I have a 1929 Shaeffer Balance Jr. that belonged to my Grandfather. It has a lot of sentimental value to me, of course, so I'd hate for anything to happen to it. I'm clearly a newbie at taking care of fountain pens. Some of my lack of knowledge about them probably contributed to it's ink flow problem. I don't want my lack of experience to ruin this pen that means so much to me.

I had Fountain Pen Hospital restore it, and it had been writing well until recently. Lately it's become very balky. It won't start reliably and sometimes quits once it gets started. Sometimes some pressure will get it to write, but sometimes it doesn't. It seems to be more and more reluctant to start. I doubt the problem is a clogged feed. Fountain Pen Hospital cleaned it up well. I used it for two or three months without cleaning. I only recently caught on that cleaning is necessary so clogging may have occured. I've only used black Shaeffer Skrip ink in it.

Now for a couple of confessions. When I first started writing with the pen I had a very heavy hand because I wasn't used to fountain pens. I have also been using a sketchbook as a journal. The pages of the sketchbook are a little more rough and heavy than computer printer paper. The nib is gold and very fine. I'm concerned that I may have pushed the nib out of alignment with writing pressure or the rough surface of the paper.

From what I've read on the forum this seems like an ink flow problem from the nib tines being too close together instead of clogging. Flossing the nib to fix it seems like a fairly simple thing to do from the way it's described. I'm concerned though that an almost 80 year old pen might have a delicate nib that I could break easily.

The only reason I'm even considering attempting a nib adjustment is that it takes 5 to 6 months to send it off for repair. I don't want to be without it that long. I'll send it away and wait patiently for the 6 months though if it's likely I'll do serious harm to the pen. Is it reasonable for me to try this nib adjustment considering what's at stake or should I send the pen to a pro and be patient?

My advice is send it off. In my limited experience, the Jr. Sheaffer's have particularly fragile nibs - the only nib I've ever had the tipping material pop off. You don't have to send your pen to one of the five or six month guys. There are other repair pros out there who have shorter wait times and should be able to fix you up. I suggest you take a look at the pen bookmarks section of www.penhero.com , find the vintage repair section and look at some of the sites. You can find someone close to your location (perhaps) - and you can then come back here to get opinions on your choices.

It's also possible that the tines could be spread too far apart from too much pressure. Impossible to say without having the pen in hand. If the tines are spread apart, the ink won't be pulled down the slit to the tip by capillary action, and the pen won't write.

My grandfather left behind his box of fountain pens and I've been sending them off to the pros of the forum to be fixed. Haven't regretted it. I think for somethings with such sentimental value, you should definitely leave it to the pros and not learn the (potentially heartbreaking) lessons on it.

I'll gladly send you one I got off ebay to learn on if you want.

Thanks for the advice. I'm especially grateful for other sources for pen repairs.

You said you caught on to cleaning only recently. Have you tried soaking the nib? If not, try soaking the nib overnight in this mix:‎1 T ammonia, ‎2/3 C water‎, and
‎2 drops Dawn washing up liquid.‎ This is Richard Binder's brew, and I find that it takes care of most problems. It is the least "invasive" solution and so a good place to start.
Cheers,
Gerry