Ultra (II)

Some days ago I spoke, once more, about the Pilot Super Ultra 500 and the later replica Pilot Ultra. This one was a limited edition with a cartridge-converter filling system. Paradoxically, the reissue is a lot heavier than the self-filling (hose system) original.

The orginal Pilot Super Ultra 500 from 1959.

In a sense, this Pilot Ultra was a romantic pen, but to a limit. Cartridge-converter pens, as we all know, are easier to clean and to maintain, and that is particularly the case when comparing these two pens.

Replacing the sac and releasing the feed of the 1959 Pilot are not easy tasks unless you knew the actual procedure. The basic problem is that the nipple where the sac is attached is well inside the gripping section and is almost unreachable from outside. So, how do we proceed?

The inlaid nib and the feed.

The white piece on the feed is the nipple to attach the sac.

The Pilot Super Ultra 500, disassembled.

There exists a dummy barrel that could be attached to the section instead of the delicate urushi-coated original. With this dummy barrel in place, the pen, nib up, should be vigorously thrown against the table. This action will release the whole feed into the dummy barrel. Then, attaching the new sac is easy.

The often damaged tassie at the back of the barrel.

The original barrel of the Super Ultra 500 is finished with a small gold-plated tassie, and it is often damaged. And the reason for this is, most likely, that there was the need to replace the sac and that was done without the dummy barrel.

And, needless to say, this is not an issue with the cartridge-converter replica of 1995.

Twsbi Diamond 530 – Diamine Graphite (an unpleasant combination)

Bruno Taut
Machida, February 8th, 2013
etiquetas: Pilot, soluciones técnicas