welcome to a new factory tour by Appelboom
we are today in Peine which is close to
Hannover in Germany. In Peine is the nest
of the Pelikan family the factory where
all the little birds are made Pelikan is
a company that was founded in 1838 by
Carole Hornemann
and you find the style of the Souveran pens
in the Pelikan collection since
the 50s. In the 80s the series was given
the name Souveran with a
pinstripe sleeve is still considered the
symbol of the Pelican brand worldwide it
is a brand ambassador and the company's
flagship product the recognizable
striped transparent barrel the clip in
the form of the beak of a pelican and
the handmade gold nibs are very
recognizable for the super rare
connection let's have a look at how this
weapon is made the most eye-catching
feature of the Sephora is the striped
barrel the production of this sleeve is
subject to an elaborate process the
typical stripe material is cut and based
and made by formula developed specially
for pelican also called cellulose a step
it takes month until the block profiling
stripes is finished and shipped from the
producer in Italy to Germany in large
shells
to make the material into a barrel it
needs to undergo a few steps first the
raw material needs to be cut in the
right size note that there are different
colors of green in the material this is
also the place where the first check of
the stripes are done if a plate doesn't
have straight lines it is thrown away
and not used for the super happens after
the first stage the small plates of
material are lined up for the next stage
they are heated up with this machine
after that a hammer curves the heated
material
and the dispute in the UVO which makes
it into the shape of a tube the turning
wheel lets the heated material cool down
a little bit and after that it is pushed
out of the machine this cylinder is put
together with a special glue so it
doesn't get loose
first the open part is located and face
down after that the tube is being
submerged in the special liquid and
tubes that are now glued together are
collected for the next stage the next
stage is that the sleeve is cut in the
right size this is done two at a time
the sleeve has already the different
colors of green but to make them more
shiny the sleeves are polished this
result is done only by polishing the raw
material there is no lacquer or extra
treatment involved just polishing the
polishing is done by a cotton material
and some polishing works the polishing
can be done by hand or by machine the
polishing machine has a cotton cloth
that is rotating all the time to make
sure the material doesn't scratch the
sleeve is also rotating the spare sleeve
cannot be assembled on any pen therefore
there is a plastic part molded
underneath by an injecting norther
machine the plastic is needed to guide
the piston inside and to create the
fitting for the front part before the
barrel goes to the assembly the barrel
is checked by hand for imperfections
imperfections can be a small dent or
scratch that was made during the
production process or that the stripes
are not even only the most beautiful
barrels are used for the super events
the new process exists out of 20 steps
which also includes cutting the right
shape of the lip the embossing of the
recognizable Pelican logo on the nib the
forming of the round shape assembling
the Iridium tip assembling the feat and
extensively testing
after the gold 14 karat or 18 karat is
rolled in the right thickness and cut in
the right size the small place Arbutin -
machine and cut in the form of the nib
the waste of cutting nib obviously will
be recycled as are the other processes
of the gold in their production also
this is done by hand piece by piece
after the shape of the nib is cut the
embossing of the famous Pelican net
design is done with the embossing also
two gold marks are placed at the gold
nib the design of the net is quite
precisely so is the diameter of the
Pelican logo six millimeters while the
breeder hole has a diameter of one point
one millimeter as you can probably
imagine the mode for the doors mints are
mirrored so on the nail it looks right
when the gold has the right marks on it
a straight blade is banded using this
mode they small to make sure the nib has
the perfect curve for the best writing
performance after the bending the nip
still cannot write the nib needs to be
fitted with an Iridium tip the Iridium
tip is made by small iridium balls that
are welded at the top of the gold nib on
the left you see the nib with out the
Redeem depth while on the right the nib
has the tip on it
the process is done by this machine and
the right-sided coordinate with outer be
radiative is placed in the wheel on the
left side of the wheel the position of
the nail is checked and then at the
bottom the Iridium ball is welded at the
front part of the golden as are the
other processes also this process is
done by hand the final step is that the
nib and feet are assembled and tested
here you see how a m200 nib is assembled
the feed and nib pushed together inside
the ring that holds the nib
and they are aligned perfectly to each
other because of the standard where the
parts are put into after the nibs are
assembled they are checked on the reel
loop if the imprint has any
imperfections and if the tines are
correct then the nip is tested by head
and a little paper she puts between the
tines is a test to see if the slit is
indeed 0.04 millimeters that is needed
for the best writing performance if the
tines folded paper the nib is approved
besides the gold nibs Pelican also makes
steel nibs for the entry-level pants
like the pura the production of the
stainless steel nibs is similar to the
production process of the gold ones the
only differences is that this is done
automatically so also the nibs are cut
in the right size stamped with the logo
and bend it in the curved size after
that the nibs get redeemed every weld on
it and the slit is cut they also have a
machine that is checking each and every
steel nibs imperfections the metal ring
golden or rhodium coated of the gap is
not glued or welded to the resin cap the
cap is molded around the ring before
this process starts the ring and the
resin parts are checked carefully after
that they are put in the machine the
machine is closed for 20 seconds and
more these two parts together after that
the complete parts are checked again for
imperfections
this lady is working on the clips of the
superin in this case she worked on
ballpoint pens but the process for the
fountain pens is quite similar the clip
is placed on the cap and after that it
is screwed together
after all the pieces are made they are
assembled by hand
during this assembling process the
functionalities are destined and the
material is checked again on
imperfections if you put a four part and
the barrel to each other there is a
small gap between the both parts this
gap is melded with ultrasonic energy
together so the final part doesn't have
this gap anymore and the two parts are
impossible to let go of each other
here you see a preassembled piston
mechanic when you turn clockwise the rod
is put down and turning counterclockwise
the rod comes up and in combination with
the barrel it can suck up the ink at
this station the piston mechanic and the
barrel are put together first the gasket
is finished with silicone grease then
the piston mechanic is pushed in the
correct position in the barrel and
tested if the turning works properly
both ways if you don't like the piston
mechanism Pelican also offers their high
quality found open ink in ink cartridges
the filling process of the ink
cartridges is not done by hand as you
can imagine but by this amazing machine
first the basic plastic parts are put in
the machine after that the veneer of the
cartridge is welded by ultrasonic
welding to the end of the cartridge then
the cartridge is turned over the needle
filled the ink inside the cartridge
until a certain level and then on top
the famous small balls which we all
collected in primary school close the
cartridge and you have the final product
rolling out of the machine it's complete
process is done 12 at a time
once the super n is put together the
panic gets a final check before it got
the Pelican approval to leave the
factory the nib gets tested the material
is checked for imperfections and the
functionalities have to work as well
note that all this tests are done by
hand once all the super happens are
ready to be shipped they are packed and
shipped to the distributor order stores
like Appelbaum where you can find the
Pelican server and writing instruments I
noticed during this factory - that the
passion of the staff of Pelican for that
super rare collection is amazing
the great gap for their flagship product
is noticeable and they are really proud
of it the quality is outstanding and the
structure in the factory is fascinating
if you use a super I've found a pen you
feel the craftsmanship it is must-have
for everybody
you
