Dealing With Caps That Let Nibs Dry Out Between Uses

[crosshatch]

I have a couple of Delike pens from China that have issues with the nib drying out between uses and needing too much coaxing to start writing. However, I like the pen bodies, and the nibs themselves are surprisingly nice once they start writing.

Neither pen has an inner cap of any kind. One has a wooden cap, too, which I imagine can make drying issues worse.

 

Has anyone ever tried to add inner caps to pens that didn't come with them or otherwise come up with ways to fix issues with nibs drying out between uses? Is there any source for inner caps, or would I have to cannibalize other pens? Is there a solution besides an inner cap?

[graystranger]

I hate for a pen to be hard starting because the nib has dried out from a poor sealing cap. In fact, I have quit using some pens just because their caps do not seal well. One reason I love the Platinum 3776 Century pens and my Lamy 2000 pens.

 

I have had some success sealing caps to make them air tight.

 

I contacted Brian Gray about my Edison pens (I have 5) and some sealed air tight and some did not. He recommended unscrewing the cap finial (you will need a piece of rubber to grip it with) and sealing the threads with silicone grease. I was very careful not to get any on the base of the finial in case the nib might light touch it (YOU DO NOT WANT SILICONE GREASE ON A NIB). I was successful doing this except one finial was too tight for me to safely remove, but that cap was air tight anyway and did not need sealing.

 

How to tell if the cap is air tight? I suck on the cap and see if the vacuum holds it to my lips.

 

A couple of other pens of mine leaked air where the grip goes into the cap. I sealed the opening carefully using a Bondic UV curing polymer kit.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Laser-Bonding-Tech-Bondic-SK8024-Cartridges/dp/B018IBEHQU/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1519317333&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=bondic+liquid+welder+starter+kit&psc=1

 

 

This is a photo of a cap sealed with the clear Bondic plastic UV welding kit. You can use a good glue, but you need some way to get it neatly into the opening. The Bondic cures in seconds using a UV Led light that comes with the kit. You can cure a small amount, apply more uncured on top, and cure it, in stages so to speak. The uncured resin will bond to cured resin when UV light is applied. Needless to say, you cannot do this in daylight as the resin will cure as soon as it comes out of the tube!! It has to be indoors with very little UV light (do not so in sunlight coming in a window, that will cure the stuff too).

 

I have never tried to fit an inner cap, it would have to be shaped to precisely fit and seal the end of the grip section without interfering with the nib. This would not be easy to do. Then you have to come up with a good way to secure the inner cap in the right place in the outer cap so the nib will be free when capped. The solution will be different for each pen model.

Edited February 22, 2018 by graystranger

[Chrissy]

I would scrap the idea of adding random inner caps to pens. That won't work as they are all made to seal onto the grip somewhere.

[Inkling13]

I hate for a pen to be hard starting because the nib has dried out from a poor sealing cap. In fact, I have quit using some pens just because their caps do not seal well. One reason I love the Platinum 3776 Century pens and my Lamy 2000 pens.

 

I have had some success sealing caps to make them air tight.

 

I contacted Brian Gray about my Edison pens (I have 5) and some sealed air tight and some did not. He recommended unscrewing the cap finial (you will need a piece of rubber to grip it with) and sealing the threads with silicone grease. I was very careful not to get any on the base of the finial in case the nib might light touch it (YOU DO NOT WANT SILICONE GREASE ON A NIB). I was successful doing this except one finial was too tight for me to safely remove, but that cap was air tight anyway and did not need sealing.

 

How to tell if the cap is air tight? I suck on the cap and see if the vacuum holds it to my lips.

 

A couple of other pens of mine leaked air where the grip goes into the cap. I sealed the opening carefully using a Bondic UV curing polymer kit.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Laser-Bonding-Tech-Bondic-SK8024-Cartridges/dp/B018IBEHQU/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1519317333&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=bondic+liquid+welder+starter+kit&psc=1

 

IMG_0826.JPG

 

This is a photo of a cap sealed with the clear Bondic plastic UV welding kit. You can use a good glue, but you need some way to get it neatly into the opening. The Bondic cures in seconds using a UV Led light that comes with the kit. You can cure a small amount, apply more uncured on top, and cure it, in stages so to speak. The uncured resin will bond to cured resin when UV light is applied. Needless to say, you cannot do this in daylight as the resin will cure as soon as it comes out of the tube!! It has to be indoors with very little UV light (do not so in sunlight coming in a window, that will cure the stuff too).

