Are These Lids Over Vintage Waterman Feeds Necessary?

[eharriett]

I just got a Waterman Crusader (props to guys in Waterman subforum who helped me figure out that's what it is). As I suspected, it had never been inked before, but once I pulled the section out, I saw the sac was broken, so glad I did that. But it got me wondering about this lid that's over the hole the ink goes into. I've seen it before on some other vintage pens and it has me wondering: are these necessary? Can I try and remove it and will it help ink flow? Should I? Only some older pens have them and others don't, and I was just curious as to their purpose.

 

Thanks

 

[Tweel]

That's not a plug, it's the end of the feed itself (those are the ink channels at the top).

[eharriett]

Well, looks like I now a have follow up.

 

Finally got the pen open and had a chance to replace the sac (glad I did, small slit in one place that you couldn’t tell was there if you just pulled the lever).

 

But now there’s a new sac in it and it holds ink well. The flow is highly constructed, barely comes out (was soaking about 3 days to get the pen opened). I took a close look at the tines and I believe they are pushed together. I tried pulling them apart a bit with the pen assembled, and while it helped a little, I think I need to do a little more work. So I want to try and remove the feed and nib to see if I can open those up more. I own a nib knock out block, but I don’t know if that nib/feed is friction fit or not. Plus, I have never tried knocking out with that round cover on the top. If the nib is friction fit, do I knock on that part to loosen the nib out, or do I have to remove it to get at the part I knock out to remove?

 

Thanks