Balance Lever Fill Disassembly Question

[Addertooth]

I snagged a couple Balance pens which are lever fill. Both are white dot, one with Feather nib, the other with Lifetime nib.

The quick question is whether the Section is a friction fit in the barrel, or a threaded assembly like some of the later pens which are piston fill (which have Triumph nib).

 

Pictures of pens:

 

 

[pen lady]

Friction fit as far as I can remember. Nice sturdy pens, but you're in the wrong forum, all the Waterman people are going '' . Best of luck.

Edited July 27, 2019 by pen lady

[Addertooth]

Yes, my bad, I had too many windows open in different groups, and lost track. First world problems... collecting too many brands of fountain pens

[Ron Z]

All lever fill Sheaffers are slip fit.

[Addertooth]

Thank you for the confirmation Ron Z. I am mid-restore on a desk pen Sheaffer Vacu fill pen, and after looking at these lever fill pens, I had a "it can't possibly be that easy on a Sheaffer" moment.

Picture of the vacu pen carnage... waiting on seals.

 

[Addertooth]

This is a better picture of the pens. They are actually green striated, from the seller's photo, I thought they were brown striated.

The original picture was a bit unclear, I was glad to see they had the translucent sections.

In the picture left to right, lever pen with Lifetime nib, Lever pen with the Feather nib, Tuckaway Mechanical pencil in striated brown, and Tuckaway Vacu fill pen with Triumph nib.

The two new lever filled pens are only slightly bigger than the Tuckaway pencil and pen.

 

(Pictures make every story better, except perhaps C-Section stories).

Edited July 30, 2019 by Addertooth

[Addertooth]

With the use of a hair dryer to heat the body/section junction, both pens came apart. I fabricated a feed punch with a 3/16th wooden dowel, which was shaved down about 20 thousandths. Then a groove was cut out of the wooden punch so the tube extending from the feed would not be damaged. The feed was tapped out after a brief soak of the section/feed/nib. Those last three parts were put in the ultrasonic cleaner to prepare them for being put back into service. A new number 16 sac was fitted to each of the sections, and will cure overnight before being assembled into a complete pen in the morning. Post Edit Note: A number 18 sac would have fit too.

 

Pictures:

Edited July 31, 2019 by Addertooth