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I recently purchases a Parker 51 Special that had a nib misaligned with the hood by about 30 degrees. While trying to take the hood off in order to re-align, the connector separated into two pieces (I don't know if it was already broken, or I did it trying to disassemble). See the picture below. Everything seems to work and it draws ink and writes, but about 1/2 the time when I try to take the cap off the hood and nib now remain in the cap, and the bottom half of the connector stays with the barrel. What is a Parker 51 Special connector made of, and what us the best adhesive to use to glue pieces back together? I have on hand a plastic epoxy, super glue, or Testors 3502xt liquid glue for plastic (part acetate and part MEK). JAB

I have a 1938 Parker Vacumatic with the lockdown plunger. I recent had it sent away for a diaphragm replacement. In the process, the repairman had to rebuild the plunger as it had seen some wear and had presumably been repaired at some point in the past. Unfortunately, when the pen arrived back in the mail and I removed the blind cap, I was greeted by a snake-in-a-can of spring and plunger button shooting out of the pen. It seems the button on the end of the plunger came loose from the metal plunger tube, letting the spring free from its housing. I've seen a lot of pictures of mostly disassembled Vacumatics, but haven't seen photographic examples of the internal plunger components. So I thought I'd post a couple images and include some insights and questions regarding my current problem. Here are the parts as they came loose from the end of my pen. The spring fits inside the shaft (presumably with the metal inset piece at the bottom of the spring) and the brass button slides on top of the end of the spring and inside the end of the sleeve. http://sethkastner.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/VacSpring-300x200.jpg click image for full size Here is my fix for giving the button a better chance of bonding securely inside the shaft. I've alternated between two paper clips to gradually compress the spring by sticking one through the spring, via the lock-down slot and using the other to keep the spring held down against the top of the slot. This way, the spring is not in contact with or placing upward pressure on the cap as it is glued and left to dry. http://sethkastner.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/VacClip-300x200.jpg click image for full size Any input on what I should use to get the button to stay? I've been considering epoxy or even good old fashion Krazy Glue. Obviously I'll need some that can hold tight with only a small amount, and I'm not particularly concerned with being able to undo the bond easily. I will using this pen regularly but gingerly and I assume that if anymore work is needed on the Vacumatic system, I'll be needing to replace the whole shebang. Thoughts? Questions? Also here's a (badly lit) picture of the whole pen (fine, arrow nib; "shadow wave" finish). It was my wife's great-grandfather's and its my favorite of all my pens. http://sethkastner.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/DSC02460-300x200.jpg