 

I have never tried to fit an inner cap, it would have to be shaped to precisely fit and seal the end of the grip section without interfering with the nib. This would not be easy to do. Then you have to come up with a good way to secure the inner cap in the right place in the outer cap so the nib will be free when capped. The solution will be different for each pen model.

That hole was made for a reason, not for your amusement, and certainly not to dry out your pen. Its so a vacuum doesnt form in the cap, and to help equilibrate the air pressure when capping and uncapping the pen. Fill them if you want, but know that it is there for a reason.

For hard starters, try to store sideways or tip down. That has helped, especially with tip up starving and drying out the nib and feed overnight.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Inkling13

[crosshatch]

Thanks for the replies!

Yeah, one of the caps had definite air flow, so I had disassembled it and reassembled it with epoxy to seal the gaps (it doesn't have threads EDIT: to clarify, the finial does not attach with threads--the cap itself does screw onto the barrel). No more air flow, but the nib still dries out, although the situation has improved a bit. Not resolved, though.

The wooden pen's cap is all one piece, so there's nothing to seal there. I think it's just the nature of wood + wood-on-wood cap threads and a nib that is both on the small side and EF.

I wonder whether it might help to slide an O-ring down onto the barrel threads. If not, I'll play with different options. Do you think something like CA glue carefully applied to the inside of the cap might help to offset some of the porosity of the wood (taking care to mask off the threads and the outside of the cap, of course, before applying)?

 

I always store my pens horizontally unless they have very wet feeds. Not sure whether nib-down will make a difference, but it probably won't result in any messiness with these EF nibs.

Edited February 23, 2018 by crosshatch

[pajaro]

Parker 51 was perfect, always starting. Then I ventured to Montblanc, Sheaffer and Pelikan, and these always started, except for a few Sheaffers. After that I had a lot of trouble with other well known brands, and so I left off of using them. I have decided that a pen that doesn't start because of drying out is no good. Harsh, but I am sick of the hassles of pens that dry out.

[Inkling13]

Wood caps are they way they are, CA glue will not form a good enough moisture barrier, and will ruin pens. Unless your pen was made with a plastic insert or liner, you are out of luck. It is just the way it goes with natural materials that live and breath,like wood.

[crosshatch]

Wood caps are they way they are, CA glue will not form a good enough moisture barrier, and will ruin pens. Unless your pen was made with a plastic insert or liner, you are out of luck. It is just the way it goes with natural materials that live and breath,like wood.

CA glue is used as a finish on wood and plastics all the time. If you know how to apply it, it won't ruin the wood.

 

And, sure I like wood specifically because it lives and breathes. But that doesn't mean I don't have to brainstorm for possible ways to address some of its drawbacks.

[crosshatch]

I would scrap the idea of adding random inner caps to pens. That won't work as they are all made to seal onto the grip somewhere.

 

Most of my inner caps don't seal onto the grip. They just meet up with it well enough to significantly reduce air circulation, especially if a spring is involved. On a whim, I pulled one out of one of my cheaper pens, and it met up with the grip on my wooden pen as well as it did with the pen for which it was designed. It was too long for the cap, though.

 

It's true that the most effective inner caps, like those from Platinum, really do have a true seal against the grip. But I don't need a pen to be able to write straightaway after a year in storage. A day of warding off evaporation would be more than adequate for my needs. I generally make the effort to use all of my inked up pens at least once a day.

 

I suspect the effort of finding a cap or something that can be used as a cap with the right dimensions will be difficult, though.

[Inkling13]

CA glue is used as a finish on wood and plastics all the time. If you know how to apply it, it won't ruin the wood.

 

And, sure I like wood specifically because it lives and breathes. But that doesn't mean I don't have to brainstorm for possible ways to address some of its drawbacks.

CA glue is a poormans finish. I know that its used in finishing wood, usually on pens, but this is applied with high speed, so you dont end up glued to the wood. How you will succeed in applying a sufficient layer to the inside of a cap, without a machine, and to do it so you dont gum up the threads is beyond me.

If you were in the position to have pens made, if have it made of a composite, like dymondwood and the like. Wood grained, laminated plywood with the grain and density of an exotic hardwood, but behaves essentially like plastic.

[crosshatch]

CA glue is a poormans finish. I know that its used in finishing wood, usually on pens, but this is applied with high speed, so you dont end up glued to the wood. How you will succeed in applying a sufficient layer to the inside of a cap, without a machine, and to do it so you dont gum up the threads is beyond me.

