A Note on Grinding

I mentioned in the initial Anatomy of a Pen post that you could have several types of grinds on a pen.

I was just re-reading a source I’ll be talking about in a future post, Steel Pen Trade, by A.A.S. Charles, when I came across a section I hadn’t noticed the first time.

Charles was writing in the 1980’s about his experience from the 30’s onward working in the industry. He knew folks who had made pens in the 19th-century so could speak to the means they used to make pens. But his is a very British viewpoint, so that should be taken into consideration.

Much of the booklet is comprised of his descriptions of how they made pens, step-by-step. When he’s talking about grinding (page 19) he mentions that there are three types of grinds.

1. Cross ground. This is the grind up near the tip across the axis of the pen.
2. Straight ground. This is a grinding down the length of the pen, along the axis
3. Letter ground. This third grinding is a decorative grind. He calls it a letter grind because often when you had an embossed letter pen, like the famous “J” pen with a raised “J” in the embossed area, they would grind off the top finish to better expose the letter and make it stand out from the darker ground.

I’ve seen examples where this third ground is not done on an embossed design, but is instead used to create a highlighted patch of bright steel to contrast with the rest of the pen. One recent example I acquired was a Perry Colonial Pen. Perry was one of the very first, biggest and best of the British pen makers.

In this pen, the grinding is especially well-done. You can see clearly from the first photo below the double grind. There’s the clear cross grind that extends across the axis of the pen, along the slit from the end of the hole forward toward toward the tip. (this grind should not touch the tip because that might make the tip either too fragile, and/or scratchy)  You can also see the lighter color of the straight grind around the hole.

What’s not as clear from that picture, but can be seen in the one below, is the third grind, behind the hole toward the heel. The bright patch of grey steel contrasts nicely with the bronze finish of the rest of the pen.

And so that you can see a true “letter grind”, here’s an old William Mitchell (British maker) X-Fine “J” pen. The black finish shows off the letter grind particularly well, even if it makes it more difficult to see the other grinds. It also makes it pretty obvious why it was called a “J” pen. They made other letter pens, but the J pens were the most popular.