Loctite 480 (Or Other Cas) For Bchr Repair Longevity

[MercianScribe]

I've come across several threads mentioning Loctite 480 for BCHR cracks. The old hands always say it won't work, and the young mavericks always say they've done it. I'm interested in anyone who has done it who can tell me how long it lasted. The longest I've found after extensive digging around on here was someone who said they'd had ongoing fixes that had lasted for more than two years.

 

My particular interest is a Watermans 12 PSF (a 52 by any other name) which has a quite bad 1-cm or so U-shaped crack in the cap. It still works fine, and it doesn't reach the threads, but it's probably as bad as it could ever be without snapping off.

 

Any input appreciated, whether it's old hands or young mavericks repeating what they know, and science and anecdote welcome!

[BamaPen]

I'm an old guy, but not really an old hand at pen repair, so I guess that makes me an old maverick...but I have used Loctite 480 on a couple of occasions to fix cap cracks in BCHR pens.

 

The first crack I tried was fairly long, but did not gap open. It was heading for the thread area, so I wanted to stop its growth. I used 480 and that appears to have worked nicely for over four years.

 

The second was something like the one the OP describes, beginning to take on a U shape and gaping open. Again I used 480, this time with a clamp I fabricated to hold the crack closed while keeping the cap round. I let it set for quite some time before removing the clamp, since the 480 would have to resist the tendency of the crack to gap open. This has also worked well for about the same amount of time.

 

In both cases I applied the 480 with a special applicator from a hobby shop that allowed me to put it exactly where I wanted it and in very small quantity. I applied it from the inside of the cap and worked the crack gently to use capillary action to pull the 480 into the crack. Because the 480 is black, the repaired cracks are very difficult to see, even with a loupe.

 

I do not use either of these pens on a regular basis, so the caps haven't been stressed as much as if they were daily carries.

[MercianScribe]

Mine is coming into a U, but nowhere near gaping. The previous owner had had it taped up for some years prior to selling it.

 

Is that four years and counting, or four years then bust?

 

I suppose the other option is trying to find another cap... but unless earlier Waterman 52 thread caps also fit on 12PSFs I'm probably completely out of luck. I've checked all the vintage pen sites I can think of, and any I've found on eBay have been more than the cost of the pen!

[EMQG]

Repair is always better than replacement! Leave the replacements for pens with no caps at all, I figure!

 

Haven't tried this myself - but I've got a BCHR 52 with a U shaped crack that's gaping, so I'm thinking I'll try this out.

 

Make sure you use a band clamp to do it - pentooling.com sells them! Just email them and ask for one. They're like $20 and it'll keep the cap round and tight. Let it sit for a week or so (still clamped) after your repair.

[MercianScribe]

Just to update this thread for the record.

 

In the end I used Loctite 480. Given that oxidized surfaces don't suit 480 well, I abraded the crack edges gently with a sheet of #10000 grit micro, and painted the 480 on from the inside. As with the account above, I relied on capillary action for the bond to fill the crack. I then squeezed it together for 2 minutes.

 

The Loctite pack says the initial bond should be secure within two minutes, and then it would take a day to set properly. I timed the squeeze for two minutes, but, as soon as I released the two sides, the crack sprang open again. I wiped it off the best I could, and reapplied. The second time I used a clamp, but I was dubious about the chance of success from the start. The clamp is cheap and badly aligned, and easily exerted too much pressure on the cap. Erring to the side of caution I probably set it too loose, and the result was similar to the first try.

 

On the third attempt, I tried doing it by hand again, failing again. There was slight deformation of the cap where I squeezed it in. It immediately regained its shape when I released it again. The final and successful time, I used the toothpick and elastic band combination you can see in the picture. I bound it quite tight, by slowly adding to the number of toothpicks inserted into the band. This evenly and roundly distributes the pressure around the cap lip.

 

I left the cap for twenty four hours, and then cleaned off the residual bond (not that there was much) with the #10000 again. The cap now seems firm and very well shaped. Note I did not have to deal with the barrel/cap threads, as they are set well back on the 12. In the two weeks of daily use since the repair, I have noticed no irregularities and it seems fine.

 

You can still see the crack with the naked eye, but it doesn't stand out.

 

The successful part of the process took about half an hour.

[CS388]

Congratulations.

 

I like the toothpick method. May try that on a barrel crack I need to attend to. Thanks for sharing.

 

Fingers crossed for the longevity of the repair.

[pen lady]

The spirit of McGuiver lives in the heart of The Mercian Scribe! Thanks so much for posting all those helpful photos. Well done.

