Kaweco V1 Grey Piston Filler

[Jeph]

This pen was labeled as “defective” and it had a ragged bite taken out of the side of the barrel mouth. The piston was defective, and full of gunk. It only required a rough cleaning to put it back into proper operation. The barrel mouth took a little more work, but with patience I was able to turn it into a blemish instead of a wound. Otherwise, the pen was in great shape after a thorough cleaning other than a pair of lateral gouges on the top of the feed. Those concern me, but only use will answer if it is a problem. The interesting thing about this pen is that the 14K nib has curled wings that fit into slots on the sides of the feed. The wings do not slide in easily. They must be bent out and then they snap into the slots. One other interesting thing is not only does the nib have 2 breather holes, but the slit continues out the back of the aft breather hole. I thought that it was cracked, but if it is not intentional it is a very smooth crack. My first thought was that the nib cracked from the back of the breather hole and was stop-drilled without arresting the crack growth. Overall, I like the color (not black) and the ease with which I was able to put it back into service. And, of course, I also like the price. It goes into the rotation tomorrow so time will tell how it writes and if the nib slit/crack grows.

Dimensions:

Capped Length 123 mm 4.84 in. 4 13/16 "
Posted Length 142 mm 5.60 in. 5 9/16 "
Unposted length 110 mm 4.35 in. 4 11/32 "
Barrel Length 105 mm 4.12 in. 4 1/8 "
Cap Length 60 mm 2.35 in. 2 11/32 "
Barrel Max Dia 11.1 mm 0.44 in. 7/16 "
Section Min Dia 7.9 mm 0.31 in. 5/16 "
Section Length 14.0 mm 0.55 in. 9/16 "

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[Jeph]

I was trying to align the tines last night and it was far enough out that I needed to remove the nib from the feed to get enough deflection to get everything back in its proper place.
The way that this nib and feed go together means that the feed also had to come out so that they could both be installed assembled. While I was checking the feed to see if it was damaged and causing the nib to react strangely with the wings inserted into the feed slots, I noticed something strange. Very strange.

It turns out that there was a strange, formed clear plastic insert stuck into the to feed slot for almost the entire length of the feed head. I was able to take it out in one piece. Does anybody know what in the world is going on here? I used the pen all day today without the insert and it worked pretty well, although it was a little tempermental starting a few times. There is also a little bit of tooth on the diagonal right and upward strokes, but I not yet convinved that it is not just me holding the pen wrong. There is a little spring to the nib but no real flex.

Picture of the insert and a writing sample without the insert installed.

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