# feed directly in section?



## glycerine (Jan 17, 2012)

I was playing around with a Pilot Plumix pen again the other day and noticed that the feed was installed directly into the section, with no "feed holder" between them.  The feed is similar to the Bock feeds in that there is no "notch" that has to be lined up when inserting it into the housing.  With this particular feed (the one on the Plumix), one would need to drill two stepped holes, but I believe a Bock feed would just require a single hole to friction fit the feed in... has anyone tried this on a kitless?


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## soligen (Jan 17, 2012)

I tried one time with a bock feed.  I could not get the hole drilled to exactly the right size for a good press fit. Perhaps able to be done - would take more trials than the one that I did.  I think the tolerances you would need for drilling would be pretty tiight.  It made me wonder if there is actually a slight taper inside there for the friction fit.

Since all the feeds come with a housing, I didnt pursue this for very long.


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## biednick (Jan 17, 2012)

I'm planning on trying this exact thing. It looks like you need 1 hole almost all the way through and a smaller (1/8?) hole all the way through to reduce the ink leaking. After I try it I'll post what happened.


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## glycerine (Jan 17, 2012)

Yeah, it will need to be snug... and maybe slightly tapered as well, something like a morse taper.  I'm just thinking this could eliminate one more "part" and one more set of threads, even though I just bought a tap from Roy!


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## biednick (Jan 17, 2012)

glycerine said:


> Yeah, it will need to be snug... and maybe slightly tapered as well, something like a morse taper.  I'm just thinking this could eliminate one more "part" and one more set of threads, even though I just bought a tap from Roy!


My thought was you can make the section a little thinner


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## glycerine (Jan 17, 2012)

biednick said:


> glycerine said:
> 
> 
> > Yeah, it will need to be snug... and maybe slightly tapered as well, something like a morse taper. I'm just thinking this could eliminate one more "part" and one more set of threads, even though I just bought a tap from Roy!
> ...


 
That's true also! I measured one of my feeds and it was about 5.45mm closer to the top and 5.25 at the bottom (I think), so there's definitely a slight taper.  Might be able to have a router bit made to the correct dimensions...


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## biednick (Jan 17, 2012)

glycerine said:


> biednick said:
> 
> 
> > glycerine said:
> ...



Thats good to know, my plan is to try it with the feed and nib from a fountain pen kit, i know its not a great nib, but at least i can see ifit works.


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## IPD_Mr (Jan 17, 2012)

You will find that there are several vintage FPs that fit the feed and nib into the section through a friction fit.  Parker Vacumatics work in this fashion.  Pelican uses a collar and Esterbrook uses a feed holder much like what we use today.  Either of these ways work and there is not a right or wrong way in my way of thinking.  The only concern that I would have is the shrinking and expanding of the section due to heat from your hand could cause the fit to vary by thousandths of an inch which could lead to leaking.  It may be an unfounded concern but worth watching for in your future attempts.  I would think that drilling it too small and creeping up on it with a fine round file would be a good option, but I do not know for sure as I have never tried this.


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## biednick (Jan 17, 2012)

Short answer: yes.
It requires 5 steped holes, 1 clear through, the smallest, and 2 steps on eack end. I did this on my drill press, and have ~.02in. Tolerence between the kit section and mine. I cant get behind a lathe tonight, so the real test will be tomorrow. Pics up soon hopefuly.


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## biednick (Jan 17, 2012)

Pics:
Sorry they arent embeded, still gotta figure that out from my ipad...
Pictures by Biednick - Photobucket


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## glycerine (Jan 18, 2012)

Good to know.  Thanks for posting!!


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## biednick (Jan 18, 2012)

Not a problem, i think i need to enlarge the smallest hole to increase flow a little. That should make it put down more ink, like the stock pen does.


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## apple320 (Jan 18, 2012)

Here is one I did with a broken Waterman.  
It is just a press in

Before  
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





After


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## glycerine (Jan 18, 2012)

Cool... and beautiful acrylic! Did you just do a straight hole or is it tapered some?


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## apple320 (Jan 18, 2012)

Just a straight one.


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