Conway Stewart Newbie and some stupid questions

[mark skid]

Hi there.

I'm an artist by trade and for years I've been searching for the perfect drawing pen. To be frank, it's a search that has been somewhat futile. On a whim, I was at a closing down sale at an antique store today and I asked the owner if he had any pens. He said no apart from this one, and he pulled out a Conway Stewart 28 and told me he'd like to see it go to a good home.

I shelled out $NZ10 (roughly $US6) and, knowing I had a bargain, raced home to try it out.

It has several things which need attention.

The clip is loose (turns freely across the cap) and for the life of me I can't work out how to unscrew the aluminium cap on top - it's jammed in tight.

I also can't unscrew the nib end in order to check out the sac - it's lock tight.

I gave the nib (Conway Stewart 14k No 5) the dip test and I managed to write several paragraphs before it dried out; it writes beautifully although on close inspection I saw that the tines were out of alignment. I managed to pop them back into line just with a slight pressure from my fingertips.

A previous owner has also thoughtfully scratched their initials into the green (I think you refer to the finish as cracked ice?) barrel. Is it possible to sand these initials off? They're about as deep as the Conway Stewart engraved logo on the other side.

I guess I'm trying to find a balance between aesthetics and function. I like the pen, love beautiful things and would use it for my work - but I don't want to spend hundreds to fix it up.

If there are any other New Zealanders on the forum who could give me some local advice, that would be greatly appreciated as well.

Sorry for ranting but I'm quite excited by my new discovery.

[Greg]

Hi mark, welcome aboard and congratulations on your bargain.

 

I'm sure you'll get some answers, garythepenman is from your neck of the woods and is an expert.

 

I can only answer the easy one, which is to get at the ink sac you need to take off the section. This is the black part which houses the nib and feed which is a tight interference fit into the barrel and so has to be taken off with a pair of section grips. These are like pliers but have plastic protection on the jaws to prevent damage to your pen. You can find these on ebay if nowhere else. If you can't stretch to these then pliers can be used but make sure you have plenty of protection on the jaws. You have to grip very tightly and so be very careful.

 

Once the section is off you might like to soak it water a while, not too long, perhaps 30 minutes or so, and this will help to release the nib and feed. Again these are an interference fit but should come out with a strong, twisting finger/thumb grip. Again huge amounts of care required so as not to cause any stress on the nib. The feed is made from hard rubber so don't leave this in water too long. You can now clean everything, thoroughly, remove all the hardened sac material, polish up the nib and attend to any assymetry. Beware polishing any gold plating, it will be thin and you might end up with shiny base metal!

 

In the meantime get a new sac (again ebay or, better, one of the suppliers you can find on the 'net). This should be glued in place with shellac but, if you have none nail varnish can be used.

 

Put it all back together (you might like to line the top face of the nib with the filling lever) and you have a wonderful new pen, the 28 is one of the better quality pens by CS, and we'll all be asking for pictures of it!

 

Can't help about the clip fixing I'm afraid.

 

Greg

[andyr7]

You need the correct tool to remove or tighten the clip - a screwdriver with the middle section of the blade ground away. The aluminium jewel has a threaded shaft, this traps the clip and is held onto the top of the cap by a special nut inside the cap. However, even if you have the right tool, the nut is often welded to the shaft by corrosion or dried up ink reflecting 50 years of use. Not really a job for the fainthearted, or those without the spares to replace the jewel when the shaft shears off!

 

If you like the feel of the 28, look on ebay, there are plenty there that are not too expensive. Even at the specialist CS seller websites you can find a nice fully restored model for around 40 GBP.

 

Andy

[mark skid]

Hi Greg and andyr7. Thanks for the warm welcome and the excellent advice. It all seems a little daunting - especially the cap/clip removal part. I think this may be a job I should leave to an expert.

I've looked through these forums and found some excellent information on Conway Stewart pens - the sheer number of models is mind-boggling.

Having played with the pen all day (i.e. dip, write, draw; dip, write, draw) I'd like a pen with more weight and perhaps a little longer than the 28. Any recommendations from the Conway Stewart vintage range?

