Taperites: The Good and the Not So Good...

[Bristol24]

I am relatively new to vintage Waterman's pens, having only two:  A Taperite Crusader and a Corinth (still in need of full restoration...has a leaking crack in the sac nipple).  My Taperite Crusader was a true lesson in patience.  It took several weeks of on-again..off-again efforts with heat, ultrasonic, and physical tugging and pulling to finally get the section out so as to replace the sac.  In terms of writing qualities, this particular Taperite Crusader is every bit as smooth and enjoyable as any of my Parker "51s," 45s, or any other pen I own, for that matter.  My frustration with it is simple: it absolutely has to be kept full.  If not, it is prone to burping.  When half or less full it is an ink-blobbing barometer, thermometer, altimeter looking for a place to blob.  There is no safe way to remove the nib and feed due to the shape of the section and I doubt seriously that cleaning the feed in an ultrasonic cleaner would have much, if any, impact on the burp-blot tendency.  If my Taperite Crusader is going to be a daily carry pen, I have to remember to fill it each day and if I write more than a few pages in a day, I have learned to be on my guard as it might "speak back" to me.  Has anyone else had this experience.  I've heard reference to it online somewhere else but I am curious to know if others experience this too.

 

Thanks,

 

Cliff

[GlenV]

Hi I like taperites they write pretty well but I have not been brave enough to remove the nib although I think it can of course be done, if the nib gap is too wide it would be wet writing but not blobbing I don’t think.  The one I use is a nice writing pen, I like the open nib version of course. Among the couple I have with the taperite nib have not experienced drips. Maybe ask Ron Zorn about that (repair forum). You’re experienced in section removal to get a taperite section that is stubborn off, good job.