Bite marks on Vacumatic

[belfast-popeye]

I got the best looking parker vacumatic recently which cleaned up a treat, lovely two tone nib, even blue enamel intact on clip. One drawback, some rather thoughtful person chewed the blind cap at some point. Can anything be done with teeth marks, polishing out say, if so how do i do it? Any suggestions please

[Jlgreer]

I had a similar situation with a Vacumatic Debutante in Blue. I was able to build up the teeth marks with clear lacquer (fill in the depressions with a touch up brush) and then polish it out. It took a few weeks and lots of patience. It really depends upon how deep the bite marks are. I am sure that there are other alternatives that you could use as well. But I tend to go with what I know which is working with lacquer.

 

Good luck..Enjoy the pen it sounds like a great find!

[Ron Z]

This is a repair that I can do. It involves the judicious application of heat. It's not something that I recommend for the average person, but I can do it.

 

Why don't I recommend it for the average person? Because if you get it too hot, or hold it in the wrong spot for just a tad too long, the barrel/blind cap either warps, or the pen turns in to a vacumatic flambe'.

 

If you go trying to sand off the marks and remove material, but it doesn't quite get it all, and then decide to use the heat method, you end up with reverse tooth marks, which you then have to take off.

[SMG]

Ron was kind enough to show me his technique for this repair at the Toronto show last summer. I have used it a few times and luckily had 100% success.

 

That said, I did heat a section not too long ago that started smouldering when I was distracted by my daughter running around in the basement where my repair desk is. The sight of smouldering plastic being held in ones hand tends to get your attention PDQ.

 

It is amazing to watch the teeth marks and dents literally disappear while being heated though. :blink:

 

Definitely not for the faint of heart or to start trying on a pen you want to keep.

 

Cheers,

SG

[david i]

Hey, i remember suggesting heat waaaay back when

 

Of course, whilst i well knew the theory, i do have a tendency still to blow up pens.

 

d

[Jared]

Does the heat trick work on more than just the vacumatics? How about other materials? What do you use to heat--hair dryer or open flame?

 

Maybe I'll try it out on a Wearever...

 

Thanks,

Jared

[OldGriz]

Because if you get it too hot, or hold it in the wrong spot for just a tad too long, the barrel/blind cap either warps, or the pen turns in to a vacumatic flambe'.

 

Been there done that... not a pretty site after the fact (the roman candle effect is kind of neat, however)

Stuff like this I leave to guys like Ron and Richard who have a lot more experience. I will practice more on some beaters, but I usually don't find many beaters...

[david i]

do not use open flame.

 

do not use open flame.

 

do not use open flame

 

david

[Jared]

OK, no open flame. I guess that was the advice about how to melt the adhesive, not how to melt teethmarks.

 

Jared

[OldGriz]

OK, no open flame. I guess that was the advice about how to melt the adhesive, not how to melt teethmarks.

 

Jared

Do not use open flame on Vacumatics at all.... too easy to turn one into a roman candle.... you should be able to fee up the filler and sections using a hot air gun and some care....

[david i]

just in case wuz unclear...

 

don't use open flame.

 

d

[framebaer]

Even a Hot air Gun can turn a Vac into a Flambe if one isn't careful. Don't be fooled by thinking a heat gun is safe with these babies!!

[belfast-popeye]

Ok Thanks everyone for the input, much appreciated. Suffice to say you have scared me away from heat so much i've put the vac in the fridge . Only kidding, i won't be rushing to fix it and potentially ruining a treasure. Cheers

[Ron Z]

Because if you get it too hot, or hold it in the wrong spot for just a tad too long, the barrel/blind cap either warps, or the pen turns in to a vacumatic flambe'.

 

Been there done that... not a pretty site after the fact (the roman candle effect is kind of neat, however)

Stuff like this I leave to guys like Ron and Richard who have a lot more experience. I will practice more on some beaters, but I usually don't find many beaters...

Did I ever tell you all how I found out that open flame and Vacumatics don't go together???

 

This was many years ago, but I was sitting at my desk at work (they put the engineers in the basement where we're safe) with this nice blue vacumatic Jr. It wrote a little too wet though, and I wanted to heat down the feed. But I didn't have a hair dryer, didn' have a heat gun, but I did have a Zippo in my pocket. (I don't smoke, but usually carry a lighter for some reason) Yup, I did. :blink: :bonk:

 

A little tooooo close to the section, and then next thing I knew I was huffing and puffing to blow the flame out. No smoke detectors nearby then, so no fire alarm, but one startled dude!!

 

I went home, swapped out the section with a spare from a parts pen, and went back to work.

 

My boss at the time was also a pen collector (though not nearly as addicted) - so I called him out to the front porch. "Hey John," says I, "come watch this!" I held that damaged section in a long pair of tweezers (about 8 inches) and then held the lighter under it.

 

Now, you know how small a vac jr section is. There isn't a whole lot to it. Just a little piece of celluloid. Maybe 3/8 to 1/2 inch long, and hollow. But I very quickly got a bright orange flame that was about 12 inches long that lasted 15 to 20 seconds. When it was all over, I had this 1 inch long piece of gray ash. Very spectacular, very sobering.

 

That was THE last time I used an open flame on any pen. I know that it's possible to burn a pen with a heat gun, but your chances of survival are much better.