Heat Gun Vs Open Flame

[watch_art]

all the time i hear people yelling DON'T USE AN OPEN FLAME!!!

 

okay. seriously? i'm not going to put the pen IN the flame. so what's the difference between a heat gun and open flame if both are used correctly?

 

my guess is no difference.

 

obviously both can be dangerous in the hands of the inexperienced, which would probably be most of us.

 

if you hold a pen in front of the heat gun too long, poof. if you put the pen IN the flame, POOF. hold them both far enough away and only long enough to do the job, then there's really no difference right?

 

any opinions? (and i'm sure there are)

 

before heat guns, what did pen repairmen use?

 

and yes, i know that it's a better idea to use a heat gun, but in the hands of the EXPERIENCED, does it really, REALLY, make a difference?

 

thanks

[GavH]

Found this whilst wondering what the answer might be myself.

 

http://www.vintagepens.com/FAQrepair/openflame.shtml

Edited June 18, 2010 by GavH

[Roger W.]

Before heat guns they used open flames but, had they had heat guns they sure as hell wouldn't have used open flames. Some pen are comparatively flamible compared to others and open flame was always a bad idea they just didn't have any alternative.

 

Roger W.

[watch_art]

Found this whilst wondering what the answer might be myself.

 

http://www.vintagepe...openflame.shtml

 

very good. i think the second paragraph really says it all.

you just can't control it.

 

edit to add: the last paragraph says that it's hard to find good guns for europe. is this still true from the time that article has been written? i find it hard to believe you can't buy one and get some sort of adapter to plug it in. and would it have to be 220v? wouldn't 110-120v guns have the various adjustments, too?

Edited June 18, 2010 by watch_art

[eckiethump]

Just depends on how many pens you want to BURN to gain the experience. When there is a better, safer , readily available alternative, why consider this.

I just wasted two minutes of my life answering this !!

 

et

[watch_art]

Just depends on how many pens you want to BURN to gain the experience. When there is a better, safer , readily available alternative, why consider this.

I just wasted two minutes of my life answering this !!

 

et

 

no one made you answer!

 

:roflmho:

[Silvermink]

I think the broiler metaphor is pretty astute there. Heat guns aren't expensive, so why take the risk?

Edited June 18, 2010 by Silvermink

[pathobby]

Imagine going to the dentist and he (or she!) says to you ... 'I am a traditionalist. I am going to use techniques and instruments on you today from the 1930s.'

 

What would you say?

 

I know what I would say!

 

PH

[richardandtracy]

Imagine going to the dentist and he (or she!) says to you ... 'I am a traditionalist. I am going to use techniques and instruments on you today from the 1930s.'

What would you say?

...

That's exactly the reason I try & stay away from dentists in my area. They all have 1930's equipment and even more ancient techniques. The only modern thing about them is the size of the bill.

 

Regards,

 

Richard.

[Ernst Bitterman]

It's always comforting to know your dentist has treadle-driven equipment to fall back upon if an outage occurs during a long procedure.

[Kelly G]

I've used a Sears Craftsman heat gun for pen repair for the last seven years and I've not had a heat related problem with any repairs I've done, albeit I don't do more than 20 or so pens a year. The gun has an infinitely adjustable heat setting and runs as cool as 120 F - it gets way hotter than you will ever need for a pen. I've also used the gun for other chores around the house, so it was definitely a good buy from my perspective.

[jszh]

Not sure if this is relevant. But is there any water in plastic? If there is, any dry air blowing the pen tends to take away the moisture faster than flame or hot water. I don't know if it is good for old plastic or not. I actually tried open flame. Yes, it is hard to control. One's breath will make the flame dance. But this can be solved by putting the flame in a big glass box or something. The temperature can be controlled by distance.

[ZeissIkon]

Not sure if this is relevant. But is there any water in plastic? If there is, any dry air blowing the pen tends to take away the moisture faster than flame or hot water. I don't know if it is good for old plastic or not. I actually tried open flame. Yes, it is hard to control. One's breath will make the flame dance. But this can be solved by putting the flame in a big glass box or something. The temperature can be controlled by distance.

 

The only reasonably common pen material with significant water content is casein, and those pens are fairly uncommon (they weren't made for long before it became possible to make celluloid almost as cheap and much more durable, and many/most have been destroyed by one factor or another since they were made). Given that celluloid will ignite at only about 25º F higher temperature than the softening point of shellac, and that any open flame has a core temperature many hundreds of degrees hotter than this, use of an open flame seems foolhardy when other options exist. Even a hair drier is capable of overheating a celluloid pen -- but it's not as easy with a hair drier as with an alcohol lamp or candle.

