Sheaffer Tuckaway Conversion

[Chrissy]

A long time ago, Penwash posted some info on a Sheaffer's Tuckaway conversion from vac to bulb-filler. I thought it was a great idea, as we have accumulated a handful of Triumph-nib pens, and I really wanted to try it. This winter, we FINALLY got around to it, with a five-dollar beater that has a badly cracked cap, figuring what was there to lose....

Let's hear from 'Mr. Sailor,' who did most of the work:


"I removed the blind cap from the plunger rod and then removed the section from the barrel.

I cut the inner plastic cylinder (where the plunger rides) about in half, “discarding” the plunger-rod assembly.

I fit a sac (#17 or #18) that just fit inside the remaining cylinder, leaving about 1” of the sac outside of the cylinder (and 3/8” inside the cylinder) & tested it with water. I also verified that the barrel fit properly (making sure that the sac wasn’t too long).

I shellacked the sac in place & let it dry vertically, with the nib facing up (so shellac won’t drip into the feed).

I put a small amount of silicone grease on the threads that secure the barrel to the section (so it will be easy to open it up to refill the pen by squeezing the sac.)"

It writes well! Here's the disassembled pen, the finalized version, and some scribbles:

I'm now 'fixing' the cracked cap with...nail polish. So thanks, Penwash. This was fun.

I love it. Thanks. In the past, I've successfully fixed a couple of cracked caps with 2 part epoxy resin...