This is about Eureka's design philosophy.
My top priority is durability, other objectives are considered secondary.
The most important objective is to maximize durability.
only then, other features are designed harmoniously without altering the main design features.
Of course, there may be some compromises in some situations, but strict rules are applied.
My durability objective is to achieve a lifespan of approximately 100 years for major components.
So, when developing a pen durability-oriented mindset is important,
Also, the quality of the materials used is very important.
(I only use German & Japanese materials, and exclude Chinese materials for main components)
For example, regarding PEEK, many precision machine processing companies avoid using Chinese PEEK material.
On the surface it looks like PEEK, but it tends to gum up when you actually machine it, making it difficult to achieve high precision & quality.
Under the same processing conditions, German PEEK products have no problems.
I heard a story of a certain owner who lost thousands of dollars worth of Chinese PEEK material, due to the above mentioned problem.
Therefore, I do not compromise with material quality, and only the highest quality is used.
The top priority is durability, so my design mindset is completely different from existing fountain pen designs.
As you witnessed in the hammer test conducted not long ago (https://eurekafp.tistory.com/676),
With that hammering power, the majority of typical fountain pens will get destroyed in one blow, even when barrel/cap/grip are in assembled state. (Some really strong ones may hold up a bit)
In the case of my dodecagon symmetry peek, it strongly held numerous blows, even when the barrel/cap/grip are struck independently in disassembled state. In the video, I had to use a tremendous power, to force it to break. This just shows how durable it really is.
The Peek and Ultem fountain pens achieved outstanding durability.
Although ebonite models (urushi, etc.) are not as good as Peak & Ultem, I tried my best to make it as strong as possible, within the given parameters.
If I were to increase user convenience, exterior aesthetics, and special features,
A certain reduction of durability is unavoidable.
I hope there are no misunderstandings about my design philosophy.
This is my core objective for developing fountain pens, so I have no intention of changing it.
Based on the above, to achieve the 100 year durability goal,
the following are fundamentally excluded and will not be developed:
1. Plating on the external exposed part (plating will eventually get damaged)
---> nib gold plating is located internally, so ok
2. Exterior decorations such as rings, badges, etc. (they reduce main component wall thickness, plating will get damaged, eventually break, etc.)
3. Clip is avoided (eventually the plating will get damaged. also it will get damaged if dropped due to user mistake)
---> Can be replaced with a stopper that can be self-installed/repaired, if needed
4. Nib also will eventually become malfuctional,
so it must be possible for users to replace it with a variety of brands of nib at any given time.
(11 types of ebonite feeders have been developed, for a variety of nib brand selection)
5. Piston filler is avoided (eventually will break at the areas where friction occur. Clear ink view area is susceptible to discoloration. A crack will be detrimental to the entire barrel component. The barrel will be especially weaker if its structure is made up of two different internal & external parts, due to wall thickness reduction)
<--- dealing with this problem by using converter / cartridge / eye dropper style
6. Grip section made of multiple parts is avoided
(if multiple parts are combined, cracks will eventually occur due to a decrease in the thickness of the outer wall, and the bonded area will cause problems later on)
<--- The grip part and all other parts are one solid unibody design, and they are manufactured using 100% precision machining process (components will be structurally stable and strong, if machined from a solid rod. Also outer wall thickness can be over 3mm thick)
7. In the case of urushi pens, problems such as urushi delamination, discoloration, and surface abrasion may occur over a long period of everyday use.
So my main focus for developing urushi fountain is also achieving the highest level of durability possible.
Aesthetics, and other objectives are seconday.
This is why I developed the Super Urushi System (Currently 4th gen.)
(I use self-developed state of the art technologies/techiniques/know-hows to achieve maximum possible durability, achievable with urushi material. This advanced urushi coating system is practically impossible for typical urushi workshops)