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Fountain Pen Sac Size Guide For Repairers


Richard

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Thank you, Richard. What about some brands not found in that chart (oh, Swan, Conway Stewart, Unic, Wyvern, etc.)? If one's learning to re-sac their own pens, do you suggest just getting a set of sacs and then keep trying until it won't fit and then go down one size?

--

Glenn (love those pen posses)

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  • 5 months later...
  • 4 weeks later...

What sac would be needed for a mabie Todd blackbird? I'll post pix when it gets here

Signature left blank per new rules...

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  • 1 month later...

A #16 straight sac is indeed a match for a Wearever Pennant. As is a 54mm J-bar (but note that the original J-bar has a ridge where modern ones have a channel, which means you'll have a slightly floppy lever).

--

James H. H. Lampert

Professional Dilettante

 

Posted Image was once a bottle of ink

Inky, Dinky, Thinky, Inky,

Blacky minky, Bottle of ink! -- Edward Lear

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  • 3 months later...

Hey, anyone happen to know the correct sac size for a Salz Brothers Peter Pan pen? Just restored one and need a sac. I suppose I could just do it the old fashioned way and get the ruler out..... Much smaller than an Arnold mini which takes a 14,so guessing it may be as small as a 10. When I flushed the nib and feed I was amazed at how much ink came out. Thanks for any help! The pen actually turned out pretty well and cute!

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  • 2 weeks later...

From the responses so far, it seems reports of its dearth have been greatly exaggerated...

 

--Daniel

 

 

No problem in my mind which sac to use; I just love this quote! :lticaptd: :thumbup:

 

John

Edited by sumgaikid

Irony is not lost on INFJ's--in fact,they revel in it.

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  • 1 month later...

Thank you, kind sir. It was both generous and thoughtful of you to publish this.

 

Leon Jester

Roanoke, VA

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  • 8 months later...

Does anyone know which sac size (not length) I'll need to re-sac a Conway Stewart Dinkie 550?

 

Thanks Lots,

Catherine

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  • 1 year later...

This is quite a list. I'm impressed!

Do I understand correctly that these sizes are not the original but your proposal for a best fit?

 

Regards,

Steven

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...

I just acquired a Parker Parkette the with a 0.30" nipple. The Esterbrook #16 was a tight fit, so I guessed at #17. Was this a good guess? It seemed to work.

Edited by corgicoupe

Baptiste knew how to make a short job long

For love of it. And yet not waste time either.

Robert Frost

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  • 4 months later...

What size sac would be appropriate for the modern Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler?

None of us can have as many virtues as the fountain-pen, or half its cussedness; but we can try. - Mark Twain

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I you are not sure what sac size to use, you can measure the size of the sac nipple. General sells a dial caliper with a scale graduated in 64ths of an inch. A nipple diameter of say 18/64 would use a #18 sac, 20/64 would be use a #20 sac etc. If you need to, you can go down a size, from 18 to 17 for instance, but not up because the sac would be loose on the sac nipple and would not be sealed or hold properly even with shellac.

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Visit Main Street Pens
A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful vintage pen repair...

Please use email, not a PM for repair and pen purchase inquiries.

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  • 1 month later...

I was previously trying to measure section nipple diameter by eyeballing it with a ruler. And I think that method inherently ends up with a slightly smaller value. As a result, when I bought some sacs recently, they turned out to be on the small side... enough that I had to shift my intended pens for installation.

 

Thankfully I discovered that I do have a digital caliper! And I confirmed that my previous measurements were smaller than actual.

 

I have a question though. Two pens I measured came out as 7.6 and 8.6 mm in diameter. What sac sizes should I use for them?

7.6 --> #19 or #20 ?

8.6 --> #21 or #22 ?

Edited by MYU

[MYU's Pen Review Corner] | "The Common Ground" -- Jeffrey Small

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  • 1 year later...

In response to a dearth of requests, I have just created a Fountain Pen Sac Size Guide for Repairers.

Dear Richard,

 

I've read your Reference section about sac replacements here

http://www.richardspens.com/ref/repair/sacs.htm

 

but I don't see any mention of what kind of replacement sac to use for my particular pen. I found your reference section on the Fountain Pen Network Forums here https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/219105-fountain-pen-sac-size-guide-for-repairers/

 

My pen is a Pato fountain pen, and the sac was kind of crumbly and dried and seemed to be made of some kind of rubber - pictures are here https://imgur.com/a/hoqNPOm

 

I think I'm also going to have to replace the nib - it says Durium 4 but the left tip of the nib is missing.

 

Can you make a suggestion for a sac replacement ?

 

Thanks

 

Kathleen

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Having retired, Richard is rarely on FPN these days.

 

This is not one of the major brands, so is not likely to show up in any list of pens. Pens that size usually use a sac in the 16-18 range, so that would be a safe guess. Lots of folks say, "Just use the sac that fits," but that assumes that you have a supply of sacs, and not all amateurs do. If you want to be "precise", and don't want to buy a bunch of sacs, you can measure the sac nipple.

 

Sacs are sized in 64ths of an inch i.e. a #16 sac is 16/64 OD. It will stretch and fit onto the sac nipple. Home Depot still sells a dial caliper by General with a scale in 64ths of an inch. Both Home Depot, Lowes and Harbor Freight sell a digital fractional caliper that would work.

 

Whatever size you use, be sure to secure it with shellac, often sold as sac cement.

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Visit Main Street Pens
A full service pen shop providing professional, thoughtful vintage pen repair...

Please use email, not a PM for repair and pen purchase inquiries.

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As it happens, Richard is here today. :P

 

My sac size guide also includes instructions for finding the right size sac for any vintage pen. I will quote those instructions here:

 

"For pens not listed, choose the largest sac that drops freely into the barrel with the pressure bar in place."

 

By following these instructions, you will get a sac that fits well, does not bind, and gives you a little breathing room between the sac and the barrel, thereby reducing the tendency for ink to bleed out of the pen due to heat from your hand.

 

As for your Durium nib, replacement is the only alternative. For the reason, I'll quote from my Glossopedia:

 

DURIUM. Term imprinted on untipped nibs used by third-tier manufacturers during the 1930s and 1940s, an exotic-sounding marketing name for ordinary stainless steel. Some untipped nibs were even imprinted durium tipped, a designation intended to deceive purchasers by its resemblance to iridium tipped. See also iridium, steel.

Edited by Richard

sig.jpg.2d63a57b2eed52a0310c0428310c3731.jpg

 

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