Inner Cap Replacement

[DanDeM]

Cleaning an old Flat-Top cap, and the wooden inner cap cracked, fell out. The pen has

a Z Clip, so that the inner cap not only prevented bending the nib while screwing it in,

it also held the clip in place.

Suggestions for replacement materials to avoid/use — the cap is red hard rubber — and

for an adhesive, if necessary, to hold it in place?

 

Thanks.

[fountainbel]

Cleaning an old Flat-Top cap, and the wooden inner cap cracked, fell out. The pen has

a Z Clip, so that the inner cap not only prevented bending the nib while screwing it in,

it also held the clip in place.

 

Suggestions for replacement materials to avoid/use — the cap is red hard rubber — and

for an adhesive, if necessary, to hold it in place?

 

Thanks.

A picture of the parts says more than 1000 words …….

[DanDeM]

A picture of the parts says more than 1000 words …….

 

As described, in fewer than a thousand words, a Z Clip, a shattered inner cap and a cap.

 

It might be more important to know that the inner diameter of the cap is 1.3cm, .5 inches

Edited September 23, 2016 by DanDeM

[FarmBoy]

Dan,

I would make a new inner cap from hard rubber. I'm not normal. Take a hardwood dowel and drill a hole down the center just larger than the nib/feed but smaller than the section lip. Coarse sand paper to get it down to size so it will slide into the cap with just a little friction. Flat the side where the the z-clip inserts just enough to clear the tab on the clip. Cut to length. Heat the snot out of the cap and then slide in the new inner cap using something that will engage the edge of the new part. Make sure you line everything up first. If it doesn't work, use the next chuck of dowel and try again.

 

You could try to rebuild the inner cap with a lot of glue for fun but I don't insist it would be fun or work.

 

Best

[BamaPen]

I had a similar failure and made a new inner cap from styrene tubing. The tubing is sold in hobby shops in a variety of diameters. I chose one that would not quite slip into the cap, then sanded the outside until it firmly slipped into place. I pushed it in with a slightly smaller dowel. No adhesive was necessary.

[BamaPen]

In another case, the original wooden inner cap broke into about three pieces and I was able to glue it back together and slip it back into place.

[fountainbel]

Just as Farmboy i would opt for making new inner cap from hard rubber.

Turning it to a perfect light press fit on the lathe looks preferable to me, so no gluing will be necessary and future disassembly remains possible.

Francis

[BamaPen]

Just as Farmboy i would opt for making new inner cap from hard rubber.

Turning it to a perfect light press fit on the lathe looks preferable to me, so no gluing will be necessary and future disassembly remains possible.

Francis

Francis, I'm sure you could turn one on your lathe in no time. I, on the other hand, don't have a lathe, so the styrene tubing and sandpaper method worked well for me.

John

[Vintagepens]

I make replacement inner caps on the lathe from hard rubber, too. They are needed all too often, but luckily the job goes quickly with a little practice.

Incidentally, that cap sure doesn't look like hard rubber. I'd bet you it's celluloid.

[DanDeM]

Thank you all. Interesting to read such varied solutions to the same problem. I too, have had the problem before,

and lacking either the skill or access to a lathe, reverted to my previous solution.



In this case the outer diameter of the material at hand is 1/16 inches too small. So rather than removing material, it

was necessary to build it up, hence the toothpicks. Cut to the length of the inner cap, 2.85cm., they are used as

shims between the insert and the interior face of the cap.

After applying a few beads of shellac to the insert, it was placed into the cap taking care to avoid getting shellac into

the threads. The toothpicks had been pre-cut and were inserted into the cap while the shellac was still un-set. The

shims were set between the insert and the inner face of the cap. Inserted at 180º from the clip, they press the full

length of the new inner cap against the interior surface of the clip. Typically only two or three shims are needed.

Care must also be taken to not distort the inner diameter of the insert so as to snag the shoulders of the nib when

closing the pen.

I find this approach very gentle, placing little strain or pressure on the cap. Yet it is very effective in holding the clip

in place, leaving it fully functional.

Beyond the issues that emerged while working on the pen, including a tired JBar and the usual petrified sac, the

pen came with a nib missing a tine. That was replaced with one imprinted Silver Palladium Alloy USA. However

it was the barrel imprint that caught my attention and made me smile…FCB.



No connection, I am sure, but FCB, along with BBDO, O&M, and many others, is the shorthand reference to an

advertising agency, in this case Foote, Cone and Belding. They serviced a brand I ran, and I later worked on an

account in their Los Angeles office. Brought back fond memories of bright, talented, innovative people.

So here is the pen that took a couple of evenings of fussing, yet another homage to a 1930’s Big Red…



only this, a lowly Wearever.

Edited September 27, 2016 by DanDeM