My Omas 360 Mezzo is a "Mess"o

October 5, 2023

I recently purchased a white Omas 360 Mezzo fountain pen that appeared to be new old stock as there were no scratches, nib and feed in perfect condition, etc. Sadly, I found that there is a problem with properly closing the barrel after an ink cartrigde is inserted. The issue apprears similar to a thread that took place several years ago with no resolution recommended in the replies that were posted. I have tried several different international size cartridges just in case a slight size variation might make a difference. It did not. Would welcome any suggestions on how I might address this issue. Many thanks.

October 17, 2023

Yeah, it's not great, is it. Mine fell apart too and I've spent a lot of time teasing the parts apart and playing with things. My best thought is that the section actually movers on the metal cartridge piece over time. The cartridge caddy is a shallow 180 degree holder for most of its length, but inside the section it is formed into a tube. My guess is that the connection between that tube and the section shifts over time. Inside the cartridge caddy is quite a powerful spring intended to lock the cart onto the feed. I believe that's what is pushing the pen open. And the third factor is a cartridge piercer that isn't very good at, well, piercing cartridges.

Having said all that, I still haven't got mine completely fixed. I'm still reverse engineering it and trying to see what they actually meant to do!

I'm not sure that's very helpful 😞

R.

October 18, 2023

Unfortunately more and more many Omas NOS are pens defective never sold from shops because of that reason, or pens builded from spare parts which sometime do not fit well together.