[watch_art]

i've learned a lot with this thread and i bet others have too.

 

 

(geez i sound dorky)

[Vintagepens]

I don't know about increased availability of 220V variable-temp heat guns in Europe -- I'm guessing that online shopping will have made a difference in that regards since I last went looking, which was a number of years ago now.

 

As for the question about water in plastic, plastics aren't wood, so with the exception of the already-mentioned casein plastics, the issue is more going to be residual solvents and plasticizers. And there, the method of heating isn't so much the concern as is the need to avoid overheating -- though in some cases hot water is inadvisable specifically because it can leach out more plasticizer than hot air (which is why one generally avoids putting celluloid in hot water).

[Ray-Vigo]

I use a grey-colored embossing gun from Michael's crafts. It replaced my old hair dryer + funnel method. It's helpful.

 

Even with the heat gun, you can still toast stuff. I once had a celluloid section catch fire in my hand from the heat gun. Celluloid burns extremely fast once lit. I ended up burning my finger tips and throwing the section into a my cold drink to put it out. The part was ruined, but I learned my lesson with the heat gun.

 

Stay away from open flame methods-- it's just too easy to toast stuff. The heat gun took a bit of inattention to toast that section, the open flame would take even less.

Edited June 23, 2010 by Ray-Vigo

[Vintagepens]

I've used a Sears Craftsman heat gun for pen repair for the last seven years and I've not had a heat related problem with any repairs I've done, albeit I don't do more than 20 or so pens a year. The gun has an infinitely adjustable heat setting and runs as cool as 120 F - it gets way hotter than you will ever need for a pen. I've also used the gun for other chores around the house, so it was definitely a good buy from my perspective.

 

My Craftsman heat gun has been in service for nearly 20 years now. I was going to replace it a few months back since the output temperature had begun to fluctuate, but first I took it apart and cleaned out all the dirt and sac debris. Once it was back together, all was like new again.

 

One of the best investments one could ask for.

[pvector]

lol o man, i wish i read this b4. I used a jet flame too. See i took apart my Hero 5020, and as it so happened I snapped the little rubber part that sticks up at the end of the feeder, and I thought its plastic why not melt it back on. Pen still works tho, that little end doesnt really matter

[freddy77]

Hi. I am so new to all of this. I have fallen in love with the Esterbrook pens from the Dollars (which I hope to get) to the Transitions to the whole J series. Up until now I have purchased restored ones from e-Bay. However, I recently got a "fixer-upper" and am attempting my first restoration. Because it's my first attempt, I'm petrified with each step I take. When I got the pen, I was pretty sure the sac was ossified but I couldn't remove the section from the barrel. Not having a proper heat gun (the two that I have would burn too hot) and not even considering an open flame, I put the pen in warm water for a very short time and I was able to get the section off with no problem at all. The water was tepid at best but it was enough to do the job. Now, after reading some of the comments here, I'm wondering if I did something wrong by using water. By the way, the sac was indeed ossified and had broken off from the section so at least I had that figured correctly.

 

Also, as an aside, the nib was stuck in the section and I didn't want to force it so I put it in an ultrasonic cleaner and that worked perfectly but was that a bad thing to do?

 

Now I just have to figure out how to get a bit of tarnish (I think) off the nib and then do my first sac replacement. (The sacs have been ordered and I am waiting for them to arrive.)

 

This is as far as I've gone, including cleaning the nib and section: http://i805.photobucket.com/albums/yy333/freddy77mac/Fountain%20pens/P1010911.jpg

[Jack7770]

I'm not an expert by any means, but I've restored 191 Esties, nearly all of which required a soak, some for as long as a week. Only rarely do I need heat for an Estie, though a heated ultrasonic works, too. Sometimes I put one on a tray atop the lampshade over 2 150watt bulbs, a trick I learned on FPN. That works, especially if you shield the section with a bit of rubber gas-line tubing.

 

So, no you've done nothing wrong; water won't hurt an Estie, and not much else will either, except excessive force. The ultrasonic is very useful for cleaning the nib and feed--a drop of dishwashing liquid and a little more ammonia works very well. It will also clean the cap, removing ink residue from the inside.

 

Enjoy, but watch out, this is an addictive hobby. Jack