Lamy 80/81 Section Break Repair Possibilities?

February 26, 2018

I'm sure some of you remember the Lamy Profil 80. It was the precursor to the famous 2000 model. You can see many design elements for the 2000 came from the Profil 80. Photo gallery by Jan Frišman here: 80 Gallery, 81 Gallery.

I have a Lamy Profil 81... and it has a medium nib that writes more like a broad.

HOWEVER...something very strange happened to my pen. The section managed to crack into 2 pieces. No abnormal force took place. The pen was sitting in storage and I recently took it out. When I pulled on the metal slip cap, it came off with ease... leaving the nib inside! I had to take apart the cap in order to expel the nib and section part. I'm baffled as I'd never had a pen section crack like this on me. The only saving grace is that there's a core translucent shaft inside it that facilitates the ink window. So, I'm thinking that it may be possible to repair it since it shouldn't come into contact with any adhesive used.

NOTE: The translucent shaft does not look as if it participated in the cracking at all. The surface is perfectly flat and has a slight grain to it from manufacturing. So it must press up against a seal inside the section. It would also likely explain why the section broke where it did... because it's near the part where that shaft ends, meaning there's no inner support.

The main question is... why did this section crack. The only thing I can think of is that it inadvertently happened at some point when the pen was not stowed away. Maybe something put undue pressure on it. I can't think of why it would crack any other way. And that would alleviate concern of the material being faulty, because if it was then a section repair wouldn't make sense (it would likely crack again in another spot). In any case, a replacement section would be preferable... but it'll be hard to track one down since this pen is discontinued for some time (LAMY USA does not have the part). I'd likely have to find a broken donor where the section is still intact.

Edited February 26, 2018 by MYU