Abused Leverless

[missuslovett]

Bugger...

[Cob]

Bugger...

Ouch! Has something awful happened?

 

My third Croxley cap is still soaking. I had a go at it and the screw is half-way out. For some unfathomable reason, some of the Croxley cap screws had thread along their entire length (i.e. the length of the inner cap).

 

A very stupid idea indeed.

 

C.

[missuslovett]

*sigh* In spite of diligent soaking over many days, interspersed with gentle heating and tweaking, the blasted button was happy to come off, sadly leaving the rest of the screw as intact and unmoved as it ever was. (At least it's off). I shall jerry rig something...

[Cob]

*sigh* In spite of diligent soaking over many days, interspersed with gentle heating and tweaking, the blasted button was happy to come off, sadly leaving the rest of the screw as intact and unmoved as it ever was. (At least it's off). I shall jerry rig something...

Oh dear, sorry to read this.

 

As I wrote before this has happened to me - the section that accomodates the clip being the weak point of course.

 

Cob

[missuslovett]

Well, we live and learn. The damn thing is still stuck firm inside the cap. I can only hope the next one I come across isn't quite as 'robust'.

[Cob]

These bloody pens!

 

I just received a Calligraph - the pressure-bar leverless type. Hopeless! Horrible job cleaning out the barrel and knob on the end would not turn.

 

So it received an hour in the US cleaner and a soaking with WD40. Absolutely no hope. I have given it up and the rather nice Calligraph nib will go into a spare leverless I had lying around.

 

And that damned Croxley clip screw is still stuck half way out!

 

Grrr.

 

Cob

[missuslovett]

Haha! Oh, dear. I'm glad it's not just me. You nurture and coddle and cajole these things and are they grateful???? I'm just about to embark on an ink vue Waterman and anticipate much fiddling and swearing. (Actually it's started already as apparently the only sealant that will do has to be imported from the US, at a cost of more than the item itself). Still, it's usually worth it in the end and it's exciting learning new things all the time.

 

Good luck with the Croxley!

[Cob]

Haha! Oh, dear. I'm glad it's not just me. You nurture and coddle and cajole these things and are they grateful???? I'm just about to embark on an ink vue Waterman and anticipate much fiddling and swearing. (Actually it's started already as apparently the only sealant that will do has to be imported from the US, at a cost of more than the item itself). Still, it's usually worth it in the end and it's exciting learning new things all the time.

 

Good luck with the Croxley!

That's rubbish (about the US sealant).

 

I rebuilt a Lady Patricia Ink-Vue without any special stuff - I relied (I think) on what remained on the pen and it worked perfectly; of course I used heat unscrewing it.

 

I have a special tool for undoing the internal sac-clamp screw ,actually it is for tightening it - one is supposed to use another more expensive jobby for undoing, but I got away with it - always relying on the trusty hairdryer.

 

Best of luck with it. I like the Ink-Vue system - mad though it is, since it is so efficient. E.g. The little Lady Patricia model holds more ink than an Onoto! (just). The full-size Ink-Vue - well, no contest: one is into Ford territory with one of those!

 

Cob

[missuslovett]

Hm. Yes, I wondered about the sealant. I think I'm going to see what I can get away with before I go transcontinental. I was going to make myself a little doofer for the screw if it's reluctant to yield to my nails or other blandishments. Hopefully it'll be less of a disaster than Buttongate.

[Cob]

Hm. Yes, I wondered about the sealant. I think I'm going to see what I can get away with before I go transcontinental. I was going to make myself a little doofer for the screw if it's reluctant to yield to my nails or other blandishments. Hopefully it'll be less of a disaster than Buttongate.

Please PM me regarding the tools and I'll try to help.

 

Cob

[Greenie]

I have never used the purpose made thread sealant. Like Cob, i leave the old "crud" on the threads and that is often enough. Otherwise, I have used some silicone grease, figuring that if it works on an old eyedropper, it will work here, and there is no harm in trying. And if it still leaks, it is easy to remove the section and try again or try something else. But now we are off into broader repair advice on other models.

