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In case this might be of interest, here's the story of a Sheaffer Tip-Dip Cadet I now have. Six months or so ago, I bid on an Ebay pen that supposedly was a Sheaffer Snorkel in excellent condition. I thought I was paying a very good price (around $20, as I recall it) and won the auction a little easier than I thought I would. After receiving the item, I realized two things: first, that it had been misidentified and actually was a Tip-Dip Cadet and, second, that the sac was brittle and disintegrated to hard pieces when I touched it. I already had two Cadets in excellent condition that were previously sold to me by a much more honest seller. In fact, the previous seller had advertised a semi-flex SM1 nib and when the Cadet arrived with a plain medium M1 and I contacted him, he sent me a second whole Cadet with the SM1 nib and said to just keep both for the price of one. Since I never got into the workings of the Cadet, I decided to just keep my third one, that had a broken sac. I took it apart and learned how it worked, but I did not feel very motivated to go out and buy a new sac (plus postage), since I already had two working Cadets (actually, one working one and one that never had been inked). I thought that I'd like to just see if I could get the third one into working condition, as long as I had it sitting around. Its one redeeming feature was that it had a fine F1 nib, different from the SM1 and M1 I had on the others. It just sat around until I started scrounging around for an unbroken sac I could try on it. I pulled the sac from a Wing Sung pen I had in a drawer that I never used because it had a bent squeeze filler. The sac looked supple and as good as new. My next problem was that I had no shellac, so, just for fun, I decided to see what would happen if I mounted the Wing Sung sac on the Cadet. Since there was a tight sac protector, I thought I might get away with using no shellac. The o-ring and blind cap gaskets were also shot and I found an o-ring among my plumbing washers and made a blind cap gasket out of some of my cut sac material. Well, it wound up working pretty well and I've been using it. Recently, I began to worry that it might leak and destroy my shirt, due to the lack of shellac. I searched and searched for people who said you could use a sac protector without shellac, but to no avail. Everyone said you needed shellac. Not wanting to buy a whole pint or order a bottle when I only needed a drop or two, I searched for a woodworking shop. This morning I found one and the owner kindly invited me to stop by for a free ounce or so of orange shellac. I went there this afternoon, ready to explain my strange reason for shellac: to repair a fountain pen sac. To my surprise, the woodworker turned out to be an amateur wooden fountain pen maker! I showed him the pen I was working on and he showed me his wooden self-made cartridge pen, some of which he sells on Etsy auctions! Since he doesn't use sacs, he actually never had heard of using shellac for this purpose. He also complained about his pens getting plugged up. I told him about using a 1:10 solution of ammonia and using a syringe to force water through the feed. So, as I wait for the shellac to dry, I'm still not sure if I need a third Cadet like a hole in the head or not. But, it was an interesting experience, in any case.

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?

I'm ready to take the plunge and restore a couple of (inexpensive) old Esties. The instructions/videos I've seen suggest using ":shellac" to adhere the new sac to the nipple, and I know some of the supply places sell small bottles of it. However, as a woodworker, I have multiple types of shellac flakes sitting around.and I'd rather not pay relatively big $$$ for a small bottle of something I ordinarily make by the quart. Can anybody tell me the type of shellac used (waxed vs. dewaxed, does orange vs blonde matter, etc) and also the strength or "cut" of the shellac i should use (e.g. a one-pound cut vs. a three-pound cut)? Thanks!

I recently took apart my Parker 51 vacumatic to clean it and replace the diaphragm (still looking for the right tool the remove the pump). When I eventually get it all back together, I'd like to avoid using shellac. While I don't anticipate opening the pen for a very long time, I'd still rather avoid having to melt the shellac all over again. Is there and alternative that I could apply to the pen that wouldn't harden over time? I'm thinking silicon grease might be the answer, but I'm not sure.

Got this article for making India Ink safe for fountain pen. Is this workable ? Quote: "We know that India Ink can get stale. It still looks black and liquid, but it clogs our pens. We blame our pens, change the nibs, but the problem remains. I guessed that the shellac was forming particles, too small to see, but still enough to clog a pen. A little bit of methyl hydrate added to the ink revitalized it, and it would flow. In fact, I found that I could even put India Ink in a regular fountain pen if I thinned the ink with methyl hydrate." Link: http://www.hyoomik.com/images/technique1.html

Is Wood Polish (from the brand Sheenlac) same as Shellac? If not, can anyone make suggestions on what is the Shellac to be used for sacs that is available from the local market.

how long does it take a section to set up once it has been inserted in the barrel?

Discovered a small screw on the plastic shroud, and one thing led to another. Was reading the excelent thread pinned in Esterbrook on resacing and remembered this rig I built. The key was cuting 4 slots in the 1½" piece of copper pipe and mushrooming it over the tapered end of the beast. I stopped at 2 screws to secure it. A 'T' and some caps, and a few short lengths of pipe were lightly sweated together. The remaining open part of the tee forms a nice friction fit that allows ajustment to any angle. Hardest part is calculating the size the slit needs to be. The formula is simple enough, but much easier in mm's. It works like a Swiss lawnmower (I hope those are good.) same amount of heated air, just directed in a nice fan shape for heating just the shallacked section. She stays in the bullpen more nowdays (Digitall Infinitely Adjustable heat gun and others takeing over her duties. I would build one again, sometimes you need that sliver of verry hot air nothing else will deliver. It lives a little further off the desk as shown because it does run hot. The next project comming is a fairly large write-up on whittling Vacumatic pump pellet cups out of Papermate Inksticks. Some times I enjoy making pen tools and accessories, as much as fixing the pens. Dad used to say, if you cant make a part or a specil tool... Hell, whwt makes you think you can fix stuff."

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

Is there a true difference?

I recently obtained a couple of vintage Parker 51s, both working excellently. I am concerned however, that I may be looking at breather tube replacement on one of them. I am confident that I can do these repairs if necessary.' I am, however, out of NEW shellac. I've read a lot of posts from various sources about a replacement for shellac as a sealant on Parker hoods, barrels, pumps and sacs, etc. Like most things, the responses cover all sorts of opinions. I will use shellac on my Parkers for now. Now, to the question. I have an old can (old = more than a year old) of orange shellac. I'm told that the shelf life of shellac is short. WHAT exactly happens to retired shellac? A friend who restores antique furniture says it gets hazy and loses it color properties. Question is, does it retain its ability to seal a pen barrel or hood? It's color is not necessarily a priority in this case of course. I drizzled some of this old shellac on a glass surface. It hardened by the next morning. Will this suffice to seal the hood on a vintage Parker 51? I find it a little frustrating to have to pay 18 dollars for two brush strokes of shellac, knowing full well, the next time I need it, if ever, it too will have turned to a useless vial. Thanks!

Hi, I wanted to get some advice about adhering a section into the barrel and the type of nib. I recently won a Retro 51 Double-8 L.E. NOS fountain pen off eBay. The pen is made from cellulose acetate and I was wondering if I could use shellac to glue the section to the barrel? I don't want the shellac to discolor or be seen from the outside. I don't know if I use shellac if I could heat it up later and remove it without damaging the parts. Does anyone have any suggestions or recommendations for adhesives? Secondly, the nib. Is this an early Delta Fusion nib or a full 18k nib? It really looks like it has an 18k inlaid top. I'm pretty sure its full 18k nib but I just wanted another opinion. Either way the seller never stated it as 18K and it feels and writes just like my OMAS Paragon 18k nib, so I'm very happy. Thanks, IKWarren