Oddball HUGE piston filler - information/repair advice needed.

[Bibliophage]

I just bought a pen from E-Bay, mostly because it was huge. It's over 6 inches long, over an inch thick, (thicker in the cap), and is a piston filler.

 

I'll be uploading a couple of the photos - I don't feel any qualms about using ebay photos, because I own the pen now.

 

In any case, the feed popped out into my hand under mild pressure, (barely wiggled), and the top channels look pretty smashed. The nib is marked "Exelent (or Excelent) Ideal Nib" The pen body is marked CREST, with a second line being "High Class Pen". The clip is marked "New" across, and "Clip" down.

 

The piston has, at some point, given up the ghost. I'm betting I'll be sending this sucker to one of the professionals to have repaired, since the nib is bent, the feed is ... who knows, and the diaphragm and o-rings probably have to be replaced. I'm not even sure how to take it apart

 

It appears to be black plastic, not casein or celluloid, with brass clip and cap band. The clip is fastened to the top of the inside of the cap with a brass screw.

 

Any advice on repair, identification, or anything else would be appreciated.

 

Troy

[Kelly G]

I think you have an eye-dropper filler rather than a piston filler; A "jumbo" pen, most likely from Japan. The shaft is part of an ink shut-off system. At least that's my opinion.

 

Good luck.

[Bibliophage]

The piston part does pull back all the way - it's just sticky. That doesn't mean that it is not an eyedropper pen, of course. That's why I'm asking for opinions. (I hadn't seen them called Jumbo - that's going to be helpful. I have a friend with Multiple Sclerosis, and my original plan was to give this to her to use - big pens are more helpful than small ones. Now I know I can pick up a cartridge filler jumbo pen for about $20, brand new)

 

Thanks!

 

[Kelly G]

The section should screw out of the barrel - give that a try and you can see if it's an eye-dropper with a shut-off valve.

[Phthalo]

Yeah, this is a Japanese eyedropper (NewClip is a common clip used on many Japanese pens.) If the nib has "JIS" in a circle stamped on it, it's 1955+. The whole grip-section will unscrew - carefully try it - this is where you will drop ink into it with an eyedropper bulb.

 

http://www.kamakurapens.com/Japanese_Eyedropper_Pens.html

 

 

[Bibliophage]

I'll be buggered. I'd understood that the Japanese eyedroppers only unscrewed a short distance to open the valve. This sucker comes all the way back like a piston.

 

Okay - now I have to figure out how to get it in working condition.

 

Looking at the nib, it _almost_ looks more like a nib from a dip pen than a feed pen. The feed is also damaged (and doesn't fit properly anyway).

 

Anyone here have suggestions on who might have parts to fix it? or where I could get parts to fix it up? (also, how does one seal the bottom of the pen where the valve stem protrudes from the barrel)

 

[Bibliophage]

http://cgi.ebay.com/JAPAN-New-Clip-JUMBO-o...1QQcmdZViewItem

 

That's the pen - I'll need to save that page so I have a reference. Apparently the feed _is_ original, but the nib is not, and the feed appears to be damaged (the channels on top aren't strips, the walls between the strips have been gouged out.

 

Oh - I wish I'd known that ammonia strips off the lacquer. Now I get to relacquer the pen. Oh well, I didn't pay that much for it, so restoration will be fun. (and, the ammonia didn't even finish getting rid of the residue of ink in the bottom of the barrel! argh.

 

(no, it wasn't in there long)

 

Apparently it's hard rubber that's been lacquered. It'll not go near any ammonia again.

 

 

[Bibliophage]

Hm.. The water was only slightly tinted, but the pen felt slippery - I then rinsed it with regular water, to get rid of the ammonia (didn't use a high concentration). The pen looks a bit.. cloudy, I guess is the way to put it.

 

Is anyone experienced enough with Japanese eyedroppers that they can make a guess as to whether I just need to polish, or if I need to get some roiro urushi (black japanese lacquer) and recoat?

 

 

[Phthalo]

Uhm... heh.

 

If it was urushi, ammonia would not have harmed it. I have several urushi ED's and have washed them all in weak ammonia baths without harm.

 

When urushi is damaged, the pen goes dull as the urushi eventually breaks down and turns to powder - in which case, your pen would be dusty and water would simply wash the urushi remainders away. Your pen was glossy to begin with, but I have no idea what it was coated with - it certainly doesn't sound like any urushi I have heard of.

 

I saw that auction for the $500 Jumbo pen too... it's very amusing! Especially as Jumbo pens are cheap and common.

 

Btw, good luck re-lacquering your pen...

Edited August 2, 2007 by Phthalo

[Bibliophage]

Ah-ha. A bit more research seems to suggest that all I should do at this point is polish it back up again.

 

The lacquer is likely _not_ coated ON the pen, but rather was embedded into the ebonite itself - laccanite is the name of the process.

 

I can't be certain, so I'll wait until Taki or someone else can comment.

 

[Phthalo]

Yes, ebonite was turned on the wheel and impregnated with lacquer as you describe, but many more pens are and were coated with multiple layers of urushi lacquer. Some more research will reveal all to you.

