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Does anyone know how to dismantle the Sailor King of pen cap ? there is ink trapped in the inner plastic cap and and i cant remove it, it seems to be screwed in place with a spring behind it to keep the nib from drying !

Those of you who have Kaigelu 316 FPs may have worn out the screw thread at the bottom of the converter, thus risking the odd leak. YCPENS to the rescue. He now has in stock replacement converters with the screw thread. I bought a pair, greased up the thread of one of the new ones, swapped the ink load over via a syringe, and now have a safe, securely screwed in converter. These converters may fit other pens that support an international-style screw in converter. http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/LncAAOSwFqJWqNCM/s-l1600.jpg Disclaimer - I have no affiliation with YC Gao, other than being a long-time satisfied customer.

Some context for the adventure here. The question comes in the last paragraph. I bought a long model Onoto 6234 from Spain recently, expecting it would need some service work. The pen looked to be in very fine shape externally, so that was promising. The plunger was extremely difficult to push down. Before taking it further apart, I removed the section to add some silicone grease to the barrel, as an experiment. Now the plunger moved very easily, but with no suitable 'pop' of vacuum breaking. Removing the rod showed that the "cup washer" was made from two bits of what appears to be bicycle inner tube (it curves floppily on one radius) hand cut with a knife into a random polygon roughly approximating a circle, with no cone washer for support. OK, I can replace that. A lack of ink in the barrel or section suggested the earlier repairer had found their effort was not entirely successful. I noted also that the plunger cone pin had rust around it! Pushing it out, I found that my predecessor had resorted to a bit of metal for the pin, and not a rust-proof bit, for this pin immersed in dyed water. Also, the rod was bent, presumably from trying to force down the ungreased piston. Well, it is ebonite with a wire core. I am trying to ease its bend at the moment. It may need replacement. Next, I turned to the cork seal at the top of the barrel. Hmm, no seal screw. That does not help. So, to the question: Does anyone know the threading used for the seal screw on top of an Onoto barrel? Given they used 5BA for the rod, I am conjecturing it will be 0BA or 1BA (but normal RH thread). If it is, I may be able to make another.

Hi, I have a question for Esterbrook experts. Q. Is it okay to change the nib on an Esterbrook J while the pen is still inked?

Very simple question: do you prefer a screw or snap-on cap, or is it something you don't care about? Personally, I've discovered that I was gravitating toward screw caps, and now I'm firmly in that camp, so much so that I'm not going to buy a pen with a snap-on cap again. I feel I have more control over uncapping the pen when unscrewing as opposed to pulling the cap off. The Sonnet I recently received will be exchanged because of drying out (I still find it impossible to believe that Parker STILL hasn't fixed that!), and it won't be replaced by a pen with a snap-on cap. It will probably be replaced by a Sailor ProGear. So... screw, snap, or don't care?