 

Sorry to hear about the top of the leverless shearing off!

 

I all else fails, you can probably put it on with some shellac and extra curing time and cosmetically be back where you started.

[Cob]

This reminds me.

 

I had forgotten that I did repair one of these clip screws. Can't remember the pen - I think it was a L4xx/60 I think or maybe it was a Visofil!

 

I managed to glue the screw back together using the amazing Liquid Weld. It took three attempts before I could be sure that it was strong - really heaved on it and it held perfectly.

 

Cob

Edited July 19, 2016 by Cob

[missuslovett]

This reminds me.

 

I had forgotten that I did repair one of these clip screws. Can't remember the pen - I think it was a L4xx/60 I think or maybe it was a Visofil!

 

I managed to glue the screw back together using the amazing Liquid Weld. It took three attempts before I could be sure that it was strong - really heaved on it and it held perfectly.

 

Cob

 

^^^ This was among the things I was going to try. I doubt any future owner will be slinging the clip inside their pocket in a hurry but at the very least I'll get it back cosmetically.

[missuslovett]

It's been re-assembled. I could have managed this much better. But it's whole again!! Yay!!

 

 

[Cob]

Well done!

 

What did you use to fix the clip screw?

 

As for the letter stamped on the nib, I have been puzzled by this for some time. I have seen G and H on pre-war (?) Blackbirds and in my spares box, I have a late Swan 3 nib with the Swan surrounding the breather hole and this nib is stamped H. I also have a SM2/58 that has clearly been retro-fitted with a No 2 nib also with the breather-hole Swan and this too is stamped H. Interestingly, both these nibs are stubs.

 

I have never seen a letter stamped on any genuine pre-war Swan nibs.

 

Cob

[missuslovett]

Thank you! I'm afraid I used nothing fancier than a 2 pack resin glue. So fiddly. I worked on it a little bit every day. The Clip's inner ring had been pulled out of shape to the body of the clip, a kind of sideways shear that meant the top of the clip was at a slight angle to the inner ring - stretched, not split. It proved impossible to rectify without cutting the inner ring to fit around the screw again. Bah. I'm in two minds whether to offer it for sale as it really is rather jerry-rigged! I think I'll hang on to it for a while but I'm not sure how much I'll use it.

 

I'm glad these letters baffle you as well! I certainly have the impression they're a post war thing. I'm not convinced the nib is original to this pen but it scribbles away happily enough so I'll leave it. Such a shame the discolouration can't be solved.

[Cob]

I'm amazed to read that two-pack epoxy worked for you on BHR. It never has for me. Which one did you use? I normally use Devcon.

 

And quite a struggle too - the things that people do to pens!

 

Rgds

 

Cob

[missuslovett]

Oh dear. Now I'm afraid it's going to come apart, though it seems very firm. I used Araldite. My go-to for serious sticky business, though I freely admit I may be out of touch with modern bonding systems. It was what my dad used to use!

[Cob]

Oh yes, Araldite has got me out of all sorts of trouble in the past. If it does stick BHR satisfactorily then that is very useful information.

 

I found that when I tried two-pack adhesives there was simply no "sticktion" at all, so if yours has stuck then you may well be OK.

 

Cob

[missuslovett]

What may have helped is I had to rough up the inside of the remaining bits of BHR screw. When the screw snapped, the bottom remained solid inside the pen but I still had to take the edges of the celluloid down to even out the gap where the clip had been twisting around and carving out a cheerful hole around the top, which necessarily meant levelling out the screw as well. Then I had to make a new channel for the clip ring, so it would sit flush below the button and this meant a rather inelegant gouging out of the BHR and general small time ruffty-tufty to the recalcitrant screw. I daresay the epoxy found plenty of purchase in this tiny BHR Somme experiment. I've been using it for a couple of days and it's still quite firm.