Hi,

Alexei told me that the problem with using silicone grease is that it must be reapplied whenever you refill or unscrew the pen. “This is because the grease that you put on before gets pushed further into the pen, leaving the rest of the threads with little grease. This also creates a glob of the stuff on the inner edge so it gets kind of messy”.

He said also: “If you don't reapply the grease, some air will get into the barrel and cause the ink to drip out of the nib. So yes, it is because there is too much grease; but only because it accumulates whenever you have to add more, so you have to take the older stuff out...when you do this, you have to avoid smearing it in places you don't want”.

My questions:

Are there then no clean eyedropper fountain pens? Is it better to use only O-rings?

Thank you very much for any indication to this matter.

José


P. S. I found silicone grease (7,5 euro) in Madrid by Decathlon:
http://www.decathlon.es/ES/grasa-de-silicona-6230593/

I'm a long time user of an eyedropper fom Récife and there is just a O-ring. This works flawless and I never used silicone grease or whatever else.
Greetings,

Orval

An eyedropper-filling pen that is made with proper care does not need either grease or an O-ring. I have many vintage EDs from Waterman, Parker, Beaumel, Caw's, and other manufacturers. They do not have O-rings, and I have never used grease on any of them. None of them leaks.

Maybe the OP is talking about ED conversion

Richard can you share with us the features of the pens you mentioned that make the use of O-rings or silicone grease redundant? Is it tight threads?

Thanks,
Hari

As Richard notes, there should be no problem with leakage with an ED with precisely machined and fitted threads. There are some advantages to putting some sort of lubricating sealant on the threads, however. Sometimes the joint is a bit worn after 100-odd years. Ink moving into the joint and then drying can leave the joint stuck. In both such cases, a bit of goo can help the situation. Silicone grease may not always be the best such agent, though. Silicone has a tendency to creep in the most peculiarly invasive manner. If it gets into the feed, it can disrupt even ink flow. Beeswax is a good alternative for ED threads.

Silicone grease should certainly not be relied upon to seal a very loose joint, and should not be applied very thickly at all -- just a thin film. If it has to be reapplied more than once every few dozen fillings, there's something seriously amiss with the fit of the joint.

Interesting alternative: beeswax. I use it as a lubricate on many things--including zippers, locks, among others. Now I'll add it to fountain pens!

Thanks.

Zoe

Hari, I would assume it would be the the number of threads among other factors.

It's not the threads that need to be tight. it's the clutching surfaces: the front surface of the barrel and the back surface of the section where the barrel meets it. (That's the "step" on the section, not the end that goes inside the barrel.) "Tight" isn't exactly the right term; the real concern is that these surfaces be smooth and flat so that when the pen screws together they will mate to form an ink-tight seal.

But David's mention of worn threads is on point. Not only can they seize up if ink dries in them, but they can also pop if they're seriously worn. By "pop," I mean that when you screw them down tight, they'll resist and then, instead of stopping, jump over into the next groove so that you can tighten again. And again. And again... Beeswax will not fix this problem, obviously, but it will provide a seal so that you don't have to torque the joint so tightly.

In your opinion, Richard, are Sheaffer No Nonsense, Waterman Kultur, Pilot Crytal Demostrator and Pilot 78G pens that are made with proper care and do not need either grease or an O-ring if you want them to transform into eyedropper filling pens?

Thank you,

José