Help With Snorkel. Nib/feed Twisted?

[Cluedoh]

Hi,

I'm working on my first pen, a Snorkel. A little ambitious I hear you say! you'd be quite right I think I have bitten off more than I can chew!

It screwed apart nicely without using section pliers. However take a look at the image of the conical nib.

 

This was how I bought it. I think somehow the nib has twisted around the feed or vice versa.

How do I sort it out? if it indeed can be.

 

Regards,

Cluedoh!

 

 

 

[adyf]

It should be an easier fix than you might think. Just insert a screwdriver into the slot on top of the feed and try and move it to the central position. Be gentle and hopefully the feed will rotate quite easily and readily. If it won't you may need to soak the section first to loosen up any dried ink etc.

[BT-7274]

Most of the time, a slight misalignment of the feed doesn't really matter, as the capillary action on the Snorkel feed works well enough that it will flow regardless of a minor misalignment. It's not uncommon to see either, my (now lost) grey Snorkel had the same issue and it flowed just fine.

[redbike]

If the ink flows well to the tipping, I wouldn't worry about it. You don't want to damage that feed.

Edited April 18, 2014 by redbike

[Guest Ray Cornett]

To me in the horizontal picture it looks like the nib is now screwed down completely. I see black gap to the right in the image. My first restore was a Snorkel Statesman so I know how you feel. It took me 3 hours just to get the new o ring back into that little groove inside the barrel. My nib was not set properly at one point and all it took was a little push downward to get it seated properly.

[Ernst Bitterman]

There's a couple of things that might produce this effect:

 

1) Feed is actually out of line with point; as mentioned above, if you unscrew the point-holder from the section, you'll find a slot in the back of the feed, and you can adjust the alignment. No big deal.

 

2) Point is not properly mounted on the point-holder; I think I see a gap at the back of the gold, and that should be flush. This is more of an issue, because ink will weep from the joint between the holder and the point itself if that's not properly joined. If the point comes off the holder, you'll need to seal those threads with a drop of thinned shellac... and be careful to not get any on the feed, of course. Once that's sorted, you'll probably need to do (1) as well.

[Cluedoh]

Thanks everyone for your help.

I tried what adyf said and gently moved it with a jewellers screwdriver. Worked Briliantly.

see attached Photos.

Ernst and Ray spotted the gap between the nib and the holder. I think you are correct it is not flush. Soooo do I need any special tools

to undo this? I have section pliers but nothing to hold the nib. I tried holding the nib with my fingers I cant get enough purchase. I dont want to crush the plastic with the grippers.

 

Cluedoh!

 

[tryphon]

That gap is huge! You may have a point gasket that is too thick.

[Ernst Bitterman]

I wouldn't use anything BUT fingers. You'll need to warm the assembly if it's not unscrewing as is stands, but tools will just complicate the matter (unless you want to call rubber gloves a tool; a pair of those may help in the grip department). It would probably also be well to leave the point holder in place on the section to help support it and give you some extra stuff to hold onto; it will probably try to get loose as you work at getting the point off of it, but the advantage of having it attached to the pen is you reduce to two the number of little fiddly bits trying to escape to the floor when you get it apart.

 

...keeping in mind that the feed is just trapped between holder and point, so it will try to escape.

[Cluedoh]

Thanks. I tried the hotwater method last night. The problem with that is if the unit is too hot you can't hold it! so you have to wait for it to cool down. Anyway I did try the rubber gloves with the hot water but still it wouldn't budge. I then resorted to what I would do on my bicycle with a stuck thread. I sprayed a tiny amount of synthetic penetrating oil (GT85 to be exact) into the nib and feed and decided to leave it 24hrs.

 

I've just returned to it, and it unscrewed by hand effortlessly.The nib itself still has some dirt in the threads see images. I'm going to clean the whole lot in my ultrasonic cleaner.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Cluedoh

[tryphon]

Good luck! The oil may intefere with the capillary flow of ink in the feed. Hope the US cleaner does the job!

[Cluedoh]

It's more of a penetrating thin fluid than oil.Think WD40 if you have that in the States. The nib and feed have all cleaned up well in the ultrasonic.Time will tell when I re-assemble.

Thanks for your help.

[RMN]

Somehow the thought of these chemicals near (read: on/in) my precious pens makes me shudder....

 

 

D.ick

Edited April 21, 2014 by RMN

[londonbooks]

Just bought a snorkel so I was reading this topic. I do have a question (NOS or anybody else with an extra minute):: you mentioned an ultrasonic cleaner for cleaning. Where can I get one and how expensive are they?

[Ernst Bitterman]

To the latter, not very. I got mine at The Source (nee Radio Shack) and even though it's one of the recommended-against models with the controls on the lid, it's doing well enough. I've just seen an ad for Best Buy listing one at $40, and a glance at Harbor Freight shows the very same one I've got for even less.

 

edit-- controls in the lid are bad because there's wires passing through the hinge that will inevitably break with all the constant flexing. But they're also the cheap ones, and can last for years.

Edited May 10, 2014 by Ernst Bitterman

[londonbooks]

Thanks for the ultrasonic cleaner info. I am going to look into it and probably purchase one.