Varieties and Types of Pens

Pens are writing instruments that use ink to leave a mark on the surface. It is probably the oldest writing tool we still use (although we use styluses differently again).

Pens have evolved significantly, offering many opportunities for writing experiences for different purposes. From traditional fountain pens and versatile ballpoint pens to smooth rollerball pens and modern gel pens, there is a pen for every writing style and preference.

Different Types of Pens

Reed pen is a pen made from one piece of bamboo or reed? It has a split nib that leads ink to the point of a pen. It is the oldest type of pen that we use, and they have been found in Ancient Egyptian sites dating from the 4th century BC.
Quill is a pen made from a flight feather of a large bird? They replaced reed pens that were too stiff and had a short lifespan. They also have split nibs and work with the help of capillary action and gravity. They were the most important writing tool in the Western world between the 6th and 19th centuries.

Ink brush is a small brush used for calligraphy in East Asia. Its body is made from bamboo, gold, silver, jade, ivory, red sandalwood, or spotted bamboo. While its hairs used hairs from a goat, Siberian weasel, pig, mouse, buffalo, wolf, rabbit, tiger, fowl, deer, and even human hair.
Dip pen is a pen similar to a quill but with a metal nib and a handle. It appeared in the 19th century and replaced quills for good because it could be mass-produced cheaply. Like quills, they didn’t have a reservoir for ink and had to be dipped in the inkwell from which they got their name. They were used for writing but are now mainly in illustration, calligraphy, and comics.
Fountain pen is a pen that has a reservoir for water-based liquid ink. It has a nib as a dip pen but flows from a reservoir placed in the handle of the fountain pen through a feed and gets to the point by capillary action and gravity. Early models appeared in the 10th century, but the first working model was made in the mid-19th century.
Ballpoint pen is a pen that leaves a mark on the surface by dispensing ink from its reservoir by rolling a metal ball at its point. The first one was designed in 1888, but this one and all others had problems with work until the ballpoint was designed and improved in 1938.

Marker , or felt-tip pen, has a reservoir for ink filled with absorbent material and a tip made of felt. Its body is made of glass, aluminum, or plastic. The first one was made in 1910 but wasn’t popular until the 1950s. It is usually made to write on many different surfaces.
Rollerball the pen is almost identical to a ballpoint pen, but it uses water-based liquid or gelled ink instead of oil-based viscous inks. Roller Ball pens were invented in 1963 by Ohto Japan.
Space pen is a special type of ballpoint pen with a pressurized reservoir for ink and is hermetically closed. This allows it to write under any angle, with no gravity or water. It was invented in 1966 and was used by NASA in its space flights.
Ruling pen It is similar to a dip pen but has two nibs whose distance can be changed with a screw. It was used for technical drawings in engineering and cartography, but today, it is mostly used in picture framing or calligraphy.
Gel pen uses gel ink which has high viscosity. Its ink can be seen on dark surfaces, used on smooth, non-absorbent materials, is less likely to bleed through to the other side of the paper, and makes finer, nicely controlled lines.