Sheaffer Inlaid Nib Blocked By Particulate Ink: Any Hope?

[the_gasman]

I wasn't sure whether to post this query under "nibs" or "inks" so apologies for inadvertent error.

 

I have taken delivery of a Sheaffer Imperial (c/c type) that I bought from Ebay. It was the broad left oblique italic nib that caught my eye. My starting routine with Ebay buys is a vigorous syringe flush, followed by a few minutes in an ultrasonic bath, and a final syringe flush. This has previously produced excellent ink flow subsequently. However, this morning I could barely move any water through the Sheaffer section with a syringe (first alarm bell) and 5 minutes in the US bath didn't release the usual swirl of pigment (the second alarm bell). The final alarm bell was that the follow-up syringe flush yield only a small amount of black particulate matter.

 

I suspect that a previous owner has been seduced by the italic nib into using India ink, or similar, in the mistaken belief that such an ink could be used for calligraphy in fountain pens. Years of subsequent neglect have left a rock solid blockage.

 

The Ebay seller allows an unquestioned 14 day return but the potentially wonderful nib makes me want to try to restore flow. So, I have about 10 days to try to make it usable. So far, my efforts have allowed flow to go from zero to slow (but with a lot of pressure on the syringe handle). I have just started a 24 hour soak in warm water with washing-up liquid added.

 

Does this beautiful nib have any hope of survival? Can anyone suggest a different method? Should/could I be using a different solvent? Can the feed be removed from a Sheaffer inlaid nib so that I can mechanically clear the ink channel?

 

Cheers,

David.

[jesse]

Can you link us to the specific model you purchased? In general the sheaffer imperial type feeds can be removed by unscrewing them from the nib housing.

 

I would take apart the nib housing and separate the feed to see what's going on. I would soak the feed in 10% ammonia/90% distilled water overnight, and then US if needed.

 

Try not to soak the inlaid nib itself or run it through the US for long. You could loosen the glue keeping that nib in its place.

 

Worst case you could try to find a new feed on eBay and keep your nib.

[the_gasman]

Thanks Jesse. As I read your advice I felt a bit of an "Oops!" moment, as I had just come back from disassembling the section and subjecting all the components to an eight minute blitz in the US. I wasn't sure how the plastic would fare so I had only used luke-warm water, so (fingers crossed) I haven't upset the glue.

 

I was shocked by how many components there were to the section: the section (with inlaid nib); the metal screw-fit connector for section/barrel; the cartridge bayonet with capillary tube; a small white o-ring; the ink collector with fins; a washer with ears; and a fine GP washer.

 

On dismantling, the problem was obvious – there was a considerable amount of the black particulate matter clogging the fins, capillary channels, and tubular channels. I set to work with an old tooth brush to clear the fins and channels, and used a length of fine fuse wire to clear the tubular segments.

 

Re-assembly took some patience whilst I learned how to align all the components correctly but, after the flush and US bath that I mentioned earlier, the pen is now writing beautifully, with a lovely wet, smooth, italic line.

 

As I think that India ink might have been the culprit, I think that I have been lucky to have restored ink flow after just 3 hours work (!) as I had been expecting to have to invest several days' effort.

 

Thanks again Jesse and everyone else on FPN for providing such valued support. I do not wish an India ink clog on anybody but, if anyone does suffer the misfortune, I hope that they might find both help and reassurance from my experience.

 

Cheers,

David.

[jesse]

Glad to hear you got it sorted out

[Sailor Kenshin]

Thanks Jesse. As I read your advice I felt a bit of an "Oops!" moment, as I had just come back from disassembling the section and subjecting all the components to an eight minute blitz in the US. I wasn't sure how the plastic would fare so I had only used luke-warm water, so (fingers crossed) I haven't upset the glue.

 

I was shocked by how many components there were to the section: the section (with inlaid nib); the metal screw-fit connector for section/barrel; the cartridge bayonet with capillary tube; a small white o-ring; the ink collector with fins; a washer with ears; and a fine GP washer.

 

On dismantling, the problem was obvious – there was a considerable amount of the black particulate matter clogging the fins, capillary channels, and tubular channels. I set to work with an old tooth brush to clear the fins and channels, and used a length of fine fuse wire to clear the tubular segments.

 

Re-assembly took some patience whilst I learned how to align all the components correctly but, after the flush and US bath that I mentioned earlier, the pen is now writing beautifully, with a lovely wet, smooth, italic line.

 

As I think that India ink might have been the culprit, I think that I have been lucky to have restored ink flow after just 3 hours work (!) as I had been expecting to have to invest several days' effort.

 

Thanks again Jesse and everyone else on FPN for providing such valued support. I do not wish an India ink clog on anybody but, if anyone does suffer the misfortune, I hope that they might find both help and reassurance from my experience.

 

Cheers,

David.

Glad to hear you solved it. Maybe next time, try Rapido-Eze, which took care of decades of India ink in Osmiroid nibs.

