
	feed	the part on which the nib rests, and which supplies the nib with ink
	ferrule	the metallic portion of a dip pen into which the nib is inserted
	filigree	an overlay with pierced work; technically incorrect, as true filigree is wirework
	Flighter	Parker designation for models with caps and barrels of stainless steel
	German silver	same as nickel silver; anti-German sentiment during WW1 led to the abandonment of this appellation on US-made products
	GFT	gold filled trim
	gold filled	a laminate of gold and brass; the gold layer is much thicker than gold plating
	Gregg	a system of shorthand; several makers produced Gregg models, which typically have an enamel Gregg logo set into the top of the cap
	half-Balance	recently-coined term for Sheaffer pens with streamlined cap & flat-bottomed barrel, hybrids produced to get rid of old parts after the introduction of the streamlined "Balance"; often mistakenly called "transitional"
	half-overlay	pen with its barrel but not its cap metal-covered
	"halo" imprint	Parker's logo of an arrow superimposed on an ellipse; the trademark application is dated Dec. 23, 1963, and dates the mark's first use in commerce to Sep. 1958
	hard rubber	also known as ebonite or vulcanite; early naturally-derived plastic made by vulcanizing latex rubber with a large proportion of sulphur; the usual material for fountain pens up until the second half of the 1920, and used for decades thereafter for feeds and sections
	hatchet-filler	John Holland's filler of the 'teens, an attempt to get around Sheaffer's lever-filler patents: a hatchet-shaped piece is used to depress a pressure bar; often used to describe Crocker's system as well, which might better be called an end lever filler
	hooded nib	a conical hood conceals all but the tip of a small nib inside; the Parker 51 was the first and by far the most popular such design
	holder	in older fountain pen parlance, the "pen" was the nib, and the rest of the pen was termed the holder
	HR	hard rubber
	injector pencil	same as repeating pencil
	ink-pellet pen	a number of firms made pens with a compartment to carry ink pellets, which were to be placed in the barrel and dissolved in water; most such pens were eyedroppers, but lever and button-fillers were also produced; sometimes also called a trench pen, in allusion to their marketing to the military during WW1
	ink pencil	another name for a stylographic pen
	ink shutoff	safety valve to prevent leakage; Wahl's didn't work, Onoto's did
	Ink-Vue	Waterman filling system of the later '30s, essentially a lever-operated bulb-filler
	inlaid nib	a nib permanently fixed to the outside of the section or hood
	inner cap	internal cup that seals against the front of the section when the cap is on
	integral nib	nib made as part of the section or barrel; Parker's T-1 is the prime example
	iridium	generic term for nib tipping material, though other platinum-group metals are more often used instead
	italic	chisel-like tip, which makes thick downstrokes and thin cross-strokes
	J-bar	cheap one-piece spring and pressure bar used in low end lever-fillers; too often used as an inferior replacement part in better pens
	jewel	decorative boss found on some pens at cap top and barrel end
	JiF	French Waterman; from the initials of the franchise holder Jules Fagan
	jointless	Parker eyedropper design where the nib assembly was inserted en bloc inside the end of the barrel
	ladies pen	general term for a clipless pen with a ringtop fitting, usually a smaller pen
	LE	limited edition; also the first two initials of Lewis Edson Waterman
	LEC	in Waterman's numbering system, a suffix on overlay pens denoting "Lower End Covered"
	lever box	Sheaffer's original lever was pinned directly to the barrel; Waterman and others pinned it to a lever box, which was held in the barrel by tabs
	Leverless	Mabie Todd/Swan's system in which an end knob, when turned, wrings out a sac; unlike most twist-fillers, the sac is not attached to the end knob
	LF	lever-filler; the most common filling mechanism
	lid	pots and pans have these; pens have caps
	LL	Liquid Lead: a Parker exclusive, a ballpoint that wrote with liquid graphite; refills are no longer available
	longshort long and short	pocket pen with a long cap that covers most of the barrel when closed; when the cap is posted on the barrel end, the overall length is some 50% greater
	Lucky Curve	Parker's patented feed, whose inner part was bent to contact the inside of the ink reservoir
	Lustraloy	Parker's name for its matte-finished stainless steel, as used on 51 and 61 caps
	magic pencil	retractable pencil with complex internal mechanism: when the end is pulled, the nozzle extends
	Mandarin	Parker's Mandarin Yellow, a color used in Duofolds of the late '20s and early '30s; unpopular then, highly sought-after now
	manifold	a stiff nib, used for making copies with carbon paper
	marbled	an irregularly patterned combination of translucent colors; used to describe plastics but not hard rubber
	matchstick filler	a hole in the side of the barrel allows a matchstick to be used to depress the pressure bar; some pens have a nub atop the cap which may be used similarly
	MHR	mottled hard rubber
	middle joint	a feature in some eyedropper pens, where the screw-joint was placed centrally
	military clip	a clip that permits the pen to sit flush with the top of the pocket, so that a uniform's pocket flap can close over the pen; the term is not generally used for pen models whose clips all fit the above criterion (e.g., the Parker 51)
	mottled	multicolored hard rubber, almost always red (orange) and black; the colors are mixed in a random pattern, as opposed to woodgrain or Ripple hard rubbers
	music nib	a very flexible nib with two slits, specially made for musical notation
	nib	a pen's point; in older parlance, itself called the "pen"
	nickel silver	tarnish-resistant nonprecious alloy resembling silver; same as German silver
	night & day	overlay pierced with longitudinal slots
	Nozac	the only American screw-action piston-filler, made by Conklin in the '30s
	nozzle	the part of a pencil which holds the lead
	NPT	nickel-plated trim; in most cases, the trim is actually solid nickel silver
	oblique	a chisel-like nib with a tip that angles back at its left; confusingly, also sometimes called a "right oblique"
	Octanium	Parker's silvery, nontarnishing alloy used in its non-gold nibs of the '50s
	overfeed	an early type of feed which lies atop the nib; usually extends below as well, and would thus be more accurately termed an over-under feed
	overlay	a pen covered in precious metal, or the metal covering itself; the term is not used to describe pens with all-metal caps or barrels