Conway Stewart Lever Mechanism

[Sach]

Does the CS lever filler employ a sac? Recently bought a few vintage flex pens which employ an internal sac and found that they have an atrociously small ink capacity. Given that I am looking to add my first conway to my collection; I am fearful..

[RMN]

I do not own any CS leverfillers, But many pens use a rubber or silicone sac. This needs to be pressed and released so it can fill. A lever is just one way to press the sac. There are pens that had a slit where you put a coin in to press the sac.

 

But a lever without a sac is pretty useless.

The size of the sac depends also on the size of the barrel. The Dinkie has very little room, a Churchill much more.

 

I believe CS are planning on new leverfillers with an improved lever design.

 

 

D.ick

[View from the Loft]

If the OP is referring to adding a vintage CS to his collection, apart from small pens such as the Dinkie, he shouldn't worry about small capacity in a lever fill. If I have a day at work where I know I will need a lot of ink, my first choice pens for the day are three CS lever fills (one I haven't identified yet, a CS28 and a CS75) or an M600. However, the lever fills will do more writing on a fill than anything else I own.

[JohnM]

Great question. After owning two cartridge-converter Bellivers for a few years, I just bought two Churchill lever-fillers. I went with lever fill because they are more traditional and I thought that ink flow may be better, given past (mixed) experiences with cartridge-converter pens (not CS specifically).

 

I haven't had the Churchills long enough to report on their performance but it doesn't appear that their ink capacity is particularly large. I don't think this will be a problem for me, but if you're the kind of person who likes a LOT of ink in a pen (e.g., a Pelikan or Omas piston fill) you may wish the Churchill had more.

 

John

[raging.dragon]

All lever fill pens use a sac. Ink capacity will vary depending on the size and condition of the sac and efficiency of the specific lever mechanism.

[carlosviet]

Yes they use a sac, and at least the Churchill's capacity is considerably smaller to any other pen I own. It would be my last choice to take to a long exam or to a weekend, without an ink bottle.