Having trouble with a fountain pen

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dabull24

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Nov 19, 2008
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Im trying to put together a Jr. Gents II fountain pen and cant seem to figure out how to attach the ink catridge to the NIB. The pic below shows the pieces I must attach...anybody give me some help?? Im sure theres an obvious answer...
100_0493.jpg
 
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thewishman

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The clear piece is an ink pump - to fill from a bottle of ink. The ink filled cartridge is the other way to put ink in your pen. Push the narrow end of the cartridge into the back (hidden) end of the nib - push firmly enough to pierce the plastic.
 

dabull24

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bmore
so the clear piece does not actually go in the pen? Only the ink cartridge?
 
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george

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Jan 17, 2006
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Ljubljana, Slovenia.
You can use either the pump (left) or the cartridge (middel part). But if it is made for sell, the owner of the pen should be the first to insert the full cartirge into the nib.
Specialy the pump can sometimes be inserted to softly - the pen does write, but it leaks the ink in the bad joint. I had a customers sometime ago that come back with the pen, complaining about the mess, but all it was, was a badly inserted pump.
 

dabull24

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bmore
ok....I was just curious about the spring in the cap?...I thought the pump went in the pen
 
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lane223

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Alcala de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
The spring in the cap is used for the rollerball version of the pen. It pushes down on the rollerball cartridge. I would remove the spring if you are going to use either the FP cartrige or the pump, as it is not needed.
 

Russianwolf

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Jul 13, 2007
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Martinsburg, WV, USA.
what they said.

For pens for sale, I usually install the pump (empty of course) and provide them with a cartridge if they want one to use instead. Some of them are quite hard to install, needing a good bit of pressure to pop in place.
 

GoodTurns

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Bowie, MD, USA.
I have a package I include with all fountains, includes the pump (actually the upgraded one from Lou), several ink cartridges and the small polishing kit (bought here, can't remember from who)...total cost about $8 and helps justify the higher price tag on the Fountains.
 

carpblaster

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Dec 12, 2011
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Shelby,Alabama
I read the shelf life of ink catridge is 3 yrs, but if you put it in a quart jar and fill it up the air can"t evaporate from the catridge, its like a baloon, you blow it up and every day it gets softer, the air is seeping thru the plastic,I also got a jar of catfish ink i think its called for the refillable pump, there just too much trouble ,its a good way to keep the catridges if you got a lot of them, when needed just take out and give them ,or put in pen, like others say dont write with one till they buy it.if you dont use it daily it will dry up and when replaced its hard to redoo,
carpblaster
 

drgoretex

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Winnipeg
Only ink the pen if it will be YOUR pen. Fountain pen buyers want to be the only ones to ink THEIR pen.

Actually, I would advise inking and write-testing every pen, especially with the kits. The reason for this is that the nibs almost always need a little tweaking to make them work well. Or, at least to ensure they do work. Not that uncommon to have a kit nib/feed crap out, or be way too scratchy. If you sell fountain pens, best to ensure they work well, to make a happy buyer.

Cheers,

Ken
 

Texatdurango

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Show Low, Arizona
Only ink the pen if it will be YOUR pen. Fountain pen buyers want to be the only ones to ink THEIR pen.

Actually, I would advise inking and write-testing every pen, especially with the kits. The reason for this is that the nibs almost always need a little tweaking to make them work well. Or, at least to ensure they do work. Not that uncommon to have a kit nib/feed crap out, or be way too scratchy. If you sell fountain pens, best to ensure they work well, to make a happy buyer.

Cheers,

Ken
And the best way to make a happy customer is to EDUCATE yourself PRIOR to putting the pen on a table with a price tag affixed!

I too test every pen I make and make adjustments where necessary to provide a nice writing pen and it takes only a few minutes to remove the parts and clean the pen before shipping or handing over to a customer at a show.

With all due respect to those suggesting NOT to ink a pen to test it out, generally the pens in question on this forum are not "collector grade" pens to begin with and WAY too much emphasis is being placed on this "to ink or not to ink" issue.

The best advice I would give someone venturing into the world of fountain pens is to educate themselves on the "proper care and feeding" of fountain pens BEFORE making and selling them. A good place to start would be google "fountain pen" and sit back and read for a few days... or week... or two! Then start using fountain pens daily so you will become familiar with their nuiances so you can answer questions when customers ask. :wink:
 

IPD_Mr

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Jun 27, 2007
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Zionsville, In
I too test every pen I make and make adjustments where necessary to provide a nice writing pen and it takes only a few minutes to remove the parts and clean the pen before shipping or handing over to a customer at a show.

With all due respect to those suggesting NOT to ink a pen to test it out, generally the pens in question on this forum are not "collector grade" pens to begin with and WAY too much emphasis is being placed on this "to ink or not to ink" issue.

If you find that you are doing several fountain pens, here is a simple and easy way to test your pens. Have a spare junker body that you can screw the feed and nib into. Use a converter (piston or squeeze) so that you know the flow is working both ways. Check for scratchyness and align the tines as needed. You can also adjust the ink flow for a wetter or dryer laying of ink. Once you are done and happy with it, rinse the nib, feed and feed holder with warm tap water. I also would recommend that you use a pen flush solution once you are done rinsing. I can hold a feed under running water until it runs clear and it will still bleed color when put into a pen flush solution. The reason that you should do this is not because of a color bleed but because that ink will dry by the time it gets to your customer and can cause flow problems.

This is the way that it is done by the professionals. If you buy a brand new pen from Richard Binder you will find that the pen has been aligned smoothed and fully tested. He simply unscrews the nib section out of the pen you buy and put it in a spare body and does all his work without risk to the pen body.

So as usual George is correct. Test your product before you send it out. Your reputation may depend on it.
 

watch_art

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Dec 21, 2011
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hot springs, ar
Only ink the pen if it will be YOUR pen. Fountain pen buyers want to be the only ones to ink THEIR pen.

Actually, I would advise inking and write-testing every pen, especially with the kits. The reason for this is that the nibs almost always need a little tweaking to make them work well. Or, at least to ensure they do work. Not that uncommon to have a kit nib/feed crap out, or be way too scratchy. If you sell fountain pens, best to ensure they work well, to make a happy buyer.

Cheers,

Ken

+1

Even with pens like Pelikan and Visconti you get duds. That's why it's so nice to buy from somebody like Binder, Mottishaw, or Zorn. They make sure the pens write right before they go out.
 
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