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Sheaffer Valiant Inner Cap?


Kodiac136

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I recently picked up a beautifully restored Sheaffer Valiant with a plunger filling system. I am loving it! However, the nib dries out extremely quickly. Within perhaps an hour or two of sitting on the desk, it dries out to such a point that it takes me around 10 or 15 drawn lines before I get any ink coming out. Did these Valiants ever have an inner cap? Mine does not. Is there any trick to seal the cap better to keep the nib ready to write?

"Why me?"
"That is a very Earthling question to ask, Mr. Pilgrim. Why you? Why us for that matter? Why anything? Because this moment simply is. Have you ever seen bugs trapped in amber?"
"Yes."

"Well, here we are, Mr. Pilgrim, trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why."

-Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

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They do have an inner cap, but unlike a pen with an open nib they don't have an edge against which the section stops and seals. Some are one a one piece with the metal threads, some have a disc fixed in the end to seal the top part of the cap, and most of the sealing action comes with the edge of the cap against the step in the barrel. Unless you can see the clip and spring, the inner cap is in place.

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I think you should be prepared to wet the nib if you think it will have dried out. This has been my experience with a number of pens. Being prepared to moisten the nib keeps my level of irritation down. Que sers sers.

"Don't hurry, don't worry. It's better to be late at the Golden Gate than to arrive in Hell on time."
--Sign in a bar and grill, Ormond Beach, Florida, 1960.

 

 

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