Eversharp Skyline Cap Dome Repair

[eharriett]

There were a couple other articles in this forum I looked at, and I checked out Richard Binder's article about the Skyline cap repairs, but none seem to be able to help me address this issue.

 

The cap won't stay screwed on! I did not disassemble this, it is how it came to me. I didn't really want to disassemble. And when I looked up some repair articles, it talks about removing to fix clip and overlay shell. I am suspecting someone else did this and broke it (?). All I want to do is put it back together. The dome screws in, however it does not tighten. I can twist forever. I read about the hooks, but I thought that was just for clip assembly. I do not, however, see the hooks in here.

 

Can this be fixed? Or was this broken?

 

[joss]

That is a common problem with Skyline caps and it is due to plastic shrinkage.

 

There are many threads on this topic, proposing various ways to solve the problem. See for instance:

www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/227217-loose-skyline-derby/

www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/97081-eversharp-skyline-cap/

www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/51098-skyline-loose-inner-cap-repair/

www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/278559-skyline-capclip-problem/

www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/271546-eversharp-skyline-plastic-shrinkage/

[eharriett]

Thanks!

 

I had not seen #1 or #4 yet (never thought to look for term "derby"), and the 4th just did not appear in whatever I used to search

#2 is unanswered

#3 is not relevant to my pen

#5 I was trying to avoid.

 

But thanks. I'll see what happens with this suggestion.

[eharriett]

Had some plumbers tape here. Yes. That did it. Thanks

[Ron Z]

I hate Teflon tape on pens. Its a pain to pick out of the threads. <soapbox mode off>

[eharriett]

Interesting. Do have a general recommendation? Scotch ok? What about thread seal tape?

[Addertooth]

I have recieved pens that had the "tape fix", they seemed to work.

Some people have put silicon grease on the derby threads, then squirted glue inside the cap threads. They then screw in the derby and tape it in place while the glue cures. The glue builds up the threads inside the cap, but the silicon grease keeps the derby threads from bonding with the glue (so it can be unscrewed later).

I have seen this fix done on where the cap screws onto the body of the pen, and it seems to work.

 

Your milage may vary, best of luck.

[Greenie]

If the teflon plumbers tape works, Ron Z will never need to see the pen or have to pick it out of the threads! I have had some luck and some failures with teflon tape on these. It depends on the degree of shrinkage of the plastic. You have nothing to lose, since the real "fix" is to find a suitable replacement part for the derby.

[GoldenNibs]

The best fix for skylines I found was to pull the nib and put it in a different pen. lol

[eharriett]

The best fix for skylines I found was to pull the nib and put it in a different pen. lol

Ill buy yours

 

Aww, I like them. Theyre perpetually wet writers.

[Ron Z]

... the real "fix" is to find a suitable replacement part for the derby.

The problem is a combination of the threads shrinking and the cap liner shrinking. Not like a T shirt does, but the material getting thinner. The threads can be stretched.

[GoldenNibs]

Ill buy yours

 

Aww, I like them. Theyre perpetually wet writers.

I have a small grouping of good ones that write nicely but most of the ones I run across were not taken care of very well and became very brittle. I kinda regret selling my gold filled model.

[bsenn]

The best fix for skylines I found was to pull the nib and put it in a different pen. lol

I agree. I have upgraded a Pelican 120, and, for some odd reason, have one in a lockdown vac.

[Greenie]

The best fix for skylines I found was to pull the nib and put it in a different pen. lol

 

+1

 

For the price of a skyline, and how common they are, you can take a nib you like and swap parts around - replace the derby, replace the whole cap, put your section in a new pen, or just put your favorite Skyline nib in another Skyline without flaws.

 

If you are adventurous, heat the threads on the bottom of the derby and try to stretch them with a suitable rod or mildly tapered rod. You have nothing to lose. I think the cost of a professional repair is not at all worth it considering the low cost of replacement of all the parts.

 

Or just use the plumbers tape.

 

It all works. But trying to salvage the parts of a Skyline in an elegant way makes very little sense for such a common and inexpensive pen. You just want a cap that fits and doesn't have its hat pop off.

[eharriett]

Interesting point.

 

It reminds me of what I read in da pen repair book about it being ok to heat a pen with open flame. What may be plentiful and inexpensive today will be rare and valuable tomorrow based on the demand.

 

Or to put it in a way a nerd like me understands: the reason Action Comics #1 is worth over $2 mill right now is because no one saved it and lots of people want it and there’s very few left. Current Superman #1 is worth literally the price you paid (possibly less) because everyone saves it, so there’s plenty to go around.

 

I’ll keep trying (reasonably, at least) to preserve and protect my junk.

 

Then again, I’m still a beginner asking the questions, so I have waaaaaay too much still to learn

[GoldenNibs]

The fact that many Skylines suffer from brittleness and can break very easily will probably make them rare in the distant future but as it stands now they are quite plentiful. The ones that broke on me from being brittle were harvested for their nibs and installed in interesting 2nd or 3rd tier pens that lost their original warranted nibs or had damaged nibs.

[Ron Z]

I will admit that though they rank higher than a Wearever or a Parker 21, Skylines are not my favorite pens, especially the solid color ones. The plastic is the issue - it shrink, and derbys get loose, nibs wiggle, inner caps spin, and the stupid tabs on the back of the clip break. The 5th Ave. pen isn't far behind.

[eharriett]

I will admit that though they rank higher than a Wearever or a Parker 21, Skylines are not my favorite pens, especially the solid color ones. The plastic is the issue - it shrink, and derbys get loose, nibs wiggle, inner caps spin, and the stupid tabs on the back of the clip break. The 5th Ave. pen isn't far behind.

Its funny that you should say that. A 5th Avenue was the only pen I'd ever held that actually disintegrated in my hand. While writing with it! It was one of the first vintage pens I ever got, and I was still fairly new. And was one of the first I opened and resaced. It wrote really well, in fact, I still every now and then wonder if other 5th Ave's write as well as I recalled that one writing (no, I have yet to lay my hands on another). But I resacced it, got it together, and even used it for several fills. Then one night, in the middle of writing, it literally fell apart. I mean all at once, the cap collapsed to the left, part of the body fell with it, it split by the lever, another part fell to the right, some aspect of the lever fell straight down, and I was literally left holding a section with a nib and sac! It was incredibly comical, in hindsight, but at the time, I thought I did something to the pen in my amateur resacing of it to cause that to happen. Some FPN searches later, I learn the model is basically the Ford Pinto of the community.