Mabie Todd Blackbird

[Rain24]

Hello there fellow FPN members,

 

I just got my first vintage flex pen in the mail today, a Mabie Todd Blackbird. I filled it about an eyedropper and a half full with Waterman ink and tested it out. Oddly, ink seeps between the nib and the feed at times and blobs out in large drops when I try to use it. Not all the time either. There doesn't seem to be any leaking between the section and the barrel though where you screw it together. Am I doing something wrong? Is this pen leaky? I'm still new, so any guidance would be appreciated.

 

It seems to happen more when I try to let it rest upright and then use it again. Right now I have it lying horizontally in hopes that it won't leak like that again.

 

Thank you,

 

Rain

[The Grim Sheaffer]

It will leak less if it is completely full. When the pen heats up in your hand or pocket, the air expands and forces the ink out.

Seal the joint between the section and the barrel with silicon grease - no air must enter there.

Seal where the feed comes out of the section with silicon grease.

 

You need an airtight seal with the only escape for ink being the capillary feed from under the nib.

 

Then treat my advice with reserve as I have never managed to get an eyedropper not to leak. I even became quite paranoid about it - thinking that eyedroppers are a joke that gets played on newbies. Eye droppers have quite a following for some reason I can't comprehend. I suspect they can be made to work.

 

Some advice that you can trust is.

Don't carry it in your pocket and don't use bulletproof ink -

 

I use mine as dip pens only.

[Rain24]

Aww and I was hoping this was my answer to not having to use my dip pens!

 

Okay, being completely new to this sealing business, where does one get silicone grease and is there a how-to article somewhere on how to apply it? I'll try to put more ink in there and see what happens.

 

Thank you though!

Edited September 19, 2010 by Rain24

[opus7600]

where does one get silicone grease

 

Home Depot, plumbing aisle.

[fpman]

And a little bit goes a long way. Unscrew the section from the barrel and smear a small bit of silicon grease on the threads of the section. Screw the section back in and wipe off any extra grease that extrudes. I'm not sure how you would seal the feed where it comes out of the section.

[Shangas]

How bad is the leaking? Keep in mind that very early eyedropper pens did not always benefit from the genius and creativity of Mr. Waterman and his wonder-feed and that, despite all your efforts, the pen may leak in spite of them.

 

My oldest fountain pen is a ca. 1900 Swan Mabie-Todd eyedropper with an over-under feed and a flexible nib. It writes exceptionally well (I've written several draft-essays with it with NO problems at all), but this pen is also prone to the occasional leak. Does the pen leak as you write with it? Or does it only leak say, when you hold the pen in your fingers, nib pointing directly down? The latter of these two cases applies to my eyedropper. If it's the same with your pen, I say grin and bear it. This is the price we must pay for the enjoyment of antiques. If not, perhaps send the pen to a repair-person for a professional assessment.

[Ernst Bitterman]

Seal where the feed comes out of the section with silicon grease.

 

I would think twice about this-- that's apt to lead to the feed itself getting clogged. Sealing the threads and keeping it full should do the trick. When you notice the feed overloading, you can temporarily clear it by turning the pen point upwards and partially unscrewing the section. This creates a partial vacuum that draws down the excess ink.

[Rain24]

Thank you everybody for the replies. I'll be sure to get some silicone grease for my new pen. I do love the flexibility of it.

 

Shangas, it only leaks once in a while when I have it in the writing position, and I normally notice the big bead of ink before it blobs onto the paper.

 

Ernst, thank you for warning me about applying silicone on the feed. I was wondering about this myself after reading that it's hard to clean. I'll just be applying it between the section and the barrel and hope for the best.

 

By the way, this is great - before I got here, I didn't know what a feed, a section or a barrel was. :roflmho: