Parker Pen's EP Point: Smoother Writing Through Chemistry

Throughout its history, the success of the Parker Pen Co. was largely the result of a commitment to innovation through research and development.

- TIM LAROS

Parker employed some of the very best designers, engineers, chemists, scientists, and physical metallurgists available in what became "the Technical Division." Parker also contracted basic research to other institutions such as Battelle Memorial Institute and the Amour Institute.

In the early 1950s, one of the results of this research was a method of electro- or anodic-polishing of platinum-alloy nib-tipping. Methods for electro-polishing metals have been around for many years. The chemistry involves placing a metal object in a special salt bath and applying an electrical current through the object. A tiny amount of the metal is eroded from the surface, leaving the surface smoother than would be achieved by mechanical polishing. The art of electro-polishing became somewhat common in the 1920s and '30s. Each type of metal using this procedure required a specific type of bath chemistry and amount of electrical current.