Sailor Sapporo Cracks

[jmkeuning]

I noticed on day one that my sailor sapporo has little tiny cracks at the end of the barrel, under the ring.

 

These are TINY and might not normally be seen with the naked eye, but I have been told that my eye is a curse and I should not worry about such details. There is no way that I could get these to show in a photo, as they are sub-hairline and only visible under bright light.

 

I am not concerned about these if there are merely cosmetic. However, if they will worsen over time I feel I should get this situation remedied now, rather than waiting.

 

I am hoping that some of you have the pen, see the cracks, know what you are talking about, and will tell me not to worry about them. Or perhaps you are familiar with the construction and know that these things are part of such pens.

 

Maybe it is unfair to call them cracks, more like lines? I am afraid that the ring is compression-fit and that it cracked the plastic during assembly.

 

This photo is not my pen, the arrow shows the location. I count six cracks, all around the barrell, ranging from 3/16" to 5/16" in length.

 

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa9/jmkeuning/SailorSapporoCrack.jpg

Edited August 8, 2007 by jmkeuning

[tamburlaine]

Perhaps it would be worth asking Sailor about it, too. I have a Sapporo coming soon - so I'll inspect mine when it arrives and post if I see anything. Perhaps some sort of polishing would remove it (no expert) if they are as small as you say and turn out to be merely blemishes on the finish?

[jbn10161]

You do have good eyes! I would not have noticed them, but, now that you have sent me to the pen to examine it, I found five lines fitting your descriptions. Certainly I could not hazard even a guess about whether the cracks will increase, but they do look like they could be compression fractures and it's hard to imagine that, if they were, they would only be on the surface. OTOH, it's hard to imagine, depending on the material properties of the plastic, that cracks that were deep could be so small. The only thing that is certain, at least on my pen, is that there are five very, very narrow lines radiating about 1-3 mm from the ring toward the cap.

[artaddict]

Only by using a loupe in bright light was I able to see these "cracks." They just look like fine lines to me; I am not sure if they are cracks, but I too found five of them.

 

I kinda wished you hadn't drawn my attention to them...

 

but I don't see them anyway without the loupe.

[s_t_e_v_e]

Hey,

 

Mine shows no signs of cracks at the spot you pointed out. I guess your's might just be having some sort for scratches which you have perceived as cracks. Don't worry.... The acrylic on the sailor is not as brittle as that on the MBs as testified by many .

 

Regards,

Steve.

Edited August 5, 2007 by s_t_e_v_e

[barny]

Hey,

 

Mine shows no signs of cracks at the spot you pointed out. I guess your's might just be having some sort for scratches which you have perceived as cracks. Don't worry.... The acrylic on the sailor is not as brittle as that on the MBs as testified by many .

 

Regards,

Steve.

 

 

Do you think pelikan caps are brittle?

[Michael R.]

Yep, checked my Professional Gear and it has exactly the same five "marks".

 

They look pretty accurate so I'm not sure if those are cracks. After reading your post (before checking my pen) I thought those might be scratch marks from posting the cap but again too accurate and posting would result in more scratches all over...

 

I have similar experiences with the largest size Omas Ogiva pens (Ogiva, Moma, ...); almost any pen has a small crack under the barrel ends gold ring - propably from installing / pressing in that ring.

 

 

So those "marks" might be cracks resulting from either "pressing in" the gold ring or are some kind of marks resulting during assembly.

 

Next time I speak to Chris Reed from Sailor UK I will ask him if he knows anything about this.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[s_t_e_v_e]

Hey,

 

Mine shows no signs of cracks at the spot you pointed out. I guess your's might just be having some sort for scratches which you have perceived as cracks. Don't worry.... The acrylic on the sailor is not as brittle as that on the MBs as testified by many .

 

Regards,

Steve.

 

 

Do you think pelikan caps are brittle?

 

 

I guess not as brittle as the MB again...... Its plastic after all and would definitely crack if a threshold is crossed.

 

Many MB owners have mentioned that the "Precious" resin on the MB is very brittle and cracks very easily. I had read in some forum where many MB owners were venting out their anger on MB due to poor quality of resin used in the pens. I'm not able to find the link now else you could have seen for yourself.

 

Pelikan's definitely are not this vulnerable.

 

Regards,

Steve.

Edited August 5, 2007 by s_t_e_v_e

[Michael R.]

....same on the full size 1911 (red)

 

 

Michael

 

[jmkeuning]

I'm not crazy!

[artaddict]

I'm not crazy!

 

well, maybe not ...

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5, 2007 by artaddict

[dwmatteson]

....same on the full size 1911 (red)

 

 

Michael

 

...and on the yellow full size 1911. I didn't count five, but I saw at least three.

