Breather tube

[soligen]

I have been searchign and reading erverything I can about putting a breather tube in an FP. I get the concept, but its the execution I have questions about.

I understand there needs to be a second hole to let ink out while writing. Where would this hole be if I wanted to mod a kit feed holder (I have a churchhill kit I'm thinking about modding).

Would I put the hole in the feed holder right next to the breather tube in line with the slot in the feed. What size hole works well? I have to assume too big a hole would be a bad thing.

Would it work to simply put a small hole at the base of the feeder tube?

Thanks

 

[Chthulhu]

This is what I've gleaned from reading various sites and forum reports; take it as such and not necessarily as gospel. I would suggest asking someone like Brian Gray of Edison Pen Co. for confirmation.

A modern fountain pen feed typically has two grooves or channels, one to allow ink out, and another to allow air in. You want to drill a hole that joins the breather tube to the air return channel that is no larger in diameter than the air return channel is wide. The easier ones have the air channel on the underside of the feed and the ink channel on the top side, beneath the nib.

There are also feeds with a single larger channel tha narrows between the "breather hole" in the nib and the tip end of the feed. In this case as I understand it, you want your connecting hole just about under the hole in the nib.

Your breather tube's ID should be about the same diameter as the connecting hole as well, and the breather tube itself should be installed away from the two channels.