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Hi all, I just purchased a lovely vintage Conway Stewart Dinkie pen and pencil set, circa early 1950s (from Heritage Collections in the UK). Both write beautifully. (Picture below) But I wondered if anyone out there collecting them can fill me in on some basics: 1. How do I refill the lead in the pencil? Through the tip or the barrel? If the barrel, is there some secret to getting in to the barrel? 2. Similarly, how do I separate the fountain pen section from its barrel? 3. Is Casein a form of plastic? 3. Is the 1.2 mm lead readily available? Has anyone out there tried 1.1 mm lead, which I've seen for sale, and found it fits sufficiently well? ---Both pen and pencil seem to be so tightly connected that I fear if I try to open them, I might break something. Are they supposed to be this way? I started to wonder whether I am not supposed to open them at all . . . . But that doesn't make sense to me, since these pens/pencils were used by so many for everyday writing and they would have needed to get at them at some point or another. Many thanks for any help. Liz

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

Hi, I'm moving this query from another forum in the hope of finding answers more quickly. I have, what I'm told is, a Conway Stewart 524 Dinkie in 'Rainbow' colours from the 1920's made in casein. However, I can't find any mention of this in any on-line resource - and there are some good ones out there! I post a picture of the pen/pencil set in the hope of getting a proper identification. The engraved markings are a bit too worn to see clearly. Is this genuine or have I been mislead? Many thanks in advance.

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