Adhesive for pressure bar to sac

[FredRydr]

I am reattaching the pressure bar to the sac of a 108-year-old Weidlich matchstick-filler. My first thought was rubber cement, then thought shellac. Has anyone experience or expertise to share?

Fred

[KrazyIvan]

Have not heard of a pressure bar being attached to the sac.

[PaulS]

neither have I ............... for ignoramuses like me are you able to explain the mechanics of a matchstick filler, please:)

[FredRydr]

In my matchstick-filler, the pressure bar is not mechanically attached to anything. It's just a curved bar that is pressed simply by pushing an object (e.g., a matchstick or, in the case of Weidlich, a "stick" mounted on the top of the cap) through a hole in the side of the barrel and against the bar. If the bar was not affixed to the sac, it would just slide around inside the barrel. I haven't found how the bar was attached by the original manufacturer, but when a new BHR barrel was fabricated for my pen, the new sac had the bar affixed to it. Alas, the bar never was properly centered under the hole, affecting my ability to fill the sac with ink.

Richard Binder has an explanation and diagram of matchstick-fillers in his glossary and a posted article on his website. If I don't find an answer from the net, in two weeks at the Long Island Pen Show I'll ask Richard which adhesive he used in his pen. I suspect it'll be shellac.

Fred

[PaulS]

thanks for the explanation:) - have now seen Richard's words on the subject -I wonder if it was a long lived invention or something that had a brief life only.
Like you, I'm unsure of the means of attachment to the sack etc., but the curious side of me wonders if the mechanics of the system might have worked had the bar been attached - at one of its ends - to the inside of the barrel rather than the sack. This latter method might not have allowed maximum ink-fill capacity of course, but might have saved the not infrequent cleaning of old sac from bar each time a new bladder was needed ............ from the point of view as to which cement you use now, this might depend on whether intend to use the pen on a daily basis, or if it's intended simply to reside, unused, in your collection.
An unusual and interesting method, and just one of the many methods of ink filling in the early C20.

[kirchh]

Try shellac. I keep both a regular-viscosity shellac on hand for routine sac attachment work and a much thicker solution for cementing work; the latter would work well here, I think. I wouldn't apply the adhesive much forward of the matchstick hole, as the sac surface undergoes some stretching during compression, and that can cause the release of a bond, which can then progress.

--Daniel