Snapped feed

[ndw76]

So I was playing with my Camlin 11r trying to make it wetter. I deepened the ink channel and just as I was putting it back together I heard a snap sound and half of the feed dropped out. It's only a cheap pen, so if it ends up in the bin I won't be too worried. But I would like to fix it. I have tried superglue but that won't even hold the two parts together.
Is there anything else I could try before throwing oil out?

[subramaniyam]

Nope.... since it is friction fit, there is a lot of pressure on the feed. i've tried epoxy, superglue, and modelling cement.. No dice. You would only end up blocking the feed channel. Cutting a new channel is a royal pain...

Regards,
Subramaniyam

[ndw76]

So last night I ended up getting the two halves glued together. Cleaned the seam up with a little file, cleaned the ink channel as best I could, and put it all back together. It worked. .. Until it stopped writing. So I tried to pull out the feed to work on it a little more and again, SNAP.
So I thought of another idea. As I was pushing the remnant of the feed out with a bamboo chop stick a light turned on. The other end of the chop stick has a larger diameter than the section. How about carving a new feed from bamboo.
The first attempt didn't work too well, but now that I how to do it I will try again when I have some time to tinker.

[Rick Krantz]

send me measurements, I may very well have a replacement feed to get you back writing. I need the outer diameter in .001's inches...

[ndw76]

Thanks for the kind offer but the bamboo feed I crafted out of a chop stick is still going strong.

[cedargirl]

Don't they/Didn't they use bamboo dip pens in Japan for that beautiful inkwork? Or have I got that wrong?

[AndyT]

Don't they/Didn't they use bamboo dip pens in Japan for that beautiful inkwork? Or have I got that wrong?

Once upon a time I had one of those, but being a hopeless duffer I never got to grips with it. Also there's the flexible reed pen known as a qalam used for Arabic calligraphy. I've seen a video of an amazingly skilled gentleman from Pakistan making these from bamboo (big bamboo in one case) with nothing but a blunt Stanley knife, but haven't been able to find it again. I believe that some qalams even have a form of feed, so they work much like those colourful ebonite dip pens from India.

[cedargirl]

Qalam - that's new to me. Thanks. Nice video here http://calligraphyqalam.com/ for anyone interested. Skip to 3:16 for the cutting of the pen. It appears to be cut from a thick/hard form of cane - not soft and reed-like - which is what I had in mind.

I guess the reason I mentioned it originally was a reflection that bamboo has a history with ink.

Nathan - I'd love to hear how your nib is working now that you've had a few weeks to use it. Any tendency for the ink to dry out in the nib? Hard to start?

Why is it that you can't buy aftermarket ebonite feeds? You can get loose nibs and whole nib/feed units, but not replacement feeds.

[ndw76]

After it had been sitting nib up for a number of hours it doesn't like to start. But after some tapping and coaxing the ink flows nicely.

The reason why I can't get another feed is because I am a tight ass and thought I could make one cheaper than I could buy one.

Also, all online purchases go through my wife's credit card. I didn't think the scrutiny for such a cheap and small item was worth it.

And again, I'm a tight ass.

In Thai kee ni ow.

[cedargirl]

Tight ass is good. It encourages innovation.

I wasn't suggesting you should have bought one; just in my experience, you can't buy them. Unless you buy a junker pen and scavenge the feed, of course.