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View Full Version : Adventures in Waterman Crusader Repair



KrazyIvan
April 26th, 2013, 09:29 AM
Thank you to JBB for her thread here. (http://fpgeeks.com/forum/showthread.php/2019-Pens-that-fly-under-the-ebay-radar) She pointed out a couple of pens that don't get a lot of attention and usually go for cheap on the bay. I thought I should start this thread instead of using hers to document the repair progress.

I liked the Waterman Taperite and started searching for one. She pointed out one example that looked a bit rough. I was almost sure the sac would need replacing. I decided to use my eBay points and got the pen for under $4 USD.

Here is what it looked like before I started on it (the eBay picture):

2140

After reading up on the pen I found out what I actually have is an Waterman Crusader. The way I understand it, it is a lower tier pen in the style of the Taperite. What I did not know is how fragile they are. Some articles/posts I read sighted a 1 out of 3 success rate with replacing the sac. With that in mind I decided to soak the pen first. The nib had a lot of crud on it anyway. A lot of blue ink came out of the pen. When the soak water finally started to come clean, I started alternating hot/cold water soaks in hopes that the expansion and contraction would loosen up the section a bit. Last night I finally started using dry heat to start pulling on the section. It moved about a millimeter. I thought that was enough pulling for the day and decided to send it back to the soaking chamber. So that is where I am at now. Here is the pic:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8525/8683592142_6d0ea3f75e_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8683592142/)
Adventures in Waterman Crusader repair (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8683592142/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

gweddig
April 26th, 2013, 10:03 AM
A millimeter is a good sign, I think that means the glue has at least partially released. I would be very careful when twisting rocking on these, the material is very brittle.

Those do polish up very nicely though. Keep us updated.
--greg

southpaw52
April 26th, 2013, 11:40 AM
+1, I have been working on removing the sections from three different Crusaders. I have had success with separating two out of the three. The plastic resin used over time I agree has become brittle.

Maja
April 28th, 2013, 10:14 AM
I deliberately avoid buying them unrestored as they are notorious for being difficult to resac: (from here (http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/profiles/taperite.htm): "Also, although it is doubtful that Wateremjan actually intended the Taperite to be unrepairable, it is true that many of these pens are so tightly assembled that they are virtually impossible to disassemble for sac replacement.")

Hope you have better luck with yours, Ivan!

KrazyIvan
April 28th, 2013, 11:01 AM
It has moved another little bit. It is going to be a very slow process.

whych
April 28th, 2013, 05:28 PM
Patience is a virtue ;)
have you tried warming it with a hairdrier? It may be easier than water.
Keep rotating the pen while heating, and keep the patience.

KrazyIvan
April 28th, 2013, 06:13 PM
Yes, all movement has been with dry heat.

Bogon07
April 28th, 2013, 06:40 PM
All the best with your repair work.

I suppose you could use it as a dip pen if you can't replace the sac.

KrazyIvan
April 28th, 2013, 10:19 PM
Was concentrating so much on the section, I did not realize how much pressure I was exerting on the lever while pulling on the section. Fail.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8401/8690745057_cd66166618_z.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8690745057/)
Waterman Crusader fail. (http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivan_romero/8690745057/) by IvanRomero (http://www.flickr.com/people/ivan_romero/), on Flickr

Jon Szanto
April 28th, 2013, 10:32 PM
http://us.123rf.com/400wm/400/400/nick_thomps/nick_thomps1101/nick_thomps110100025/8572822-bw-portrait-of-sad-crying-little-boy-covers-his-face-with-hands-one-hand-with-medical-plaster.jpg

gweddig
April 29th, 2013, 12:01 AM
Was concentrating so much on the section, I did not realize how much pressure I was exerting on the lever while pulling on the section. Fail.

Ouch! If it were me I would have to walk away for a few days while the disappointment wore off then look at as an opportunity for barrel repair practice.

--greg

cedargirl
April 29th, 2013, 01:46 AM
Ooohh, that hurts. So sorry.

But remember - every failure brings you one step closer to success - as long as you keep trying.

whych
April 29th, 2013, 02:53 AM
Was concentrating so much on the section, I did not realize how much pressure I was exerting on the lever while pulling on the section. Fail.

Bummer.
Looks like you have most of the pieces, so you should be able to glue it all together again.

KrazyIvan
April 29th, 2013, 08:29 AM
Unfortunately, I don't think the barrel is salvageable. You can just barely see it, there is a crack further down the barrel. Well, it goes around the barrel like a cork screw all the way down to the section. :shocked:

GaryR
April 29th, 2013, 10:48 AM
You really have not destroyed a pen, you have created a learning tool. "This is what a lever filler looks like on the inside." What a great show piece!!

