The Noodlers Boston Safety Pen is made of ebonite, a traditional material used for vintage safety pens. Safety pens are designed to help prevent any ink from leaking while capped. Unlike traditional fountain pens that seal around the grip when closed, the safety pen helps to create a seal right at the ink reservoir. They are not as vulnerable to pressure changes when traveling. They also start right up after periods of non-use due to the fact that the nib and feed stay submerged in ink when retracted.When you first open the pen, you will notice that the nib is completely retracted into the barrel. To expose the nib, simply push and twist on the back of the pen, keeping the pen in a vertical position with the nib facing up. This is important! Otherwise the entirety of the ink supply will pour out of the pen. Slowly twist and push all the way up. To fill the pen, retract the nib fully back into the barrel and fill using an eyedropper or an ink syrings with no more than 1ml (to avoid overfilling and spillage). To close the pen, you will need to retract the nib back into the barrel, keeping it vertical with the nib facing up, before screwing the cap back on. It is recommended that the Noodlers video by Nathan Tardif is viewed in order to properly explain how to fill this pen, as it is a brand new concept, and unlike anything we typically see. The pen uses a #2 flexible nib - the same as the Noodlers Nib Creaper flex pen. The Noodlers flex pens were designed for the hand-on tinkerer - they are made to be taken apart and adjusted. The nib and feed pull right out and can be adjusted and heat set for optimal performance. Don\'t be afraid to get a little ink on your fingers while you learn how to use this pen! As a simple rule of thumb for writing with a flex pen, just apply slight pressure on your downstrokes, which will spread the tines and increase the line width, achieving that optimal line variation.