Ambassador Fountain Pen / Pencil Combo Instrument

[TinLotus]

Hello,

 

I recently purchased this vintage Ambassador pen/pencil combination and am VERY interested in using it. When it arrived, I lifted the lever (oops?) and am afraid that I may have damaged it as I fear the ink sac was dried out.

 

The lever returns *almost* all the way back to it's resting position and some ink is brought into the pen. When I say "some ink" I mean less than a mL worth. Does this mean that I broke it or... I don't know.

 

Also, I'm very interested in knowing how the mechanical pencil apparatus works. What size lead? How do I insert the lead? I'm VERY interested in knowing EVERYTHING I can about this new tool (toy?) of mine. Any help is much appreciated.

 

Thanks in Advance,

 

TinLotus

[garythepenman]

Hello TinLotus,

 

Can't help with the pencil as there are so many mechanical variations. The pen I can help with.

 

The rubber sac has no doubt perished (fossilised) and will need replacing. Often the sac will assist in the lever folding flush and you probably have all sorts of gunk inside at present.

 

The section (the bit that holds the nib and feed) should be a press fit into the barrel although it could be threaded. Be careful, do not use excessive force.

 

Once out you will need to extract the remains of the sac from the barrel. Then clean up the nipple on the rear of the section where the rubber sac used to fit. Just use water for this as it is only shellac that was used to "glue" the sac in place.

You should at this stage remove the feed and nib from the section and clean as well. There will be all sorts of sediment etc and you need it very clean.

 

Refit an appropriate size sac (don't know what size) with shellac.

 

If you've never done this before and don't want to try send it to a good FP repairer.

 

Gary

 

btw Where are you located ?. Secondly the best place to post this type of question is under the Repair Q&A section.

Edited March 9, 2006 by garythepenman

[TinLotus]

Wow... That's really kinda cool. I chipped the plastic thing under the nib when I was trying to pull it out (obviously the wrong way ^^), but that's fine as this is my first fountain pen and was only $16 USD.

 

I did get it apart and tehre was a lot of (Potty Mouth) that came out. Some was stuck to the rubber nipple and it came off with water (wow, isn't that what you said? :-P). It's all apart now and I can't wait to get a sac for it.

 

I think I might start buying these things as a hobby... I didn't know there was such a following for this sort of thing. It's kind of a cool pen IMHO, but my camera and photography skills won't do it justice so I doubt I'll have the nerve to try :-).

 

Time to figure out where to get a new sac. And as far as my location, I live near Albany, New York, USA.

 

Thanks for the speedy help!

[garythepenman]

There you go. The bit you chipped, was it a fin of the feed under the nib ?.

 

You can find all sorts of spare repair parts on this forum. It would be unfair of me to advise whom to contact. visit the Repair Q&A section and you will find some links.

 

For $16 it's worth having a go unless it's a lost treasure. Don't try on a Waterman Patrician though. Send those to a guru.

 

Gary