Help, Pen Gushing Ink On A Wearever Restore Project.

[Gutbucketeer]

I am trying to restore an old Wearever lever filler pen that I bought on ebay. It's my first attempt at fixing an old pen.

 

When I dip tested the nib and feed they seemed to work well and produced a nice fine line.

 

The sac was a hardened mess inside. So I opened it up and cleaned everything out. I ordered the sac, shellac, and talc from Anderson Pens, and replaced the sac. It was much easier than I thought it would be and so I thought I had done it.

 

However, when I filled it with ink (a Blackstone Barrister Brown), and tested it was very very wet. In fact, it was gushing. So I reset the nib/feed several times with the feed end as close to the nib as possible, then further back. Nothing seems to work. The ink is actually pooling in between the combs and at the base of the section. And every I open it up there is ink all over the nib both top and bottom.

 

Does anyone have any ideas on what is causing this and how I might be able to fix it? The feed is not loose in the section, and is actually hard to remove once it is in position.

[fabri00]

Is the ink sac perfectly sealed?

This can be the reason

[Gutbucketeer]

I will look, but when I checked with water it seemed tight.

[Gutbucketeer]

Could it be caused by roughness on the inside of the section? It seem as if ink is not just coming down the channel.

Edited May 27, 2019 by Gutbucketeer

[Ron Z]

Check for cracks in the section or sac nipple - the Wearever sections can crack if you sneeze in the same room. look closely with a loupe. I bought a bunch of them at a pen show just to have on hand a few years ago. When I got home and looked closely 4 of the 5 had hairline cracks.

 

Replace the sac - it may seem to be OK, but it may have a flaw. Replacing the sac is the first step except for the possibility of a crack in the section. Make sure that the sac is cut to the right length. Let the shellac harden for a while before you put the section back in the pen.

 

Check the set of the feed against the nib. You should not be able to slide even a single sheet of paper between nib and feed.

[Gutbucketeer]

Thanks Museum Piece. The first thing I did is replace the sac. When I take off the section there is no ink leakage around where I glued the sac on the nipple and it looks like there is a strong seal. The ink seems to be oozing from in between the inside of the section and the feed. When I squeeze the sac and let it go it actually sucks ink back into the pen from small well at the top of the section. You can see the ink there in the pictures. I can't find any cracks with my 30x loupe, but will continue to check.

 

Would it damage anything to coat the inside of the section with shellac?

[Zookie]

Something doesn't look right to me. The nib apears to be pulled out too far, and the feed doesn't look right. Look closely at the section for a slight 'flat' spot.

[Gutbucketeer]

Will do. Thanks for all your help.

[Gutbucketeer]

So thanks to Zookie and others, I took the feed out and moved it around until it seemed to slide in easier. Then I carefully set it and packed a small amount of softened (not melted) beeswax around the nib and feed inside the top of the section. The flooding seems to have stopped, and its writing nicely now. We shall see. Thanks everyone for your advice.

 

JAB