Conway Stewart Feed & Nib Reassembly

[DrChumley]

I recently purchased a Conway Stewart 24 (1950s era). I have been disassembled the pen, cleaned it, replaced the sac, fixed the level/floating bar (that was an epic PitA), and mostly reassembled the pen.

However, now I'm thoroughly and completely stuck. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

I can not, for the life of me, get the feed and the nib to fit back into the section. The fit with the section alone is extremely tight. When I try to fit them both back into the section together, I can only get it about 1/2 seated before I can go no further. Additionally, the nib appears to "see-saw" on the feed. If I lay the writing end flat against the feed, there is a gap between the back of the nib and the feed. If I lay the back of the nib flat against the feed (in order to get them inserted into the section), then there is a massive gap between the tip of the feed and the writing end of the nib.

When it removed them, there were tight, but not impossible. I've been at this for about 30 minutes, and if I had any hair, I would have pulled it out by now.

What can I do to get these pieces to fit back together properly? Should I be heating up the section before attempting to put the nib and feed back? Or heating up the feed? And anything in particular I can/should do about the "see-saw" problem? (Will it be solved by simply getting the nib into the section far enough? I've pulled and replaced nibs and feeds hundreds of times, but I have never had this much difficulty getting one to sit properly...especially since they were fitting together properly an hour ago when I took them apart the clean out the old, dried ink.

Thanks.

[Paul-H]

Hi

I wouldn't risk heat as that could lead to a loose fitting feed.

Other than checking that the bib and feed are going back in the exact same position that the came out of because the section will have a set in it after all these years. But you already knew that I don't know what to suggest, are you double sure the nib is in the correct position on the feed. Has the feed been bent during the removal process. Where Conway Stewart using Ebonite for their feeds in the 50's, if they did then it can be heat set after assembly to get the gap to the nib back to normal after re assembly.

Await other replies before doing anything drastic.

Paul

[Deb]

It is usual to apply heat to the section to ease the nib/feed assembly back in without the risk of cracking. Heat to remove and heat to replace is the rule. It won't lead to a loose feed as any expansion that takes place is reversed as the part cools. Applying a little soap to the nib/feed assembly can help to slide it in. In all probability the feed will lie tightly against the nib once you have it fitted, but if the gap persists it can be heat set as suggested above.

[DrChumley]

Hi Paul and Deb. Thank you both for the responses. I will dive into this a little later on today.

Deb, when you say a little soap, are you talking about dish soap/liquid hand soap? Or do I need to break out a bar of ivory and lather up?

[Annie]

I share your pain. My method is to heat the feed and the section by putting both into a plastic bag and dumping in hot water. Leave it for a minute or two and try reassembly. As Paul-H says, the exact position can be tricky because the ebonite/plastic will have 'set' in a particular way over time. You won't be able to see this so you must do it by feel alone and that's trial and error. Just keep gently heating and trying again. Any 'gapping' between nib and feed can be sorted out after assembly by applying more gentle heat and squishing together with fingers.

Well done on getting the floating bar back. That's the bit on CS pens that causes me the most bad language.

[Deb]

As you only want its lubricant properties, just about any soap would do, but dish soap is probably most easily applied. Good luck with getting it back together.