Parker Duofold Button Filler Filling Poorly

[pajaro]

I recently bought a Parker celluloid Duofold button filler. It seems to hold about enough ink for about three-fourths of an eight by 11 inch page. Is this normal for these pens?

 

I had to resac the pen and put in a new press bar. When I filled it I pressed hard enough on the button filler that I bent the old nib. I replaced it with a 1930s Vacumatic Debutante nib. Now I hold onto the barrel securely while pressing the filler button with the other hand, keeping the nib in the ink but not driving it into the bottom of the bottle. I give it six to eight presses of the button with intervals for the sac to fill. The pen writes divinely with the Vac Deb fine nib, but having to repeat the filling process so soon is a drag.

Edited April 24, 2019 by pajaro

[Timeline]

I have the same issue with my Parker Geometric Duofold button filler. It really doesn't hold that much ink, I do get at least three 8x11 pages out of it though.

[Paul80]

Hi

 

Silly question I know, but did you use the correct size sac when you replaced to old one.

[Ron Z]

If you're using a Deb nib, the pen can't be very big, so the sac isn't big. Chances are you know this, but I give these 5-10 seconds for a pen to fill completely. Check the pressure bar with the button in place. Sometimes it partially depresses the pressure bar so that it doesn't lay flat against the barrel, and the sac is always partially compressed.

[surprise123]

This is an easy one. If you haven't shellaced in the section, take it out. Press the button while looking down into the barrel. If you aren't using a hanging pressure bar, you are most likely having the bar "clip" onto the sac nipple, so that only the back half of the sac is compressed. In addition, traditional pressure bars are a lot harder to press, I would suggest replacing the pressure bar with a hanger bar instead.

 

As a rule, never let the nib touch the bottom of the ink bottle, it isn't good for the nib at all.

 

All that was learned from nasty experiences, so I consider myself learned on this subject.

[Ron Z]

...but the end of the pressure bar is supposed to be anchored between the sac nipple and barrel wall. As a matter of fact, that's why the end of the spring is curved - so that it fits down in more easily. Round the corners too so it doesn't puncture anything.

 

The spring flexes and forces the pressure bar outward because the end of the spring is held in place, and has nowhere to go. The pressure bar squeezes the sac against the barrel wall. If you watch the effect in the barrel with the section out, you'll see that the pressure bar actually moves fairly parallel to the barrel wall, so the whole sac gets squeezed. The hanging type achieves this effect with the hanging piece.

 

The hanging type BTW, as used in pens with a slip fit section so that pressure didn't tend to push the section out of the pen, and also allowed for a variety of sizes to use the same pressure bar.

 

Now, what I have seen, and I'm afraid have done, is to put the pressure bar in backwards. That doesn't work too well.

[pajaro]

This is an easy one. If you haven't shellaced in the section, take it out. Press the button while looking down into the barrel. If you aren't using a hanging pressure bar, you are most likely having the bar "clip" onto the sac nipple, so that only the back half of the sac is compressed. In addition, traditional pressure bars are a lot harder to press, I would suggest replacing the pressure bar with a hanger bar instead.

 

As a rule, never let the nib touch the bottom of the ink bottle, it isn't good for the nib at all.

 

All that was learned from nasty experiences, so I consider myself learned on this subject.

 

 

...but the end of the pressure bar is supposed to be anchored between the sac nipple and barrel wall. As a matter of fact, that's why the end of the spring is curved - so that it fits down in more easily. Round the corners too so it doesn't puncture anything.

 

The spring flexes and forces the pressure bar outward because the end of the spring is held in place, and has nowhere to go. The pressure bar squeezes the sac against the barrel wall. If you watch the effect in the barrel with the section out, you'll see that the pressure bar actually moves fairly parallel to the barrel wall, so the whole sac gets squeezed. The hanging type achieves this effect with the hanging piece.

