Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler Ring Question: Not Able To Turn 180 Deg

[edwiny]

Hello all.

 

I just had the pleasure of visiting for the first time my local Fountain Pen Shop in Monrovia, CA, the only brick and mortar fountain pen shop in all of Los Angeles from what I can tell. It was a wonderful experience.

 

I picked up a Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler--Demonstrator model. Really happy with my purchase however after getting home, I noticed a potential issue. Since it's the weekend, can't reach the shop owner.

 

The instruction insert states after filling the pen, return the locking ring to closed position by turning 180 degrees so that the locking ring opening is on the opposite side of the crescent.

 

However, I am unable to turn it fully to 180 degrees. It gets stuck at maybe 120 degrees as the the ring thickness is non uniform and runs into the crescent beyond 120 degree turn preventing further turn. The problem is the ring is a bit loose and can't reliably lock into place, so my concern is the potential for leaking should i accidentally depress the crescent button.

 

This is my first crescent filler, so I have no prior experience.

 

 

 

[GardenWeasel]

I don't believe there is really a need to go a full 180°. Mine is not in rotation now & hasn't been for a while, but I recall just turning it a bit and forgetting about it.

[jar]

Not a problem.

[Vintagepens]

Appears the instructions were badly written. If the lock ring could be turned 180 degrees in either direction, it would necessarily be able to be turned 360 degrees.

[edwiny]

Thank you All. That is reassuring. Love this pen!

[jdllizard]

I don't believe there is really a need to go a full 180°. Mine is not in rotation now & hasn't been for a while, but I recall just turning it a bit and forgetting about it.

 

 

Mine's the same way as the OPs and Gardenweasel's , and I've never had an issue with it leaking. Just rotate the locking ring till snug and you should be fine. Don't force it past where it wants to stop though, then you'd be asking for problems.

Edited October 26, 2015 by jdllizard

[rwilsonedn]

I wonder how many people follow the directions literally and in step 1 empty the sac all over their desk or their lap. Probably no one does this more than once. I also wonder if this pen actually has an internal breather tube, or if the instruction to press the crescent several times is spurious. There's not a tube obvious in the photo, and the pressure bar appears to be positioned and sized for single-press filling.

ron

[skyeph]

That is a really pretty pen. I've recently got my first Conklin Crescent filler fountain pen recently as well and wondered the same thing as you did. My Conklin 20p wasn't able to go all around but I guess that's just how it is.

[Vipersdad]

Is it possible to remove the nib assembly and fill the pen with a syringe?

 

V.

[FredRydr]

I can only go by antique Conklin pens, but I see there is a problem. It's in the instructions when it states "180 degrees." When rotated around the barrel, the lock ring is designed to "lock" from friction between the thicker part of the ring and the crescent. If the ring could reach 180 degrees, it would easily continue a full 360 degrees exposing the writer to a sudden gush of ink when the crescent is inadvertently pressed.

 

On most of my Conklin pens the ring stops at about 90-100 degrees when coming into hard contact with the underside of the crescent.

 

Fred

[Ted A]

I have one of the blue and yellow Mark Twains. It's one of the early new Conklins. The ring turns all 360 degrees on it. I also have the newer chased black with rose gold and it only turns partway. The crescent on the new one is also considerably thinner than the earlier one.

[hessi]

Is it possible to remove the nib assembly and fill the pen with a syringe?

 

V.

yes, you can remove the nib/feed and have direct access to the ink sack.

[BamaPen]

I have one of the early new Conklins and the lock ring will easily turn 360 degrees. However, it does have a definite "click" right at 180 degrees and won't turn quite so easily in either direction from the 180 degree point. I can't see for sure, but I suspect that the lock ring has a bump on the inside that drops into the slot in the barrel beneath the crescent.

 

The lock ring on my vintage Conklins is different and contacts the underside of the crescent at about 120 degrees, locking firmly in place.

[SteveE]

There are really only two important points here:

 

1. When rotated away from the open area, the ring must be able to keep the crescent from being depressed, which will keep the pen from dumping its ink where you don't want it.

2. When the ring is keeping that crescent from being depressed, it must stay in its position, so that it doesn't allow the pen to empty into your pocket.

 

The exact dimensions and specific degrees of rotation won't matter if 1 and 2 are maintained. These are really just sac pens with an uncommon filling lever system.

 

That said, I have two of these, and I like them very much.

[sidthecat]

I bought an old one and I've been wondering how it works. Usually I stick with lever-fill pens but it was such an interesting nib - and a ringtop, too - that I had to drop some of the hard-earned on it.

[Lelouch]

Mine can't turn 180 either, I usually just lock it 90 in either direction.

[Twotracker2]

It's good go learn that the pen can be eyedropper filled. The filler on my Mark Twain simply doesn't work and I've only put three or four loads through it. I like the pen and have tuned the stub nib to perfection, but the pen won't pull more than five or six drops of ink. The crescent remains almost fully depressed and it's a real pain to get my fingernails around it to pull it out far enough to even move the lock right. I have fallen in love with my new Duragraph, however. Oh yest I have!

[kestrel]

It's good go learn that the pen can be eyedropper filled. The filler on my Mark Twain simply doesn't work and I've only put three or four loads through it. I like the pen and have tuned the stub nib to perfection, but the pen won't pull more than five or six drops of ink. The crescent remains almost fully depressed and it's a real pain to get my fingernails around it to pull it out far enough to even move the lock right. I have fallen in love with my new Duragraph, however. Oh yest I have!

Congratulations on the Duragraph. They're good pens for the money.

 

The new Conklins use a sac made of some translucent material that doesn't always return to its original shape when you release the crescent unless given a lot of time, sometimes 30 seconds or more. My Visconti Copernicus has the same problem. I have become very adept at pulling the crescent up with finger nail. Small straight slot screwdrivers and flat toothpicks or anything similar work, too. A good crescent filler should give you a more complete fill than a typical lever filler.

[kestrel]

I bought an old one and I've been wondering how it works. Usually I stick with lever-fill pens but it was such an interesting nib - and a ringtop, too - that I had to drop some of the hard-earned on it.

I have a vintage S3 crescent disassembled for cleaning on my workbench. PM me if you would like to see pictures of the surprisingly simple innards of this beautiful design.

[sidthecat]

In the last few years since that post we’ve gotten our greedy and ink-stained hands on several more old Crescent ringtops. I have three in my current rotation: the one I described in my previous post, another bchr example and a gold-filled one: all ringtops. It’s not so much the mechanism as the nibs. Nibs to conjure with.