Maja
April 30th, 2013, 07:13 PM
Oh wow. Sorry, Ivan. That's too bad, but at least it wasn't a terribly expensive pen or sentimental favourite... :(

KrazyIvan
April 30th, 2013, 07:29 PM
You really have not destroyed a pen, you have created a learning tool. "This is what a lever filler looks like on the inside." What a great show piece!!

I decided to take what I could salvage from it. I am thinking I might ask one of the pen turners to see if they can make me a barrel. The section is fully intact. Don't know if its possible

KrazyIvan
April 30th, 2013, 07:30 PM
Oh wow. Sorry, Ivan. That's too bad, but at least it wasn't a terribly expensive pen or sentimental favourite... :(

Yes but now it has me looking for another one. :p

Jon Szanto
April 30th, 2013, 07:40 PM
I decided to take what I could salvage from it. I am thinking I might ask one of the pen turners to see if they can make me a barrel. The section is fully intact. Don't know if its possible
Of course it's possible! That's what I might do for the section from the one of mine that cracked (the barrel). I might even consider making it into a pen similar to the "Fantasy 51" pens.

KrazyIvan
April 30th, 2013, 07:45 PM
I decided to take what I could salvage from it. I am thinking I might ask one of the pen turners to see if they can make me a barrel. The section is fully intact. Don't know if its possible
Of course it's possible! That's what I might do for the section from the one of mine that cracked (the barrel). I might even consider making it into a pen similar to the "Fantasy 51" pens.

I was thinking maybe something like a bulb filler would be cool.

Jon Szanto
May 2nd, 2013, 10:53 AM
Ok, I think I'm officially going to give up on the Taperite family. The full-size (Crusader) I've been working on for a week snapped last night. I've used gentle and warm wet (soaking) and dry (hair dryer) heat, as well as ultrasonic in an attempt to loosen the section. I used only the lightest of pressure in trying to pull and rock the section out, knowing how quickly the first barrel snapped.

Last night, after considerable hours of trying to coax it out, the entire barrel snapped clean off, just behind the flange of the section (in line with where the sac would go over the nipple. And the bottom line is that whatever glue was used on this, either at factory or later, was so permanent that I can't even make headway on chipping off the rest of the barrel remaining on the section. I'll have to literally grind/sand it away.

This section wouldn't have come out on it's own for a million years, and now I have no idea how many of them are like this. Bums me out, but unless I were to get one for $5 bucks I'm not going to waste my time or money on these any more.

Deb
July 9th, 2013, 07:36 AM
Enough are like that for Taperites to have a very bad name! Waterman standards seem to have slipped in those years, and parts that were out of tolerance were made to fit with a mighty glue of their own devising. If that wasn't enough, the plastic these pens are made from is very subject to shrinkage, giving barrels a death-grip on sections. Two things keep me coming back to Taperites: the satisfaction of mastering a difficult repair and the nibs. The one area Waterman didn't scrimp on was the nib; a well set up Taperite is a great writer with a surprising proportion showing some degree of flex.

carlos.q
July 13th, 2013, 07:13 PM
Reading this thread I realize I was really lucky a couple of weeks back when I bought a Taperite from a well known french FPN member. The advertisement said the pen needed a new sac, so I was ready to try the "one in three" lottery. But to my surprise, the pen arrived with the section already unglued and the sac removed. So I got a nice flexy gold nib pen for only $12. Great! :thumb:

KrazyIvan
July 15th, 2013, 06:36 PM
That was really nice of the seller.

moylek
October 17th, 2016, 08:33 AM
I deliberately avoid buying them unrestored as they are notorious for being difficult to resac: (from here (http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/profiles/taperite.htm): "Also, although it is doubtful that Wateremjan actually intended the Taperite to be unrepairable, it is true that many of these pens are so tightly assembled that they are virtually impossible to disassemble for sac replacement.")

Hope you have better luck with yours, Ivan!

Tightly assembled? Huh.

I've come across a Taperite which is anything but tight: the section piece (the whole bit below the ring) just falls out from the barrel.

I'm considering buying and resaccing it if the price is right, but I don't know about getting the section to stay up in the barrel, since it seems that it's meant to be a tight friction fit.

grainweevil
October 17th, 2016, 03:06 PM
Perhaps a coat of shellac, allowed to dry, might create the necessary friction? It's worked for me in other circumstances, at any rate.