[andyr7]

Either the 58 or 60 may suit you, they are both very slightly larger than the 28 (and will unfortunately be more expensive). They were made in the same era as the 28 (all through the 1950s) and in the same materials. The sizes of the 58 and 60 are very similar, the main difference is in the trim - 58 has 3 cap bands (narrow broad narrow), the 60 has one large cap band - though in NZ you may find the variant with two not quite so wide bands which was exported to the Southern hemisphere.

 

If they are not long enough for you, the 60 was also made in a longer version, the 60L! You can get comparative sizes from David Wells model data 1 - 99. The biggest CS of that era was the 100 but this was only produced in black.

 

Andy

[HDoug]

If they are not long enough for you, the 60 was also made in a longer version, the 60L! You can get comparative sizes from David Wells model data 1 - 99. The biggest CS of that era was the 100 but this was only produced in black.

 

Andy

Hi Andy,

 

There was something funky with the URL you posted. Here is the corrected URL:

 

David Wells model data 1 - 99

[andyr7]

Thanks for correcting the URL, don't know where that went wrong!

 

Andy

[Michael Wright]

Hi Mark

 

Here in NZ Conways are still *relatively* common. That is to say, you're not really likely to find old fountain pens in junktiques any more -- everybody knows about ebay -- but on the odd occasion there is one, it's as likely to be a Conway as anything. So if you go antiquing at all, worth keeping an eye open. Be prepared, of course, for overpriced junkers.

 

WARNING: some Conway Stewarts were made of casein. Do not soak these pens. I speak from sad experience. Most Conways are celluloid, but I regret I don't remember off hand what the 28 is made from. You're right about the model numbers, and there seems to be absolutely no system at all.

 

You could try wiggling the section out of the barrel just with finger pressure -- don't do anything heroic, and a little warmth would help (hint: hair dryer). Section pliers are also sold, at lower cost, as spark-plug pliers, but it might not be economical to buy them for one pen. It is worth getting the knack of replacing ink sacs on lever fillers, though, and your bargain pen is a good one to practice on.

 

A 58 or 60 would definitely be a good Conway Stewart if you like a bigger pen.

 

The starting point for information on C-S pens is:

 

http://www.prog2kill.com/conwaystewart/

 

BTW, don't worry about that domain name -- the server belongs to an insect control company, not anything weird, like Finnish horror rock bands

 

Best

 

Michael

[andyr7]

The starting point for information on C-S pens is:

 

http://www.prog2kill.com/conwaystewart/

 

I think you'll find this website, run by Jonathan Donahaye, is still unavailable, though he does hope it will return before too long. The best you'll do until then is David Wells' website on the URL I gave earlier.

 

For pictures of tempting CS pens for sale, try

 

Writetime

 

 

Andy

[Michael Wright]

The starting point for information on C-S pens is:

 

http://www.prog2kill.com/conwaystewart/

 

I think you'll find this website, run by Jonathan Donahaye, is still unavailable, though he does hope it will return before too long. The best you'll do until then is David Wells' website on the URL I gave earlier.

 

For pictures of tempting CS pens for sale, try

 

Writetime

 

 

Andy

Thanks, Andy. It's been a while since I used Jonathan's site, and although it didn't come up when I checked it, I assumed that was just int0rweb crankiness.

 

I do hope it comes back -- I'm on the site as the locator of the only known 57 (not the late-model 57, but a pen like the 58). Bought in NZ, BTW, but I swapped it with Jonathan, since it needed to be in his collection.

 

Best

 

Michael

[mark skid]

Hi Michael.

Regarding junktique stores, I couldn't agree with you more. After I bought my 28, I walked next door into one such shop. They had a hell of a lot of pens, in a hell of a condition and at a hell of a price.

I think I'm drifting towards getting a 60L - all I need to do now is to find one.

I just bought a 475 from a local auction site for what I hope was a reasonable price.

And now a confession:

Being an impetuous sort I thought I'd make myself a pair of improv section pliers. After gouging dirty big teeth marks through the section of my $NZ10 28 I decided that I'd just taught myself a very valuable lesson.

