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Too bad most of the FPN folks won't look in this forum to see this. Their loss! Macniven & Cameron, Made in Great Britain, Waverly Series No P 5 This is a casein pen (based on smell while I sanded it down to restore the color and finish). Small pen, 4 1/2 inches capped, posts to a nice usable 5 5/8 size. It came to me in a sorry state with a bent nib, barrel thread crack (now sleeved internally), and very dark, brown and crackly on the surface. I was just so drawn to the pattern I had to buy it and put in some work to restore it! Unfortunately, I know nothing about the brand, history, or other models they might have produced.

I've been called in to give my sister a hand with a Dinkie that's had a structural failure: https://imgur.com/PmMvCVm https://imgur.com/P2GqymJ https://imgur.com/U6RHUu3 We reckon that the pen was put together while the shellac was still slightly wet, it slurped out of the joint and glooped towards the section. From the look of things, there's been some general reacting going on and there's some residue in that separate ring that's going to have to be dealt with. Any suggestions for cleanup and repair?

Earlier this year I acquired a Burnham 56, and it came with the very useful caution about not soaking it. All or some parts of it are made of casein, which I understand is not water resistant in any way. However, this pen needs cleaning and I'm wondering what the best process might be; I don't have an ultrasonic cleaner, so I'm looking for a simple process. The section of this Burnham can be unscrewed from its barrel. I'm not sure if that feature would make a difference in how to clean this pen, and I am also not certain what part/s of the pen include casein. It is lever-filled so I know it's important to also avoid getting any moisture in the lever. Any advice would be terrific. I also want to deliver a huge 'thank-you' to everyone in FPN! I'm not always a frequent reader but I have so enjoyed the posts and advice and the wonderful community that comes with FPN. Best holiday wishes! Madeline

Too bad most of the FPN folks won't look in this forum to see this. Their loss! Macniven & Cameron, Made in Great Britain, Waverly Series No P 5 This is a casein pen (based on smell while I sanded it down to restore the color and finish). Small pen, 4 1/2 inches capped, posts to a nice usable 5 5/8 size. It came to me in a sorry state with a bent nib, barrel thread crack (now sleeved internally), and very dark, brown and crackly on the surface. I was just so drawn to the pattern I had to buy it and put in some work to restore it! Unfortunately, I know nothing about the brand, history, or other models they might have produced.

Here I am with a question about restoring casein. I already cleaned the body, removed the old petrified sac, and ordered a new one (I'm waiting for it, I should receive it within days) The cap of the pen has some "corrosion" marks, see in the attached image the red circled spots. There is a way to fill that marks and then sand them? I've also practiced static modelling in the past (tanks, airplanes, ships...) so I'm quite used to work with plastic materials and resins. I'm wondering if there is any safe material to use to fill that marks, maybe a transparent paint or some resin? Thank you in advance for any suggestion. Matteo

Casein (from Latin caseus, "cheese") is a milk protein which we widely consume in various forms such as cheese and as a food additives. An interesting anecdote in the story of Caseins is that it was a popular ingredient for making some of the earliest plastics called Casein plastics. For a very brief period of time, casein was a popular material in fountain pen manufacturing. This was in early 1920's when it was the only plastic that could be coloured. With the advent of celluloid which was a superior type of plastic, casein quickly fell out of favour. Pens made of casein are quite rare and I have never seen an Indian pen made out of this material. So when Vince Coates (http://theturnersworkshop.co.uk) made available some casein material, a bunch of us quickly seized the opportunity to get some unique pens done. The material we received was supposedly the same used by Conway Stewart in their brief sojourn of using Casein and hence we naturally opted for getting a few Azaadis made with these imported blanks. Below are the pictures of the ASA Azaadi made of Casein and also a side by side picture with it's cousin made with normal celluloid acetate. We did not use any rings on this pen since the material was considered too soft to attempt the heat setting method of inserting rings. Also the surface was kept largely untreated (except applying emery paper) in order to retain and exhibit the natural characteristics and property of the material. Hope you guys liked the pictures. Should you8 guys wish to read my review of the ASA Azaadi, then please click here. Regards, Prithwijit

Hi, I recently received a Conway Stewart Dinkie 550 which I purchased online; it was described as needing a new sac. I don't know much about casein, but read this on the CS website: Firstly, if I can't apply heat to the pen, how am I going to unstick the barrel from the section, which appear to be shellacked (spelling?) together? I'll have to do this in order to fit the new sac. Secondly, how does one clean the section of a casein pen without dismantling the nib and feed? I had intended to flush it out with a bulb syringe - if it will fit, the pen is so tiny - but wonder if this will affect the casein. The nib is great, I've dip-tested it: it's flexy, which shocked me as I've never written with a flexy pen before. I may gently smooth the nib a little, I have lots of experience of doing this with very cheap pens, but this will be the first gold nib I've smoothed. I would like to turn this pen into a good everyday writer and any advice you can give me about servicing and caring for this pen will be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Catherine