Nib position vis-à-vis lever or crescent or widget or clip

When I reassemble pens after restoration, I invariable try to line up all the features of the pen: the clip, the top center of the nib, the lever or crescent or hatchet or other filling device, and any other notable features. Of course, threads might not cooperate, but I try. I do this because I like it, and therefore I assume (you know the old story about that!) everyone else does, too. But when I look at other's pens and old adverts and see variations, I wonder what others prefer. Old advertisements may try to feature certain aspects of pens, but how were those features oriented when the pens came from the factory?

What brought this up was reassembling a very old Conklin 4NL, and deciding which way to orient the crescent vis-à-vis the nib and section before applying a drop of shellac on the loose section. (The threads force this Conklin's clip to fend for itself when capped.) I opted for the same old.

What do you expect or prefer?

Attachment 47724
(Not for sale)

There is a sense of neatness when everything is aligned. I never used to go to any efforts to align everything, I was just happy to have a working pen. But my local pen club organized repair workshops and I saw that this is what they were doing and suggesting, so I started to do the same.

It is a finesse, a nice thing, rather like having screw heads in line when you do some work about the house.

I prefer the alignment of lever or crescent with the center of the nib as you describe, although I don't use my lever or crescent fillers as often as the more recent filling systems. I don't have any, or at least not any that are likely to be used, where the friction fit section is loose enough to require a drop of shellac to keep it in place. That's been lucky with a couple of my Esterbrooks when I decided to use a different nib.

Alignment of the clip with the lever when capped is a complete non-issue for me. When posted, I might line the clip up with the nib just to take a picture of the pen, but for writing, it's enough for it to be turned so that it doesn't hit the webbing between thumb and forefinger.

In levers or crescents the point was to align them so that when the pen was capped and placed in a pocket the lever or crescent would be turned away from the pocket edge so it did not catch and fill the cap and pocket with ink. The lever or crescent should not line up with the clip for practical purposes.

I prefer the lever/crescent to be inline with the nib. It looks neater and I find, personally, that if the lever and nib are aligned they are out of the way of my hand and, thereby, are not subject to sweat, oils, and constant rubbing from my hand that will accelerate plating loss.

I align levers just to the left of the barrel's centerline. If I remove the pen from my pocket and post the cap, I want the bottom of the lever to be under the ball of my thumb. So if the pen has been in my pocket, unused for a long time and the nib is now dry, a press of my thumb on the lever will prime the feed and start the writing.

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Originally Posted by Paddler

I align levers just to the left of the barrel's centerline. If I remove the pen from my pocket and post the cap, I want the bottom of the lever to be under the ball of my thumb. So if the pen has been in my pocket, unused for a long time and the nib is now dry, a press of my thumb on the lever will prime the feed and start the writing.

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Your last sentence is enlightening. I have up to now sought to align lever and nib. Next lever filler I do I will try this. Thank you.

I like to see the lever neatly in line with the nib too. :)

I've never really thought about this until today.

I would definitely not want the lever to catch on the seam of my pocket opening when I remove it. As for aesthetics I have to say I like the alignment the best.

Now I have to go an look at all my lever fillers to see what they are doing with their levers! I see another sleepless night ahead! :)

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Originally Posted by pajaro

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Paddler

I align levers just to the left of the barrel's centerline. If I remove the pen from my pocket and post the cap, I want the bottom of the lever to be under the ball of my thumb. So if the pen has been in my pocket, unused for a long time and the nib is now dry, a press of my thumb on the lever will prime the feed and start the writing.

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Your last sentence is enlightening. I have up to now sought to align lever and nib. Next lever filler I do I will try this. Thank you.

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It does actually work. A small press on the closed lever (the short end) can raise the pressure enough to spill a drop into the feed.

I don't repair pens or have old filling systems, but when it comes to the clip I want that underside, not topside, or it fatigues my hand from having to hold a weight that wants to rotate the pen upsidedown in place. When posted of course. Your crescents are probably too light to consider that, but then a clip doesn't seem like it should be that bad either.

I prefer the lever rotated 90º to the left, because when I'm filling the pen I usually hold it with my right hand, and if the lever is on the side facing my left hand, it makes it easier to operate.