Hill Fountain Pen

[battleshield]

A friend gave me a Hill fountain pen but I do not know what sort of cartridge to use in it. How do I find out about this? It has no other identifying marks on it. It is a slim dark green pen. I would love to know so I can use it.

 

[Scrawler]

They use standard international cartridges. I had one until a few months ago when I PiFed it. That one was made in 1991. It was black with a shiny crystal jewel in the top of the cap. In my experience it was a dry writer and needed flossing and shimming to get good flow from it.

[battleshield]

Thank you for your reply. Now I need to know what flossing and shimming are.

[Scrawler]

Flossing and shimming are procedures for ensuring the nib is the right distance from the feed and that the tines are the proper distance apart. It is not unlike setting a spark plug gap. You need a piece of brass sheet or rigid plastic sheet of the type used for presentation covers. Flossing involves putting the sheet between the tines and pushing it up and down a few times. I like to push my brass sheet down far enough to scrape residue off the feed. After flossing you shim the nib by passing the brass sheet between the nib and the feed, all the way down to ensure the nib is the same distance from the feed all the way along. The correct brass sheet is sold by Lee Valley Tools, and while inexpensive the sheets are large enough to last several lifetimes of a busy repair person. I suggest going on the Repair Q&A forum and explain you want to learn about servicing your own pen, and ask if some kind person would send you some in exchange for local postage.

[battleshield]

Thank you for your help. It is much appreciated. I wonder if it is worth it?

Thanks anyway.

[Scrawler]

It is worth it from a practice point of view. These are not high end pens by any means, but if you get yours to write smoothly, you will have a working pen.