Button Filler Runs Dry And Skips During Extended Writing?

[Cosmo_D]

I purchased a NOS pen from eBay. The pen has been fitted with a new sac. It is a button filler The pen initially writes quite wet. However, during extended writing (with no pauses to let the ink dry in the nib) it grows progressively drier until it will eventually not write at all. To get it going again I need to shake the pen, or store it nib down for a while. I have already flushed the pen to no avail.

 

I am guessing it isn't a problem with the nib and feed fit, or the tines, as the pen writes very wet and readily at first. The only explanation I can think of is that there is something preventing the ink from flowing from the sac to the feed at a reliable rate. I am using Sailor Oku-yama which is a very free-flowing ink. What could cause this? Is there anything I can do without taking the pen apart? I have already contacted the seller, who is extremely helpful, but I would rather not send the pen back to him if it can be avoided.

 

Thanks!

[Ron Z]

Who made the pen? There have been a lot of button filled pens, vintage and modern, that used the filling mechanism. Knowing what the brand is, would help.

[Cosmo_D]

Who made the pen? There have been a lot of button filled pens, vintage and modern, that used the filling mechanism. Knowing what the brand is, would help.

Unfortunately there is no brand name on the pen. Here is a link to the auction: http://www.ebay.ca/itm/381136800420?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2648

[Sasha Royale]

In the 1940's and 1950's, lever fillers were common on pens of all tiers.

In the 1930's and 1940's, button fillers were used on top-of-the-line to

school pens. Absent any name, yours is likely the latter.

In the present, cartridge fountain pens appear in top-tier $300 pens, as

well as $5 pens.

 

Despite it all, I, too, would have bid $100. My opinion ? Good score !

 

Have it serviced, cleaned, and adjusted. I think it could be a personal treasure.

[flexnib]

Which ink are you using?

[Cosmo_D]

I was using Diamine Oxblood. I just flushed it again and put some Iroshizuku Murasaki-Shikibu in it. It works a little better, but I am still having the same problems. I've done a little digging. I am guessing the problem is something to do with surface tension and/or air bubbles trapped in the sac. My hypothesis is that some combination of factors is creating a partial vacuum which is preventing the ink from flowing, or the ink is sticking to sac the walls. From what I have gathered ink sticking to sac walls is an issue with silicone sacs.

 

For a mystery pen it is actually quite nice. The build quality seems fairly good (all the plastic parts of decent thickness), and the semi-flex nib is pretty nice. When it works it is a good pen.

[Ron Z]

The fact that it's a button filler, or bubbles in the sac are unlikely to be the cause of the problems you're experiencing. A newly filled pen may write well until the ink that is caught in the collector is drawn off, then it writes dry because ink is not flowing down the feed to the tip of the nib. Which by the way, is one reason that I always say that to test a pen, you have to fill the pen, dry off the excess, and then write with it for a bit. Dipping the pen tells you nothing.

 

It most likely has a hard rubber feed which isn't likely to have the same issues as a modern plastic feed. More likely is that there is something that wasn't cleaned out of the feed that is restricting the flow, or the nib and feed aren't set up properly, or baby bottom on the nib. Without seeing the pen, all are guesses though. A competent pen mechanic or nib tech should be able to correct it and get it writing well for you.

[mhosea]

If it's a hard rubber feed, that would be good, though I recall working on a button filler, early 1940's I think, that had a plastic feed. Not so good.

 

Anyway, regardless of what it is made of, I don't think the feed extends far enough down the nib. It barely covers the breather hole, whereas it should probably extend most of the way from the breather hole to tip. Hopefully the feed is unbroken inside the grip section, in which case it would be a simple adjustment thing. The nib and feed should be knocked out and re-set.

[kestrel]

It's a long shot but find out what kind of sac is in the barrel. I have had really bad luck with silicone sacs, the real ones, with ink clinging to the sides of the sac instead of flowing to the feed. I got the same symptoms you are seeing.