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I bought a Carter's ringtop about a month ago and I've been wearing it to the office. This morning, as I was walking to my office, the pen literally fell apart: the barrel broke at the threads and a large chip fell out of the cap - all at once. I can only assume that the plastic came very suddenly to the end of its natural span, but I really like the nib. Has anyone had this happen? I imagine that people dealing with early polymers encounter this sort of thing fairly often. I don't really think it's repairable, so I may try to find a modern pen to fit the nib. Any suggestions?

Hi Everyone, I just picked up a Carter's black hard rubber fountain pen at a local auction. It's moderately oxidized, and has a fair amount of wear, with significant brassing of the (single) barrel ring, clip, and lever. The sac, of course, is nothing more than crunchy bits. Nib seems to be a generous semi-flex, and lacks the "INX" stamp of (earlier? later?) pens. I understand that Carter's was in the pen manufacturing business for only six years, 1928 to 1932-ish; I'm guessing that would make them fairly rare? Most of the online examples I've seen are fairly attractive pens, in a number of colors/patterns; this is a plain-Jane, just smooth, black rubber, with a red stripe just below the end of the cap. I have run across all kinds of references to numbers on the end of the barrel, yet this one seems to have no numbers at all; not the slightest hint of numbers; either they were deliberately removed, or it never had any, so I can't accurately identify the pen model. Can this fact be used to date this pen? And on a more practical note: how difficult are these pens to break down? I'd like to re-sac it, and do a thorough cleaning of the feed, but this is possibly the tightest-fitting section and nib/feed I've yet encountered. I believe the section is a friction-fit; can anybody correct me here? Any information or pointers on this pen would be appreciated Here are links to some pics: http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090xxx_zpsef7a9e18.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090019_zps19638911.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090012_zpsefd46fc4.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090005_zps98a468f6.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090004_zps92e22677.jpg http://i1274.photobucket.com/albums/y429/kharrisma/Carters/PC090001_zps8222c679.jpg