[the_gasman]

Glad to hear you solved it. Maybe next time, try Rapido-Eze, which took care of decades of India ink in Osmiroid nibs.

 

In hunting down how to deal with India ink, I came across several plaudits for Koh-i-noor Rapido-Eze. I was put off by the prices on the UK Amazon site (£60 - £260 !!) so I am relieved that the combination of my old toothbrush and disassembly advice found on FPN catually worked.

 

UK prices are often a bit disproportionate but Brexit-related devaluation of sterling has exaggerated the discrepancies. Having said that, I am sure that a more exhaustive search would find a less expensive source.

 

Cheers,

David.

[cattar]

Glad you got the ink cleared. Like sailokenshin, I've oft used rapidoeze.

 

AmazonUK has a range of prices on the rapidoeze, starting at £8. A local art supply shop would probably have it for less.

Edited February 24, 2017 by cattar

[the_gasman]

Glad you got the ink cleared. Like sailokenshin, I've oft used rapidoeze.

 

AmazonUK has a range of prices on the rapidoeze, starting at £8. A local art supply shop would probably have it for less.

 

Thanks for the art shop tip – I wouldn't have thought of that.

My Amazon UK access must have the "He's a mug" filter turned on by default.

 

Cheers,

David.

[Ron Z]

Can you link us to the specific model you purchased? In general the sheaffer imperial type feeds can be removed by unscrewing them from the nib housing.

 

I would take apart the nib housing and separate the feed to see what's going on. I would soak the feed in 10% ammonia/90% distilled water overnight, and then US if needed.

 

Try not to soak the inlaid nib itself or run it through the US for long. You could loosen the glue keeping that nib in its place.

 

 

A couple of correcting comments. Most of the Sheaffer inlaid nibs can be taken apart. The noted exception is the Legacy nib, which is glued together. Source: A Sheaffer engineer. The ink channels in the feed, and fins of the collector are so fine that disassembling the nib unit to clean it is the only way to get the pen writing again.

 

The thread bushings Imperial and Targa nibs are secured with an adhesive that can releases with heat. Bushings on earlier Imperials were secured with thread sealant. Don't over do it with the heat, and don't try to force the bushing to unscrew. Gentle heat and gentle persistent pressure will get it apart.

 

The nibs are not held in place with glue. There are tabs at each corner of the nib, two at the back end, that are embedded in the shell to hold the nib in place. A sealant was applied to the underside of the nib to keep ink from wicking up under the part inlaid in the plastic. This can, and on occasion does fail whether or not the nib is cleaned in an ultrasonic , so the nib needs to be resealed with either thinned shellac or Captain Tolleys.

 

If you can, replace the 0-ring in the section. If you can't a very thin coating of silicone on the old 0-ring will help, and also keep it from binding as the bushing is screwed in.

 

Never use a solvent or alcohol to clean a Targa or Imperial nib unit. I've seen damage in nib units in which a solvent was used to clean them with the result that the pieces are fused together and the nib ruined.

 

Soaks in clear (never hot) water are likely to be ineffective. Water with ammonia and Dawn dish detergent or a pen cleaner, followed by a good flushing with clear water is the best thing to use. If that doesn't do it, tou are likely to need to take it apart.

[the_gasman]

A couple of correcting comments. Most of the Sheaffer inlaid nibs can be taken apart. The noted exception is the Legacy nib which is glued together. Source: A Sheaffer engineer. The ink channels in the feed, and fins of the collector are so fine that disassembling the nib unit to clean it is the only way to get the pen writing again.

 

The thread bushings Imperial and Targa nibs are secured with an adhesive that can releases with heat. Bushings on earlier Imperials were secured with thread sealant. Don't over do it with the heat, and don't try to force the bushing to unscrew. Gentle heat and gentle persistent pressure will get it apart.

 

The nibs are not held in place with glue. There are tabs at each corner of the nib, two at the back end, that are embedded in the shell to hold the nib in place. A sealant was applied to the underside of the nib to keep ink from wicking up under the part inlaid in the plastic. This can, and on occasion does fail whether or not the nib is cleaned in an ultrasonc, so the nib needs to be resealed with either thinned shellac or Captain Tolleys.

 

If you can, replace the 0-ring in the section. If you can't a very thin coating of silicone on the old 0-ring will help, and also keep it from binding as the bushing is screwed in.

 

Never use a solvent or alcohol to clean a Targa or Imperial nib unit. I've seen damage in nib units in which a solvent was used to clean them with the result that the pieces are fused together and the nib ruined.

 

Soaks in clear (never hot) water are likely to be ineffective. Water with ammonia and Dawn dish detergent or a pen cleaner, followed by a good flushing with clear water is the best thing to use. If that doesn't do it, tou are likely to need to take it apart.

