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Hello, I'm new here but have used fountain pens in the past, mostly for professional music copying. I keep coming across old fountain pens as I attempt to clean out an accumulation of stuff from this old house. My father, who passed away in 1995, never threw anything away and I have found a few old fountain pens in various states of disrepair or missing parts. Right now I have a simple black Osmiroid 65 which says England under the name on the side. It has a lever fill and screws apart but there is no bladder visible inside. I would love to get it working as I like the feel of a fountain pen. The nib looks pristine. I've searched the forums but don't seem able to get good results looking for repair info. Can anyone help me or point me to a tutorial on how to find things here? Thanks!

I just bought an Osmiroid 65 Lettering Set for Left-handers on eBay. Copyright date is 1974. The set comes with six assorted nibs. This is my first lever pen. My questions are: Do I need a separate sac for each nib? There did not appear to be a sac in the barrel of the pen, but I can't really see anything in the barrel. Some flakes came out of the barrel when I pounded it (gently!) in the palm of my hand, but I don't know if that was dried ink or sac flakes. Second question: Where exactly is this sac attached? Does the shellac go between the sac and the nib unit, or above the sac or over the sac? Some of the nib units have the sizes of the nibs on the lower part in white ink. I would think that that is where the sacs attach, but I was surprised that the size lettering was in such good shape. I can't tell if a sac was ever attached to them, except for one or two units that had ink in them when I cleaned them. My main concern is the ease and ability of going from one nib to another. I also have a more modern (relatively speaking--from the late 1970s) Osmiroid Calligraphy set with a set of nibs that take cartridges. I've used it for 30+ years and have always enjoyed it, so thought I'd give the 65 a try. On another random tangent, I don't find much about Osmiroid on the internet, not in comparison to all of the Shaeffer/Pelikons/Pilot/etc posts. Is it just a junk pen? (I still like writing with it...) Thanks, John

Hope I've put this in the right place - there's a Parker in the mix but as there's other makes too I've put this in the 'other' topic. I've had four old fountain pens for years, I think they all used to belong to my father. They haven't been used for a long time though I do remember using a couple of them as a kid. First up is a grey 'Ero' which takes standard small ink cartridges. Not in very good condition - the plastic is cracked on the barrell and also the cap and some slight rust at the top of the clip. Also has 'Ero' embossed on the barrel too. Second is the black one marked 'AA' which has a plunger (which still moves albeit a bit stiffly) and plastic ink reservoir. Sadly the nib on this appears to be bent, otherwise in good condition. I can't see any markings on the pen otherwise. Thirdly is the rather colourful but sadly poor condition Osmiroid 65. Love the multicoloured 'marble' finish on this but unfortunately the end has been chewed a bit and I think my dad tried to scratch his name into the side! Cap unscrews to reveal an italic nib though it's two 'vanes' appear misaligned annd it seems quite scratchy. Nib says 'Osmiroid, Italic, Medium Oblique, then England. The cap unscrews but just pushes onto the top of the pen. It has a clip for drawing ink into the pen. Can't see if it has a sac or not, I presume so and that it's well and truely perished! Lastly is a pen I've seen a few people talk about - a Parker 51. This seems to be in better condition - unfortunately the sac inside has a small hole in it so probably perished. Nib looks intact though. Think the cap is gold plated - as well as 'Parker' it also says '1/10 12ct. R. Gold' which I presume means 12 Carat Rolled Gold. Edit: Just found in very faint writing on the body of the pen it says 'Parker, Made in England - 6'. There may have been a mark/character after the 6 but could also just be a small scratch. I'd love to get some of these working, especially the Parker 51. All of the pens have old, dried ink over the nibs - what's the best way of flushing this out, running warm water through the pens? Also, can I get a replacement sac for the Parker? I can't seem to get the mechanism out of the pen, does it come out or not - don't want to use too much force and damage anything! Also can't see how the Osmiroid comes apart - does that come apart as I'm presuming it'll need a replacement ink sac. Also can the nib be bent back into position without risking damage to it? I've uploaded some pictures, hope they're not too big and have attached OK