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At an antiques fair I was recently GIVEN a fountain pen by a stall holder who just wanted rid of it. Couldn't say no, could I? And of course Ive got to get it back into working order... It is an Osmiroid, a brand I remember from school, long ago. Research shows it is an Osmiroid 65. It is not a lever filler. I've ordered a converter from ebay. The nib says OSMIROID ROLATIP MEDIUM SOFT ENGLAND, and looks to be in perfect order. The problem is the section. When unscrewed it is badly bent - see photo. All in all the pen has had a lot of abuse. There are tooth marks on the section, as if someone has tried to open it with their teeth. Also the bottom of the barrel is irregular, looks like a knife has been inserted in an attempt to open the pen. Can anyone tell me how to separate the nib from the feed? And, more importantly, where can I get a replacement section? There don't appear to be any on ebay. NB this is the normal section, not the long cradle-shaped thing for holding a calligraphic nib. I gather Osmiroid nibs fit Esterbrook sections. Does this mean that an Esterbrook section would take the Osmiroid nib and fit the Osmiroid barrel? All suggestions gratefully received. Peter

I've had a Parker 65 fountain pen for more than 30 years (12ct rolled gold, English made) I recently aquired a matching ball pen and pencil for £20 each and almost instantly lost the ball pen. On looking for a replacement, I found a gold 180 fountain pen and ball pen set (made in the USA) for £40. Is this the beginning of the end? I seem to have paid a very reasonable price for the 180 set, looking at Ebay. I also have an elderly Platignum which actually writes very nicely. I can upload some pics if that would be of any interest.

I was thinking to share my happiness with you This summer I bought a Parker 75 and a Parker 65 for a really low price. The seller stated that the pens are broken but I was optimistic. After an inspection they were in a really bad shape, the P65 had a destroyed section and the P75 was not writing at all only when applying a large amount of pressure, the clip was missing, the chrome clutch ring was rotten off, the clutch missing too, it had different tassies (flat at the cap, dished at barrel). It looked like this: I'm not a purist so i started to improvise to make it look reasonable and to make it write without the original parts. I was able to find a clutch spring in an old noname fountainpen which worked well in my case. Because the P65 was hopeless without a new section I took off the clip with the end jewel and mounted it on the P75. After these modifications I was pleased with the pens looks. But it was not functional yet. After reading here that also a piece of 35mm film can be used to spread the tines I tried it. After a few tries and adjustments the nib was functional again smooth and wet, the only thing was that it seemed that it had a much thicker line than an "F" nib. But it is perfect for me. Even like this I'm really happy that I can use it. And this is how it looks with the P65 clip: I know that it is really beaten up and almost every part comes from a different country (cap -USA, barrel+nib -France, clip+convertor -England, clutch spring -China) but it works What do you think about the clip?