Wality Airmail 69Eb.

[antarmukhee]

Hari, I have a question with respect to cc conversion of eyedropper ebonite pens that usually have a tight junction between the section and barrel.

When you close the barrel to the section, how does the excess air in the barrel escape? Does the air force it's way through the junction of converter and section?

Does it result in dripping of a few drops of ink from the nib when you screw the barrel to the section?

I am observing this happening when I close the barrel of a Schmidt-nib-unit-installed medium pen I got from Guider recently. It is not a problem for me actually; but I am curious to know why this is happening, and whether it is expected.

 

Thanks

Edited October 18, 2020 by S_B_P

[hari317]

Some of the air escapes through the barrel threads as you screw in the section. The rest is trapped inside and gets compressed.

 

Assuming you are using the converter( Schmidt):

The nib unit and the converter when mated become a single airtight aeembly. So I would not expect any ink to escape out the nib as you thread in the section to barrel. In fact I have never had this happen.

 

To explain what might be happening on your guider:

 

the nib unit is threaded into to the section. To make the threading easy by the user, the pen maker leaves some clearance around the nib unit while making the section. When you fill the pen using a converter by dipping the section lip under ink, some ink will enter this clearance area. As you thread in the section to barrel, the compressed air might try to escape from the gap around the nib unit thus taking along with it the ink trapped there during filling. Probably this is what is happening with your pen.

 

To solve this unscrew the nib unit. Apply a light coat of silicone grease to nib unit threads using an ear bud.

 

When using the pen in converter mode, remove all traces of silicone grease from the section barrel threads. This also avoids the mess of grease contaminating the converter body.

Edited October 18, 2020 by hari317

[antarmukhee]

To explain what might be happening on your guider:

 

the nib unit is threaded into to the section. To make the threading easy by the user, the pen maker leaves some clearance around the nib unit while making the section. When you fill the pen using a converter by dipping the section lip under ink, some ink will enter this clearance area. As you thread in the section to barrel, the compressed air might try to escape from the gap around the nib unit thus taking along with it the ink trapped there during filling. Probably this is what is happening with your pen.

 

This makes sense.. This is what I also thought when I noticed that dripping does not happen every time. It only happens only the first few times I screw the barrel in. After a couple of times, the residual ink in the narrow gap may be expelled completely, or it may be just drying out. So that there is no more ink to drip out when the air escapes..

If this is the case, if I place a cloth over the nib area while first filling the converter, it will be enough. I will observe and see.

 

It is the first time I am using a schmidt nib unit.

While cleaning the pen, what is the recommended method?

Is it recommended to unscrew the unit, pull out feed and nib from the unit, and clean them? Or, is taking apart not recommended (or not necessary) while cleaning?

 

Thanks

[hari317]

you can wipe the nib area thoroughly after filling ink, wicking away the trapped ink. I use pure cotton cloth for wiping my pen tips after filling. Cloth from Either an old cotton veshti or a cotton hosiery banian.

 

There is no need to disassemble the nib unit for cleaning the pen. In fact do not even unscrew it from the section. Loosening torque is applied through the nib and it is easy to misalign a nib and feed while unscrewing it.

 

personally I flush the pen by filling the pen with clean tap water and expelling it using the attached converter. Do this repeatedly till the water runs clear.

 

After that I take a wad of tissue paper and hold it around the nib and feed till all the water is wicked out. You should be able to see light through the nib slit clearly when all the water is gone. Store the pen.

[Yohaanrods]

I recently fitted a KW  m nib to a 69eb that was lying around. It took some effort, but was definitely worth it! 

[hari317]

4 minutes ago, Yohaanrods said:

I recently fitted a KW  m nib to a 69eb that was lying around. It took some effort, but was definitely worth it! 

well done. whats the exposed length of your nib now?

[Yohaanrods]

Thanks sir! Exposed length is about 20 mm....... I struggled to push it down to 18 mm ( the only tools I have are my fingers), hence made a little bit of space in the cap

[hari317]

14 minutes ago, Yohaanrods said:

Thanks sir! Exposed length is about 20 mm....... I struggled to push it down to 18 mm ( the only tools I have are my fingers), hence made a little bit of space in the cap

well done!

[Yohaanrods]

1 minute ago, hari317 said:

well done!

Thank you sir, inspired by you as always! 😁

[mhguda]

These pens look so much nicer with a right size nib, don't they! and that's apart from the improvement in writing experience...

