Which Cross Is This?

[Ron_L]

Hi. Now with my fountain pen spirit at an all time high, I decided to rifle through my closet in search of my long lost Cross fountain pen. I don't know how old it is. I'm thinking 30 years old perhaps.

 

I could never get the pen to write. I cleaned it, tried new cartridges, but it wouldn't flow. I opened the box this afternoon after many years,rinsed it, loaded a NOS cartridge and tried again. Nothing. I now recall why I lost my interest in fountain pens. I could never get this one to write.

 

I would appreciate it if anyone can tell me which model I have and how to get the thing to write! I'd love to add it to my collection, but if I can't get it working, would Cross help me after all these years? The pen looks brand new. it's black, but it looks kinda mat black with gold trim. I'm attaching a couple of pix.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

 

[Ron_L]

I think I found the answer to what it is. It looks to be the Classic Century. Is that correct?

 

Now I just need help in figuring out hoe to get this pen to work.

 

Thanks!!!!

[Charles Rice]

I have a Cross Century - gold filled - and they look almost the same except that my Century does not have the narrow band at the end of the cap

 

Have you given it a GOOD flush - not just a soak?

Edited March 27, 2014 by Charles Rice

[Charles Rice]

PS - I got it as a gift - new - in about 1985 from my mother. Nice pen, but a little skinny for my hands.

 

I have not used cartridges in it for years. For me, it's converter only.

 

I wouldn't bother with NOS cartridges. They could be the problem.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Charles Rice

[Florida Blue]

I think that is a Century I fountain pen.

 

You could send it to Cross, but most likely they would just give you a new Century II fountain pen since they probably no longer have nib units for that pen in stock.

 

The nib could be the issue if you flushed it out. Perhaps it has baby bottom, the tines are too close together or out of alignment etc. If you have a jewelers loop you could try to examine the nib.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Florida Blue

[Charles Rice]

As I recall, mine was NEVER any good with cartridges. Use the converter.

[Ron_L]

Thanks for the info. Where do I get the converter? The one included is just for flushing because the barrel won't go over it.

 

I may just put it up for display only.

[Charles Rice]

Thanks for the info. Where do I get the converter? The one included is just for flushing because the barrel won't go over it.

 

I may just put it up for display only.

Odd about the converter. Mine came with a usable converter. Anyway, contact Cross. It's like an international converter, but not quite. In the meantime DO use the converter to flush it out several times, or use an ear bulb.

 

I compared the converters on my Townsend and Century, and they are the same. The Cross converter has a very long nipple.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Charles Rice

[Charles Rice]

The more I think about it, I seem to recall that the info that came with my Century STATED that the converter was for flushing only. But it worked just fine anyway.

 

The converter in the box certainly looks like the correct one. Did you push it in all the way? It goes in about an inch, about to where the piston is forced to stop.

 

One more thought - is there another cartridge in the barrel. The pen was designed to carry a spare.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Charles Rice

[Ron_L]

Hmmm. Maybe there is a cartridge in there. I'll check on the morning. Thx.

[Charles Rice]

I'm willing to bet that's it.

[Jerome Tarshis]

The barrel should fit with the converter attached to the section. Many thousands of people use that converter, in a whole range of Cross pens.

 

In my experience (I own seven of them) the Century FP is a terrific writer, although it is possible for a nib to get out of perfect alignment, or perfect relationship with the feed. On the whole, however, this is a model one may expect to write well, indeed very well, out of the box.

 

Yes, the instructions do say that the converter is for use in rinsing the pen. One may ignore that. Admittedly I do own other pens that seem to work better with cartridges than with the converter.

 

Cross has been the opposite for me: the cartridges, even brand new, were always somewhat unsatisfactory in their ink flow, often very unsatisfactory, by comparison with the converter. Cross cartridges, that is. With my first Century FP I found that if I refilled the cartridge with another manufacturer's ink I had an excellent pen. The ink in Cross cartridges is not exactly the same as the bottled ink. At least it is outsourced to a different supplier.

 

Good luck with what I have found, to my initial surprise, a very likable pen. "It's too thin," I said at first. But then I found it wasn't too thin.

[Ron_L]

I looked inside the barrel and I don't see anything. Yet when I try to fit the barrel over the converter, it just doesn't fit. I have to think with all the comments about how it does work, it's user error. I just wish I knew what was going on. Don't mean to be sour on the Cross brand, but this pen does bring a disappointment. Oh well.

[Charles Rice]

Stick a probe into the barrel. Got to be SOMETHING there blocking it. So how far will the barrel go on? Other than something blocking the barrel, I don't know of any reason for it not to fit.

 

Can you sent a photo of how far it goes on?

 

Note: There is a spring at the end of the barrel and that MIGHT be deformed. The reason it's there if for the extra cartridges. If the spring is deformed, you can fish it out. When using a converter, you don't need it.

Edited March 28, 2014 by Charles Rice

[RMN]

I thought the Century I/Classic Century is one of the narrow Cross pens, so that would not accept the converter. The Century II is the wider model that does accept a converter.

 

 

D.ick

[Charles Rice]

Yes, it is a narrow pen. Mine certainly does take a converter.

[Charles Rice]

Does the barrel slide at least partway over the converter?

[Charles Rice]

If you can measure it, the dimensions of mine are:

 

Barrel outside ~ .375" (9.5mm)

Barrel inside ~ .345" (8.75mm)

converter max ~ .305" (7.75mm)

Edited March 28, 2014 by Charles Rice

[dr saleem ali]

This is surely a cross century 1 ,converter shoul fit .Cross recommend that blocked pen can be flushed with water having a little bleach in it .Better you go to cross shop , they will do it under warranty. Playing wirh this very spendid pen can invite furthur damage!

[Jerome Tarshis]

Several confusions: (1) Yes, it is true that the pen Cross is selling as the Century fountain pen in the year 2014 does not take the standard Cross push-fit green converter. But that is a different pen from the one we are discussing here. The original, which came with a converter in the box, does take that converter.

 

(2) In a fountain-pen barrel there is no spring. A pen barrel that has a spring is a rollerball barrel, and the spring serves to push on the rollerball refill. I own a Cross rollerball pen, which does have a spring. The barrel of a c/c pen has nothing in it except for the cartridge or the converter.

 

(3) As said above, although Cross has a lifetime guarantee, they are not going to repair a pen, unless (possibly) it is dead easy and requires no original parts. What they will do, as they have done for me, is replace the original Century FP with a Century II in the same finish. But with a steel nib replacing the gold nib, if the original was gold.

 

(4) Cross does not recommend the use of bleach for cleaning its pens.

 

Granted, this pen remains a mystery to all of us, so far. There shouldn't be any need to send the pen away to a service center. We can only pray for enlightenment and wish the original poster well. (And of course thank the FPN members who have jumped in to help.)