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Icietla
June 8th, 2014, 04:47 AM
Hello,

I have bought an old Parker Lady Duofold with ringtop from the late 20s. The pen is not here yet, but from what I have heard from the seller it is in good working order and has an xf gold nib.The pen has a blue marbled body made from Celluloid and is a pushbutton filler with a rubber ink sac. It has been used with this ink sac for a couple of years.

It is my first pushbutton filler and I don`t know how long the ink sac will last.
So I am planning to replace it with a way more durable pliglass ink sac from an old Parker squeeze converter should it start to leak one day.
Can I do this or is the j-bar inside the pen too weak for squeezing a pliglass sac?

The nib is a manifold, so it doesn`t offer any flex. Are such old Duofold nibs really stiff like nails when it comes to writing or are they a tad springy? What are your experiences here?

And the nib also has a Lucky Curve ink feed made from ebonite underneath. Is that good or bad?

I also don`t know what size the pen really has. I wanted a pen similar to the Pelikan M150 sizewise. Is the Lady Duofold in that category or is it even smaller?

You might laugh about all this, but when I was offered the pen for a very good price I took it without thinking twice. Because I love its`design and the rich blue colour with a hint of black and white mixed in. I hope that it will be a good everyday writer.

Greetings,
Icietla

Deb
June 8th, 2014, 07:39 AM
A pliglass sac will not compress is easily as a latex one and is likely to stress the filling system.

Most Duofold nibs are inflexible but there are some that have some softness or even a little line variation.

The Lucky Curve feed is original to this pen, and good in that sense. Ebonite makes the best feeds. Whether or not the Lucky curve feed is one of the better feeds is a matter for debate but it's adequate.

A Lady Duofold is 114 mm. A Pelikan 150 is 120 mm.

DrChumley
June 8th, 2014, 11:03 AM
I have a Lady Duofold in Mandarin Yellow that I found at a local antiques store (ca. 1927, I think.) Mine has a fine nib, but the nib has quite a big of spring to it, and can get some pretty impressive line variation.

I replaced the sac in mine with a pretty standard latex sac, and I'd agree with Deb: I wouldn't put a pli-glass sac in. There's not a lot of room in this pen, and the thicker pli-glass material may cause you a fair number of problems.

BTW, if you end up liking this one and want to buy another, let me know. :) It's too small for me.

Icietla
June 9th, 2014, 12:04 PM
Thanks for your answers. I have done some research today and found out that PVC, the material the pli-glass sacs are made of, eats Celluloid. Latex, on the other hand causes the irreversible discoloring of the Celluloid body into brown. So both materials are to avoid in old fountain pens. What works and doesn`t do any harm are ink sacs made from pure silicone.
So I`m going to put a silicone sac into my Lady Duofold when it arrives.

Icietla
June 15th, 2014, 02:48 AM
The pen has arrived two days ago. It is really small, even smaller than my Pelikan M150.
But, my, what a Beauty!
http://i.imgur.com/jjW9GzS.jpg
I inked it with Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite. It took a couple of minutes until the Lucky Curve feed was saturated with ink and worked properly. Since then it is a wet writer and I can write almost two A4 pages with one ink fill.
The nib is rigid, a real nail. But a very smooth nail.