 

Edited to add: I needed to use a 10x loupe under reasonably bright sunlight to find them. I was getting cross-eyed, though, and gave up. I figure that's why I didn't find five.

 

Don

Edited August 5, 2007 by dwmatteson

[Taki]

Do you think pelikan caps are brittle?

 

Older White Tortoise M400s had a cap crack issue, but I have not heard with other Pels.

 

I don't see any cracks on my Sapporo Mini, but I haven't looked at it with a loupe.

 

 

 

[Margana]

Got 'em on a Sapporo and a burgundy 1911M. You'd think if those lines really are trouble, someone would have posted in the past about a bad experience especially with the 1911 having been around for a number of years. Anyone run across a post like that?

[Margana]

....same on the full size 1911 (red)

 

 

Michael

 

...and on the yellow full size 1911. I didn't count five, but I saw at least three.

 

Edited to add: I needed to use a 10x loupe under reasonably bright sunlight to find them. I was getting cross-eyed, though, and gave up. I figure that's why I didn't find five.

 

Don

And I was thinking it was only me needing that 10x loupe. Mine has a built-in light though.

[jmkeuning]

Got 'em on a Sapporo and a burgundy 1911M. You'd think if those lines really are trouble, someone would have posted in the past about a bad experience especially with the 1911 having been around for a number of years. Anyone run across a post like that?

 

I agree with this. I have not run across any sort of cracking epidemic and the fact that these marks exist on other models (older models) is reassuring. It makes me think that if these blemishes are cracks, at least they are stable, and I will pay them no mind.

 

I do hope more people check in with reports though, perhaps we can get some official statement about what exactly we are looking at. As I said, I noticed mine the day I got the pen, even before I had posted the cap.

[Phthalo]

Yup, I have these present on each of my Sailor's - a Red 1911M, a Sailor Sapporo, and a Sailor Sapporo Mini.

 

However, I don't know if these are hairline cracks though.

 

On my Sailor Sapporo, the lines are of almost identical length, and I have six lines - all evenly spaced around the end.

 

On my Sailor 1911M, the lines are almost of identical length, and I have six lines - all evenly spaced around the end.

 

On my Sailor Sapporo Mini, SIX of the lines are almost of identical length, while TWO are longer, curve inward and are almost mirrors of one another. In all, I have eight lines - and all are very evenly spaced around the end.

 

To me, these even numbers and spacing is almost too regular - is it possible that we are looking at scores or scratches, perhaps made when the parts were removed from a mold during assembly?

Edited August 5, 2007 by Phthalo

[jmkeuning]

Yup, I have these present on each of my Sailor's - a Red 1911M, a Sailor Sapporo, and a Sailor Sapporo Mini.

 

However, I don't know if these are hairline cracks though.

 

On my Sailor Sapporo, the lines are of almost identical length, and I have six lines - all evenly spaced around the end.

 

On my Sailor 1911M, the lines are almost of identical length, and I have six lines - all evenly spaced around the end.

 

On my Sailor Sapporo Mini, SIX of the lines are almost of identical length, while TWO are longer, curve inward and are almost mirrors of one another. In all, I have eight lines - and all are very evenly spaced around the end.

 

To me, these even numbers and spacing is almost too regular - is it possible that we are looking at scores or scratches, perhaps made when the parts were removed from a mold during assembly?

 

 

Ahhh - good theory!!

 

How about this one: The pens are polished on a buffing wheel. The wheel pulls microscopic bits of metal from the ring and scratches the barrell!

[LDF]

Hey,

 

Mine shows no signs of cracks at the spot you pointed out. I guess your's might just be having some sort for scratches which you have perceived as cracks. Don't worry.... The acrylic on the sailor is not as brittle as that on the MBs as testified by many .

 

Regards,

Steve.

 

 

Do you think pelikan caps are brittle?

 

 

I guess not as brittle as the MB again...... Its plastic after all and would definitely crack if a threshold is crossed.

 

Many MB owners have mentioned that the "Precious" resin on the MB is very brittle and cracks very easily. I had read in some forum where many MB owners were venting out their anger on MB due to poor quality of resin used in the pens. I'm not able to find the link now else you could have seen for yourself.

 

Pelikan's definitely are not this vulnerable.

 

Regards,

Steve.

 

8 MBs over 20 years and no cracks to report.

None of my Pels have cracked either, but in contrast to MB, I've had to exchange three Pel nibs for quality issues, a not uncommon experience if you check the Pel forum.

 

[saintsimon]

Yes, my Pro Gear has these marks, too. But they don't look like cracks at all: too fine, regular, of even lenghts ... no, these are markings left from some part of the manufacturing process, nothing to worry about.