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Hello folks, One of my pleasures in using old pens, is that I can do so without calling on modern industrial activity that is making Earth inhabitable. Second-hand pen, second-hand ink, and I can write without having given a cent of encouragement or means for modern companies to produce more wares at the cost of planet hospitality. And so it would annoy me to have to buy silicone grease for my fpens. I’ve been so far relying on a single gram of the product given to me years ago, to grease my pens, but my “stock” is running out. I am looking for an alternative, ideally a non-industrial one, for the pens I own and will own, which I am resolute for them all to be retractable pens entirely made of ebonite (the why of this is another subject.) I draw your attention on the fact that I am looking for a lubricant/fluid sealant for ebonite only. I know that the generality of lubricating products are harmful to some plastics and celluloid. But what is harmful to those, is not necessarily so to ebonite. Also, I will be only greasing threads that should not be in contact with ink (the cap thread, and the barrel one.) Therefore, the interaction between the alternative lube and plastics, celluloids, sacs, or inks, is not a concern. (It might be if I want to treat the cork seal with it, but I'll think about that later.) I also point out that the point is to lubricate threads, not ensure waterthightness. I think of beef and mutton tallow, pork lard, and beeswax. Tallow is the fat extracted by melting from the fat tissues of oxen or sheep; lard, that from swine. I obtain tallow by buying fat bits of meat from a butcher, dicing these, putting them in a pot in the oven to melt (in the oven, to prevent the bottom from burning, at it happens on stovetops,) letting it melt for a while, then dumping the load in a sieve. Pure fat flows from the sieve, and then, cooling, solidifies. Tallow is preconised on the original labels of callipers for greasing those, and I use it for all rubbing (not spinning) metal parts: threads, articulations, etc. Iron-based metallic materials are not affected by contact with it, while it keeps them from corrosion; and it never stiffens (contrarily to neatsfoot oil, which I used for a while for bearings, until I discovered that that oil, by contact with metal, eventually turned to a honey-coloured and honey-textured mess.) On copper allows though, tallow seems to encourage carbonatation and the formation of greenish stuff. As for beeswax, I suppose everyone is familiar enough with it to spare discoursing on it. I use it to lubricate the sole of my hand-driven wood planes. It too helps carbonatation of copper, it seems. Member Pen Nut suggests it might be a solution. How about on ebonite? Can someone tell me, from experience, if beef or mutton or pork fat, or beeswax, are safe on ebonite, or what it does to it—before I experiment by myself and deliver here the answer which I hoped to find? And, by the way, what did they use, in the olden days, to grease ebonite threads and moving parts (which were not only present in fountain pens, I assume, but sometimes in machinery,) before they had silicone grease?

Because silicone grease is waterproof, I have a tough time getting it off pens. A really tough time. It seems like it will forever be stuck on some of those eyedroppers I have, and I fear getting it on the outside of pens because I hate the slippery feeling of it. How do you clean silicone grease off your pens? Thanks for any advice.

Anyone looking for a good tube of silicone grease to lubricate their piston mechanisms should consider Silverhook SGPGT90 80ml tube of silicone grease. You get a lot for your money. I have been using it for a few years to lubricate my Pelikan piston mechanisms and seals without any problems. Although the pens I have are made with plastic barrels, I havent noticed any deterioration of the plastic including that of my M205 demonstrator. The manufacturer has mentioned that the grease is food grade quality but that was just a comment from their technical department.

I saw there are many types of silicone grease available, which one is suitable for fountain pens?

I saw there are many types of silicone grease available, which one is suitable for fountain pens?

Is there any reasonable cheap alternative to silicone grease for sealing in eyedropper pens? I am trying to convert my Pilot Parallel into an eyedropper but can't find any silicone grease anywhere (in my home at least). Are there any household products I could use as an alternative? Vaseline?

So with the ink purchase I recently got there was a Noodler's eye dropper pen included. Before I try it out I will want to thoroughly clean this pen of the usual oils and manufacturing debris we find in our favorite writing instruments. For most pens this means a nice soak in a dish detergent solution. But of course this eye dropper has silicone grease on the threads. I'm wondering how to clean it thoroughly without the silicone grease, or the "O" ring, getting compromised. I could just put it in the small shot glass I use to soak pen parts and only fill the glass up part way, but I'm concerned that this will form a dam or some sort of clog right at the point in the ink channel where the dish detergent solution ends and the air in the ink channel begins. Also, I like to flush pens, when possible, by blasting water through them with an ear syringe, and then putting the pen in the ultrasonic cleaner. I'm not sure if I can do this with the Noodler's eye dropper. I am not sure if this is a "Charlie pen," but the clear barrel has "NOODLER'S INK" engraved on it. Does anyone know if it's pretty easy, or not to be recommend, to try pulling the nib and feed out of the section of one of these pens? In that case I'd just clean the nib and feed and separately without endangering the silicone grease and "O" ring. If you have experience with these pens please let me know about it. I am possibly not the only one with this question, although I have looked through FPN as much as I can and have not found this exact topic anywhere.

Hello, just sharing a little trick I just used to effectively clean stained silicone grease from the threads of my demonstrator eyedropper pen. I have a Franklin-Christoph Stabilis 65, which is clear acrylic throughout.. except for the threads, which were a beautiful shade of Tsuki-yo blue! Cleaning these of silicone grease was really difficult - an old toothbrush couldn't access them very well, whilst a soggy cotton bud just smeared it all around. Then inspiration struck! (or perhaps it was wind..) Anyway, I rummaged around in my bathroom drawers for an old mascara tube, and scrubbed the wand under running water until perfectly clean. The soft wand bristles are firm enough to poke into the threads but not stiff enough to scratch, and they did a marvellous job of clearing all the old silicone out in just a minute or two! Hey presto: clean demonstrator. *beams smugly*

I recently acquired a 1950s vintage Aurora 88. The pen is in good shape overall and I would like to press it into service. However, the piston turning knob is incredibly stiff. So stiff that I thought it was jammed. With increasing pressure, I was able to move it, but stopped. I'm afraid of stressing the piston rod or stripping threads, etc... If it was a modern pen, I would think to apply silicone grease. Is that appropriate for this pen? If so, how do you get the grease to where it needs to be? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi, I just got the new barrel for my TWSBI Diamond 540, but unfortunately my wife threw out the package with the silicone grease and tool. I think I can do without the tool, but I need some help knowing what to look for as far as silicone grease goes. I looked around Conrad and the closest I could find was a larger bottle of silicone damper liquid for model car shock absorbers. Can anyone please advise what I am looking for, what it might be called in German, and where I might be able to purchase it from. Cheers, StudyAnimal