Hello all,

Recently, I have purchased over the net two decent condition vintage Conway Stewart pens - a 14 and a 75. Now that I have found it's slightly unusual sweet spot, I really like the way the 14 writes, but unfortunatley both pens suffer from very bad nib creep. After less than a day out and about, enevitably most of the nib will be coated and some will be on the section ready to get my fingers inky.

Does anyone know how I can sort this out myself without giving up my beloved Diamine?

Thanks for any answers,

David

Have you inspected he cap interiors to check on the condition of the seals and whether there is anything in there that may be wicking the ink onto the caps from the nibs? Also, if these both came from the same seller, it is quite possible that the inkflows are not adjusted properly. A well-adjusted CS nib should not have an 'unusual sweet spot', and I have used Diamine inks in CS pens many times and have never seen nib creep.

Greetings,

"Nib creep" is a new and interesting term to me. I'm happy to learn it.

There are several things that could contribute to an excessive amount of ink leaking through your nib (I think that's what you mean.) The vintage Conway Stewart pens don't usually exhibit such a problem. Some of the things you might want to rule out are:

A loose nib,
a loose feed fit in the section,
a bad seal between the ink sac and the section, and
a compromised ink sac (one that has pinpoint holes).

All of these have the potential to leak air into the ink sac, which would disrupt the ink feed/air balance one has in a tight pen. If outside air is introduced into the ink sac, its going to put more pressure on the ink inside the sac thus forcing the ink out of the nib - or any place else there may be a pin-hole leak.

I think that if you work your way through that list you'll find the cause of your problem. If you have a loose feed fit in the section, you may want to consider sending it to one of the very good repair folks here on this forum. If you already know and feel comfortable repairing fountain pens, this could be a nice repair to add to your CV.

Peace,

Phroneo

Good advice, pin hole in the sac being the most likely, in my opinion.

Easily rectified and without resorting to lesser inks than Diamine!

Greg

Thanks for all the replies.

It looks like I'll have to send them back for repair/tuning. They do have a warranty so it shouldn't be too much of an issue, though I do feel a bit guilty as the 'shop' really is just one guy operating out of his home. Ah well...

David.

Sounds a shame, but those pens should be reliable. He may have fitted from a bad batch of sacs. Either way it won't be too much effort for him to make them reliable.

They will be much more attractive and satisfying when they work well, and if he does a good job I'm sure he'll be selling a couple more!

Greg