 

The hanging type BTW, as used in pens with a slip fit section so that pressure didn't tend to push the section out of the pen, and also allowed for a variety of sizes to use the same pressure bar.

 

Now, what I have seen, and I'm afraid have done, is to put the pressure bar in backwards. That doesn't work too well.

Thanks for these ideas. I was learning about this kind of filler as I was putting it together. The sac is a 16, and the bar is not the hanging kind. The section screws into the barrel. What I need to do is take the pen back apart and check the installation with your comments in mind. Thanks again..

[surprise123]

 

 

Thanks for these ideas. I was learning about this kind of filler as I was putting it together. The sac is a 16, and the bar is not the hanging kind. The section screws into the barrel. What I need to do is take the pen back apart and check the installation with your comments in mind. Thanks again..

Correct bar, ok sac (I usually go a size smaller just to be safe), but yeah, be sure to check you didn't put the pressure bar in backwards. One easy way to check it to simply remove the button, if you see a long, folded bar projecting up, you did it right, if you see a little nub at the very bottom of the button mount, you put the bar in backwards. I also agree with Ron, sand the end of the pressure bar a tiny bit to make it less sharp.

[surprise123]

...but the end of the pressure bar is supposed to be anchored between the sac nipple and barrel wall. As a matter of fact, that's why the end of the spring is curved - so that it fits down in more easily. Round the corners too so it doesn't puncture anything.

 

The spring flexes and forces the pressure bar outward because the end of the spring is held in place, and has nowhere to go. The pressure bar squeezes the sac against the barrel wall. If you watch the effect in the barrel with the section out, you'll see that the pressure bar actually moves fairly parallel to the barrel wall, so the whole sac gets squeezed. The hanging type achieves this effect with the hanging piece.

 

The hanging type BTW, as used in pens with a slip fit section so that pressure didn't tend to push the section out of the pen, and also allowed for a variety of sizes to use the same pressure bar.

 

Now, what I have seen, and I'm afraid have done, is to put the pressure bar in backwards. That doesn't work too well.

Hanging bars, in fact, work with both threaded and slip fit sections. I much prefer the hanging bars, because they are WAY easier to press during filling. Plus, hanging pressure bars are easier to install than regular bars, I find that when I install regular bars, they can spin around when you thread the section back in and catch on the sac rubber (even with talc).

 

When I said "Caught" on the sac nipple, I meant that the pressure bar had slipped farther down and caught the actual pressing bar (the top bar that actually moves parallel to the barrel) against the section nipple. This makes it so that the bar acts a lot like a hinge, it is anchored at one end and only moves at the opposite end closest to the button. I didn't know this could happen and ended up with an inky mess when I decided to remove the section to see what was going on. Perhaps it was a rare, one-time thing, because it never happened again afterwards. Oh well. I bow down to the restoration guru.

[PhotoJim]

One other piece of advice: press the button *before* you insert the pen into the ink bottle. That way you can't force the nib into the bottom of the bottle any more vigorously than you lower the pen into the ink.

[hari317]

Hanging bars, in fact, work with both threaded and slip fit sections. I much prefer the hanging bars, because they are WAY easier to press during filling. Plus, hanging pressure bars are easier to install than regular bars, I find that when I install regular bars, they can spin around when you thread the section back in and catch on the sac rubber (even with talc).

 

When I said "Caught" on the sac nipple, I meant that the pressure bar had slipped farther down and caught the actual pressing bar (the top bar that actually moves parallel to the barrel) against the section nipple. This makes it so that the bar acts a lot like a hinge, it is anchored at one end and only moves at the opposite end closest to the button. I didn't know this could happen and ended up with an inky mess when I decided to remove the section to see what was going on. Perhaps it was a rare, one-time thing, because it never happened again afterwards. Oh well. I bow down to the restoration guru.

the pressure bar has to be installed "after" the resacced section is threaded into the barrel. The pressure bar is inserted through the button hole. the last step is installing the button.