Shawn Newton Explains the Opus 88 Filling System

At the last meeting of the Arkansas Pen Club, Andrew McCauley brought his collection of jumbo Japanese fountain pens, and Shawn Newton of newtonpens.com explained their filling system to us. Noting that the Opus 88 filling system was similar, he later put his thoughts in an email and graciously allowed us to share it here. 

Somebody sent me this Opus to auction for the scholarships and thought I'd grab some photos to show you guys how this style of eyedropper with shut off valve works.

In this first photo the pen is closed. The knob is screwed down against the barrel, so the black seal at the front of the long rod is touching the back of the section, blocking any ink from going to the nib.

Opus 88 filling system, seal in place.

The second photo shows the pen open. There's space between the black seal and the knob is unscrewed a few turns. You have to do this to use the pen.

Opus 88 filling system, seal open

​​Knob pulled back more with section removed. Neat huh?

Opus 88 filling system

Seal inside of the barrel.

Opus 88 filling system, seal close-up

Back of section, you can sort of see where the seal, uh, seals. So when the knob is closed, the black seal is stuck against the inside back of the section, preventing ink from flowing to nib.

This is just like those Japanese Jumbo pens from pen club. Easy to use. Restoration usually just means cleaning out old ink and tuning the nib if it needs it. 

​I had a little clear one from the 60s or 70s a few years ago, but sold it to fund my pen turning venture 8 years ago.  

Opus 88 filling system, back of section