If you were in the position to have pens made, if have it made of a composite, like dymondwood and the like. Wood grained, laminated plywood with the grain and density of an exotic hardwood, but behaves essentially like plastic.

 

Yes, but I would be using it as a sealer, not a finish. It would be on a part of the pen nobody would ever see. So it doesn't need to be applied in a thin, smooth coat as it would need to be if applied on the outside as a finish.

 

As for "gumming up the threads" there are many ways to mask off the parts of the pen you don't want to receive a finish or glue. It's fiddly with something as small as a pen cap but hardly unthinkable.

 

Conversely, I could use an epoxy as a sealant inside the cap. They have longer workable times. But they're thicker and may be more likely to build up too thick?

[tvradio]

In the interests of science I gently pushed a Preppy cap (which has an inner cap) onto my Delike New Moon 2. It stayed on, and didn't damage the body, but it looks funky.

 

Link (copy/paste since FPN doesn't recognize it as a URL): http:/d.pr/i/4qFqeR

Edited February 24, 2018 by tvradio

[Inkling13]

 

Yes, but I would be using it as a sealer, not a finish. It would be on a part of the pen nobody would ever see. So it doesn't need to be applied in a thin, smooth coat as it would need to be if applied on the outside as a finish.

 

As for "gumming up the threads" there are many ways to mask off the parts of the pen you don't want to receive a finish or glue. It's fiddly with something as small as a pen cap but hardly unthinkable.

 

Conversely, I could use an epoxy as a sealant inside the cap. They have longer workable times. But they're thicker and may be more likely to build up too thick?

You keep speaking of CA glue as a sealant, but it functions not as a moisture barrier. It won't likely keep your nibs from drying out as much as you hope it will. Two part epoxy is better suited for this, and can be thinned to a brushable consistency with acetone, but its cure time will be affected, sometimes not even curing or just taking forever. With acetone, you can get it essentially water thin, and not have too much issue, but I would save your pot of diluted epoxy to have something to refer to and check if your epoxy does cure hard. If not, you are kind of SOL, as it's hard to remove in its gummy form.

[crosshatch]

You keep speaking of CA glue as a sealant, but it functions not as a moisture barrier. It won't likely keep your nibs from drying out as much as you hope it will. Two part epoxy is better suited for this, and can be thinned to a brushable consistency with acetone, but its cure time will be affected, sometimes not even curing or just taking forever. With acetone, you can get it essentially water thin, and not have too much issue, but I would save your pot of diluted epoxy to have something to refer to and check if your epoxy does cure hard. If not, you are kind of SOL, as it's hard to remove in its gummy form.

Well, I'm pretty sure it would temporarily seal. But I think you're correct. Over time, it wouldn't hold up. I think you're right that epoxy is probably the better way to go.

[crosshatch]

In the interests of science I gently pushed a Preppy cap (which has an inner cap) onto my Delike New Moon 2. It stayed on, and didn't damage the body, but it looks funky.

 

Link (copy/paste since FPN doesn't recognize it as a URL): http:/d.pr/i/4qFqeR

Huh. I might disassemble a Preppy cap and see whether I can use the inner cap. It looks like the fit might be decent enough. The real issue will be making sure there's enough room for the far end of the inner cap inside the Delike cap. Thanks for that photo.

[Denver]

Many, perhaps most of my fountain pen caps leak some air and the culprits are 1) the clip, 2) the finial, 3) both of these, or 4) the threads or snap area of the slip cap. Even an inner cap isn't a guarantee that the nib won't dry out since it may not fit properly. Case in point, I had one Platinum Preppy with an inner cap that didn't engage properly because the spring was stuck. After mobilizing and lubricating it with a small amount of silicone oil, the pen now can go weeks without drying out. If air is getting into the cap through the clip attachment, it can sneak around an inner cap and allow the nib to dry out. A simple test for air leakage is to blow on the open end of the cap like a balloon to see if and where air may be leaking. My usual fix is to disassemble the cap and use clear 5-minute epoxy to seal all the areas that are leaking. If a fixed an inner cap isn't engaging the nib section to create a good seal, I sometimes add a small stainless steel washer or two under the screw at the finial to bring it down a bit. If threads are leaking, I usually just tighten them a littler more when I recap the pen, but sometimes I use heavy silicone grease that sits in the bottom of the threads away from my hand. Occasionally I add a thin, clear or black o-ring. With slip caps, I've also gotten into the habit of turning them a little after putting the cap on since this enhances the seal.

[pajaro]

Thanks for these ideas.