Victory Af (Iv) Repair Question?

[andymcc]

I won a Victory AF (mark IV?) on ebay recently, I knew the pen had a slightly damaged barrel which doesn't bother me (although I may look at ways to repair that at some point), the seller didn't know much about pen but thought everything was complete. The pen arrived this morning as is exactly as described only it's missing the pressure bar, I know this is an easy fix but have no idea what size would fit the pen, can anyone advise me please?

 

http://i62.tinypic.com/25hzcrb.jpg

 

Picture showing the damage to the barrel, I think as some point it may have been a cigarette burn that someone has sanded smooth, it's a small indentation, I may look into a way of either filling it or just matching the colour to hide it a little.

 

http://i61.tinypic.com/2vn4az9.jpg

 

The nib has 20 8 on it, I don't know what size that is as I'm going to soak and clean the pen before trying it, I was surprised to find that the sac is still really supple and I'm tempted to keep it but I'll probably order a new one when I get a pressure bar. The pen looks black in the pictures but it's actually a really dark blue

 

 

EDIT:

I'm currently cleaning the pen and now realise that the damage isn't a sanded smooth burn but actually a filled hole(still possibly a cigarette burn from the size) it looks like it's been filled with wax or something of a similar texture. I've never heard of a repair using wax, if it is I may either use heat to removed it and either find a better way of repairing it or redo it in wax and get a better finish.

Edited February 8, 2014 by andymcc

[andymcc]

After cleaning the pen the I removed the hole repair, it seems to be some sort of rubber cement, not sure what it is but it came away cleanly and the hole isn't as bad as I feared. I'm thinking of using a small amount of epoxy to sure up the hole and give a little strength, I might colour it to help it blend in but I'm never going to be able to hide the hole.

 

I've managed to get the nib out but the feed refuses to come out even after soaking for 18(ish) hours, little spurts of ink are still coming out every so often which can only be coming from the feed. While trying to get it out it slipped in a little so I know it can move but I'll just have to be patient and keep soaking until it comes out easily, I haven't decided about fitting a new sac yet but I think I will which means I can cut the old one off and possibly push out the feed.

[andymcc]

Thought I'd answer my own question

The hole in the barrel was funnel shaped, it looked like someone had tried a repair with a weird rubber cement but it meant I had a good hole to fill with epoxy.

 

After looking around I found a clear 2 part epoxy resin, I made a very small plug(2-3mm) out of an old credit card so that the resin wouldn't seep into the barrel. Next I masked up the barrel with tape to prevent any glue getting on the barrel, then I mixed a small amount of glue and carefully filled the hole. The epoxy took a couple of days to completely cure but once it had it seems very strong, as it's clear the colour of the barrel shows through so it looks dark blue, I didn't make the repair flush with the barrel as I planned to colour some epoxy first then try to bring the repair to the level of the barrel.

 

I was distracted by the arrival of the pressure bar(6.6mm) and as the repair seemed strong I thought I'd fit the pressure bar and give the pen a try. I think the nib or feed has been replaced at some point as they are a very tight fit but once fitted the pen filled well and writes beautifully, I normally like fine or extra fine nibs and this is a broad to BB but it's very, very smooth and wet, filled with Diamine Raw Sienna it shows the shading well and give drawings a classical look.

 

I might finish the repair to bring the epoxy flush with the barrel or as the pen is usable I may leave it as is, I use all my pens and although I like the look of them as long as they function as they should marks, scratches etc aren't too a big a deal on vintage pens. The tinkering is part of the fun and I don't think I have a collector condition classical pen in my collection but they all write well and I've had loads of fun learning how to refurbish them

 

 

PS: Sorry for no pictures but I forgot all about taking them whilst repairing the pen, I'll try to take one of the repaired hole to post here if anyone's interested.

Edited February 13, 2014 by andymcc

[Scribblesoften]

Excellent job documenting your process over time. I enjoyed reading it. Thank you for sharing this.

[my63]

I think you have done a good job with your pen it has been returned to a useable condition.

The Victory pens are wonderful writers and I think under rated although that means the prices are reasonable.

Pictures would have been good

[PDW]

Not just a good read but valuable ideas for others faced with a hole in a pen barrel. Maybe repost/move it to the Pen Repair forum?

 

Oh, and much joy of your 'new' pen - using a pen I've brought back to life often makes me smile, and I hope it's the same for you.

Edited February 15, 2014 by PDW

[andymcc]

Thanks for the comments everyone

Sadly I'm updating with bad news, I was trying to flush the pen to put new ink in and noticed that every time I filled with water and emptied I kept getting ink, I rolled up a bit of paper towel and felt a blockage. The Victory's section screws out and while unscrewing it the sac ripped which isn't too big a problem but I then found the pressure bar bent, I straightened the bar and refitted it but every time the button is pressed the bar bends/distorts. I followed a video on how to fit the pressure bar and nothing seemed amiss but obviously I've done something wrong, possibly pressing the button too hard.

 

It'll cost at least another £7-10 for the parts to try again and that would take the pens price from £18 to nearly £30 and I'm not sure it's worth it, I have however found that the nib fits perfectly in my Parson's Essential and works really well so for now I'll stick with that as I didn't like the Essentials nib.

 

 

I had a miserable week with vintage pens last week buying 3 mini pens that I thought were large and to top it off they all have dodgy nibs, 1 works ok but I'll probably not use it much, but after all of that I now have a well built pen with a buttery smooth gold nib in my 'Parker's Essential'