[Yohaanrods]

Yes indeed! It's an amazing step up! 

[cvk]

very nice pics of the Airmail 69 EB. I had a couple of quick questions:

1. Is the black section also made of ebonite? 

2. If you also have used the Acrylic models ( 69T/71JT), do you like the ebonite better?

Just asking because I really like the 69T finish and the crystal (sphatika) like appearance, but I see lots of posts raving about Ebonite.

3. I was wondering if all Indian ebonite pens are similar in material (Eg. Wality 69 EB vs Gama Popular vs Asa Daily) or there is a big difference there too (just in the material regardless of the nib or feed / filling mechanism)? 

[hari317]

1 minute ago, cvk said:

very nice pics of the Airmail 69 EB. I had a couple of quick questions:

1. Is the black section also made of ebonite? 

2. If you also have used the Acrylic models ( 69T/71JT), do you like the ebonite better?

Just asking because I really like the 69T finish and the crystal (sphatika) like appearance, but I see lots of posts raving about Ebonite.

3. I was wondering if all Indian ebonite pens are similar in material (Eg. Wality 69 EB vs Gama Popular vs Asa Daily) or there is a big difference there too (just in the material regardless of the nib or feed / filling mechanism)? 

1)69eb has a plastic section. Cap and barrel are ebonite. 

2) for me, no, not necessarily. IMO, The 69eb is just another variation in the 69 family it’s neither better nor worse. A 69TL is kept always inked in fact not the eb. 
3) most Indian ebonite pens have ebonite sections as well. So the gripping area is different and might make a difference. The 69eb is probably the least expensive full sized Indian ebonite pen. The ebonite comes from the same factory at Tiruvallur. Everyone gets their material from the same place. But as you might know ebonite can have blow holes, inclusions etc so some makers discard a lot of material and make parts only of the best bits. This can have a cost impact. I haven’t found 69ebs material lacking in any respect however. 
 

Hope this helps. Hope you get other opinions too. 

[cvk]

9 hours ago, hari317 said:

1)69eb has a plastic section. Cap and barrel are ebonite. 

2) for me, no, not necessarily. IMO, The 69eb is just another variation in the 69 family it’s neither better nor worse. A 69TL is kept always inked in fact not the eb. 
3) most Indian ebonite pens have ebonite sections as well. So the gripping area is different and might make a difference. The 69eb is probably the least expensive full sized Indian ebonite pen. The ebonite comes from the same factory at Tiruvallur. Everyone gets their material from the same place. But as you might know ebonite can have blow holes, inclusions etc so some makers discard a lot of material and make parts only of the best bits. This can have a cost impact. I haven’t found 69ebs material lacking in any respect however. 
 

Hope this helps. Hope you get other opinions too. 

Thanks so much 🙏🏼

[vijaych]

My wality 69 EB is leaking ink through threads of barrel. I encountered the similar problem with Click Bamboo. I have shown these two pens to Mr. Prabhakar of Woodex, after observing these pens he told that the threading was not done properly.  I kept the pens with him for re-threading and replacing the plastic sections with ebonite ones. I will post the pics after I receive the pens.

[hari317]

6 minutes ago, vijaych said:

My wality 69 EB is leaking ink through threads of barrel. I encountered the similar problem with Click Bamboo. I have shown these two pens to Mr. Prabhakar of Woodex, after observing these pens he told that the threading was not done properly.  I kept the pens with him for re-threading and replacing the plastic sections with ebonite ones. I will post the pics after I receive the pens.

Mr Prabhakar is a true expert. The 69EB has molded section and machined barrel. The sections are molded one piece at a time in a hand operated molding machine called compression molding. Maybe your section has a problem. Certainly it’s not endemic to the model. Pls do share results. 🙏🏼

[vijaych]

Sure Sir...

[vijaych]

On 10/9/2022 at 10:08 AM, hari317 said:

Pls do share results

 

[vijaych]

Wality 69eb, Click Bamboo with ebonite sections, next to them are stock plastic sections.

Click Bamboo with Sheaffer NN feed.

[hari317]

6 minutes ago, vijaych said:

Wality 69eb, Click Bamboo with ebonite sections, next to them are stock plastic sections.

Click Bamboo with Sheaffer NN feed.

Genius work by Prabhakar sir. You know the 69EB offers multistart threads. Only Kim and co and nowadays Ranga offers this in ebonite in India.