The Sonnet Cap. Ink Vaporization Problem, Solved.

[A Smug Dill]

I've been trying to get a chinese Sonnet knock-off...

What, like this one?

 

 

... to destroy the cap and figure out how it's constructed,

There is no gap in the cap finial that I can see.

 

(I got my pen 'free', i.e. fully refunded, when an eBay seller tried to pass it off as a brown Nemosine Singularity I ordered.)

[alexwi]

What, like this one?

 

There is no gap in the cap finial that I can see.

(I got my pen 'free', i.e. fully refunded, when an eBay seller tried to pass it off as a brown Nemosine Singularity I ordered.)

 

Yeah. That sort of thing. But yours is really weird.

 

Hmmm.... Maybe order one of the many "Excellent 0.5mm Parker Sonnet" and then complain that it's counterfeit to ebay? Wouldn't that be dishonest?

 

I'll probably end up just biting the bullet and paying $7, which is as low as the ones accepting best offer have gone so far in all my attempts.

 

alex

[TassoBarbasso]

The problem with the Duofold is that the vent hole, which is under the clip is drilled too high, and goes into the inner cap. That means that there is a direct path for air to get into the inner cap which drys out the nib. The fix is to remove the inner cap, plug the original vent hole, and then drill another farther down below the edge of the inner cap. The bad news - the inner cap is glued in, so tricky to remove.

What if I just plug the vent hole with some wax (as I might have already done, in fact)? 🤭 Will there be any problems?

[alexwi]

What if I just plug the vent hole with some wax (as I might have already done, in fact)? Will there be any problems?

 

When I still had my Duofold (from the 1990's), I covered the hole with a small piece of clear tape. Never had an issue.

 

Try that first, and see how it goes.

 

alex

[Hanoi]

Are there any fountain pens made specifically to limit ink drying? What do you guys think about the drying out time for early generation Parker 75 Cisele? Acceptable rate? I have like 4 at the moment and want to build a complete collection.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Hanoi

[A Smug Dill]

Are there any fountain pens made specifically to limit ink drying?

 

 

Look up Platinum 'Slip & Seal'. Nothing to do with Parker or Sonnet models, though, and it isn't a feature that Parker has learnt, copied or licensed from Platinum.

[markh]

 

People regularly report preppy's going unused for months and starting right up... and that's a $5 pen. Something as expensive as a Sonnet should be reasonably expected to at least match that performance if not out perform it in my opinion. ....

 

The Preppy (and the spring loaded inner cap) is actually new technology, or at least new thinking. The same new design has appeared in several pens recently (Esterbrook, Wancher are two that I know of, along with many other Platinum pens) and is much more effective at keeping nibs from drying out for a very long time versus older, traditional inner cap designs.

 

After all this time, there are still new tricks to be learned/invented for fountain pens. I predict that eventually many pens manufacturers will adopt this idea.

 

There is nothing wrong with the Sonnet, it's just not the latest/best design, like almost all other pens.

 

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Edited June 19, 2020 by markh

[IThinkIHaveAProblem]

 

The Preppy (and the spring loaded inner cap) is actually new technology, or at least new thinking. The same new design has appeared in several pens recently (Esterbrook, Wancher are two that I know of, along with many other Platinum pens) and is much more effective at keeping nibs from drying out for a very long time versus older, traditional inner cap designs.

 

After all this time, there are still new tricks to be learned/invented for fountain pens. I predict that eventually many pens manufacturers will adopt this idea.

 

There is nothing wrong with the Sonnet, it's just not the latest/best design, like almost all other pens.

 

.

 

 

.

I've never had a "51" suffer from, as the OP said: "after a week or 10 days, it vaporizes (or dry up) inside the cap, all."

 

And the "51" is a 70+ yr old design, by the same manufacturer!

 

For me, for the price, as pretty as some Sonnets are (hello cisele...), I consider it unacceptable. YMMV

Edited June 19, 2020 by IThinkIHaveAProblem

[Hanoi]

While I do own Sonnets, I must confess that the pen´s general aesthetics does nothing for me. It looks like a pen that could be made by just about any other pen brands out there.

[welch]

I think later Sonnets have fixed the problem. It was not so much a matter of Parker having forgotten how to make a cap like the Parker 75 or the Parker 51 as it was a design and manufacturing mistake that punched the clip through the inner cap.

 

There are many discussions about this. Mostly in the Parker area. Several suggestions about fixes.

 

I fix it whenever I use a Sonnet for a few days just by refilling every morning.