Need help closing tines of S.T. Dupont Fidelio

[alexwi]

Hi,

 

Got this pen today with a splayed nib that I'm trying to fix.

 

It had what seemed some kind of crystal (it seemed clear, glass-like) stuck between the tines. After a bit of coaxing with a brass shim, I was able to remove most of it:

 

And after a bit more, I was finally able to remove it completely. Whatever that thing was, it was as big as the space between the tines.

 

Closing the tines has been quite a challenge and I'm stuck at this point after trying a few things, such as crossing the tines over and pressing them to overlap with my nails and then lying the nib on one side on a piece of hardwood, crossing over the tines and pressing with another piece of wood.

 

This is as much as I've been able to close these darn tines:

 

Any ideas?

 

Thanks!

 

Alex

 

[fountainbel]

Carefully bend the tines over each other to get the slit tighter.

Given the nib does not have a vent hole, I expect it may ask for some force !

[alexwi]

I mentioned that I had tried crossing the tines over in my original post.

 

After a few more tries, I was able to get the tines to go back to where they should be. Turns out I needed to hold them in place longer (10-12 seconds) in order to get some plastic deformation to take place - I was just holding them for about 3 seconds on my first attempts.

 

The lack of a hole at the beginning of the slit definitely made it quite harder than I expected, not to mention that it also made the whole exercise scarier, as the hole also helps prevent the slit from continuing into a crack.

 

Thanks, though!

 

Alex