To reinforce the above, my wife said, "I told you so."

 

I'm ashamed to be a Conway Stewart vandal...

[Michael Wright]

Ouch. Oh well, make the most of it by learning as much as you can of the make-up of one of these. Especially have a look at how the lever joins to the J-bar, which is about the only complicated bit of a C-S.

 

Hope the next one is nice, and do keep looking in the junktiques -- every once in a while, something decent turns up.

 

Best

 

Michael

[andyr7]

Spooky coincidence - a red herringbone (my favourite colour for the later pens) 60L has just appeared on ebay (number 6631842618), seller is from your neck of the woods (classic-nz)! On the down side it has an additional name engraved on the body (though this should help keep the price down) but as a plus it has a fabulous looking Duro60 nib. It will probably need a (professional!) clean and resac, which wouldn't be too expensive.

 

Nobody understands what a great purchase a pair of section pliers can be until they've ruined at least one perfectly good pen trying other methods!

 

Good luck if you go for the 60L.

 

Andy

[Michael Wright]

Spooky coincidence - a red herringbone (my favourite colour for the later pens) 60L has just appeared on ebay (number 6631842618), seller is from your neck of the woods (classic-nz)! On the down side it has an additional name engraved on the body (though this should help keep the price down) but as a plus it has a fabulous looking Duro60 nib. It will probably need a (professional!) clean and resac, which wouldn't be too expensive.

 

Nobody understands what a great purchase a pair of section pliers can be until they've ruined at least one perfectly good pen trying other methods!

 

Good luck if you go for the 60L.

 

Andy

Oooh, nice pen. Will probably get a nice price.

 

I looked at the name on the pen, and thought it looked a bit improbable, so I Googled "Cobber Weinberg" to discover that there seem to be several people of that name in NZ who are visible on the net. With a bit of work, you might even find out who was presented with the pen in 1961. Its condition suggests it was a presentation pen -- it's the sort of pen you'd have bought for someone you wanted to feel you appreciated them.

 

Best

 

Michael

 

restraining himself

[mark skid]

Thanks for the heads up on the 60L Andy. Speaking of coincidences, I saw the auction about five minutes before I read your post. It's a lovely pen but I was put off by the inscription. Still, if by some good fortune I finally win an eekbay auction, I could change my name to 'Cobber' reflect my new standing in the pen community.

[andyr7]

Very nice reasonably priced blue marble Exec 60 with another great looking nib has also just appeared on Writetime

(see CS571). No inscription and a guaranteed performer!

 

Andy

Edited May 22, 2006 by andyr7

[mark skid]

Yep, that's a pretty nice looking pen there. The nib - would it have any flex to it?

By the way, I can't believe how helpful everyone's been. I really appreciate it. Thanks.

[andyr7]

Someone else will have to help you with the degree of flex in the nib, I don't have a wide experience with a range of nibs and I'm more a 'curator of the past' than an avid user of fountain pens. However, Duro nibs generally are known to be the 'Rolls Royce' of Conway Stewart nibs and those found in pre-war Duro pens certainly have a good degree of flex. I'm not sure about the later nibs, especially in that stubby style. In the past I have had a 60 with a fine Duro nib (until the dog, when a puppy, picked it up and dropped it nib-first!) and that was a real pleasure to use.

 

The seller is a Conway Stewart expert and a good friend of mine, if you're seriously interested just e-mail him and I'm sure he'll tell you all you need to know.

 

Andy

[RichardS]

Mark, I have a Conway Stewart 60, with a broad Duro 60 nib - but not quite as broad as the one shown. These nibs are pretty firm, and very smooth. They're probably not quite as fim as some moderns like the Parker Duouofol Centennial, but don't expect any flex. You'll find some flex in the earlier generation of pens like the no. 55. Mine has an earlier type Duro nib with less broad "shoulders" and a nice degree of flex; nothing excessive, but enough to give your writing a little more character, should you want it.

 

http://img438.imageshack.us/img438/755/img0035xd9of.jpg

Conway Stewart 55 with Duro stub nib

Edited May 23, 2006 by RichardS