Black Diamond Point With 'oddball' Nib Repair

December 12, 2017

I just received this black Diamond Point lever filler today that I got for 'only' $10.49. I'm not sure on the age of the pen but the clip is marked "Diamond PP" and a very hard to read "PAT.No 83673". A patent search proved unsuccessful. The sac has dried out and will need to be replaced once I manage to detach the section. I will probably need to replace the spring bar as well. The pen was left to dry with ink in it so I'm not very hopeful for the state inside the barrel. I'm guessing that the pen is from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, leaning towards the 50s. Definitely late in the life of the company since the "Diamond PP" was only used in the later years.

The pen has a lovely "Warranted 14K 8" nib that was mounted sideways with the feed but wrote pretty well. The nib is very soft and has good flex to it. I was able to gently realign the nib but to my surprise the left tine is bent. Upon further inspection I noticed a very small metal ball on that tine and it seems like this is meant to 'prop up' the tine when pushed over the feed. There is a 'scratch on the cap that is consistent with damage from a soldering iron which surprised me at first but now that I've seen the little metal ball it makes more sense. I fount it to be a very creative way to salvage what seems to be a very good nib.

Now what is the best way for me to properly realign the right tine? The good news is that the little metal ball can stay where it is since it is not touching the feed when the nib is properly aligned. I'm also looking for recommendation on how to open the pen to look inside the barrel. Were Diamond Points known to have a glued section? Also if anyone has a better idea on dating the pen I would appreciate it.

I've attached a writing sample, on the up and left strokes only the bent tine touches the paper and makes a lot of noise so excuse the shaky handwriting:

December 13, 2017

Well, on the good news I was able to separate the body and the j-bar need to be replaced which is minor, unfortunately as I was working on the tines I noticed a hairline crack lengthwise from the back to the "8". I was able to mostly align the nibs and when I tried the nib again it actually cracked . It is not fully split but would need a proper nibmeister to salvage. Considering this only a small warranted nib it is not worth it at this point. I might get some gold solder and try to work the crack eventually but this restoration project is now to be shelved.

The back of the nib was very thin so I'm guessing that the sideways mounting has probably contributed in creating the seed for the stress fracture. The back of the nib was also very very thin.

December 13, 2017

Call me persistent but since I was not going to pay to fix this nib and I have tix jewelry solder I figured I could give it a try:

A close up on the crack still going up to the 8:

And the tines that or now only misaligned, rather than crossed apart:

It seems to write well but I will share be gentle and not try to force a big flex on this nib. The solder contains tin, lead, indium and traces of Nickel/Paladium. The solder is supposed to not tarnish and these metals are pretty stable ... so it looks like I might have a durable repair here.

Now the pen looks better and writes better than when I got it:

Once I get around to order sacs and j-bars I'll be able to bring the rest of the pen back in working condition. I have a couple of steel nibs that are partially rusted and I'm considering fixing them with this solder.