Avalon Piston Filler With Reform Music Nib

[phaus]

Greetings,

 

I recently acquired my first music nib. Its a piston-filler that says "Avalon" on the side. The nib is a 14kt Reform nib. While the pen is in excellent condition, I haven't been able to get it to work.

 

When I fill the pen, it seems to take ink just fine. It writes a few words after I fill it, but I think that's probably just the ink that gets in the feed from being dipped in the bottle. I can see that the piston filling mechanism is working, because the pen fills just fine. I've soaked the nib/feed assembly for a couple days, and while it looks pretty clean, it just doesn't seem to want to write. One potential problem I have noticed is that the feed is not lined up properly with the nib. Unfortunately, the nib won't budge at all, so it can't be realigned. I also can't figure out how to dissasemble the nib/feed assembly. I've tried using tape to pull it out, but it didn't budge. I can't tell if the part of the feed coming out of the back of the nib assembly is just fed through the threaded tube, or if it is permanently attached.

 

I've read in a few places that this pen is very similar to a reform 1745. I've also read that those pens are almost always really dry and that people have trouble getting them to write well. If its not possible to get this pen working well enough to supply ink to its flexible music nib, I might try installing the nib on a better pen. I have a Red Moire Skyline hanging around with a nib that's about the same size, I wonder if that would be the best option.

 

I appreciate any advice. Thanks. Here are some pictures: