I answered a question on another list and thought it might be of interest here too, of course. The question was what to do with an adjustable nib that is missing the slide adjuster. As I re-read it, though, I left out issues regarding Personal Point Sections and shut-offs, but maybe a) it was enough info for the inquirer, or this way people would not fall asleep reading through that long of a post!
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Here are a few thoughts about your questions:

Q1. Do i pull the adjustible nib from a short wahl doric and replace the nib?

A1. Adjustable nibs came in 2 styles during the Doric era: an open pentagon shape and a solid, smooth surfaced cartouche (rectangle with semi-circular ends) slider with the Wahl double check marks logo at one end of the surface. Both came in gold filled and silver filled colorings. So the age of your pen determines the shape of the slider. In addition there were 5 adjustable nib sizes: 3,5,7,9 and 10. So you need to know what size pen you have in order to know if the adjustable you plan to "pull" from another small Doric" will be correct, or correct enough. Also the feeds were different for both a) the various sizes and the 2 different slider types. (Simple so far right?) A #3 adjustable will not fit properly in and on a pen that needs a #7 nib and feed. You can usually tell what size adjustable you have without the slider if you can compare it size for size to a standard non-adjustable flexible nib. This is not a perfect correlation but generally (standard = adjustable format) 2=3, 3=5, 4=6/7, 5=9 and 6=10. So for example if your remnant looks the same size as a Wahl flexible #2 and your small Doric is a #3 it might work fine.

Q2. Do I leave the nib as flexible

A2. Of course that is an option. It will write the same as a super flexible without the slider. OTOH, can you stand looking at the nib as it is without being disturbed by those slots that tell you something is missing? Are you interested in originality or simply the writing characteristics?

Q3. Do I replace the nib with a wahl "signature" nib?

A3. Also an option so long as the nib size and feed fit your section. The early Doric Gold Seal pens including Desk Pens, had a Gold Seal nib and the latest Dorics had a nib that many people confuse with a Skyline nib. So a Gold Seal Signature nib would be right for the early Doric. The Eversharp nibs from the end of the Doric line do not say signature on them, but you can tell by the cut of the nib and the what it flexes of course. A "signature" nib is by definition a semi-flex so it covers much the same range as did the adjustable, but not quite so completely.

Q4. Is it possible to find a new slider and repair this nib?

A4. This has never proven to be cost effective, and the little tanks that are what retain the slider in place are almost impossible to handle, unless you have the hands of a jeweler or a diamond cutter.

These are all good questions, but it might be a lot easier for you to simply buy a good adjustable nib for the pen you are asking about. 3's go for about $60 and are fairly common. If you do replace the nib with another adjustable, it is wise to send it out to someone who will make sure the nib is the correct deign and size for your pen. Buying a loose nib may prove problematic. If I can be of help with a replacement, let me know.

Hope this helps

Great info, Syd! I have a related question concerning ink shut off valves. I own a late-style plunger-filler Doric w/ adjustable nib that was restored professionally. When the restorer replaced everything, he neglected to re-install the shut-off valve. Now, I've always had problems writing with this pen because blobs of ink are given to drip down from the feed and onto the page. I was never able to determine whether this was related to the fact that the shut-off valve was no longer present or just one of this model's quirks. I later sent the pen to Mottishaw for some nib work but he wasn't able to correct the problem, adverting to something about possible leaks from the rear of the pen. Any ideas on this?

Well, Estragon, stand back this I have no idea how big this answer can get.

You raise at least 3 questions in one as I see it.

1) My pen is missing the shut-off valve. Should it be there?

2) Why do I get blobs of ink when I use the pen

3) What kind of air leaks can cause blobbing (new word I gueess)


These comments are tailored to the Vacuum Fill pen you describe. There are other causes for sac pens with Personal Point/Shut-Off sections. I will try to id which pen I am talking about below.

1) Shut-off valve pens will write without the Shut-off slide in place BUT, just why the shut-off valve is not there may begin to tell the rest of the story. You see, Wahl-Eversharp shut off valve pens are all Personal Point pens. Personal Point pens have a nib and feed mounted in a black hard rubber collar that screws into the section. The collar is threaded either at the rear or forward end to match where the treads are on the section involved. The shut-off valve pens also had the spring loaded shut-off slide inside the collar. The shut off mechanism is so constructed that it has a cut out that allows a raised area inside the collar to fit within and the slide glides in and out with the raised BHR area fitting inside the slide slot.

Some "restorers" fail to understand this construction and attempt to knock out the feed and nib when doing their restoration. BIG MISTAKE. They will unvaryingly break the collar and find out the hard way that this construction exists by ending up with a broken collar when they try to knock out the feed and nib. Now, If you are following all this, what is the restorer to do when he/she just knocked out that stubborn feed and nib only to find that they broke off the raised area that the shut-off slide fits onto? Or worse, they end up with a broken or cracked collar. They either replace it with another collar that is not a good fit, or they repair the broken collar or if it is just cracked, they may do nothing and reassemble the pen regardless. That is my first suspicion about where your pen is allowing extra ink to flow around/bypass the nib and feed, If your blob or drip forms where the nib and feed exit the section, I bet this is the cause.

2) If number 1 does not answer the question, then move on to a generally, why bens blob in the first place. Too much ink coming out of the pen. (Duh, you think?) In a properly working pen the only place where the ink CAN flow is into the section following the little channel on the feed and then ito the slit of the nib and onto the paper. The gap between the nib and feed needs to be set just right or at least within a range from dry to wet that suits the user. Too far outside the range and you get either no ink reaching the slit (this is when the nib and feed are either too far apart (usually) or too close together (rarely). There is a point however, where if the nib and feed are almost too far apart a lot of ink will be allowed to flow outside the breather channel and all along the underside of the nib and upper surfaces of the feed and flooding happens.

3) Air leaks can allow too much ink to flow. The ink supply system in this type pen is almost a closed system. The ink chamber in the barrel (or the sac in sac pens) is air/ink tight, the section is air/ink tight and the packing unit at the rear of the plunger system is almost air tight. So the only place for ink and air to flow is down the narrow breather channel on top of the feed, right? Right. The design of the ink channel on the feed (shape and size and number of fins perhaps), is designed to supply the nib with just the right amount of ink. There is a rhythm to the flow of ink out and air coming into the pen through this narrow channel that keeps the flow somewhat self regulating. If this delicate balance is altered by air getting in somewhere else more ink will flow as there is no limit placed on ink flow through the nib air-ink exchange. So the comment about an air leak may be valid. The air leak will be somewhere in or around the packing unit (or the sac/section connection in sac pens). You could know if this were the case, because your pen would never fill fully, and in the worst cases, ink would leak out of the plunger area at the rerar of the barrel.

4) You did not ask this one, but sometimes "thermal expansion" of the air inside the ink reservoir (or around the sac in sac pens) due to heat from the users hand or elsewhere in the immediate environment, will increase the air pressure inside the ink reservoir (or around the sac in sac pens) and push ink extra ink out the front end. I know one person who in a sac pen actually double sacked the pen to create an extra area of air insulation around the ink containing sac!

I always end up writing a lot of detail in an attempt to EXPLAIN why thinks happen. Maybe it would be better if I just answered: "Because".

Hope this helps. I would check oit number 1 first. To do this remove the Personal Point collar assembly (these are right hand threads so you unscrew them counter clockwise, and inspect the collar.

If you want the shut of replaced that can be done too. These were much and to my way of thinking improperly maligned as never performing as advertised. There is a gasket that rides inside the section that makes contact with the cone of the shut-off slide that makes the shut-off shut off. These wear out about once every 2 years and must be replaced. Most repair folks either don't know it is there, or belongs there and do not replace it, and the pen will not shut off as advertised if that is not corrected. A pen will write even if not all proper inside. It must be correct inside for all systems "go".

Syd the Wahlnut

Thanks so much for the informative post, Syd! You seem to have covered all the angles. It was interesting to find out that the ink shut off valve has garnered a worse reputation than perhaps it deserves. I know that without it, my Doric just pours ink into the cap when subjected to the ordinary shuffling inside my bag. I'll have to grab it from the case here directly, unscrew the nib/feed unit and check it out. It's one of my favorite writers when it's not dropping ink bombs. A fine Mottishaw stub is a fine thing indeed!