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jor412 · Vintage

RE: a question about replacing a sac

DWL · ***

Yes to the knocking out the nib/feed for a thorough cleaning. IMHO, always a good idea. I've seen sections/nib/feeds that looked 100% good to go,but were so ganked up with sediment & dried ink they were 100% choked off. A firm bristle toothbrush for cleaning/scrubbing out the feed channels is very handy. A thin piece of sheet brass to floss the nib is a must have as well.

Ammonia solution only if it is really necessary & used diluted. Slightly warm soapy water is the strongest 'cleaner' I would use.

jor412 · Vintage

Thanks Dennis. I'll perform this operation tomorrow then. :) It'll be my first knockouts. What fun this is!

jor412 · Vintage

Oops. I couldn't wait until tomorrow. I was just curious to see if it would work. And it did. Knocked out the nib and feed of two pens and will give them a bath.� smile �All the tips, suggestions, and answers have been really helpful. Thanks guys!

jor412 · Vintage

Hi again,

I cleaned everything up and put it all back together. The Mabie Todd went back together without a hitch. The Waterman 3V though is a tight fit. I can't seem to get the feed flush to the end of the section (where the sac will be attached). There's about a millimeter of space between where the feed ends and where the section ends. Is this ok? Or will it affect the writing? Should I use silicon grease to ease the feed in?

Chthulhu · Rawr.

Did you make sure to align the nib with its original position in the section? There's usually an impression where it used to sit. ]

I don't think you want to grease these parts, but wetting them with slightly soapy water may help, and will just rinse out where grease won't. Don't push too hard, though, or you could split the section.

jor412 · Vintage

Thanks Mike. The soapy water did the trick. There was no mark on the section. The closest thing to a mark may also be a ding. I can't tell even under a loupe and good lighting. I aligned it nonetheless.

jor412 · Vintage

I've watched the first 20 minutes of Vol. 1 of Dennis's video about three times and returned to my Waterman 3v.

The lever opens and closes properly and doesn't rattle. When I open the lever, it presses against the pressure bar. But the pressure bar rattles. I'm asking because the Mabie Todd doesn't rattle at all. And the lever "snaps" closed in the same way the lever does in Dennis's demonstration.

Is there something I should do? I'm considering removing the pressure bar to find out if something is wrong but if nothing is wrong, I'd rather not touch it. ("If it ain't broke...") Or maybe this should be a j-bar just that the J broke off? I see no J at the end of the bar, which is why I assumed it was a pressure bar.

DWL · ***

The MT uses a J bar.

The waterman has a different style and doesn't use a standard J bar. At the end of and on the bottom of the filler lever there are a pair of prongs that extend on each side. The bar part has a channel on either side the prongs ride in. There is also a little tab cut from the middle end of the bar to prevent it from slipping off. It's going to make a little noise, nothing really to be done for it. Also the lever on waterman's are encased in a lever box. These are held in place by 4 tabs, one set on each end crimped around the mouth of the lever slot/barrel. You can see the top tab at the either end of the box.

it looks sort of like this ------ ]=====[ ------- with the --- dashes being the barrel wall. If your box ever breaks go in the barrel and bend the first bottom tab down 90 degrees straight and pull the lever box out. Replace with a new one, carefully bend the inner bottom tab back flush inside the barrel.

jor412 · Vintage

Based on your description, my lever and pressure bar seem to be fine. Thanks! My sacs are arriving in a month or so. Can't wait to re-sac these two and have them inked. :)