 

Thanks, Ron, for the wisdom of your vast experience. It was your advice about disassembly of the Sheaffer nib unit, and potential pitfalls, that gave me the confidence to take the components apart. I started with considerable trepidation but was relieved to find that it was far easier than I had expected – after I had unscrewed the metal threaded barrel/section connector, the feed/fins/collector unit came out with only moderate backwards pressure with my thumb nail. After pulling the feed assembly apart, a scrub with an old toothbrush and a fine fuse wire pushed through the ink nipple channel eventually cleared all the sooty, particulate, dried ink that had previously caused complete blockage of the ink pathway from the ink reservoir to the tip of the nib.

 

I didn't need either heat (except the luke-warm water that I used in the US bath) or solvent.

 

I think that I have been extremely lucky as I had initially assumed that the pen was a write-off.

 

Cheers,

David.

[KingRoach]

There is nothing I like more than a success restoration story, except a success restoration story with a victorious picture.

[the_gasman]

There is nothing I like more than a success restoration story, except a success restoration story with a victorious picture.

 

Well, I wouldn't usually do this sort of thing – because I just can't get the photos right – but as you have asked so enticingly ...

This is my victory picture because it shows that it writes at all! When I received it I couldn't even force water through the section with a vigorous syringe push; I was extremely despondent.

 

This is the beauty that obliged me to buy the pen. It is mere good fortune that I happen to like the rest of the pen because it is the nibs – especially big, juicy, oblique, italic ones – that appeal to me. The pen itself is merely something to hold onto when writing with the nib.

 

I apologise profusely for the poor photo, and I prostrate myself even lower for the misprints in my handwriting. Shameful! I blame the couple of glasses of Malbec that I thoroughly enjoyed before posting.

 

Cheers,

David.

Edited February 25, 2017 by the_gasman

[KingRoach]

This is a nice looking pen, and a well executed photo of a wet nib. Thank you for sharing. It was most definitely worth rescuing.

 

I hope you enjoy it indefinitely.

[Chrissy]

That's a fabulous nib. I'm envious. I'm pleased that you managed to sort it out though.

[the_gasman]

This is a nice looking pen, and a well executed photo of a wet nib.

 

Thanks. I was surprised that it worked. I stuck my 10x loupe over the lens of my cheap Android phone using masking tape and then experimented by balancing the phone on different size cups (with the loupe/camera overlying the nib) until I found one that allowed the camera to focus properly (a double espresso size: 6cm, 2.5in height). Having the phone/camera supported allowed me to take the photo without motion artefact. Pure good fortune.

 

It then took me about half an hour to work out how to shrink the image size down from 1.1MB to about 30K, and a further half hour to post here, to FPN.

 

All good clean fun – and it keeps me off the streets.

 

Cheers,

David.

[the_gasman]

That's a fabulous nib. I'm envious. I'm pleased that you managed to sort it out though.

 

Thanks Chrissy. I'm a sucker for such nibs, whatever sort of pen they sit on. When I see them, my internal self-constraint mechanisms cease to function!

 

Cheers,

David.

[KingRoach]

such trouble you took just because of my request, but the result was so worth it. and you learned new techniques, so you're on to something.

 

thanks a lot

[dcwaites]

 

Thanks. I was surprised that it worked. I stuck my 10x loupe over the lens of my cheap Android phone using masking tape and then experimented by balancing the phone on different size cups (with the loupe/camera overlying the nib) until I found one that allowed the camera to focus properly (a double espresso size: 6cm, 2.5in height). Having the phone/camera supported allowed me to take the photo without motion artefact. Pure good fortune.

 

It then took me about half an hour to work out how to shrink the image size down from 1.1MB to about 30K, and a further half hour to post here, to FPN.

 

All good clean fun – and it keeps me off the streets.

 

Cheers,

David.

 

Google Blu-Tack Is Your Friend. I find that three little dobs of BT will hold a fold-out loupe in place. 20 years of small-bore target shooting allow me to hold the phone/camera in place steadily enough to take a photo without flash.

 

As for re-sizing photos, on a PC I use Irfanview and on a Mac, GraphicConverter.

[the_gasman]

 

Google Blu-Tack Is Your Friend. I find that three little dobs of BT will hold a fold-out loupe in place. 20 years of small-bore target shooting allow me to hold the phone/camera in place steadily enough to take a photo without flash.

 

As for re-sizing photos, on a PC I use Irfanview and on a Mac, GraphicConverter.

 

Thanks for the tips, David. I chuckled when I saw the BluTak comment because, after taking the photo, I thought, "I can't be bothered with masking tape, I wonder if BluTak would work?" Now I know.

 

I used Microsoft's own "Paint" is it was dead easy, once I had remembered that it was in Windows Accessories. I just cropped the part of the photo that I wanted and then "Resized" to about 20% [AFAIR]. I had to switch to my notebook to do it because I usually use Xubuntu on the Desktop PC, and GIMP seems terribly complicated to my simple brain. I suspect that photo editing software can consume even more time than fountain pens do!

 

I'm mighty impressed by your steady hand.

 

Cheers,

David.

[Chrissy]

I suspect that photo editing software can consume even more time than fountain pens do!

 

 

Absolutely it does!