Sheaffer Balance Issues

[pen lady]

I bought a smallish Sheaffer Balance to restore and something happened that I need help with please. It's a non-white dot golden brown striated pen with a Feathertouch nib and sold for $5.00 originally. I put the Visulated (see, got it right this time) section, feed and nib still assembled, into the U/S cleaner and when I got it out to rinse and dry it, the feed, nib and the little sleeve they sit in came cleanly away from the section. When I tried to put them back, the whole thing is very loose and will leak I just know it. How do I fix this problem please?

[Hooker56]

It sounds like possibly the collar that keeps the pressure bar in place. Can we see pictures?

[lahlahlaw]

So the nib/feed/sleeve go into the section freely? Maybe a previous owner used parts from a narrower-sectioned Sheaffer and you loosened it with the cleaning. Water alone wouldn't enlarge the section's inner diameter.

[viclip]

If it's the sleeve I'm thinking of, I thought they were supposed to be shellacked back in place in the section? I've had them come out too, the original adhesive having gone south.

i second Hooker56's request for photos.

Edited September 16, 2014 by viclip

[Ron Z]

Hooker56 most likely has it right. This is not uncommon. That ring should be a snug fit around the nib and feed, and a snug fit in the section. Over time the celluloid can shrink and these collars/sleeves/bushings can come loose in the section. It's not like a T-shirt shrinking, more like the material becoming thinner as the solvents come out of the celluloid of the sleeve and the section.

 

Shellac applied to the sleeve and allowed to dry, then another coating just before putting it back in the section can secure it. In the worst case, we make a new, slightly larger sleeve to replace it.

[pen lady]

A good, thanks, I thought the answer might include shellac. Onwards and upwards folks!