[Greenie]

I have done a fair amount of repair on BHR with Loctitie 480. It works great on non stressed parts, or can be used on barrel thread cracks for the cosmetic gluing, along with an inner sleeve. My most common use is for cap lip cracks below the threads,like yours. And I even found a workable technique on slip/cone cap cracks that will be under stress.

 

*****Not to give away secrets of the pros *****

But the band clamp is called a Tofflemire matrix clamp - you get 6 for $10 on ebay, and for long cracks, you want several anyway.

and a whole roll of metal band material is also pretty cheap - like 10 feet for $6

 

I just put it right down on the Loctite (or on my clear celluloid fill) The band comes off the repair material with little effort and no damage to the repair.

[MercianScribe]

Cheers, Greenie!

[siamackz]

 

But the band clamp is called a Tofflemire matrix clamp - you get 6 for $10 on ebay, and for long cracks, you want several anyway.

and a whole roll of metal band material is also pretty cheap - like 10 feet for $6

 

There's so many products that show up when I do this search. Which one exactly do you recommend? Thanks so much!

[Greenie]

The clamp is a tofflemire retainer. The quality is spotty, but buy at least three. I bet they are all about the same. I would just buy whatever seems like the best deal, and even if one clamp is just so so or frankly non functional, it won't matter.

 

And just get a roll of band material like this. I cut the material to between 8 and 9 cm and it seems to be a good length.

 

One last thing - I took pliers and flattened the end - some will sit at an angle to the pen, and others seem more parallel, but you can easily tweak it yourself to suit your needs.

[siamackz]

The clamp is a tofflemire retainer. The quality is spotty, but buy at least three. I bet they are all about the same. I would just buy whatever seems like the best deal, and even if one clamp is just so so or frankly non functional, it won't matter.

 

And just get a roll of band material like this. I cut the material to between 8 and 9 cm and it seems to be a good length.

 

One last thing - I took pliers and flattened the end - some will sit at an angle to the pen, and others seem more parallel, but you can easily tweak it yourself to suit your needs.

Thank you sir!

 

For the band material, would this do instead https://m.ebay.com/itm/Dental-Matrix-Bands-formation-piece-Stainless-steel-Tofflemire-stuck-Medium-20pc/172830105065?hash=item283d7a1de9:g:LdgAAOSw5cNYEbUj its all I can find for shipping to INDIA.

 

Thanks again!

[Greenie]

I don't know about the shaped bands. Those are made for teeth, and will not be cylindrical, but rather somewhat conical. I think for pens you really need the plain straight material.

[siamackz]

I don't know about the shaped bands. Those are made for teeth, and will not be cylindrical, but rather somewhat conical. I think for pens you really need the plain straight material.

I guess. Ill look around. Also, if you ever have the chance to post pics of the process, that would be amazing! Edited November 22, 2017 by siamackz

[Stylomeister]

I've just completed a repair on a mottled hard rubber Pitman 'Fono' pen which looked like it was destined for the scrap heap.

 

I originally started this with 480 but gave it some stress testing and it came apart. Fortunately this all cleaned off with MEK and I repeated the repair with 406 instead and clamped the joint for 24 hours. It was a nice clean break that i could clamp tightly. This time its holding nicely and was able to re-insert the section tightly back into the main body. The repair is barely visible through a watch maker's loupe.

 

Its a brilliant pen and have been using of for a few days now; it flows very well. I also repaired the chip with coloured epoxy (some experimentation required) but have since installed a full length gold plated cap band to prevent any further chipping.

 

[Stylomeister]

Ive just ordered another bottle of 480 - my current batch doesnt seem to be behaving like the preivious bottle at all and looking closely at the label it looks like it might be counterfeit (sigh) despite purchasing from a seller in the UK. Serves me right as on reflection it was too cheap. At least the 406 is the real deal.

 

I used the previous batch of 480 to repair a crushed Montblanc 232 cap that was destined for scrap - it was like miracle glue. It even filled a hole where some of the material was missing and has blended into the plastic material perfectly with no ridges (or noticeable changes in colour unless inspected under magnification).

[amk]

Full of admiration for your work Stylomeister. That pen looks like scrap in the first picture - when you're finished with it, what a difference!

[MercianScribe]

Nice work, Stylomeister, thanks for sharing.

[Stylomeister]

I should post the completed pen with new cap ring Roger Wolfe made up for me when I have a moment.

 

In the meantime, looks like I was sold fake 480 all right - just ran a few simple viscosity, hardness and solvent tests. I should post the bottle labels later as well so youve been warned. The real 480 is actually pretty awesome and not rubbery and quite hard once cured.

[Chrissy]

Good work here guys. Well done!

 

I happen to already have a product called Araldite 2020 and I've successfully used that on a plastic cap crack. I must get some of these band clamps though.