Criterion From The Pen Show

[corgicoupe]

I picked up a Criterion fountain pen at the Atlanta Pen Show today, and since it's a lever fill I assumed I would need to replace the sac. However, a short soak and 10 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner would not allow me to remove the section [i have a proper section tool]. Does this mean that it is probably cemented in? There appeared to me no ink in the sac, and no ink came off the nib in the ultrasonic, but I can't imagine someone bothering to clean it and re-sac it and sell it for $5. It seems to be holding ink, so should I just use it until it fails? The nib is 14K and has a number 4 engraved. It also has "GUARANTEED" engraved near the splines. This nib is so flexible that the tines spread about a millimeter with very little pressure. Comments appreciated.

 

Here's the pen; the photo of the nib was out of focus, so I'll upload it later.

[TimTheZaj]

this was 5 dollars? you got a good deal. the ony way to change the sac is to open the secttion.

[Frank C]

I picked up a Criterion fountain pen at the Atlanta Pen Show today, and since it's a lever fill I assumed I would need to replace the sac. However, a short soak and 10 minutes in the ultrasonic cleaner would not allow me to remove the section [i have a proper section tool]. Does this mean that it is probably cemented in? There appeared to me no ink in the sac, and no ink came off the nib in the ultrasonic, but I can't imagine someone bothering to clean it and re-sac it and sell it for $5. It seems to be holding ink, so should I just use it until it fails? The nib is 14K and has a number 4 engraved. It also has "GUARANTEED" engraved near the splines. This nib is so flexible that the tines spread about a millimeter with very little pressure. Comments appreciated.

 

 

I'm no expert in pen repairs, but I say fill it and use it. That is, fill it with washable blue ink and use it, just in case.

[corgicoupe]

Her Nibs.

 

[wimg]

Try heating the section carefully; it may be cemented with shellac, which means heating to 80-90 degrees centigrade will completely melt th shellac, and if this si indeed the case, you would eb able to remove the section quite effortlessly.

 

You can use hot water, although I'd personally use a heat gun preset to 90 degrees C or so, to prevent water damage.

 

HTH, warm regards, Wim

[corgicoupe]

The solvent for shellac is denatured alcohol. I have wondered if this would work?

[Ernst Bitterman]

Alcohol also dissolves rubber, only more slowly. I'd stick with dry heat. Sometimes it can take a LOT of cycles to free a section.

[corgicoupe]

Can anyone tell me more about this pen? When might it have been made? Is it worth sending off to have the sac replaced and the nib worked on? I only gave $5 for it, but have no idea whether to just use it to attempt some writing with a super flexible nib. I've never seen anything this flexible.