Stiff Cap Thread

April 19, 2014

Hi. I am a newbie (not to fountain pens, but to fp blogs) and this is my first post, so be gentle with me. Hopefully, the answer to my question is not an obvious one that will bring forth a chorus of “Der!”.

One of the pens in my collection (list below) - the Conway Stewart Winston - has a slight issue in that, when I screw on the cap, the thread seems just a little stiff and slightly more pressure is needed to rotate the cap. It is not that there is any significant resistance, or any risk of damage, it is just that all my other pens can be capped with a smooth motion. I have previously owned a couple of modern Conway Stewarts and they both had smoothly operating cap threads.

Is there anything that I can use to lightly lubricate the thread to ease the process without damaging the resin from which the pen is made?

Thanks in advance for your help!

FP Collection

I am a freelance company secretary (known as a corporate secretary in the US, I believe) and have a portfolio of clients for whom I minute board meetings. I always use fountain pens to do so (before producing the minutes in MSWord) and all of my pens (except the Conway Stewart, which is too large) are regularly used for this purpose. So I am a constant fp user with a large handwritten output.

· Conway Stewart Winston : Classic Claret

· Montblanc Meisterstuck 146

· Pelikan Souveran M800 : Black (TWO)

· Pelikan Souveran M800 : Green

· Onoto Dickens Collection : Chuzzlewit

· Onoto Magna : Havana Brown

· Pilot Custom 823 : Black Demonstrator

· Parker Duofold Centennial : Jasper Red

April 19, 2014

First of all, welcome to the FPN! Enjoy your stay, and sorry in advance about your wallet, haha. You may want to formally introduce yourself in the Welcome section of the thread. It's not required by any means, but do as you wish

So anyway, I noticed the same thing with my first screw-on cap, a Sailor 1911 Large. I've disassembled the pen a few times now for cleaning, and in doing so may have figured out why there's more resistance near the end of the threads. Basically, what happens is that there's a rubber stopper of sorts on the inner end of the cap that cushions the nib's entry. I found this out the hard way when I accidentally tore a chunk off of it after trying to screw the pen back together while the nib/feed was still a bit too far out of the section. Perhaps the padding on your Winston is a tad excessive?

I'm not necessarily saying that that's the cause of your problems, but faulty or misaligned threading aside (not likely given the pedigree, but still a possibility), I can think of no other possible explanation.

Another thing that comes to mind, albeit one that I've yet to experience, is that the threads are just a bit rough on the finish, and will eventually wear smooth after a few months of use. Nothing I can suggest to remedy that other than using the pen a lot, haha. And come to think of it, maybe a bit of silicone grease might help? Using that's not very likely to damage the finish on your pen, but it'll make for a nice mess once it spreads around.

Cheers, and best of luck!

Kevin

EDIT: Spelling

P.S.

Last two things: awesome profile picture, and nice collection! You, secretary, have good taste in fountain pens!

Edited April 19, 2014 by Lyander0012

April 19, 2014

Thanks for the reply, Kevin. There does not appear to be a rubber stopper (as per your Sailor), but the resistance is more towards the end of the capping process. The pen is new and so it might be a case of using it and seeing if it frees up over time. I shall uncap and cap it each time I sit at my desk and see if that helps. I would only use a lubricant if someone tells me that they have done so and that it caused no problems ... and, of course, exactly what they used.

Yes, it is an expensive business collecting pens - although I have put a couple through my accounts as tax deductible, given that I genuinely use them regularly in my business. As for the avatar, it is a little tongue in cheek - although my wife cannot understand my love of fountain pens. However, she knows that it is my money and so she just takes a deep breath and smiles resignedly.

Thanks for mentioning the Welcome section - I will have a look and put something there.

Thanks again!

April 19, 2014

I've had a few pens like this (a Vac just the other day). A dab of Simichrome (polishing paste) around the threads and a bit of capping/uncapping usually does the trick.

Edited April 19, 2014 by penmanila