Help with Statesman kit: which glues?

[jgourlay]

Gents, I apologize if this has been covered, but the search didn't turn up quite what I was looking for. 4 or so years ago I made a Statesman and have carried it since. I have had a litany of problems, most I would attribute to "Hard Living". It has a good nib, or at least it should be a good nib considering what I paid for it from nibs.com

Here is the issue. It rides around in my pants pockets, so is frequently bouncing around nib down. I am certain this is causing drips and drops of ink to occasionally drop into the cap. I could shove some tissue in there and go on down the road and be fine.

But what is happening is that the ink wicks through capillary action between the top of the cap and the barrel. So, around the area where the clip is, I get a fine line of ink. Recently I have needed to wear suit/tie to work frequently. What happens now is I wipe off the cap, and find no ink.

Pen goes in shirtpocket. Body heat warms up the air in the cap, which becomes pressurized, and a tiny tiny tiny smudge of ink appears on that cap to barrel intersection--and then immediately rubs off on my shirt. :at-wits-end:

Because drops, wear, tear, age, I've had to reglue the cap into the barrel three or four time. Superglue, epoxy I've used both. Last time, i figured gap fill would fix the leaky leaky so I used Gorilla. NOTHING seems to work. What do you all suggest? What can bond to both the brass and rhodium creating a pressure and water tight seal?

 

[Russianwolf]

How about using the clip for its designed purpose?

The clip goes either on your shirt pocket or pants pocket and keeps the pen in a cap up orientation. No more drips = no more ink smudges.

I'd probably remove the finial and give it a good cleaning, then reassemble and use the clip.

 

[titan2]

Two things come to mind....

1. Maybe sealing the inside of the cap with CA.....no more wicking action. Clean everything out first, of course....may take some time to get all of the ink that's in there, out.

2. Pressure build-up in cap.....ever think of drilling a small air hole in the cap....no more pressure build-up.

FWIW.....


Barney

 

[jgourlay]

Thanks

Small hole is a good idea.

Two problems with using the clip as a clip. First, the statesman clip is sorta crappy: over the years I've replaced it 3 times because they break easily. Secondly, about half the time I wear "golf shirts". The pen is too heavy to hang in the button up area of those shirts. The cloth on pant pockets is so thick that it really speeds up breakage of the clip.

I admit to being an odd duck. 99.9999% of fountain pen men are the kind of men who live their lives in french cuffs and have the sort of long, slender, delicately manicured fingers that we look for in our trophy wives. I'm not that guy. I'm the guy that will tuck my tie into my shirt, go out to the shop floor and run one of the lathes for a couple of hours if that's what it takes to bring us back on schedule.

So....my pen gets used hard just by virtue of being with me. Actually, this has been an intentional learning experience: what do I need to do to make a pen capable of working in my world for many years. This problem is the latest in a long line of details I've had work out.

Titan: are you saying run a bead inside between the cap and barrel? if so...what to use for the long "nose" of a glue bottle? Or are you saying to put a puddle of CA in there?

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

I've carried a fountain pen in my pants pocket for the last 4 years and have never had a drop of ink drip as I always put it into a leather pouch first which always makes me place it cap up in my pocket. Also would work inside the jacket of your suit.