Edited August 2, 2007 by Phthalo

[Bibliophage]

Okay - now I'm _really_ stumped. According to this site - http://www.urushi-kobo.com/conservation-restoration.html - ammonia can be used to clean urushi.

 

[Bibliophage]

Oh well - anyone here run across Jumbos like this frequently? If so, can they let me know? (I'm assuming they're probably more common on the East Coast of the US and in Asia than down here in Houston)

 

I'll just polish it up for now, and put it away, then use it for spare parts when I find another.

 

[stan]

Jumbo pens were first made before the war for older men who had difficulty using regular size writing instruments. After the war they were still made, however, almost all were cheaply made and quite a few were sold as novelties and souvenirs. A few years ago there was one for sale on eBay with a label identifying it as a souvenir of Niagara Falls.

 

$500 for one of these is ridiculous. They are common and often for sale on eBay and in Japan.

 

The coating is likely to be very thin and of the lowest quality urushi; just enough to give it a decent shine. Unless you have a strong attachment, I wouldn't think about recoating it with urushi, or recoating it at all. It's just not worth it. If you tried coating it with some other material you need to remove most, if not all, of the old lacquer, as imperfections will show through.

 

BTW, it is an eyedropper. The piston is not a piston, it shuts off the ink flow. To use the pen all one needs to do is unscrew the blind cap a 1/4 to 1/2 turn to allow ink to get into the section. It is common for the seal to wear out of dry up and it can be repaired for $35 to $50. You should also check the watertightness of the section to the barrel. Over time this area can also leak and you will need silicone grease to keep the ink from getting on your hands.

[drwturnswood]

While this reply is a couple weeks behind the initial post, I thought I'd add this note as a way of thanking this group for the info on Japanese Jumbo Pens. I just received one I bought from an eBay auction, and had gotten as far as unscrewing the blind cap to discover the same attached thin rod, appearing like the Sheaffer piston-fillers. Everything seemed to pass my first visual once-over, but I decided to google "Jumbo Pen" before doing something I'd later regret, and ended up at this discussion. After reading the postings here, I gave the section a good twist, and lo, and behold, there was the open barrel, with the pointed rod extending from the blind cap, a cone-shaped "drain" in end of the sectioin, and well-sized barrel that could hold a half a bottle of ink! I'm sure that it could last through black and white ink drawing covering a 3' x 4' poster. Looking closer, I saw nothing that looked wrong, or abused. The nib on mine has an imprint stating: "WARRANTED / 14 KT / GOLD PLATED / MADE IN / JAPAN". The barrel has an imprint: "JUMBO PEN / MADE IN JAPAN". The clip has lost most of its plating, but is in good shape, with a large round ball end. It has a single gold plated band that is 1/4" wide, and weighs in with a 1" diameter barrel, 1 1/8" diameter cap, and a capped length of 5 3/8". All threads are clean, joints seem tight, and the black finish is shiny, and free of dings. I hope this adds a bit more info. I was truly surprised when I first unwrapped it. The picture on the auction site showed nothing along side it to get a relative comaprison of what Jumbo really meant. As long as the image lasts on the auction site, it can be viewed below.

 

-drwturnswood

 

http://img.auctiva.com/imgdata/0/3/8/0/1/2/webimg/161275906_tp.jpg

 

 

[Kelly G]

A couple of weeks plus a year! But that's OK - the information is still good. Good luck with your pen. I've one around somewhere, but I've never tried to restore it as it has a bad nib.

[effrafax]

This post just confirms what a great place FPN is, and that there's always more to learn.

 

I had the good (?) fortune to win a Sailor FP on Ebay a few weeks back. It was advertised as a plunger filler, dating from the 1930s, and equiped with a spring, slightly flexible steel Falcon nib. Still has the paper price sticker on (300 yen - seems expensive for 1930s to me, but that's just a hunch). Anyway, after it arrived, I was trying to work out how to use it. The 'piston' inside the barrel obviously wasn't cut out to fill it with ink, only being about half the diameter of the inside of the barrel.

 

Now I know what the truth is, especially having followed the link to Kamakura Pens and read the description there. All becomes clear.

 

Thanks everyone.

[radconsta]

I just bought the same pen off eBay. I cannot unscrew the section. Tried anti-grip pads, section tool, heat and all the combinations in between. Please help! Thank you

[fountainpagan]

Ah-ha. A bit more research seems to suggest that all I should do at this point is polish it back up again.

 

The lacquer is likely _not_ coated ON the pen, but rather was embedded into the ebonite itself - laccanite is the name of the process.

 

I can't be certain, so I'll wait until Taki or someone else can comment.

 

Very interesting the laccanit process.

 

I have found the patent where the inventor explais it all. Fascinating!

http://www.google.com/patents/US1600293

[Flounder]

 

Very interesting the laccanit process.

 

I have found the patent where the inventor explais it all. Fascinating!

http://www.google.com/patents/US1600293

 

Very interesting indeed, thanks for the link!